Quarterback

The Titans finished the 2021 season with a 12-5 record, giving them the #1 seed in the AFC, but they went 6-2 in one-score games and finished just 20th in DVOA, so it seemed likely they would regress significantly in 2022, especially given the key players they lost last off-season. The Titans seemed to defy expectations to start the year, starting 7-3, but most of their wins were close against sub-.500 teams, so a regression still seemed likely and it came in a big way when they lost their final seven games to finish out of the playoffs at 7-10, while finishing 23rd in DVOA. 

This off-season, the Titans lost even more key personnel as they start to enter what looks like something of a rebuild. One player they didn’t move on from this off-season that they could have moved on from is quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who is set to make a non-guaranteed 27 million in the final year of his contract. The Titans could have saved the whole amount against the cap by getting rid of him and he probably would have had at least somewhat of a trade market, but the Titans opted to keep him as the starter for the 5th straight season.

Tannehill burst onto the scene with the Titans in 2019, completing 70.3% of his passes for an average of 9.59 YPA, 22 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, good for by far a career best 117.5 QB rating, after previously maxing out at 93.5 in the first seven seasons of his career in Miami. He continued playing well in his second season in Tennessee, albeit not as good as 2019, completing 65.5% of his passes for an average of 7.94 YPA, 33 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. 

However, his production has dropped off across the board over the past two seasons, completing 66.5% of his passes for an average of 7.32 YPA, 34 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions, a drop off that coincided with the decrease in supporting talent around him on this offense. Now going into his age 35 season, Tannehill’s best days are likely behind him and he will almost definitely remain a quarterback who, at best, is only as good as his supporting cast. That’s not a good combination with a mediocre supporting cast and a rebuilding roster, so it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the Titans move on from him this off-season, but he’ll be back for another season.

One thing the Titans didn’t do this off-season was commit to Tannehill long-term, not only declining to give him an extension, even though doing so would have lowered his cap hit, but also selecting a possible successor Will Levis with the 33rd pick in the draft. Levis enters the league raw and will begin his career as a backup, but he has the upside to be a starter long-term and it’s likely the Titans view him as their starter in 2024 and beyond, perhaps even earlier if Tannehill struggles and/or the team falls out of contention this season. 

At the very least, Levis should give them a better backup than they had last season, when they struggled to replace Ryan Tannehill in the five games he missed with injury (four losses). The Titans first turned to Malik Willis, a 2022 3rd round pick who was drafted as a potential successor to Tannehill, but he struggled so much (42.8 QB rating) that the Titans benched him for career journeyman Josh Dobbs, who had a 73.8 QB rating in the first two starts of his 6-year career. Dobbs is no longer with the team, while Willis is likely to be cut or traded before the start of the season with Levis now the #2 quarterback and the long-term quarterback of the future. The Titans’ don’t have a bad quarterback room, but it’s a position group in transition with the aging, middling, and highly-paid Tannehill looking over his shoulder at a young, high upside, cheaper option.

Grade: B

Offensive Line

The Titans had the third most adjusted games lost to injury last season, which is unlikely to happen again, which would seem to give the Titans a some hope of improvement overall in 2023, but many of the key players who missed time with injury last season are no longer on the roster at all, so the Titans aren’t going to benefit significantly from players returning from injury. The offensive line is a good example, as left tackle Taylor Lewan, center Ben Jones, and right guard Nate Davis were limited to 2 starts, 12 starts, and 12 starts respectively last season and are all no longer on the roster. 

In their place, the Titans have free agent acquisitions Andre Dillard and Daniel Brunskill and first round draft pick Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern. Dillard has the best chance of the three to significantly upgrade a position, as he’ll play left tackle, where Taylor Lewan missed most of the season and where the Titans got very poor play in his absence, with Dennis Daley finishing as PFF’s 83rd ranked offensive tackle out of 87 eligible. 

Dillard hasn’t started many games at the NFL level, making nine starts in four seasons in the league, but that’s in part due to injury and in part because he was stuck behind one of the best offensive tackle duos in the league with the Eagles in Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. Dillard has been decent in limited action and was actually a first round pick back in 2019, so he comes with some upside, but he’ll mostly just be an upgrade because of how bad their play was at the position a year ago. The Titans may have overpaid by giving him 29 million over 3 years, although it’s possible he plays up to that level if he can stay healthy and show his top form consistently.

Skoronski has the most upside of the group, as is to be expected out of a rookie first round pick, but it’s unclear where he’ll play. Skoronski was a tackle in college, but is practicing at both guard and tackle this off-season and could conceivably start at either spot. If Skoronski plays tackle, it would almost definitely be right tackle opposite Dillard, where he would replace Nicholas Petit-Frere, who struggled with a 52.3 grade from PFF last season. Petit-Frere was a 3rd round pick who was just a rookie last season though, so the Titans may not want to give up on him just now, so Skoronski could start inside at either guard spot instead.

If Skoronski played right guard, he would struggle to be an upgrade over Nate Davis, who was PFF’s 16th ranked guard last season at 70.6. That’s true of anyone on the roster though and Skoronski would at least give them the best chance. At left guard, Skoronski would almost definitely be an upgrade over Aaron Brewer, who received a 59.9 grade in 17 starts last season, after receiving a 56.3 in 5 starts in 2021 in the first significant action of the 2020 undrafted free agent’s career. 

The Titans are thin enough on the offensive line that they’ll probably need Brewer to start somewhere, but that somewhere could be center, where they’ll need to replace Ben Jones, who had a 71.9 PFF grade in 12 starts last season. Daniel Brunskill, their other free agent addition, could also start at center, or he could start at one of the guard spots, as he has experience at both guard and center in his career. He’s mostly been a middling starter in his career, but he does have 42 starts over the past four seasons and the Titans need a reliable starter on the inside, so he wasn’t a bad addition on a 2-year, 5.5 million contract. He’ll likely start wherever Brewer doesn’t, with Skoronski possibly playing the other guard spot. 

If Skoronski ends up outside, that would open up a starting job inside for Dillon Radunz, a 2021 2nd round pick who has been terrible in limited action, but who theoretically still has upside. Radunz has only played snap totals of 124 and 280 in his first two seasons in the league and he received grades of just 49.7 and 40.3 from PFF for his limited action, so it seems unlikely he’ll suddenly turn into a solid starter in year three, but it’s a possibility. There’s some upside with this group, but there’s a lot of uncertainty with a group that has very little experience overall.

Grade: C+

Receiving Corps

Another veteran player the Titans moved on from this off-season was wide receiver Robert Woods, who would have been owed 13.75 million non-guaranteed in his age 31 season in 2023. Woods was their team leader in targets with 91, but he won’t be missed much as he was highly inefficient with those targets, turning them into just a 53/527/2 slash line. The Titans didn’t really replace Woods and will hope to get more out of young wide receivers in Woods’ place. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty underwhelming group of young players, especially given that the Titans don’t have any good veteran options either. 

Second year wide receiver Treylon Burks has by far the most upside of the group, as the 18th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Burks didn’t play much as a rookie, in part due to injury, but he still had a 33/444/1 slash line in limited action and averaged 1.75 yards per route run. If he can stay healthier and take a step forward in year two, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him continue being that efficient in a much larger workload. He’s a projection to a larger role and could be a little overmatched as a de facto #1 wide receiver, but the Titans don’t have a better option and he has a lot of upside.

The rest of the Titans’ options are underwhelming. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine saw significant action last season, but the 2020 undrafted free agent averaged just 0.95 yards per route run, after averaging 1.26 yards per route run in limited action in his career prior to last season. He probably shouldn’t continue being a significant contributor after that performance, but the Titans probably don’t have a choice and he could be as high as their #2 wide receiver, given their lack of other options.

Kyle Phillips is another second year receiver, but the 5th round pick saw just 64 snaps as a rookie and is a complete projection to a larger role. Tennessee-Martin’s Colton Dowell was a 7th round pick in this year’s draft, but will almost definitely be overmatched in a larger role as a rookie. Racey McMath went in the 6th round in 2021, but has played just 171 snaps in two seasons in the league and doesn’t look like a realistic option for significant playing time. 

The one veteran the Titans added to this group this off-season was Chris Moore, but the 48/548/2 slash line he had last season was a career best for the 7-year veteran, who has averaged just 1.08 yards per route run for his career and now heads into his age 30 season. Aside from a potential breakout year from Treylon Burks, there is not much to be excited about at the wide receiver position in Tennessee.

The Titans also let veteran tight end Austin Hooper walk in free agency. He wasn’t bad with a 41/444/2 slash line and a 1.39 yards per route run average, but the Titans want to give more playing time to 2022 4th round pick Chigoziem Okonkwo, who flashed a lot of potential with a 32/450/3 slash line and a 2.61 yards per route run average in limited rookie year action. Okonkwo still has work to do as a blocker and he’s very unlikely to be as efficient as he was in 2022 in an expanded role, but he doesn’t have any real competition for the starting job and could easily be a big part of a passing game that is in desperate need of weapons.

With Hooper gone, free agent acquisition Trevon Wesco will probably be the #2 tight end, but he’s a blocking specialist with 8 career catches who has never played more than 214 snaps in a season so, even as a backup, he’s an underwhelming option. The Titans also added Cincinnati’s Josh Whyle in the 5th round of this year’s draft and he at least gives them some passing game upside that Wesco doesn’t, but he’s not much of a blocker and, even as a receiver he is raw, so he probably won’t have much of a role as a rookie unless Okonkwo gets hurt, in which case he would almost definitely be a significant downgrade. This is a very unproven and underwhelming group, without much upside beyond Burks and Okonkwo, who are both second year players who only saw part-time roles as rookies.

Grade: C+

Running Backs

Another player the Titans could have moved on from this off-season but didn’t is running back Derrick Henry. Henry has been one of the best players in the league at his position for years, but he’s getting around the age (age 29 season) where even elite running backs start to drop off quickly and the Titans would have saved 11 million and likely received a high draft pick in return if they traded him, so it would make sense that the rebuilding Titans at least considered moving on from him this off-season.

However, the Titans likely viewed Henry as too valuable to move and will bring him back to once again handle the vast majority of the touches in this backfield. In 2022, Henry turned 349 carries (most in the NFL) into 1,538 yards and 13 touchdowns, his third season with over 300 carries over the past four seasons, with the exception being 2021, when he missed seven games due to injury and was on a 300+ carry pace before getting hurt. I would expect more of the same from him in 2023. The Titans used a third round pick in this year’s draft on Tulane’s Tyjae Spears, with an eye on the future beyond Henry, but he’s unlikely to significantly cut into Henry’s workload in year one.

Henry’s YPC average has dropped from 5.16 YPC over his first three seasons as a starter to 4.36 YPC over the past two seasons, but that has more to do with the decreasing amount of talent around him on this offense than it has to do with Henry declining significantly. Still, Henry’s age is a concern, as age 29 running backs are 40% less likely to surpass 1,000 yards than age 27 running backs, a steep drop off in a short period of time. Henry should be one of the best running backs in the league again this season, but he might not quite be his old dominant self and he might not find a ton of running room on this offense.

One area where Derrick Henry actually had a career best year in 2022 was in the passing game, as his 41 targets, 33 catches, and 398 yards were all career bests. The Titans still liked to spell Henry on some passing downs with veteran backup Dontrell Hillard last season, but Hillard is no longer with the team, leaving some passing game work up for grabs. It’s possible the Titans could give Henry more passing game work, but that might not be the best strategy because it would likely have to come at the expense of early down work, or they could risk overloading the aging running back.

The rookie Spears flashed some potential as a receiver in his final year in college (22/256/2), but he is probably too raw as a receiver for a significant passing down role as a rookie. The Titans also used a 4th round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on a running back Hassan Haskins and, while it’s unlikely the Titans still view him as a potential successor to Henry, considering he played just 154 snaps as a rookie and then watched the Titans draft another running back this year, it’s still possible Haskins could see a bigger role in year two, especially in passing situations, with Hillard gone. 

Regardless of how the backup touches are split up, this is still Derrick Henry’s backfield and he figures to see the vast majority of the touches again. The Titans probably want to avoid overloading him though, so young running backs Hassan Haskins and Tyjae Spears will likely be sprinkled in here and there to spell the aging veteran. Henry might not be what he used to be this season, but he should still be one of the best running backs in the league and the Titans’ depth situation isn’t bad either.

Grade: A

Edge Defenders

As they did on offense, the Titans also had an above average amount of injuries on their defense last season and their edge defender group was as affected as any position group, with expected top edge defender Harold Landry going down for the year before the season even started and replacement starter Bud Dupree limited to 453 mediocre snaps in 11 games by injuries of his own. Dupree is no longer with the team, with the Titans understandably wanting to save 17 million by moving on from the injury prone veteran, but Landry will return for 2023, which should be a big boost for this position group, assuming Landry is something resembling full strength.

A second round pick in 2018, Landry was one of the most durable players in the league before the injury, only missing one other game back in his rookie season, while playing snap counts of 953, 1,050, and 981 in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively, which were among the league leaders in snaps played by an edge defender in all three seasons. He hasn’t always been the most efficient player with his high snap counts and he may benefit from playing more of a rotational role, as his 10.2% career pressure rate is about average and his PFF grades have been in the 60s in all four healthy seasons, but he does have 31 sacks and 38 quarterback hits across those four seasons, so he has a good amount of production, even if you’d expect more out of someone who hardly ever came off the field. It’ll be interesting to see how much he plays in his return and if he becomes more efficient in a smaller role.

Regardless of his role, Landry’s return will be a welcome one for this group as his primary replacements Bud Dupree (58.2 PFF grade), Mario Edwards (56.0 PFF grade), and Rashad Weaver (60.6 PFF grade) were all mediocre at best. Edwards is also no longer with the team, which could be addition by subtraction, leaving Landry, Weaver, free agent acquisition Arden Key, and top holdover Denico Autry as their primary options on the edge. Weaver was mediocre last season, but it’s possible the 2021 4th round pick could be better in his third year in the league in 2023, especially if he plays a smaller snap count (640 snaps in 2022) in what looks like it will be a better group than a year ago.

Landry’s return is part of why this group should be better in 2023, but Arden Key could prove to be a smart signing on a 3-year, 21 million dollar deal as well. He’s mostly a rotational option, having not played more than 500 snaps in a season since his rookie year in 2018 when he struggled, but he has received grades of 69.5 and 81.3 from PFF over the past two seasons respectively on snap counts of 375 and 475, while totaling 11 sacks, 27 hits, and a 13.7% pressure rate in his limited role. The former third round pick has been a bit of a late bloomer, but he’s always had a lot of upside and he is only in his age 27 season, so has a good chance to continue being an efficient pass rush option in a situational, rotational role for the third straight season, now in his new home in Tennessee. 

Denico Autry (531 snaps) was the best of the bunch last season and could still be the best of the bunch even with Landry returning and Key being added. He probably won’t be as good as he was a year ago though, in part because of how good he was last season, with a 82.8 PFF grade and 8 sacks, 12 hits, and a 13.9% pressure rate in just 12 games, but also because he’s now going into his age 33 season. 

Autry has been a reliable player for a long time and has received average or better grades from PFF in six straight seasons, but prior to last season he had never received a grade higher than 72.9 and it’s unlikely that he’ll repeat the best season of his career again in his 10th season in the league in 2023. He should still be an above average option, assuming he doesn’t suddenly drop off a cliff at his age, but I wouldn’t expect him to be as good as he was a year ago. Even still, he could be the best of a group that lacks a high upside overall, but that should be better than a year ago.

Grade: B

Interior Defenders

The Titans also lost interior defenders Kevin Strong (305 snaps) and DeMarcus Walker (427 snaps) this off-season. Strong was mediocre with a 59.5 PFF grade in his limited action, so he won’t really be missed, but Walker played at a pretty high level with a 72.8 PFF grade, especially excelling as a pass rusher with 7 sacks, 9 hits, and a 11.7% pressure rate. The Titans also didn’t do much to replace them, only adding veteran journeyman Jaleel Johnson in free agency, even though he’s never received even an average grade for a season on PFF in 6 seasons in the league, on an average of just 311 snaps per season, with a 43.6 PFF grade on 181 snaps in 2023.

With no other reserve options on this roster with any experience and no draft picks used on the position, Johnson will likely be one of the top reserves along with holdover Naquan Jones, who played just 156 snaps last season and received a 46.5 PFF grade, after the 2021 undrafted free agent received a 44.3 grade on 328 snaps as a rookie. He and Jones are very underwhelming reserve options who would almost definitely be major liabilities if forced into significant action by injuries ahead of them on the depth chart. Even as rotational reserves, they could easily be overmatched given their histories of poor play.

Fortunately, Jeffery Simmons and Teair Tart return as the starters, after both fared well with PFF grades of 81.1 and 73.1 respectively on snap counts of 840 and 520 respectively in 2022. For Simmons, that was no surprise, as the 2019 first round pick broke out as one of the better players in the league at his position in his second year in the league in 2020 and has posted grades of 83.6, 71.9, and 81.1 respectively over the past three seasons since, on snap counts of 841, 933, and 840 respectively. Also a talented run defender, Simmons excels as a pass rusher with 19 sacks, 26 hits, and a 8.8% pressure rate over the past three seasons and, still in his prime in his age 26 season, I would expect more of the same from him in 2023, perhaps even more if he has further untapped upside.

For Tart, last year’s strong performance was a big surprise, after the 2020 undrafted free agent struggled with PFF grades of 48.7 and 59.2 respectively on 155 snaps and 344 snaps respectively in the first two seasons of his career. Tart was always a decent run stopper, but improved in that aspect last season and especially took a step forward as a pass rusher, finishing with 1.5 sacks, 5 hits, and a 8.5% pressure rate, after just a 3.8% pressure rate in his first two seasons in the league combined, which allowed him to stay on the field for more snaps. It’s possible Tart could prove to be a one-year wonder and even if he doesn’t, he might not be as good again in 2023 as he was in 2022, but he still has a good chance to remain at least a solid starting option, probably on an even bigger snap count given their lack of depth. Simmons and Tart are an above average starting duo, but their lack of depth hurts their overall grade and would be a serious problem if Simmons or Tart missed significant time with injury.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Off ball linebacker Zach Cunningham is yet another player who missed significant time with injury last season who is no longer on the roster at all, with the Titans moving on from Cunningham to save 11.25 million after an injury plagued season in which he played just 205 middling snaps in 6 games. A bigger loss will be free agent departed David Long, who received a 76.2 PFF grade in 740 snaps in 12 games last season, making him PFF’s 14th highest ranked off ball linebacker in the league. Also gone is veteran Dylan Cole, but he received just a 53.3 grade from PFF on 439 snaps so he won’t be missed too much.

In place of Long, Cole, and Cunningham, the Titans signed veterans Azeez Al-Shaair and Ben Niemann and will likely give more playing time to 2021 3rd round pick Monty Rice, who was decent on 366 snaps last season after struggling on 179 snaps as a rookie the year prior. He could take a step forward in year three and will compete for one of two starting roles with the two veteran free agent additions Al-Shaair and Niemann.

Al-Shaair is the more promising of the two additions, coming over from the 49ers on a 1-year, 5 million dollar deal. Al-Shaair was often buried on the depth chart in San Francisco behind Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, arguably the best linebacker duo in the league, so he only played 305 snaps in 2020 and 313 snaps in 2022, but he did see 730 snaps in 2021 and he has received PFF grades of 61.0, 64.8, and 67.8 over the past three seasons respectively, so he should be at least a decent starting job for the Titans. Niemann, meanwhile, was signed for close to the minimum and, while he’s played an average of 478 snaps per season over the past four seasons, he’s never been more than a middling option. Al-Shaair is the heavy favorite to win at least one of the starting jobs, with Rice and Niemann perhaps splitting snaps at the other spot. It’s an underwhelming group overall.

Grade: B-

Secondary

Injuries affected the Titans’ secondary significantly last season as well. Cornerback Elijah Molden and Caleb Farley were supposed to play significant roles, but were limited to 82 snaps in 2 games and 104 snaps in 5 games respectively by injury, while starter Kristian Fulton also missed 6 games with injury as well. With their lack of cornerback depth, the Titans frequently used three safeties in sub packages, with Amani Hooker playing more slot cornerback than safety, but he struggled by his standards out of position, falling from a 83.3 PFF grade as a more of a traditional safety in 2021 to 63.3 last season, while also missing 8 games of his own with injury, which further hurt this secondary.

With what should be a healthier cornerback group, Hooker is expected to move back to safety, which will be necessary because Andrew Adams (726 snaps) and Josh Kalu (494 snaps), who saw significant action at safety last season with Hooker hurt and playing out of position, are no longer with the team. Both played pretty well in their limited action, receiving PFF grades of 70.9 and 68.0 respectively, and the Titans are left without any other experienced safeties behind Hooker and fellow starter Kevin Byard, so they will desperately need them to both stay healthy all year.

If Hooker stays healthy, he has a good chance to bounce back now in a more natural position for him, but he is somewhat of a one-year wonder in terms of playing at the level he did in 2021, with PFF grades in the 60s in each of his other three seasons in the league, so there’s a good chance he doesn’t bounce all the way back to his 2021 form, even if he should remain an above average option, still in his prime in his age 25 season. 

Byard, meanwhile, is no one-year wonder, with his 79.5 PFF grade in 2022 being his 5th season above 75 in the past six seasons, with his best years coming with grades of 87.0, 87.9, and 90.2 in 2017, 2018, and 2021 respectively. Byard is going into his age 30 season and could start to decline this season, but, even at less than his best, he should remain at least an above average starter and he could easily remain one of the best players in the league at his position, as he has been for years. Byard and Hooker could be one of the best safeties duos in the league in 2023 and they arguably were the best in 2021, when they both finished in the top-5 on PFF, but depth is a significant concern if either player gets hurt.

The Titans’ depth is better at cornerback than safety, but they have several players coming off injury plagued seasons and they are a very young group overall. The only cornerback the Titans have who isn’t on a rookie deal is free agent acquisition Sean Murphy-Bunting, who signed a 1-year, 3.5 million dollar deal for his 5th season in the league in 2023, coming over from Tampa Bay, with whom he was a 2nd round pick in 2019. Murphy-Bunting has mostly been a starter in his career, starting 36 of 53 games played in four seasons in the league, but injuries have been a big problem for him the past two seasons, missing 16 of a possible 34 games, and his play has been inconsistent overall. After a 66.2 PFF grade on 42.9 snaps per game as a rookie, Murphy-Bunting saw his snap counts increase to 55.3 per game and 51.3 per game in 2020 and 2021, but also saw his PFF grade fall to 55.9 and 61.7 respectively. That grade jumped to 76.6 in 2022 on 430 snaps in 9 games and he’s still only in his age 26 season, so he has some potential if he can stay healthy and permanently turn the corner as a player, but he also comes with a significant history of injury and inconsistency.

Fulton is second the most experienced of the bunch, with 26 starts since being selected in the 2nd round in 2020, including 24 over the past two seasons, but he’s been middling at best with PFF grades of 66.1 and 63.8 over the past two seasons respectively and injuries have prevented him from ever playing more than 13 games in a season. Still only in his age 25 season, it’s possible he could have further untapped potential if he can stay healthy, but I wouldn’t expect him to be more than a solid starter and he could easily miss more time with injury. Caleb Farley is the highest drafted of the bunch, selected in the first round in 2021, but injuries have limited him to 164 snaps total in two seasons in the league and he’s struggled mightily even when on the field, receiving PFF grades of 45.7 and 42.5. Farley is still young, but injuries were a concern with him going into the draft and it’s very possible he never stays healthy enough to develop into the cornerback he was expected to be when the Titans drafted him in the first round. He won’t be guaranteed a starting job.

Elijah Molden was the lowest drafted of the bunch, but the 2021 3rd round pick had a solid rookie year with a PFF of 64.1 on 632 snaps, before hardly playing due to injury last season. The 5-10 192 pounder is a slot specialist who probably isn’t a realistic candidate to start outside, but he should have the inside track to be the starter on the slot if he can stay healthy in 2023. The only Titans cornerback to stay healthy last season was Roger McCreary, a rookie second round pick who made all 17 starts. McCreary wasn’t great with a 62.6 PFF grade, but he could easily take a step forward in year two and should remain a starter, which he almost definitely will. 

The Titans should be healthier at cornerback than a year ago and have a pretty deep group when healthy, even if they aren’t very experienced, but they will need them to all stay healthy because the Titans don’t have the safety depth that they had last season to help mask their lack of cornerback depth. The Titans have a very talented safety duo if they both stay healthy and could have a solid cornerback group if they all stay healthy, but their lack of safety depth and their lack of cornerback experience hurt their overall grade in this position group.

Grade: B+

Conclusion

The Titans were one of the most injury plagued teams in the league last season and are just a season removed from being the #1 overall seed in the AFC with a 12-5 record, but a lot of the players who missed time with injury last season are no longer on the team, meaning the Titans won’t be getting as much help from players returning from injury as you would expect from a team that had the third most adjusted games lost to injury in the league last season. 

The Titans also weren’t nearly as good as their 12-5 record in 2021 and their regression to 7-10 was not all that surprising, with their DVOA actually only decreasing slightly in 2022, ranking 23rd after ranking 20th in 2021. On top of that, the Titans don’t have the same team as 2021, with several key players missing, and, overall, they appear to have a below average roster. They’ll benefit from playing in a weak division, but they also play in by far the tougher of the two conferences, so winning their division is their only real path to the post-season and they should still be significantly behind the reigning division champion Jaguars, so it’s very likely the Titans finish out of the post-season picture and quite possibly finish below .500 again. I will have a final prediction at the end of the off-season when all previews are completed.

Prediction: 6-11, 2nd in AFC South