The Titans Defense: Cornerback Concerns
The Tennessee Titans cornerback room needs to be talked about more. Tre'Jean Watkins lays out his concerns with the current players.
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Much of the conversation surrounding the Tennessee Titans this off-season has been regarding their pitiful offense and the steps the team would potentially take to address it adequately.
For good reason too, considering just how bad the offense was last season, you’d be rightfully upset if the team ignored the crap that was witnessed last season.
But a few underlying questions have remained on the other side of the ball, or in the Titans’ case, the main reason they’ll even be somewhat watchable in 2023.
That is of course, their defense, which has been leaned upon for the past 2 seasons and counting.
Now if you take a look at the Titans’ defense, you’ll immediately find some household names that you could consider as foundational building blocks.
Jeffery Simmons is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league, plus he got the long term deal he’s been looking for, so his future in Tennessee is certainly set for a long while.
There’s Harold Landry, but he’s coming off an ACL injury that caused him to miss all of 2022, so questions remain regarding his ability to consistently play at a high level.
Then there’s of course Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker, two stud safeties that allow this defense to throw many different coverage looks at opposing offenses. And although Hooker had a down year in 2022, and Byard is still in trade rumors, the Titans will be sitting pretty if they do decide to keep this tandem in 2023.
These players will all be tasked with holding down a unit that’s been the saving grace of this team in recent years. They certainly have the talent to guide the unit to being the team’s crutch once again, but they need some help at a few other crucial spots.
Inside linebacker is still a bit of a problem, as Azeez Al-Shair remains the only player in the group to even get excited about.
But the one glaring hole that should have you shivering, is the corner spot, an area that has gone through so many bodies and turmoil over the last few seasons.
Here’s The Deal
I’ll give it to you straight, Titans fans should be a little more concerned about this corner group.
Why?
Well, to put it simply, there’s no solid long term building block at the position.
Not only that, the unit is painfully injury prone, is way too inconsistent, and doesn’t have a lot of talent overall to cope with the annual injury crisis that somehow curb stomps this group every single year.
Let’s have a look at the entire group from a pure, unbiased, fair viewpoint.
Kristian Fulton? Talented, gritty, physical (at times). Yes to all of those. But he’s also injury prone — has missed 20 out of 50 possible games through 3 seasons — and is due for a new deal that quite frankly, I don’t know if the Titans should pay.
Caleb Farley was supposed to be Fulton’s running mate for the foreseeable future, but he’s dealt with a load of injuries — knee and back being the most significant — and whenever he’s been on the field, he’s looked lost and unimpressive at best. Maybe the hiring of Justin Hamilton — former Virginia Tech assistant who assisted the defensive backs during Farley’s time at Virginia Tech — could help unlock the former first round pick. If not? He’s going to be booted out of Nashville.
Others include Roger McCreary — who had a lot of downs during his rookie season and struggled to compensate for his short arm length — Elijah Molden — has struggled with injuries and couldn’t find much of a role last season — and other depth pieces that shouldn’t see significant playing time.
The only piece that has some sort of optimism is Sean Murphy-Bunting. But even he isn’t some sort of given moving forward, since we haven’t even seen him play and his contractual security (1 year, $5M) isn’t exactly comfy either.
Now, with all this information I’ve given you, can you at least understand why some pessimism resides with this group?
If you’re still saying no, then maybe I need to bash your head in with a frying pan to jog your brain.
However, even with all this being said, I’ll be the first to tell you that this situation isn’t one that should make you collapse to the floor with tears streaming down your face.
It’s not a DEFCON-5, the sky is falling down type of situation. The bodies that are available still can provide some present and future impact, as they’re all talented and for the most part, pretty young.
But all of these players have massive “what if” tags blaring with their name. And if you know anything about the NFL, it’s that you don’t want to be banking on too many “what ifs” with your roster.
Because if those “what ifs” don’t pan out the way they should, you as an NFL front office member are probably getting a pink slip and getting canned with a capital C.
And I’m sure this new, modern, hip regime doesn’t want to meet an abrupt end right?
That’s why in order to right the ship, the Titans were rumored to be exploring corner options in the draft, so they could get some bit of a head start on replacing some of the names in the group to avoid any trouble in the future
However, even with all the negativity staring them dead in the face, this front office can still avoid the notable death route and carry on with their mission of making this football team the most successful one it can be.
The elixir of life is found within a certain positional coach, one that has a track record of impressive development with corners at the pro level.
Can Chris Harris Save the Day?
Really, this boils down to if Chris Harris can sprinkle some of his magic dust on the Titans’ corner group, and give them the necessary tools to be successful on the field.
Harris was brought over from the Washington Commanders to command (I’m so sorry) the Titans’ corner group in 2023….and maybe beyond, but that’s for another day.
During his time in Washington, Harris oversaw the development of an impressive group of names, while also becoming a part of Washington’s stingy pass defense.
Some of those names include Kamren Curl — one of the unsung stars of Washington’s defense in 2020 — Kendall Fuller — who has remained a steady force in the secondary — Benjamin St-Juste — a long, lanky corner that improved in his second season under Harris — and third year safety Darrick Forrest.
The vast improvement of these players can’t be ignored when talking about Harris’ potential impact, as well as the statistical impact Harris had a key part in implementing as well.
Across his 3 seasons in Washington, the team ranked 2nd, 29th, and 4th in passing yards allowed per game. Excluding the drastic drop in 2021, those are some impressive numbers for a defensive unit that dealt with a number of uncontrollable factors from 2020-2022.
That isn’t to say those exact numbers are coming to Tennessee, but I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable betting on them doing so considering the history Harris had in Washington and the success that came with it.
He isn’t the end all solution, as it’s up to the player to fully maximize their potential and prove their worth on the field with their play and their availability.
But having a coach like this one can go a long way, especially when your corner group has some talent that can be molded and refined with some work.
Overview
It’s still right to feel concerned about this corner group, with all the conditional factors that have to be met in order for it to reach the heights it can reach.
Farley has to stay healthy and look much better than he did over the last 3 seasons, Fulton has to stay healthy as well, McCreary has to find a way to improve his play since wishing for longer arms isn’t going to work, and Molden has to simply find a role within the group.
Is that all guaranteed to happen? Oh of course not.
Health is not a guarantee on this Titans team, nor is significant improvement in terms of play. But there’s a chance, and with this group, that’s all that matters at the end of the day.
Watching this group should be a top priority for Titans fans in the fall, as their ability to contribute will weigh heavily on whether this defense can hold the offense’s hand and drag this team to wins they probably shouldn’t be sniffing.
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