RADIO
Rob looks at the Tennessee Titans and looks at what kind of offseason assets they have, both financially and draft capital wise. Their top three positional needs are identified.
It's a new day in Tennessee. We just don't know yet if it's a sunny day, a gloomy day, or a day filled with thunderstorms and a potential tornado. They're making the right decision moving on from Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry. Moving on from Mike Vrabel...that one we cannot answer yet. This trio has been incredibly productive over the past few years for Tennessee and moving on from all three of them during the same offseason is no little thing. The Titans are in a major state of transition throughout their organization.
Previous Divisional Editions breaking down each team's 2023 season, their offseason assets, and their top-three positional needs going into the 2024 NFL Season can be found here:
While second-round rookie Will Levis showed some glimpses that he could be a starting quarterback in the NFL, that conclusion has not yet been made. For the Titans to feel more confident about their answer, they're going to need to put a better supporting cast around him. We'll be looking at what kind of resources they have available to do that. If you want to take advantage of all of our great premium tools, please use promo code, "BOOM" to receive a 10% discount.
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Season Review and Offseason Assets
Big changes are underway in Tennessee. Head coach Mike Vrabel was let go. Starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill is most certainly gone. Star running back and face of the franchise, Derrick Henry, is also expected to leave in free agency. After years of competitive football led by this trio, they all finally hit the wall this past season. The Titans finished with a 6-11 record. Their offense was brutal. Midway through the year, they turned over the offense to 2023 second-round pick Will Levis to mixed results. They finished 27th in points scored and 28th in yards gained. Their passing offense was one of the very worst in the NFL.
Their defense wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. It finished 16th in points allowed and 18th in yards given up. There are plenty of free agents on that side of the ball and so, there is expected to be a massive roster turnover this offseason in Tennessee. They’re in the midst of a rebuild and they’ll try to start laying the groundwork this offseason. They hired former offensive coordinator for the Bengals, Brian Callahan, to be their new Head Coach. He hired Nick Holz, the former passing game coordinator for the Jaguars to be his offensive coordinator. The new defensive coordinator is Dennard Wilson who was the secondary coach for the Ravens last season.
The Titans have just under $79 million in cap space this offseason. If they were to entertain the idea of cutting DeAndre Hopkins, that would increase to $89 million. If they opt to do it as a post-June 1 cut, they’d save an additional $6 million. Trading Hopkins should also be on the table assuming they’d be willing to pay some of his salary. However, getting rid of him would leave a massive hole at receiver and make life extremely difficult for Levis.
Cutting Andre Dillard as a post-June 1 cut is another way to save some cap, roughly $6.5 million. Behind those two options, they could restructure the contracts of Harold Landry ($23.8 million cap hit) and/or Jeffery Simmons ($21.6 million cap hit). The team has a few free agents they might be interested in bringing back at the right price, but there are no “must re-sign” players. With a general manager entering his second season and a brand-new coaching, most of their free agents shouldn’t be expected back.
Tennessee owns the No. 7 (first-rounder), No. 38 (second-rounder), No. 106 (fourth-rounder), No. 183 (sixth-rounder), No. 218 (seventh-rounder), and No. 239 (seventh-rounder) overall picks in this year’s NFL Draft. Being in rebuild mode with so few draft picks is not ideal.
Biggest Needs
1. Wide Receiver
Regardless of what Tennessee decides to do with DeAndre Hopkins, wide receiver is a glaring need. Even if they decide to keep him, he turns 32 this season and is not a long-term option for the team and Levis. The team’s second and third-most targeted players were Chigoziem Okonkwo (tight end) and Tyjae Spears (rookie running back). Excluding Hopkins, the other six receivers who received a target in 2023 combined for just 135 targets, 83 receptions, 1,205 yards, and three touchdowns. The best non-Hopkins receiver last season was Nick Westbrook-Ikhine with 45 targets, 28 receptions, 370 yards, and three touchdowns. He’s a former UDFA from the 2020 NFL Draft.
Their second-best non-Hopkins receiver was Chris Moore with 35 targets, 22 receptions, 424 yards, and zero touchdowns. He’s a former fourth-round pick from the 2016 NFL Draft. Former 2022 first-round pick, Treylon Burks has just 82 targets, 49 receptions, 665 yards, and a 1.28-yard-per-route run average in his first two seasons. He’s played just 22 games in total. This whole position needs to be revamped, from top to bottom. If Levis is to have any shot at a good second season, he needs better weapons. Much better weapons.
2. Offensive Line
Having the whole offensive line as a positional need may seem like a cop-out, but man, it’s so bad. In PFF’s final 2023 offensive line grades, Tennessee was dead last. Center Aaron Brewer, guard Calvin Throckmorton, and right tackle, Chris Hubbard are all free agents. They played 2,087 snaps last season. Brewer is just 26 years old and played well enough, that the team could be interested in bringing him back. Hubbard will be 33 this year and Throckmorton will be 28. Considering their current state, both players are not likely to be back.
The team drafted Peter Skoronski in the first round of last year’s draft and he played guard all year. He played tackle throughout his entire college career. Considering how atrocious Tennessee’s depth chart looks at that position, it’ll be interesting to see if they move him outside. Their remaining offensive linemen on the roster consist of Nicholas Petit-Frere, Daniel Brunskill, Andre Dillard, and Dillon Radunz. Petit-Frere had a PFF grade of 35.5. Dillard had a PFF grade of 51. He allowed 12 (!!!) sacks in 12 games and also gave up 41 pressures. Radunz gave up five sacks and 36 pressures in just 13 games.
The Titans had 64 sacks given up in 2023, which was the fourth-highest in the league. Their 11.5% sack rate was the second-highest. Their quarterbacks were pressured on almost a third of their drop-backs. If they don’t move Skoronski to tackle and do not resign Brewer, they could be looking at needing to find a new left tackle, center, and potentially another guard. If Levis is to have any shot at a good second season, he needs better protection. Much better protection. Whoa, déjà vu.
3. Defensive Back
Another cop-out, grouping the cornerback and safety positions, but it’s just easier. This team is a mess. Cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Kristian Fulton are both free agents. They played 1,485 snaps last year. Safeties K’Von Wallace and Terrell Edmunds are also free agents, while Kevin Byard was traded at the deadline last season. They played 983 snaps last season. These five players combined for three of the team’s six interceptions and 17 of the team’s 55 passes deflected. They also combined for 216 tackles. It’s a lot of snaps to be replaced.
Tennessee finished with just six interceptions, which was dead last in the NFL. They also allowed the third-highest completion percentage at 67.8%, were dead last in passes deflected, had the lowest interception rate, allowed the ninth-highest yard-per-attempt average, and the sixth-highest quarterback rating. Their passing defense contributed -104 points, which was the fourth-worst mark in the NFL. Considering how un-productive Tennessee’s pass defense was and how many free agents they have, this is another position that needs a ton of attention.
4. Other Positions of Need: Defensive Line
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