The Tennessee Titans Are A Team Nobody Wants To Play | 2024 NFL Team Previews

the Tennessee Titans finished the 2023 season with a 6-1 record and missed the playoffs for the second straight year it was a very frustrating year for the Titans as they let several games slip away from them and shortly after a week 18 victory over the Jags former head coach Mike Vel was fired it's a very big deal anytime a head coach is fired because more often than not when a head coach is fired it's not just one guy losing their job while everyone stays and tries to do a better job next year no it's usually several guys getting fired and along with not only losing their jobs their families are usually impacted in a pretty big way too there's no doubt 2023 was a disappointing year for the Titans but there was a lot of roster overhaul this off season and it was a lot of out with the old and in with the new and we are starting to see how current GM ran carthon is building his football team for the future I really believe from where this roster was when they fired Mike Rael 6 months ago to where they are today that the Titans are one of the most improved teams in all of football heading into the 2024 season but how will they do this year well we're going to break it down in today's video now let's begin and we are starting today's video by taking a look at what the Titans did in free agency Tennessee was a very active team in free agency and to be completely honest I thought they were going to trade for Bengals receiver T Higgins and half a be will lv' go-to guy for the next several years but they didn't and went out and signed receiver Calvin Ridley from the division rival Jags they also signed Center Lloyd cushenberry running back Tony Pard and even brought in Tyler Boyd on a cheap oneyear 2.4 million deal too while none of these players are Elite or top three or four of their positions one thing Rand carthon knew he had to do entering the year was as simple as this sounds get better offensively and give his quarterback a chance which he did and we will break down more of what to expect from the Titans offense later in the video but I cannot emphasize how excited I am to watch the Titans defense play this year losing Aziz Al Shyer and Deno utri to the division rival Texans was not ideal and I really would have liked to have seen them retain aiz but as we all know the NFL is a business now I don't want to downplay what Deno ay did for this team last year as he had over 50 rushers and had 11 1/2 sacks which is great production from any pass rusher and any team would gladly take that but for where this franchise is headed I don't blame them for letting ay walk and I don't think even Titans fans would say they're going to try and win a Super Bowl this year so letting a 34-year-old pass rusher leave while you have a firste head coach and a firste defensive coordinator too for that matter in dard Wilson well letting autrey walk was for for the better in the long run throughout a few team previews we've done so far in the series Corner depth has been a big concern I've had with nearly every team but I really really like the three big Corners Tennessee has when healthy entering the 24 season Titans fans best of all know third-year Corner Roger McCreary is one of the more underrated Corners in all of football and he presents a challenge for any receiver when lined up against him he was picked on a bit during his rookie year back in 2022 as most rookie Corners are but rebounded nicely in 2023 and in 542 coverage snaps last year allowed zero touchdowns but having just one solid corner is never enough because teams can easily line their receiver up on the other side of the field and throw away from a corner as most Corners do not Trail receivers throughout an entire game and the Titans also have chetah a wer and lerus Sneed abuzer was a second round pick for the Cowboys back in 2017 and signed a three-year $36 million contract with Tennessee this off season and while I do have concerns with Corners that are approaching age 30 the Titans aren't going to be asking him to be one-on-one with Nico Collins for 70 straight plays or they're not going to ask him in their season opener against Chicago to lock up DJ Moore and hold him in check for the entire game auu is a solid corner and while he's not going to haul in five interceptions this year with three of them being pick sixes what he will do is be a solid starter and show up week in and week out and be a good player for the Titans defense and that's what they need from him not every player is a superstar and that's fine but a move I liked a lot this offseason was when the Titans acquired veteran Corner lerus need from the Chiefs for a 2025 third round pick and a swap of seventh round picks Sneed has been a very good player over the past few years and has been one of the most consistent players on the Chiefs defense during this time and whenever there's a player like Sneed that becomes available you know a guy exiting his rookie contract or about to exit his rookie contract that's looking to get paid and then have a team with a lot of cap space available step up and make the trade to go get him well I am all for this trade every single time period acquiring a player of lerus needs caliber for a third round pick is pennies for what he's going to bring to this franchise and I know the next thought is always well you have to pay him and man what a tough situation to be in to have to pay good players versus a third round pick that's a year away from even contributing to our roster especially while we have a quarterback entering his second year on a rookie contract this move alone was an A+ move by Rand carthon and another reason why I like this is because of how much of a tone Setter Sneed is we've all seen the clips of Sneed pressing guys and jamming guys at the line and frustrating the hell out of opposing receivers over the past few years I do not say this about a lot of players but it certainly applies to larius and it's that he is a dog and he plays with that mentality and you see it every single Sunday and these are the types of guys you want in your locker room as you are a rebuilding franchise trying to go back to the top but I also really like the Titans pass rush and I have decently high expectations for this defense I am very eager to see what dinard Wilson brings to the table as a DC but I also think the Titans will quietly be one of the better defenses in all of football this year they had four players have 40 or more pressures last year in autrey Harold Landry Jeffrey Simmons and ardan key and I think that will be much of the same this year minus Deno ay of course Jeffrey Simmons is the best player among this bunch and had 47 pressures in just 12 games last year before his season ended prematurely there's a few reasons as to why I'm pretty high on the Titans defense entering the 2024 season and the first is I think they have a very talented group and improved from a team that already finished in 16th in points per game last year they also forced just 14 turnovers over the course of the entire 2023 season which obviously isn't good and they ranked 31st in this category the Titans offense also turned the ball over 20 times which by the way isn't bad but when you have a minus 6 turnover difference for a team that already cannot score the ball offensively well you're going to be put in a lot of bad situations as a defense and by having an improved secondary and a defensive line that can routinely get after the quarterback I think they're going to force more turnovers this year naturally it's incredibly hard to go two straight years forcing just 14 turnovers as a defense especially for how talented of a group this is and one of big thing that will also help the Titans defense this year is they should be much better offensively as there were plenty of times throughout the 2023 season where either Andre Dillard or Jaylen Duncan would give up a big sack to start the drive and the offense would have to climb out of a second and 19 hole on their own 16 yd line that in turn of of course affected the defense because with how bad the Weaponry was for will Levis last year well they would end up going three and out and give the opponent at the football and decent field position and the Titans would be fighting an uphill battle so through improvement from the secondary staying healthy up front and by playing more complimentary football this year than they did last year I really like where the Titans defense is heading into the season their run defense was already good last year and they added a mammoth along the defensive line in in second round pick to vandre sweat the 2023 Titans run defense finished seventh in yards per carry allowed and fourth in rushing touchdowns allowed and they should be good up front again this year the only real concern I have with this defense is the play at inside linebacker I am admittedly not the biggest Kenneth Murray fan and if there is any move to criticize that Rand carthon made this offseason it would be signing Kenneth Murray Jack Gibbons played well during the 2023 season and I hope he has a year similar to last year because I think he can be a starter for the Titans at linebacker for the next few years but I would have rather had Tennessee go almost any other route than signing Kenneth Murray based on what we saw during his time in LA but aside from Murray I like this defense a lot and think they are going to be one of the better units this year and a defensive line with tandre sweat and Jeffrey Simmons is going to be downright scary as for the Titans offense in 2024 there are a few main goals the first of course is to protect will Levis a hell of a lot better than what they did in 2023 for reference all three of will lvis Ryan tanah Hill and Malik Willis were sacked a combined 64 times now if you know anything about the Washington commanders year last year especially pertaining to Sam how then you know Sam was sacked a lot and Sam was sacked 65 times which would be one more than the Titans quarterbacks were sacked throughout the entire 2023 season Bryce young was sacked 62 times and for reference no other quarterback in the NFL was sacked over 50 times so when Titans fans complained about their offensive line from last year rightfully so by the way and say that will lves didn't have a chance they weren't lying that is the first and foremost goal of the 2024 Titans and to be honest I'm not just saying this because it's the Titans preview I genuinely think they will do a much better job of it in 2024 not just because it's hard to imagine getting worse but there's a few contributing factors to this number one of course is the selection of JC leam and I think JC leam is a better player now than either of the tackles were for them last year mainly Jaylen Duncan and Andre Dillard the Titans had offensive line problems across the board and it was not just a Dillard and Duncan problem but with the addition of JC leam at left tackle and with the addition of Lloyd cushenberry at Center I also think that will help improve second-year guard left guard Peter Scar's level of play as well Peter was the best offensive lineman the Titans had in 2023 but I also think it's fair to say that Peter was weighed down by the poor play around him and I am a firm believer that you know if you have one or even two bad offensive linemen that they can really bring the entire unit down just because the offensive lineman in between them that in theory should be better like Peter it will be in 2024 they're not comfortable with the guys around them they don't necessarily trust the guys around them obviously they're going to say in interviews that they do and that you know they ride or die die for the team and all of that but I really think that Peter was set up to fail last year a lot like will Levis was and this of course doesn't even get into the whole conversation of the wide receivers that the Titans fielded in 2023 behind DeAndre Hopkins outside of DeAndre Hopkins the players will Lis was throwing to last year were chiga cono a tight end who I don't think is bad not Elite by any means but not bad Chris Moore Nick Westbrook aen and Trin Burks GM ran Maron of course knew that had to be improved entering the offseason along with the offensive line and he went out and signed Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd both signings which I loved for this franchise now there was a lot of controversy initially regarding the Calvin Ridley signing but to be honest I was all for it for a few reasons the first and foremost is of course Ridley upgraded the Titans receiving room and the second was there was and I I say quotations here but only about 46 of the 92 million was guaranteed so the reality is if Calvin Ridley is a free agent bust for the Titans it's not really going to matter in the grand scheme of things because it's not like Tennessee is not going to be able to pay any players because Calvin Ridley was a free agent bust it's not like will lv's contract is expiring next year and that they won't be able to pay will lvis because they have so much money committed to Calvin Ridley that is of course in the worst case scenario now I do think Calvin Ridley will be fine and I think think the Titans have a very real chance where they have three 700 plus yard receivers this year including two 1,000 yard receivers in Ridley and Hopkins as for the running back room Derk Henry is out and Tony Pard is in for the 2023 Titans Derrick Henry and Taj Spears combined for 460 touches with Henry receiving 308 to taj's 152 if there are 460 touches to split between Pard and Spears this year I think the number will be somewhere around 240 to 220 and I think it'll be far more 50/50 than it obviously was with King Henry last year and a rookie third round pick Taj Spears I also think that will benefit Pard more as I don't think he is a definitive rb1 in the NFL and I don't think he's really that kind of back to sustain that type of volume year after year after year and I think 2023 showed that for Tony Pard uh during his time with Dallas I think having a running back by committee with Pard and Spears would be extremely beneficial for both players and I actually think Spears will be one of the better candidates to break out not just for the titans this year but really in all of football and I think he's in a pretty good situation all things considered if I had to project a statline for Taj Spears I think it'll be around 6 or 700 rushing yards with another 350 or 400 receiving yards and have around seven or eight total touchdowns in 2024 [Music] the Titans rookie impact in 2024 we will be focusing on three main players and they are JC leam tandre sweat and linebacker Cedric Ray pertaining to JC leam in theory yes he was a little overdrafted but the reality is on draft Knight you can't sit there at pick seven and say all right let's trade back to pick nine or pick 10 pick up an extra three maybe even a six next year and be sure that our guy is still going to be there obviously in Madden that's a perfect world and you know in the worst case you can you know quit the game and then start over but you don't play with fire on draft Knight especially pertaining to a franchise left tackle which we of course hope JC leam is the biggest thing with JC leam is he will be an improvement which the Titans desperately needed from 23 to 24 and he will also give will Levis a chance which he most certainly did not have at times throughout the 20123 season now for tandre sweat he is not just a 36 65 lb defensive tackle that you sit in the middle and clog and if you try to even run at him he will reach his arm out he'll tackle a guy and you know basically like a video game just shove him down and the next play is there he is pretty agile for his size and believe it or not he actually had 29 pressures for the Longhorns last year and if he works out I mean it's going to be one of the better value picks in all of the 2024 draft sweat has serious potential and I really like the landing spot especially for a defense that already has a very good pass rusher and Jeffrey Simmons and an interior rusher at that so I really like the landing spot for tandre even if it takes him a little bit of time to adjust the physicality and the strength of the NFL level now for linebacker Cedric gray I have some hope here as you guys know and and obviously heard already I'm not the biggest fan of Kenneth Murray and in the best case scenario I think Cedric gray could be a starting linebacker for this team Midway through the 2024 season and then take over the starting job and be the starter for the next couple of years that is the best case scenario for Cedric Ray and I hope that happens that would be a very successful pick and it would be a successful career for Cedric now this team did not have a third round pick because they made a trade during the 20123 draft to trade next year's third round pick which of course would be 2024 so that they could go up and get quarterback will Levis now one player that I liked for the Titans on day three of the draft aside from Cedric gray was pass rusher Jay Harold from Michigan he was drafted past the 250 Mark but I think there is a decent chance he makes the final 53-man roster and if he does he may be a situational pass rusher in year one but overall aside from JC leam I wouldn't expect necessarily all that much rookie impact from the Titans 2024 class and I think dandre sweat will see the benefits or provide the benefits in 2025 and Beyond as for the Titans schedule in 2024 obviously since they're in the AFC they're going to play some very difficult teams which includes but not limited to the Bills Dolphins and Bengals now we didn't include any of the other AFC South teams because obviously we know they will play them a combined six times throughout the year but what 2024 is about for the Titans is the development of quarterback will lves that's it you know if Will lves is not the guy great we know that for 2025 and Beyond but the ultimate goal is for Brian Callahan and will lvis to be the next great head coach and quarterback Duo of the Tennessee Titans from a win projection standpoint I'm not going to sit here and say they're going to be a four- win team after they were a six- win team last year and substantially improve the roster having said that I also don't think they're going to go from six wins to 12 wins and be the number one seed like they were back in 2021 and potentially go to an AFC Championship game like they did back in 2019 the rest of the AFC South is much improved from where it was a few years ago and that's also going to affect not only the Titans win totals but everyone else's win totals in the division so if I had to project a realistic record for the Titans I think they'll be anywhere in the six to n Win area this year and to be completely honest I would be surprised if they make the playoffs if they do go for it I just would be surprised with how many loaded teams there are in the AFC if the Titans are one of the top seven seeds after week 18 of the regular season now one long long term concern I have with the Titans is the fact that Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd are both on the wrong side of 30 along with DeAndre Hopkins so while they did improve the roster and while Ryan carthon had to improve the roster this off season which again credit to him for doing so it's almost going to be like a placeholder before we draft a true wide receiver one next year but ultimately 2024 is about the development of Will lvis and eventually if he becomes a good quarterback of course the wins will come but this year progress will Lis make sure everything's good get better across the offensive line which they did and even if Will Lis is not the guy then we have a good plan in place for the next guy if in fact levice is not the guy but that's all I have for the 2024 Titans preview I hope you enjoyed and if you did please like And subscribe is only about 39% of people watching are subscribed and it helps the channel tremendously until next time please be safe and have a great day love you guys

Channel: Football Analysis

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Keywords: football analysis, brett kollmann, Alex rollins nfl, thatsgoodsports, urinatingtree, tps, kto, football digest, tom grossi, the rich eisen show, pat mcafee show, nfl, New York jets, jets, bears, falcons, lions, chargers, raiders, dolphins, Miami dolphins, browns, pff, vikings, that franchise guy, bengal, Kansas City chiefs, football logic, Miami Dolphins, buffalo bills, steelers, ravens, colts, titans, texans, Houston texans, bootleg football, bills, jaguars, Jacksonville jaguars, Tennessee titans

Id: XBoauyaASkg

Length: 20min 25sec (1225 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 10 2024