In just a matter of days, the Titans will hit the practice field at training camp, taking their first hopeful steps toward turning around a wretched 2024.<\/p>\n
What must happen for the Titans to return to some form of respectability?<\/p>\n
There are plenty of issues to be addressed on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.<\/p>\n
Here are five key defensive questions for the Titans heading into 2025:<\/p>\n
What can Tennessee expect from L\u2019Jarius Sneed?<\/p>\n
After surrendering a third-round pick to acquire cornerback Sneed in the 2024 offseason, and then signing the veteran cornerback to a four-year, $76 million contract extension, the Titans got very little return on investment last year.<\/p>\n
Sneed played just five games for the Titans in 2024 before a quad injury shut him down for the remainder of the season. In those five contests, the 28-year-old Sneed did not play well, posting an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 36.3 and a coverage grade of 36.8.<\/p>\n
Those numbers came just one year after Sneed didn\u2019t allow a single touchdown reception during a 16-game regular season in Kansas City, posting a 71.9 PFF coverage grade.<\/p>\n
The first question for Sneed: Is he back to full health? Titans coach Brian Callahan said during the offseason he expected Sneed to be ready for the start of training camp, so we\u2019ll have that answer no later than next week.<\/p>\n
The second: What\u2019s the status of Sneed\u2019s legal issues, after he was sued for $1 million following an alleged shooting incident in Houston last December?<\/p>\n
If Sneed is healthy and playing the way he did in 2023, he gives the Titans one of the better corners in the league, someone the team can deploy against opponents\u2019 top receivers. That would be a nice boost to a Titans defense that allowed opponents to convert 41.3 percent of third downs last season, the 11th-worst figure in the NFL.<\/p>\n
But if he\u2019s sidelined due to injury or discipline, it leaves the Titans with an inexperienced starting cornerback trio of Roger McCreary, Jarvis Brownlee and Darrell Baker Jr.<\/p>\n
Will the inside linebackers get the job done?<\/p>\n
Stopping the run was a consistent strength for Tennessee when the club was making the playoffs under Mike Vrabel, but it tailed off significantly last season.<\/p>\n
The Titans finished 26th overall against the run (133.9 yards per game) and allowed five teams to run for more than 150 yards in 2024 \u2014 including a 267-yard performance by Washington in Week 13 and a 335-yard performance by Indianapolis in Week 16.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest problems was at inside linebacker, as Kenneth Murray\u2019s one year with the team proved forgettable (35.0 PFF grade in run defense). He\u2019s gone (traded to Dallas), as are the likes of Jack Gibbens, Jerome Baker and Luke Gifford, among others.<\/p>\n
The Titans appear to have upgraded at least one inside linebacker spot, after signing Cody Barton (79.9 PFF run-defense grade, 84.8 tackling grade in 2024) \u2014 who has averaged 121 tackles over the past three seasons \u2014 to a three-year, $21 million deal.<\/p>\n
Barton should impact the pass defense as well, after posting a combined five interceptions over the past three seasons.<\/p>\n
But what of the position next to Barton? There is a lack of proven experience among the trio of 2024 seventh-round pick James Williams (one career start), 2024 fourth-round pick Cedric Gray (zero career starts) and 2023 undrafted free agent Otis Reese IV (five career starts).<\/p>\n
Have the Titans done enough to make this position better, or are opposing offenses likely to trample them on the ground again in 2025?<\/p>\n
Do Simmons, Sweat have another level?<\/p>\n
The Titans\u2019 interior defensive line is one of the team\u2019s few strengths, as the position features Jeffery Simmons, T\u2019Vondre Sweat and Sebastian Joseph-Day, among others.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean there\u2019s no room for improvement.<\/p>\n
Simmons posted a career-high 76 tackles last season and was named to the Pro Bowl for the third time in four seasons. He\u2019s rightfully recognized as one of the top defensive tackles in the game. But his five sacks and 41 quarterback pressures last year were his lowest totals since his numbers of 2020, Simmons\u2019 second year in the NFL.<\/p>\n
Becoming better at getting to the quarterback \u2014 as opposed to simply pressuring him \u2014 is one of the reasons Simmons lost about 20 pounds during the offseason. Weighing in at about 300 pounds during the offseason, Simmons said, \u201cWe got to stop saying, ‘Just affect the quarterback.’ We got to sack the quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sweat had a good rookie season, posting an overall PFF defensive grade of 76.1. He totaled 51 tackles, and Sweat\u2019s 75.0 PFF run-defense grade was the best of any rookie interior lineman in 2024.<\/p>\n
But one of the reasons the Titans used a second-round pick on Sweat is that they believe he can be a three-down player, capable of impacting the passing game as well. His 23 quarterback pressures were a decent start, but that number \u2014 as well as Sweat\u2019s two-sack total \u2014 need to be better in 2025.<\/p>\n
Can the the team find a pass rush off the edge?<\/p>\n
The Titans were a dismal pass-rushing unit in 2024, finishing tied for 29th in sacks (32) and 31st in pressure rate (16.7 percent), while earning a 62.1 PFF pass-rush grade \u2014 which ranked tied for 28th in the league.<\/p>\n
That was with Harold Landry, who registered nine of Tennessee\u2019s 29 sacks last season and totaled a combined 31.5 sacks over his last three seasons. Landry is now with Mike Vrabel in New England.<\/p>\n
Can Arden Key take a step forward? He\u2019s never totaled more than 6.5 sacks in his seven seasons in the league.<\/p>\n
Can free-agent addition Dre\u2019Mont Jones prove a difference maker? He, like Key, has never topped 6.5 sacks in a six-year career.<\/p>\n
The Titans seem to have raw potential in second-round pick Femi Oladejo \u2014 who is still unsigned \u2014 but it may take some time before the former middle linebacker is fully comfortable on the edge.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to expect significant production from the likes of Lorenzo Carter, Jaylen Harrell and Titus Leo.<\/p>\n
But the Titans have to find a way to get better numbers from their outside rushers. Perhaps more blitzing will help Tennessee free up its edge rushers. The Titans blitzed on only 20.9 percent of plays in 2024, a figure that ranked tied for 23rd.<\/p>\n
Can Tennessee stiffen the red-zone defense?<\/p>\n
One of the Titans\u2019 biggest dips in 2024 came in red-zone defense.<\/p>\n
Tennessee finished first in the league in red-zone defense in 2023, allowing opponents to score touchdowns on just 37.7 percent of possessions inside the 20-yard line \u2014 nearly 5 percent better than the second-best mark in the league. That was a big reason the Titans were able to stay close in games, as the team surrendered an average of 21.6 points per contest \u2014 which was in the top half of the league.<\/p>\n
But the Titans\u2019 did a disastrous 180 in red-zone defense last season, allowing opponents to score touchdowns on 63.2 percent of possessions inside the 20-yard line \u2014 the seventh-worst figure in the NFL.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no coincidence that the Titans allowed 27.1 points per game in 2024, nearly a touchdown more than the team surrendered in 2023.<\/p>\n
One of the big culprits was referenced earlier: If you can\u2019t stop the run, as was the case with the Titans most of last season, you\u2019re going to surrender a lot of red-zone touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Also, if you can\u2019t pressure the passer effectively, you\u2019re going to give up TD passes \u2014 and the Titans allowed 27 last season, tied for 10th-most in the NFL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In just a matter of days, the Titans will hit the practice field at training camp, taking their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[1811,9198,1723,13270,18085,7,287,23411,10560,10563,6,8546,9090,3713,526,394,2411,527],"class_list":{"0":"post-216516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-brian-callahan","9":"tag-cedric-gray","10":"tag-cody-barton","11":"tag-darrell-baker-jr","12":"tag-femi-oladejo","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-harold-landry","15":"tag-james-williams","16":"tag-jarvis-brownlee","17":"tag-jeffery-simmons","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-otis-reese","20":"tag-roger-mccreary","21":"tag-sneed","22":"tag-tennessee","23":"tag-tennessee-titans","24":"tag-tennesseetitans","25":"tag-titans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114873611644988251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}