After their starting right tackle, Nicholas Petit-Frere, was suspended for six games for violating the league’s gambling policy, the Tennessee Titans need an answer at the right tackle position going into 2023.
The Titans have some in-house options, but those options are questionable at best, which has led many to wonder if Tennessee should be looking to free agency for help.
While it remains to be seen if they can even afford someone in free agency, especially after signing DeAndre Hopkins, one name that has repeatedly come up is veteran offensive tackle, George Fant.
In case you were wondering, Fant is definitely willing to listen to the Titans if they call, they just have to pick up the phone, as he said on Sunday night.
All they gotta do is call 🤷🏾♂️
— George Fant (@GeorgeFant74) July 16, 2023
Fant, 30, spent the last three seasons with the New York Jets, starting in 36 of the 37 games in which he played, giving him far more experience than any of Tennessee’s in-house options, and even Petit-Frere himself.
The Western Kentucky product battled a knee injury in 2022, which forced him to miss nine games. However, prior to last season, Fant had never missed more than two games, with the exception of 2017 when he tore his ACL.
Admittedly, Fant’s blocking numbers weren’t good last season (27 pressures, five sacks allowed, 46.7 pass-blocking grade and 56.3 run-blocking grade in eight games, per Pro Football Focus), but one has to wonder how much his injury issues played a role in that.
As recently as 2021, Fant was much better, posting a 75.1 PFF pass-blocking grade and a 59.9 run-blocking grade while also allowing 18 pressures and three sacks in 15 contests.
To compare, Petit-Frere finished with a 50.0 and 57.0 in pass-blocking and run-blocking, respectively, and he surrendered 35 pressures and five sacks during his rookie season.
In short, not only could Fant be an upgrade over the Titans’ in-house options to replace Petit-Frere, he may also provide an upgrade over the second-year pro, also. On top of that, Fant has experience playing left tackle and could give Tennessee another option there as well.
If the Titans can make it work financially (Spotrac estimates his market value at $3.3 million annually), signing Fant is a move they should definitely make.
