The Tennessee Titans will return to the field attempting to get back in the win column when they face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium.
That, of course, provides those of us here at Titans Wire the opportunity to hypothetically steal from the Colts’ roster in search of depth and/or talent upgrades.
The Titans are making changes and appear to be moving on from quarterback Will Levis this week. Mason Rudolph will take over and has a chance to impress down the home stretch of the season. Unfortunately, the Colts quarterback situation is not much better, and neither Anthony Richardson nor Joe Flacco would improve the roster.
Running back Jonathan Taylor is as dynamic as they come. But would Taylor be that much of an upgrade over Tony Pollard? Probably not.
The real problem is the offensive line. The entire unit has underperformed and now it appears JC Latham has hit the rookie wall. We addressed this position in the last Gimme Him before the first meeting by selecting offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann.
While it would be easy to grab another player from their line to fill the hole, the Titans might have a more pressing issue at the moment.
Tennessee has a huge problem at inside linebacker with injuries depleting the unit. Right now, rookies Cedric Gray and James Williams are the only healthy bodies. Kenneth Murray is playing through a hamstring injury and is not close to 100 percent. Otis Reese and Jerome Baker missed Week 15 with injuries and Luke Gifford is now in concussion protocol.
With all of the injuries, Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin would be the logical selection for Week 16.
Franklin has 144 total tackles (80 solo) with three forced fumbles, 2.5 sacks, and two interceptions on the season. The veteran linebacker is a tackling machine with 100 combined tackles in each of his last three seasons, including a career-high 179 tackles in 2023. Most importantly, he is healthy.
The Titans are battered and bruised at the linebacker position and Franklin would be able to step in and lead the two rookies while the rest of the unit recovers. Plus, his tackling prowess would be huge for a defense that has struggled to stop the run at times in 2024.
What are your thoughts, Titans fans? Would you pick Zaire Franklin or steal an entirely different player from the Indianapolis Colts?
