While the Tennessee Titans have two main cornerback spots locked up with Kristian Fulton on the outside and Elijah Molden in the slot, the spot opposite Fulton isn’t as certain.
Veteran corner Jackrabbit Jenkins had that role last season and played fairly well, but his future remains uncertain at best, as he’s a cut candidate going into this offseason.
The Titans keeping Jenkins will depend upon a few things, like if they feel they can afford to pay him the $10 million he’ll be owed if he isn’t cut. If Tennessee cuts him, it’ll save nearly $7 million, which would be a huge savings for a cash-strapped team like the Titans.
But perhaps a bigger factor in the equation is the status of 2021 first-round pick, Caleb Farley, who tore his ACL in Week 6.
Even before the injury, Farley failed to secure a starting role out of training camp and looked as shaky as you’d expect a rookie to look, especially when you consider he didn’t get a full offseason workload.
Looking ahead to 2022, Titans general manager Jon Robinson says the team is counting on Farley, according to Ben Arthur of The Tennessean, and while he didn’t say as much, there’s no doubt the hope is Farley takes over Jenkins’ role as a starter in his second season.
“This will be a big offseason for him,” Robinson told The Tennessean at the Senior Bowl last week. “He’s working hard, rehabbing. He knows what he needs to do. It’s been told to him what he needs to do. And he’s a hard worker. Caleb is a great guy. But he needs to do everything that he can – in his power – to make sure that he’s healed, stable, in shape.
“We’re going to be counting on him. We drafted the guy for a reason. I’d say he was a pretty highly regarded prospect. He was an easy guy to evaluate off of the film. Just watching the player move around, what he was capable of.”
Thanks to his injury history between back surgeries and multiple torn ACLs, there is rightly skepticism about Farley’s future for many reasons. However, Fulton was in a similar situation going into 2021 and ended up emerging as the Titans’ best cornerback in his sophomore campaign.
Tennessee can only hope Farley has a similar outcome in his second season. If so, the Titans’ cornerbacks room will be set for years to come.
