The Tennessee Titans’ offseason has been rather polarizing this year due to the fact that many are still concerned with the team’s offense as a whole, and more specifically with the reluctance to prioritize the wide receiver position.
Tennessee currently has the second-least expensive receiver room in the NFL with a combined salary of $9.8 million. To put that number in perspective, over half the league has at least one wide receiver on their team who is making more than that by themselves, per Over The Cap.
Despite those warranted concerns, the Titans have undoubtedly added some talent to their roster over the last few months. The defense could use better depth at several spots, but the starting group as whole looks promising on paper.
Jeffery Simmons
Harold Landry
Denico Autry
Arden KeyAzeez Al-Shaair
Monty RiceKevin Byard (🙏🏽)
Amani Hooker
Kristian Fulton
Sean Murphy-Bunting
Roger McCrearyIf the #Titans complete the SMB signing, their defense looks strong on paper.
Especially that front four pic.twitter.com/zMygRfyp0q— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) March 19, 2023
Arguably the biggest win of the offseason came when the team reached a mutual agreement with all-world defensive lineman, Jeffery Simmons, in order to keep him around for the foreseeable future.
Tennessee’s front four now has the potential to be among the league’s best if everyone can remain healthy for the duration of the season.
It’s such a shame that Jeffery Simmons & Denico Autry got hurt in the middle of the season.
Those two were legitimately dominating together before injuries slowed them down.The two of them combined for 66 pressures & 12.5 sacks over their first 8 games of the season.#Titans ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/0UAalMpDpz
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) March 30, 2023
Meanwhile, the offense got some much-needed help in the trenches through free agency after the team signed Andre Dillard and Daniel Brunskill, while also adding two rookies through the draft in Peter Skroronski and Jaelyn Duncan.
That type of commitment to fixing what was one of the worst offensive lines in the league is seemingly one of the main reasons why Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus gave the Titans an offseason grade of a “B”.
Monson also praised the Titans’ selection of quarterback Will Levis in Round 2. Here is what the PFF analyst had to say about Tennessee’s offseason grade:
The Titans finished last season with the worst offensive line in the NFL, so they needed to attack it in every way over the offseason. They committed significant money to Andre Dillard — a former first-round pick — but Dillard’s career thus far has been underwhelming despite his playing under one of the best offensive line coaches in the league in Philadelphia. He has allowed five sacks and 45 total pressures on a little more than 400 pass-blocking snaps in the NFL.
Peter Skoronski was one of the best prospects in the draft, and Tennessee secured Will Levis in the second round. If Levis can produce in the NFL, this draft was a home run. Even if he can’t, it was good process to take the chance on him after his slide on Day 1.
Tennessee entered the offseason with two major question marks on offense, and while the receiver side of things definitely needs more help, the Titans ultimately did a fantastic job of rebuilding the offensive line room with the limited resources they had available.
If the Titans’ new group upfront ends up efficiently and effectively gelling together, this offense should be much improved as a whole going forward.
