Defensive Report Card
This defensive report card will feature each defensive position group featuring starters and depth of the Tennessee Titans roster and giving them a grade. These grades should give insight for what the team needs to upgrade over the off-season.
Offensive Report Card
In case you missed the Titans offensive report card, click here and you can check it out!
Defensive Line
The Titans ran a 3-4 defensive scheme under defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who was promoted to DC in 2021 after spending the last three seasons as the outside linebackers coach. This group was led by two-time Pro Bowler Jeffery Simmons. Simmons was second on the team in sacks with 7.5 on the season. Nose Tackle Teair Tart plugged up the middle of that front while fellow defensive lineman Denico Autry led the team in sacks with eight despite only playing in 12 games on the season. This group was very productive despite only having one player on the defensive line play in all 17 games racking up 28.5 of the 39 sacks the team had on the year. The Titans ranked near the top against the run as well Demarcus Walker, who was that one player that played in all 17 games added some depth to this defensive line.
Grade: A-
Linebackers
The linebacker corps for the Titans suffered the most setbacks out of the whole defense. Before the season even started they lost Harold Landry III to an ACL injury. Zach Cunningham only appeared in six games before a season-ending injury, and was just recently cut from the team. Bud Dupree also was placed on IR during the season as well. Rashad Weaver played the most out of all the linebackers with 16 games. Although the team dealt with a lot of injuries both at inside and outside linebacker they were still pretty deep at the position. David Long and Dylan Cole kept the team afloat at the linebacker positions. Long and Cole were the top two tacklers in this group with 86 and 64 respectively.
Grade: B-
Cornerbacks
Remember what I just said about the linebackers dealing with a bunch of setbacks? Yeah, the Corners might have something to say about that. Kristian Fulton, Elijah Molden, Caleb Farley, and among others all missed significant time dealing with injuries. Rookie cornerback Roger McCreary was thrusted into the starting lineup and managed to play all 17 games. McCreary showed promising flashes throughout the season finishing third on the team in tackles with 84, eight passes defended and an interception, but he did show some inconsistencies that showed McCreary’s age. Although the team was great against the run, they struggled against the pass. The Titans gave up the most passing yards in the league–averaging over 275 yards a game. Titans can only go up from here, but this season was not this group’s best showing.
Grade: D-
Safeties
This group was led by the team’s most impactful player free safety Kevin Byard. Byard led the team in tackles (108) and interceptions (4). The strong safety position was played by Amani Hooker. Hooker only appeared in nine games this past season dealing with injuries as well. Byard leads this group and the Titans do have other guys who can play both Corner and Safety, but overall this group needs a little more improvement.
Grade: C+
Overall Defensive Report Card Grade
The Tennessee Titans defensive report card grade is a C.
Special Teams
The Titans special teams unit was led by kicker Randy Bullock, punter Ryan Stonehouse, and long snapper Morgan Cox. Bullock connected on 85% of field goals and did not miss an extra point try on the season. However, Bullock was also released a couple days ago as well. Stonehouse was impressive in his rookie season netting 53.1 yards per punt with 30 punts landing inside the 20. Cox was voted to this years Pro Bowl.
Grade: B+
Coaching Staff
Head Coach Mike Vrabel finished with his first losing-season as coach of the Titans after back-to-back AFC South titles. Offensive coordinator Todd Downing was fired at the end of the season with a very poor offense that was 28th in scoring. The Titans started out at 7-3, and then lost their last seven to end the year. Despite that seven-game losing streak Coach Vrabel did as best as he could in the situation that the team dealt with.
Grade: C
