MORSE: Week 9 Preview of the Tennessee Titans
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The Tennessee Titans’ offense is one of the worst in the NFL. They have an inexperienced offensive line with three young High Draft picks. Tennessee ranks 30th in overall Offense, 31st in Passing, 17th in Rushing and 26th in Scoring. In the Red Zone they are ranked 18th and on 3rd down they are 31st.
Offense
| Starter | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| QB | Will Levis Q | Mason Rudolph | – | – |
| RB | Tony Pollard Q | Tyjae Spears Q | Julius Chestnut | |
| WR | Calvin Ridley Q | Jha’Quan Jackson | – | |
| WR | Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | Treylon Burks IR | ||
| WR | Tyler Boyd Q | Colton Dowell O | – | – |
| TE | Chig Okonkwo | Josh Whyle | Nick Vannett | Thomas Odukoya |
| LT | JC Latham | Leroy Watson | Jaelyn Duncan IR | – |
| LG | Peter Skoronski | Andrew Rupcich Q | – | – |
| C | Lloyd Cushenberry | Daniel Brunskill | – | – |
| RG | Dillon Radunz Q | Andrew Rupcich Q | Daniel Brunskill | |
| RT | Leroy Watson | John Ojukwu | Nicholas Petit-Frere | Jaelyn Duncan IR |
First Year Head Coach Brian Callahan came from Cincinnati where he was Offensive Coordinator. He helped prepare the Offensive Game plan along with Coach Zac Taylor, but it was Taylor who called the plays. Jerod Mayo has been criticized for not having any Head Coaching experience. Callahan has no Head Coaching experience and has a worse record than Mayo.
Last week Mason Rudolph started at QB for Will Levis, who was out with Grade 2 AC Joint (Shoulder) sprain. Will Levis is an average at best QB in the league. The Ringer has Levis ranked as the 32nd QB in the league. Levis was listed a Limited in practice on Thursday and will probably play on Sunday.
The Titans are still a running team without Derrick Henry in the backfield. Tony Pollard was acquired in Free Agency from the Dallas Cowboys. He leads the Titans in rushing with 494 yards and a 4.3 YPC. Tyjae Spears is 2nd on the team but he has been injured and Limited on Wednesday and Did Not Practice on Thursday. Levis has run for 116 yards this season. Pollard has been out on both days. Julius Chestnut is the third back with Joshua Kelley on the Practice Squad.
Wide Receiver is a strength of the team despite trading DeAndre Hopkins to the Chiefs for a 5th round pick (could be elevated to a 4th Round selection). Hopkins is 32 and in the final year of his contract. This is a great deal for Tennessee. They still have a good WR Room with Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd. Ridley has 22 catches on 51 targets, that’s less than 50% catch rate. Ridley leads the team with 326 yards receiving but only has 1 TF. Boyd has 21 catches on 30 targets for 184 yards but hasn’t reached the endzone. Boyd Did Not Practice on Thursday. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is a 4th year UDFA out of Indiana who has had 38, 25 and 28 catches the last three years. He is 5 receptions on 10 targets this year and is expected to see a bigger role now that Hopkins is gone.
At TE Chig Okonkwo is their leading receiver. He has 17 catches on 22 targets for 121 yards and a TD. John Whyle is the 2nd TE with 13 catches on 15 targets for 130 yards and no TDs. Pollard is known as a very good receiver out of the backfield and has 21 catches on 29 targets for 109 yards and no TDs. Spears, when healthy, is also a good receiver. He is 12 of 12 for 76 yards and no TDs.
The Titans hired the well-respected Bill Callahan, the father of Head Coach Brian Callahan. Everywhere he has gone he has transformed O-line into one of the best in the league. He really has his work cut out for him in Tennessee. They have invested high draft capital on their Offensive Line and under the tutelage of Bill Callahan I expect they will drastically improve. At Left Tackle they have the #7 Overall pick in this year’s draft, JC Latham out of Alabama. The 6’6” 335-pound Tackle has 60.8 Overall grade by PFF. That is good for 64th amongst Tackles. That is slightly behind Patriots Vederian Lowe. Left Guard is Peter Skoronski a 6’ 4” 315-pound lineman out of Northwestern. Skoronski was taken in the 1st Round (#11) of the 2023 draft. His PFF Grade is 59.2 good for 62nd. Lloyd Cushenberry was a 2020 3rd round pick (#83) by Denver. He signed on as a Free Agent with Tennessee.
Cushenberry has a 55.2 rating with PFF, good for 41st amongst Centers. Dillon Radunz was a relatively unknow player the 2021 draft when he was taken in the 2nd Round (#53) by Tennessee. The 6’6” 301-pound Guard played at North Dakota State. His PFF grade was 57.3 good for 74th.
Right Tackle is a problem for Tennessee. Leroy Watson has played just two games there and he is worse than Demontrey Jacobs. Watson is 6’5” 311-pounds and was an UDFA in 2022. He played collegiately University of Texas San Antonio. His 32.6 grade from PFF is the second worst in the league good for 121st amongst Tackles. Radunz was on the injury report and Did Not Practice on Thursday. Andrew Rupcich is the backup at both guard spots, but he is Questionable for this week’s game.
Defense
The Titans Defense is their strong point. They lead the league in yards allowed, giving up just 265.4 a game. Their Pass Defense is also #1 in allowing just 151.6 yards per game. Running against the Titans is the better option as they are ranked 12th at 116 yards per game. However, they are giving up points at 28 points a game which is ranked 29th. In the Red Zone you can score on them 61.9% of the time which is ranked 24th and on 3rd down they are stingy at 31.8% good for the 4th best rate.
| Starter | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | |
| LDE | Sebastian Joseph-Day | James Lynch | TK McLendon Jr. IR | – |
| NT | T’Vondre Sweat Q | Keondre Coburn | ||
| RDE | Jeffery Simmons | Marlon Davidson | ||
| WLB | Arden Key | Jaylen Harrell | Luke Gifford | – |
| LILB | Kenneth Murray | Otis Reese IV | Garret Wallow IR | Chance Campbell IR |
| RILB | Jerome Baker Q | Jack Gibbens | James Williams | Cedric Gray |
| SLB | Harold Landry | Ali Gaye | ||
| LCB | Jarvis Brownlee | Tre Avery | Chidobe Awuzie IR | |
| SS | Amani Hooker Q | Julius Wood | ||
| FS | Quandre Diggs | Mike Brown | – | |
| RCB | L’Jarius Sneed Q | Darrell Baker | Gabe Jeudy-Lally | |
| NB | Roger McCreary |
Sebastian Joseph-Day is the starting RDE in their 3-4 defense. Joseph-Day is 6’4” 310-pounds and was drafted in 2018 in the 6th Round (195) out of Rutgers by the LA Rams. He has bounced around a bit and signed as a Free Agent with the Titans after playing for San Francisco 49’ers in the playoffs last year. Joseph-Day has a 60,4 rating from PFF good for 83rd amongst Interior DL. T’Vondre Sweat is a beast in the middle. The 6’4” 363-pound Nose Tackle was a 2024 2nd round (#38) pick out of Texas. His rating is 70.1 good for 24th. Sweat Did Not Practice on Thursday’s Injury Report. Jeffrey Simmons is a player that received high praise from Colts All-Pro Guard Quinton Nelson “He’s got a motor. He’s one of the strongest if not THE strongest D-tackles I’ve gone against. And he’s not one dimensional. He can hit you with the pass rush or in the run game. He’s definitely the heart of that defense.” At 6’4” 305 pounds, Simmons was a 2019 1st round (#19) pick out of Mississippi State. He is a two-time 2nd team All-Pro and 2 x Pro Bowler. Simmons received a 74.7 rating so far this year from PFF, good for 15th rank.
The linebackers start with Arden Key, a 6’2” 240-pound LB out of LSU. He was drafted by Oakland in the 2018 draft in the 3rd round (#87). His PFF rating is 71.4 good for 46th in the league. He was a two-time 1st team All-Conference in the SEC. Kenneth Murray plays on the Inside. Another 6’2” 241-pound backer, he was selected in the 2020 1st round by LA Chargers. He has eclipsed 100 tackles twice in his career, including last season. He has only played one full season in his 4 years. His rating is 43.3, 140th among ILB. A week ago, Jerome Baker was acquired with a 5th Round selection from the Seattle Seahawks for Ernest Jones. Baker was drafted in the 2108 Draft in the 3rd Round (#73) by Miami. The 6’2” 225 lb backer has a 62.7 rating from PFF, good for 70th in the league. Harold Landry starred at Boston College as a pass rush specialist. The 6’ 2” 253 pounds LB was selected in the 2018 2nd round (#41). In 2021 he was selected to the Pro-Bowl. For his career he has 41,5 sacks despite not playing in 2022 due to injury. He had 10.5 sacks last season and has 5 already this year.
The secondary features rookie Jarvis Brownlee who played for Louisville last year, the 6’ 190-pound cornerback was selected in the 5th round by Tennessee in this year’s draft. His PFF rating is 61.5 good for a 59th rank. The Titans have a good pair of safeties, Amani Hooker is 5’11” 210 pounds and was selected in the 2019 4th round ($119) by Tennessee out of Iowa. His PFF rating is 56.7 and that’s good for 97th rank. Quandre Diggs is 5’9” 200 pounds, he was selected by Detroit in the 2015 draft in the 6th round (#200) out of Texas. The 31-year-old safety is a 3x Pro Bowl selection. His PFF rating is 70.6 for a 29th rank. L’Jarius Sneed came over in Free Agency from the KC Chiefs, where he won two Super Bowls. The 6’1” 182 corner had 108 tackles for the Chiefs in 2022. Both Hooker and Sneed appeared on Thursday’s Injury Report as Did Not Practice. Roger McCreary is a 2022 2nd round pick (#35) out of Auburn. The 5’11” 190-pound corner has a 69.1 grade from PFF, good for 88th.
Special Teams
| Starter | 2nd | |
| PK | Nick Folk | – |
| P | Ryan Stonehouse | – |
| H | Ryan Stonehouse | – |
| PR | Jha’Quan Jackson | Tyler Boyd Q |
| KR | Jha’Quan Jackson | Tyjae Spears Q |
| LS | Morgan Cox |
Old (and I do mean old) friend Nick Folk is still kicking in the NFL, and he is performing at his usual consistent self. He is 9 for 9 this year including 3 beyond 50 yards. His 40 points ranked him 27th in scoring. Ryan Stonehouse is 7th in punting average with 51.2 yards per kick. However, he only kicked 7 inside the 20. His Net average is only 34.6, the worst in the league. Jha’Quan Jackson handles the return duties. He averages 27.08 yards per Kickoff Return good for 5th in the league. On his Punt Returns, he averages 8.9 good for 14th. Patiots Marcus Jones is 2nd in the league with a 13.3 average.
Josh Uche Trade
Josh Uche was a 2nd round pick out of Michigan, and he was a healthy scratch on Sunday. The Patriots chose to play Ochuan Mathis, a Practice Squad player instead. How far has he fallen? He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2026 6th round pick. That pick is in line with what the Patriots would have received in compensation for Uche signing as an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2025 (2026 6th Comp pick). That is assuming the Patriots, who will have $139M under the Salary Cap in 2025, didn’t sign any Free Agents. That’s very unlikely since they have so much money under the cap. Therefore, they wouldn’t receive any comp picks. So, the Patriots receive something for nothing. Uche is a one trick pony that has no other pass rush move but a speed rush, and he is not that fast. This season he re-signed with the Patriots at a very low compensation, betting on himself. He lost. Uche was a 2nd round (#60) selection by the Patriots in 2020. The Patriots traded two 3rd round picks (#71 and #98) to Baltimore for the 2nd round pick (#60) to take him (Thanks Bill). Those two players were DT Nnamdi Madubuike and LB Malik Harrison. Madubuike, was a 2022 All Pro 2nd team and Pro Bowl player and Harrison a part time starter. Uche only started 9 games at Michigan, and that should have been a red flag. Uche is now part of a strong contender for the post-season and possible repeat as Super Bowl champs.
Comings and Goings
LB Ochuan Mathis was signed to the 53-man roster to replace Uche. The Pats had elevated him the past two week from the Practice Squad and chose to dress him rather than Uche, which is a clear indication of what they thought of Uche before he was dealt.
WR Braylon Sanders is a 6’ 194-pound wideout from Mississippi. Sanders was a 2022 UDFA signed by the Dolphins. He was waived injured and reverted to their IR this pre-season. The Dolphins released him on September 4th. Per NFL Draft Buzz he has the strong hands any NFL wide receiver coach and quarterback would covet. Tracks the deep ball over either shoulder and brings in passes fluidly without breaking stride downfield. He was signed to the Practice Squad in Mathis’ vacated spot.
Often used on deep routes, getting separation down the sideline or over the middle on crossing routes by extending his arms rather than pure speed. Strong hands catcher willing to go over the middle is something the Patriots need.
Vederian Lowe versus OT’s Available to Pats in the Draft
Nick Cattles did an interesting comparison of the OT players available to the Patriots in the draft in the late 1st, 2nd and 3rd Rounds. Using Pro Football Focus rating system he compared Lowe’s 72.6 Pass Blocking grade to the following players.
1st – 29 Tyler Guyton DAL 53.7
2-55 Patrick Paul MIA 64
2-59 Blake Fisher HOU 34
2-62 Roger Rosengarten BAL 58.4
2- 63 Kingsley Suamataia KC 42
3-66 Brandon Coleman WAS 53
3-64 Caeden Wallace NE 48.6
Top Free Agent Tyron Smith NYJ 68.4
Lowe is superior to them all in Pass Blocking. Wallace is better than Fisher and Suamataia, two players I liked a lot coming out. Taking a quick look at the available Tackles in next year’s draft and I am not impressed. I wouldn’t take any of them in the top 10. We may have to hope that Lowe continues his upward improvement, especially in the run game. We may have to keep him at Left Tackle.
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