Tennessee Titans defensive end Jermaine Johnson II's best advice for playing in coach Robert Saleh's system ― the system he debuted in the NFL in after Saleh drafted him in New York ― is to keep things simpleand to keep things stupid.
After years of college transfers, position changes, injuries and adaptations to life as a pro, that's music to Oluwafemi Oladejo's ears.
"It helps tremendously," Oladejo said about the simplicity of Saleh's system. "I think when I moved to edge in college at UCLA, that’s what it was. It was just going straight. So being in a system that’s similar where I can just go straight and not think, that’s where money’s made."
Oladejo's football life has been awfully complicated in recent years. In a span of about 36 months,
the former second-round pick made the transitions from college linebacker to college defensive end to professional stand-up edge rusher to professional defensive end, navigating a couple of injuries in between. Saleh himself admits Oladejo is undercooked developmentally and there's a lot of teaching that'll need to be done to get Oladejo up to speed on techniques.
Don't mistake that for Saleh being out on Oladejo's potential, though.
"I’ll put myself on a chair and scream that he’ll play with elite effort and strain," Saleh told reporters before practice on July 30. "That is unquestioned. Just being with him through OTAs and the first day. He’s raw in the sense that he has not had a lot of opportunities to rush the passer and do the things we’re going to ask. But I’ve got a lot of confidence in the fact that he’s going to produce enough just off his effort, his length, his athleticism, his tenacity, his strain."
Oladejo, who's listed as 6-foot-3 and 259 pounds but is as sculpted as any Titans player, smirked when he was asked if he's gotten even bigger this offseason. He said he didn't change much about his routine. Same workouts. Same diet. Same hot yoga sessions. All resulting in Saleh describing Oladejo as someone who looks good coming off the bus.
On a revamped Titans defensive front, Saleh and company are going to need more than just a good looking player. Oladejo slots into an edge rusher room that also consists of Johnson, first-round pick Keldric Faulk, veteran Jacob Martin and players fighting for spots on the bottom of the roster like Jaylen Harrell and Truman Jones.
The early returns have been fairly positive. Oladejo is practicing without injury limitation at the start of minicamp, practicing mostly as a rotational reserve but flashing off the edge when he gets the opportunity one or two plays per practice.
And why not? All he's got to do now is run straight ahead. Simple enough.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Robert Saleh has 'unquestioned' confidence in Femi Oladejo for 1 reason
