The Tennessee Titans have been down on some hard times, obviously. After spending the last two years in complete poverty, it’s obvious the Titans need some juice. They got off to a pretty decent start
by hiring well-known culture guy and defensive genius, Robert Saleh. On a personal note, thanks to this, I’ve found myself falling back in love with Robert Saleh, the coaching prospect, once again.
Now that the Titans have their leaders in the building, it’s time for the rest of the offseason. I personally have my own thoughts on how it should go, which I will share momentarily. So, without further ado, this is my personal opinion on what the Tennessee Titans should do this offseason.
Coaching staff
The first big step the Tennessee Titans will take this season with roster construction is who Saleh will bring in for his staff. The biggest wonder for the coaching staff would have to be, “Who is our next offensive coordinator?” One of the things Saleh prided himself on during his interview was his plan for what he would do for the offensive staff and how he would keep consistency in the coordinator position. The person I want most is Brian Daboll; his offense fits very well with the stuff that Cam wants to do, and he can develop Ward’s fundamentals in the same way he did for Josh Allen, but the question then becomes, “What if he takes the Buffalo job?”
Well, there are a lot of options if Daboll ends up flopping. My personal favorite guy for QB coach, Mick Lombardi, could be solid as an OC. Bobby Slowik could be great as well, with how his Texans tenure has aged, and I have a feeling the youngest Kubiak, who’s with the San Francisco 49ers, will tell Shanahan that he wants to have a chance at jobs around the league. He has a lot of good options for that side, and the chances of him ending up with someone good are very high in my eyes. On the defensive side, the coordinator probably doesn’t matter as much, with Saleh calling plays and all, but there’s still some importance. Saleh needs a great teacher on that side of the ball who can communicate Saleh’s philosophies and how he calls his defense.
Someone who makes perfect sense for this is 49ers defensive line coach Kris Kocurek. He’s a well-respected coach who is a very good teacher, and if anyone knows Saleh’s defense, it’s him. As I’m writing this, Bones Fassell was retained as special teams coordinator, so it felt right to mention that.
Now, I’m not gonna break down every position coach, but I’ll mention one or two. For QB coach, I’d love to see Mick Lombardi get poached from the 49ers. I would love to see Mike Munchak return to coach the O-line, they retained Tight Ends coach Luke Stocker, and then for the defensive staff, if you can even get one of those guys from Seattle, you need to go for it, just so you can pick his brain. I don’t expect all of these to come true, but I would love to see it.
Free agency
Now, free agency is a completely different beast when it comes to predictions. While there’s some dot connecting, free agency is more about getting the best players you can get than it is about who you know. So, for this, it’s best to address the Titans’ biggest needs instead of going over dot connections. The three biggest needs for the Titans are Edge, Wide Receiver, and Cornerback.
For Edge, it has been made apparent that the plan for pick one in the draft (especially after the Saleh hire) is to go get the alpha edge of the future. So, instead of that, we can talk about stopgap rushers and depth guys. For a stopgap guy that can start while Femi develops in the background, Joey Bosa would make sense, a dude that can be decent for one or two years and that can bring veteran leadership from his time with winning organizations, who is also connected with Saleh through his brother, Nick. If you don’t get him, there are still other great options, too.
For receivers, start out by steering clear of Brandon Aiyuk and George Pickens, who are locker room problems that do not need to be anywhere near a recovering culture. If Alec Pierce ends up a free agent, you try your best to get him and Romeo Doubs, which will make the receiver core a lot better for a young QB. Juan Jennings is also an option at wide receiver with the Saleh connection on top of him being a UT alum. Maybe for a depth receiver, they could get Dyami Brown, not only because he’s solid depth, but also because you may be able to get inside info on the Jags offense and how to beat it.
For Corner, this seems to be, out of the three, the position that will get hit hardest in free agency. Starting, it seems to me that you already have your slot CB next year in Marcus Harris. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Titans went with a CB2 in the third, so that leaves us looking for a true CB1. The most obvious choice for this role is Jaylen Watson, with his Borgonzi connection combined with the fact that we can offer him a bigger contract than most make him a great fit for this roster and its needs. Some depth pieces could include Amik Robertson, Rock Ya-Sin, and Nick McCloud, not exactly starters, but solid players for depth.
The Draft
Now, the NFL Draft is where this whole offseason completely comes together. These guys are the future of the Titans and will be the ones that stay, even when guys like Big Jeff or Amani Hooker are gone. I’m not going to go over every single pick in the draft; that would take up a little too much space. So, I’ll go over the first three picks and then give an idea of what I hope for the rest of the draft to be.
Starting with the fourth pick in the draft, it seems to be obvious that the Titans will go edge rusher with pick one. With Reese probably off the board at this point, the choices will probably be David Bailey and Rueben Bain. Personally, I’d lean toward Rueben Bain because of his fit for the Titans’ defense now that Robert Saleh is employed. I would 100% understand going with David Bailey here, though, with his amazing pass-rushing abilities and his very high potential.
In round two, it’s obvious the Titans need to go receiver here and hope that he can develop into a solid two or even one. Depending on what they do in free agency, there are two dudes the Titans could go with here. Chris Brazzell is a receiver who can just go up and get the ball, and he also has good speed. If you need a pure route runner that can get open, Elijah Sarrat is a guy who can do that and is good at tracking the ball mid-air. Both of these guys bring something to the table, and it just comes down to who the Titans get in free agency.
In the third round, they need to take a shot at a corner back and hope he becomes or develops into a starter. There’s Keionte Scott, a very physical DB with phenomenal instincts; his length fits Borgonzi’s wants in a DB. Julian Neal is one I personally really like, with his long build and great awareness in zone coverage. Either way, the Titans need to attack DB in the draft at one of their premium positions in the draft.
After those three, the draft becomes very unpredictable for the Titans and their wants. Personally, I believe they should hit receiver and DB as hard as they can to try and find a diamond in the rough that can either develop into a starter or a solid depth piece in the next two years. Also, Tight end would be nice, finding a complement for Gunnar Helm, or even getting a kicker of the future with a late pick.
Overall, the Titans’ offseason is full of a lot of important things, just comes down to how well they execute.
