ORLANDO – Brian Callahan is pleased with the Titans’ free-agency haul that has brought them nine new players – including front liners Calvin Ridley, Lloyd Cushenberry and, via trade, L’Jarius Sneed -- and brought back five others.
But at the NFL’s annual meeting Monday morning he also spoke about holes still left to fill on a roster he inherited missing a lot.
He discussed right tackle, inside linebacker, safety and edge as spots where the Titans still need more.
Right tackle: Last season the Titans started out with Chris Hubbard at right tackle, where they wound up with a start from Nicholas Petit-Frere and seven from Dillon Radunz after Hubbard suffered a serious biceps injury.
I asked Callahan if the team’s right tackle is on the roster at this point.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A team lacking star power adds a big one with the trade acquisition of L'Jarius Sneed from Kansas City per Friday night's report from Adam Schefter. I've since confirmed the deal is in place.
The Titans will pair Sneed with Chidobe Awuzie with Roger McCreary as the nickel back, and that might provide the team as good a trio of cornerbacks as it has had in its Nashville history.
They have a chance to unseat Samari Rolle, Denard Walker and Steve Jackson (now Titans' safeties coach) in 1998-99 who I'd currently rate as the best trio of corners. Also in contention: Cortland Finnegan, Jason McCourty and Alterraun Verner in 2010-11.
The Chiefs franchised tagged Sneed guaranteeing him $19.8 million for 2024. He was permitted to seek a trade and get a contract in place and was reported seeking a deal that would make him the NFL's highest-paid corner.
The last two drafts, I have taken my love for historical data and trends from contracts and applied them to the draft. Specifically, what does a team look for in a prospect at a certain position group. A team may say they want one thing: “Fast players” for example but draft guys who are much slower than their peers.
Two years ago, I started with looking at strictly the physical and athletic measurables of what Jon Robinson had traditionally drafted. Treylon Burks was the guy most likely to be drafted by the Titans and it turns out, that was 100% correct.
Last year, I expanded into bringing in traditional wide receiver stats that have predicted success at the next level and factored in the data of Ran Carthon’s various stops as a personnel guy and what the Titans has done under Mike Vrabel. While the Titans didn’t draft a wide receiver in the first six rounds based on how their board fell, the formula I used, would’ve had Colton Dowell as the seventh-most likely to be a Titan if he had been on my radar before the draft. Unfortunately, I wasn’t even aware of Dowell as a draft prospect, but if I had I would’ve written about him.
While it isn’t a perfect predictor as I either don’t know of all the prospects and/or have all of the data, it does shed light on what the Titans typically value in their prospects in three key areas:
Physical Traits
Athletic Traits
On-The-Field Traits
This year, I have evolved this even further. Thanks to learning more about programming languages, data analysis and football in general, I have been able to apply my refined methodology to other positions of need for the Titans, not just wide receivers. So far, I have been able to collect data for WR, OT, OG, LB, CB and RB. We won’t get too heavily into some of these positions because the Titans' needs have shifted. I will also be adding S, DL and EDGE soon.
Next Thursday, PaulKuharsky.com paid subscribers will follow along the journey to find the most likely draft prospects and what they bring to the team. They’ll also get access to a data tool that they can play along with as well. So, if you want access to all of this information you have to subscribe to PK.com and StackingTheInbox.com, because there will be site-exclusive information for each!
Now, I am going to give a brief rundown of how the aforementioned position groups are scored and what data is being used. I am also going to give you examples of how to use/interpret this data for the various positions. This will require some common sense and nuance on your part, but I have faith you all can handle that.
As of this writing, the Titans have reportedly agreed to terms with eight new free-agent additions and re-signing five other players who were with the team last year. Those 13 signings:
QB Mason Rudolph – one year, $2.87 million
RB Tony Pollard – three years, $21.75 million
RB Julius Chestnut - ERFA tender one year, $985,000
WR Calvin Ridley – four years, $92 million
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine – one year, $2 million
C Lloyd Cushenberry – four years, $50 million
OG Saahdiq Charles - one year, $2.5 million
DL Sebastian Joseph-Day – TBD
ILB Kenneth Murray – two years, $15.5 million
ILB Jack Gibbens – ERFA tender one year, $985,000
CB Chidobe Awuzie – three years, $36 million
K Nick Folk – one year, $3.76 million
LS Morgan Cox – one year, $1.38 million
Calvin Ridley/ Courtesy Jacksonville Jaguars
I wrote at length about the additions of Pollard, Cushenberry, Awuzie, Murray, and Charles last week – if you missed it, check it out here – but I do want to briefly touch on the Ridley and Rudolph signings that have happened since that piece before I dive into an overall discussion of the state of the roster and how it may impact the Titans strategy in the draft.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Over a week into free agency, even after reportedly adding defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day, the Titans are surprisingly thin on defense.
The team lost three starters on defense in Denico Autry, Azeez Al-Shaair and Sean Murphy-Bunting, effectively replacing them with Sebastian Joseph-Day, Kenneth Murray and Chidobe Awuzie.
That feels like a net loss as Autry’s flexibility allowed him to be an edge player and Al-Shaair was a more instinctive player than Murray has been. Only Awuzie’s resume is better than the guy he’s replacing.
And there are other spots where upgrades remain necessary: Cornerback, inside linebacker and nose tackle. Not to mention serious depth deficiencies, starting with a legitimate third edge, who should really be a second edge ahead of Arden Key.
People get carried away with the draft and I understand it. But NFL free agency is better and here is why.
It’s different for every team: Sure there is occasionally a team with a super wealth of draft picks or one who’s traded a bunch away. But generally it’s a level playing field with every team getting its name called about once every round.
Few teams say they want to build through free agency, but many do or have to because they don’t have enough draft capital to fix themselves.
Calvin Ridley was loose, fun and confident as he was introduced by the Titans, giving people every reason to be confident he’ll produce at a level that will live up to his four-year, $92 million deal with $50 million guaranteed.
He missed 11 games of 2021 and all of 2022 in a gambling suspension and credited himself for doing as well as he did in his 2023 return with a new team when he caught 76 passes for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns.
“Y’all got a player,” he said. “…Two seasons out. I gave you 1,000 and eight touchdowns, I didn’t miss a practice, I didn’t miss a game. I didn’t come late to nothing. I respected everybody in the building. I look at it as a win for me personally.”
Brian Callahan desires to create a place where people are excited to come to work.
The Titans did a great job giving off that vibe to their first four additions in free agency, who all talked about the energy in their new office as they were introduced to the team’s press corps.
I watched from a spring break vacation with my family, as Tony Pollard, Lloyd Cushenberry, Chidobe Owuzie and Kenneth Murray all hit on it.
“Just being around them this morning, you can just feel it from everybody,” Murray said. “It’s definitely a great, great vibe where everybody is excited to be here. You get that vibe from everybody. Not just the coaches but the staff – the equipment staff, the medical staff.
ORLANDO – Brian Callahan is pleased with the Titans’ free-agency haul that has brought them nine new players – including front liners Calvin Ridley, Lloyd Cushenberry and, via trade, L’Jarius Sneed -- and brought back five others.
People get carried away with the draft and I understand it. But NFL free agency is better and here is why.
