With a stable front office, solid head coach, and several young, promising pieces on both sides of the football, the future is looking very bright for the Tennessee Titans, a team that is also fresh off a deep playoff run in 2019.
And that was somewhat spelled out in ESPN’s future power rankings that projects what kind of shape each team is in for the next three years. The Titans landed at No. 11 on the list.
Why they’re here: If you don’t know the identity of the Titans, it’s merely because you haven’t paid attention: GM Jon Robinson and coach Mike Vrabel lead a team that won’t be out-toughed, run the football with purpose and are going to muscle up on defense. Ryan Tannehill was lightning in a bottle last season and the Titans have dynamic skill players on offense in Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown that defenses loathe to face. — Yates
Biggest worry: Do the Titans have enough pass rush? They need as many QB hunters as they can get If they want to topple the Chiefs in the AFC. Harold Landry III led the team with nine sacks last year, and they added vet Vic Beasley Jr. on a one-year deal from Atlanta (eight sacks in 2019), but they are in the market for more. — Riddick
Looking ahead: The Titans are tied to Tannehill and Henry for the foreseeable future, which means more clock-controlling runs and play-action. But at some point the Titans must expand the passing game. Tight end Jonnu Smith has breakout star potential this year, and Brown might already be there. Finding creative ways to evolve the passing game will bolster Tennessee’s AFC outlook. And if the Titans don’t sign Jadeveon Clowney, next year is the time to invest heavily in the pass rush. — Fowler
Top stat to know: Tannehill recorded the highest completion percentage over expectation among any passer rating qualified quarterback season in the history of the metric (since 2016) last year. But the breakout came out of nowhere. His QBR improved 29 points year over year. So now that the Titans have tethered themselves to Tannehill for the long term, which version of him will they get? — Walder
ESPN’s rankings were based on four scores given to each team in four different areas, making up an overall score.
Here’s how things shook out for the Titans.
- Overall score: 80.3
- Overall roster (excluding QB): 80.8
- Quarterback: 79.5
- Coaching: 83.0
- Draft: 75.8
- Front office: 81.5
The only AFC South team with a better ranking was the Indianapolis Colts, who sit at No. 10. Here’s a look at the entire list of the 10 teams that came before the Titans.
- Baltimore Ravens
- Kansas City Chiefs
- San Francisco 49ers
- New Orleans Saints
- Dallas Cowboys
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Seattle Seahawks
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Indianapolis Colts
Since we are talking future, an argument can be made that the Titans should be ahead of teams like the Colts, Buccaneers, Steelers and Saints, four teams all sporting quarterbacks in the twilight of their careers.
As the Titans know, it isn’t easy to find a franchise quarterback, and an inability to do so can derail even the most talented teams. This is an issue each of the aforementioned squads could be running into as soon as next year.
Thankfully for the Titans, they seem to have one in Tannehill, who has plenty left in the tank (he’ll be 32 on July 27) and could lead the team to a lot of success in the next three years if he plays like he did in 2019.
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