The Tennessee Titans decided to part ways with veteran cornerback Janoris Jenkins on Tuesday, which not only clears $6.9 million in cap space, but also paves the way for 2021 first-round pick, Caleb Farley, to start in 2022.
Tennessee signed Jenkins in free agency last offseason as a stopgap option at the cornerback position. He went on to start opposite Kristian Fulton, and Jenkins played well after a rough start to the season.
After signing Jenkins, the Titans went on to draft Farley with the hope that he would eventually take the starting role. However, Farley struggled out of the gates in 2021 and never came close to taking Jenkins’ job, and to make matters worse Farley’s season ended early due to a torn ACL.
Looking ahead to 2022, the Titans will be taking the training wheels off their former top selection and are counting on him to be ready for a bigger role, something they didn’t need from him in 2021 because of Jenkins.
“This will be a big offseason for him,” general manager Robinson said of Farley. “He’s working hard, rehabbing. He knows what he needs to do. It’s been told to him what he needs to do. And he’s a hard worker. Caleb is a great guy. But he needs to do everything that he can – in his power – to make sure that he’s healed, stable, in shape.
“We’re going to be counting on him. We drafted the guy for a reason. I’d say he was a pretty highly regarded prospect. He was an easy guy to evaluate off of the film. Just watching the player move around, what he was capable of.”
While we think Farley has all the potential in the world, he does come with plenty of question marks, the first of which having to do with the fact that he hasn’t played a full season of football since 2019. He took off his last year at college because of COVID-19, and then had his rookie campaign cut short.
Injuries are also a concern. On top of multiple back surgeries, Farley is now coming off the second torn ACL of his career (he tore an ACL in college) and there’s no telling how he’ll be in his first season back from such an injury.
If history tells us anything (just look at Bud Dupree last season), there’s at least a chance he won’t be in top form right away. Adding to all that, Farley might be looking at an abbreviated offseason as he rehabs his knee injury, which could stunt his growth.
Knowing that, the Titans need to have an insurance policy in place just in case. Jenkins would have been ideal for that kind of role, but his $10.1 million 2022 salary was simply too expensive.
Regardless of what they do behind him, the Titans need Farley to be the player they envisioned he would be when they drafted him last year.
If not, Tennessee will have a big problem on its hands, as whatever bargain-basement veteran they bring in to back Farley up won’t give them the kind of reliable play Jenkins offered.
If Farley answers the bell in his second season like Fulton did, the Titans’ secondary will be set with three very good corners — Farley, Fulton, and Elijah Molden — for years to come.
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