After having a phenomenal debut against New Orleans where he recorded 11 pressures along with 1.5 sacks, Tennessee Titans edge rusher Arden Key unfortunately came back down to earth against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Los Angeles’ star left tackle, Rashawn Slater, held Key in check throughout the Week 2 contest whenever they faced off, allowing just one pressure against the Titans’ pass-rusher, per Pro Football Focus.
Despite his struggles when lined up against Slater, Key still ranks among the league’s best when it comes to getting after the quarterback.
According to Next Gen Stats, the LSU product has produced the third-highest quarterback pressure percentage (25.4 percent) in the NFL among those who qualify (minimum 30 pass-rush snaps).
In fact, Key is the only non-Cowboys player who ranks inside the top four, trailing Osa Odighizuwa (27.3 percent) and Micah Parsons (26.8 percent) while narrowly edging out Demarcus Lawrence (25 percent).
Thankfully, the Titans won’t be facing too many teams this season who roster a left tackle as good as Slater, so going forward there’s a strong chance that we see Key produce at a similar rate to what he did in New Orleans than he did against the Chargers.
If so, with Jeffery Simmons being an all-around star, Denico Autry ranking in the top 10 in sacks and Harold Landry slowly getting more comfortable by the week, facing Tennessee’s defensive front is going to be a nightmare for opposing offenses in 2023.
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