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As we slowly head toward the 2023 NFL season, there’s no denying that the Tennessee Titans’ level of expectation and excitement are a lot lower than what they’ve been accustomed to since Mike Vrabel took over back in 2018.
Truthfully, it’s hard to know what to expect from the 2023 Titans.
If you want to take the optimistic approach, you’ll likely point out how Tennessee made several improvements on paper after coming off a campaign in which the team was 7-3 before injuries ultimately derailed the season.
On the contrary, all it takes is one look at Tennessee’s wide receivers room and inexperienced offensive line for the skeptical fan to talk themselves out of any realistic hope going forward.
Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus recently wrote an article in which he elaborates on which teams he believes can make the playoffs. Unsurprisingly, Sikkema doesn’t think the playoffs are in the Titans’ immediate future, with his reasoning mainly revolving around the team’s “offensive line woes.”
The PFF analyst stated the following in his recent article discussing possible AFC playoff teams:
I still believe the Titans can field a strong defense. Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry III, and Kevin Byard headline a good group when they’re all healthy. But Tennessee’s offensive line makes me nervous. They ranked dead last in the league last year in pass-blocking grade (53.8) and pressure rate allowed (39.5%). They’ll likely have four new starters along the offensive line: Andre Dillard, Peter Skoronski, Aaron Brewer, and Daniel Brunskill. The change was needed, but it will take time to jell.
While I personally think the Titans’ offensive line will be much improved in comparison to last year, I also expect the offensive line to go through some inevitable growing pains early on.
When it’s all said and done, I would anticipate Tennessee being much better along the offensive line in the second half of the season than they will be to start the year.
Simply because you can’t replicate having live reps and experience together as a unit. Therefore, that’s something that Tennessee’s new offensive line will have to improve on the fly as they try to turn their short-term losses on the field into long-term lessons for the future.
For the Titans’ sake, let’s just hope it’s not too late by the time the unit starts to figure out each other’s collective strengths and weaknesses.
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