Tag: azeez al-shaair

Titans LB Azeez Al-Shaair’s highlights from 2023

Some highlights from the impressive 2023 season of Titans LB Azeez Al-Shaair.

After an impressive season in Nashville, the Tennessee Titans have a decision to make on linebacker and pending free agent, Azeez Al-Shaair.

Al-Shaair was one of the bright spots on Tennessee’s defense and had the fifth-most tackles in the NFL with 163 (nine for loss) — which was also a career-high for him — and added a pair of sacks. Adding to that, he quickly took on a leadership role.

While his future remains up in the air, Al-Shaair has made it clear he would love to return, and the Titans should certainly be interested in bringing him back.

On top of the positives we just listed, Al-Shaair will be just 27 in August, which is the right age for him to be included in Tennessee’s rebuild.

The Titans recently released a highlight package for Al-Shaair and it shows exactly why general manager Ran Carthon should retain him. Check it out below:

Al-Shaair signed a one-year, $5 million deal last offseason. He should get a raise, but as long as his asking price isn’t astronomical, I fully expect to see Al-Shaair in the two-tone blue in 2024.

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Titans offseason preview at LB: Pending free agents, biggest needs

In our latest offseason preview for the Titans, we take a look at the linebacker position.

While a lot of the focus on the Tennessee Titans’ 2024 offseason surrounds the offense, the team has plenty of work to do on the other side of the ball, and especially at the linebacker position.

The Titans are staring down the barrel of replacing a pair of starters, as both Azeez Al-Shaair and Jack Gibbens are free agents.

Al-Shaair was excellent in his first season as a full-time starter and he proved to be a very good leader, also, which has made him a popular choice to be brought back in 2024.

Gibbens unexpectedly grabbed a starting role out of training camp after fellow linebacker Monty Rice and Chance Campbell failed to cease the opportunity.

Unfortunately, Gibbens showed he’s better suited for a backup.

Now, a look at the Titans linebackers who are under contract, pending free agents, and what the team’s biggest needs are at the position and what Tennessee should do to address them.

12 free agents Giants could target based on coaching hires

These 12 free agents could become free agent targets of the New York Giants based on their offseason coaching and coordinator hires.

The New York Giants significantly overhauled their coaching staff this offseason, changing two of their three coordinators while also switching out a multitude of assistant coaches.

Because of those changes, the team will need to readjust their personnel by way of free agency and the 2024 NFL draft in an effort to match talent with the new schemes.

As a reminder, here are the notable coaching changes:

  • Defensive coordinator, Shane Bowen
  • Special teams coordinator, Michael Ghobrial
  • Running backs coach, Joel Thomas
  • Offensive line coach, Carmen Bricillo
  • Tight ends coach, Tim Kelly

These new arrivals create an interesting dynamic headed into free agency. They are intimately familiar with several of the available players and have developed trust with them over the years.

While that doesn’t necessarily mean any or all of them will be signed by the Giants, there is likely to be some crossover.

Here is a look at 12 impending free agents the Giants could target based on the above coaching changes/hires.

Grading Titans’ most notable 2023 free-agent signings after the season

Grades for the Titans’ most notable 2023 free-agent acquisitions following the season.

Ran Carthon was left in a bit of a sticky situation when he accepted the Tennessee Titans’ general manager job last January.

The previous regime, headed by former general manager Jon Robinson, left Carthon with minimal cap space and suboptimal dead-cap figures to work around.

Despite this, Carthon managed to have a pretty active first free agency. The vision was clear: acquire high-level athletes and former top picks who had yet to fulfill their potential.

With one season in the books, we can now start to delve into how those signings performed. Let’s break it down.

Azeez Al-Shaair named the one free agent Titans can’t afford to lose

PFF believes LB Azeez Al-Shaair is the one free agent the Titans can’t afford to lose.

One of the best finds for the Tennessee Titans in free agency last offseason was linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who proved to be effective in his first season as a full-time starter.

Al-Shaair’s 163 tackles were the fifth-most in the NFL, and he posted good to respectable Pro Football Focus grades in run defense (73.7) and coverage (61.3). Adding to that, he proved to be a leader in the locker room.

Knowing the kind of impact he had, PFF’s Brad Spielberger believes Al-Shaair is the one pending free agent the Titans can’t afford to lose. Here’s what he had to say about that:

The Titans don’t have many pending free agents to be overly concerned about losing as they undergo the rebuild they should have jump-started last offseason, but executive vice president/general manager Ran Carthon was wise to recruit Al-Shaair to follow him from the San Francisco 49ers to Tennessee last offseason.

Over the past two seasons, Al-Shaair’s 78.3 run-defense grade is a top-25 mark among off-ball linebackers and his 9.6% run-stop rate placed in the top 15.

The only competition Al-Shaair has for this distinction is defensive lineman Denico Autry, who has been sensational for Tennessee over three seasons.

However, considering the respective age difference between Al-Shaair (27 in August) and Autry (34 in July), combined with the fact that the Titans are set to rebuild, it can certainly be argued that the former is more important because he can be a long-term solution at his position.

The Titans should absolutely be interested in keeping Al-Shaair, who has expressed his desire to return to Nashville. I fully expect that to happen, assuming the asking price isn’t outrageous.

If the Titans fail to keep Al-Shaair, they’ll have two starting spots to fill, as the team should be looking to upgrade from Jack Gibbens, who is better suited as a backup.

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5 Titans make PFF’s list of the top 100 free agents for 2024

A total of five Titans players made Pro Football Focus’ list of the top 100 free agents of 2024.

While the Tennessee Titans are coming off a disappointing 2023 season, the team is set to have some free agents who will certainly garner interest, whether that be from the team, around the league, or both.

In a recent list put together by Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger that ranks the top 100 free agents slated to hit the open market in 2024, five Titans made the cut.

The list of Titans includes running back Derrick Henry, defensive lineman Denico Autry, quarterback Ryan Tannehill, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and center Aaron Brewer.

Defensive lineman Teair Tart was also included on the list, but of course, he’s now a member of the Houston Texans after Tennessee waived him, so he’s no longer a Titans free agent.

Two Titans players we thought could make the list but didn’t were cornerbacks Kristian Fulton and Sean Murphy-Bunting.

Granted, Fulton has injury concerns and is coming off a terrible season, but he’s still only 25 and has shown in the past he can be an impact player. SMB was the bigger surprise after putting together a solid campaign.

Here’s a look at where Spielberger ranked every Titan on the list and what he had to say about each. We’ll also provide some thoughts for each player.

5 Titans players who could cause problems for the Jaguars in Week 18

Will Sunday be the last time the Jaguars have to deal with a Derrick Henry-led Titans squad?

After nearly a full month of losses, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally got back in the win column in Week 17. And if things go as planned, they’d add one final win when they travel to Nashville this week.

Jacksonville and Tennessee already played once this season in Week 11, and the Titans never stood a chance. But Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel and his team never go down without a fight.

The Titans would surely love to hand the Jaguars a season-ruining loss in the final week of the regular season, and Vrabel will likely have his players ready to play Sunday.

Here are five Titans players who could cause problems for the Jaguars in Week 18:

Azeez Al-Shaair on his future: ‘I would love to be back with the Titans’

Azeez Al-Shaair says he’d like to return to the Titans in 2024: “I feel like I’ve started to build a new home here.”

Despite the team being in the midst of a second straight season without the playoffs, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is interested in staying with the Tennessee Titans after this season.

The Titans signed Al-Shaair in free agency last offseason, giving him the first opportunity of his career to be an unquestioned starter — and the former San Francisco 49er has made the most of his opportunity, putting together a solid season in the two-tone blue.

But Al-Shaair’s contract was only for one year, which means he’ll be a free agent once again in 2024. However, the Florida Atlantic product isn’t looking to go anywhere.

“I would love to be back with the Tennessee Titans next season,” he said to Justin Melo, via All Titans. “We’ll see how everything unfolds. I would love to be here. I’ve really enjoyed my time in Nashville. The people here, it’s more of a southern background. It’s what I’m used to I guess. The people aren’t as mean as they were in California (laughs).

“Nashville is closer to home for me. I feel like I’ve started to build a new home here. I would love to be back with the Titans.”

Al-Shaair didn’t expect to end up with the Titans upon hitting free agency, but that all changed when a familiar face reached out to him and his agent.

“Initially, I wasn’t looking at Tennessee as a place I was probably going to end up in. That changed when Ran Carthon reached out to me and my agent,” Al-Shaair said. “We started talking back and forth after the first day of free agency. It ended up working out perfectly. Ran and I have known each other since I was a rookie in San Francisco. He used to help me out a lot out there.”

“We always had a really good relationship and connection,” he added. “Me coming to Tennessee, Ran Carthon made the transition 100 percent smoother.”

As far as his relationship with head coach Mike Vrabel is concerned, Al-Shaair had nothing but positive things to say and called the experience playing under him “great.”

“It’s been great,” he said. “Mike Vrabel is a very tedious person. Tedious is the best word I can think of to describe how he goes about his business (laughs). He leaves no stone unturned. That’s something I admire about him. You’ll see him coaching up quarterbacks and receivers, and then he’ll head over to the other side and coach up the linebackers and cornerbacks.

“It’s almost like he has a deep rooted knowledge of everything that’s going on. It’s challenged me as a player to be better. I have to do a little bit more. It’s honestly been great.”

Al-Shaair isn’t the only Titans defender to express his desire to return to Nashville, as defensive lineman Denico Autry also made it clear he’s interested in coming back.

After the season both Al-Shaair and Autry have had, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see both back with the Titans in 2024.

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Titans add 2 to injury report ahead of game vs. Texans

The Titans added two players to the injury report on Saturday.

The Tennessee Titans have two more concerns going into their Week 15 game against the Houston Texans after the team added two starters to the injury report on Saturday.

The team announced it has added right guard Daniel Brunskill and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair to the injury report, with both being listed with an illness. They are now questionable.

If Brunskill can’t go, the Titans will likely deploy fellow guard Calvin Throckmorton in his place like they did last week against the Miami Dolphins.

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The Titans will be extremely thin at linebacker if Al-Shaair doesn’t suit up. Their options to start alongside Jack Gibbens include Otis Reese, Luke Gifford and JoJo Domann, who has been elevated for this game.

Shuffling the injury report wasn’t the only action for the Titans on Saturday. On top of elevating Domann, defensive lineman Marlon Davidson has also been elevated, and the team promoted wide receiver Mason Kinsey while waiving defensive lineman Teair Tart.

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Titans’ Azeez Al-Shaair, 2 Buccaneers fined for Week 10 infractions

Titans LB Azeez Al-Shaair and a pair of Bucs defenders were hit with fines for infractions in Week 10.

Tennessee Titans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is a little lighter in the wallet this week after being hit with a fine for an infraction during the Week 10 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The league announced on Saturday that Al-Shaair was fined $10,927 for unnecessary roughness stemming from a face mask penalty he received during the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s loss.

This is the second fine Al-Shaair has been given this season, with his first coming in Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints after a hit to the head of quarterback Derek Carr, which cost him $13,934.

Here’s a look at the Week 10 play that cost Al-Shaair money.

Al-Shaair wasn’t the only player to get fined, though.

Bucs defensive end William Gholston and defensive lineman Calijah Kancey were both fined for hits on quarterback Will Levis. Gholston’s cost him $10,927 while Kancey’s cost him $14,640.

After last week’s lost, Tennessee will look to get back on the winning track in Week 11 when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium.

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