Tag: Dillon Radunz

Titans’ Dillon Radunz talks confidence, where he’s most comfortable

Titans OL Dillon Radunz rightly believes he’s playing the best football of his career right now.

As the Tennessee Titans have dealt with some injuries along the offensive line during the 2023 campaign, 2021 second-round pick and offensive lineman Dillon Radunz has stepped up big time.

Radunz, who is less than a year removed from a torn ACL, got his career off to a rocky start over the first two seasons, but he’s rebounded and played well in his third, no matter where he’s been deployed.

In 2023, the North Dakota State product has been asked to play at left guard, right tackle and right guard, three positions he saw snaps at in Week 9. In all, he’s given up 11 pressures and no sacks in 166 pass-block snaps. He’s also posted a Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade of 80.9.

Radunz has now seen snaps at every position but center during his career, and that experience has given him confidence, wherever the Titans put him. He also rightly believes he’s playing the best football of his career right now.

“I have now played every single spot besides center for this team in a game, so having that under my belt helps me a lot, especially game experience,” Radunz said, per Jim Wyatt. “Three of those – left tackle, right tackle, and left guard – I played Thursday night in primetime. Just being able to not have the nerves going in there at any position, having that confidence helps a lot.

“I think I am at my peak right now and just striving to get better.”

Thanks to his play, Radunz has definitely earned the right to see more work moving forward, and he’ll that opportunity as soon as Week 10. Where that is, however, remains to be seen.

The Titans need a new left tackle, at least, with Nicholas Petit-Frere set to sit and Andre Dillard being a disaster. But there’s also a void at right guard, where Daniel Brunskill has been ruled out.

While the preference is to have Radunz get the nod at left tackle instead of Dillard, chances are he’ll settle in at Brunskill’s spot, which is where he’s been practicing all week.

Radunz says he’s comfortable on the right side but playing to the left comes more natural to him.

“Anybody who naturally grows up a certain way or anything like that, that’s what’s going to happen,” he said, per Paul Kuharsky. “Now I feel good on the right, but the natural growing and developing side of it, I developed at the left, so I’m always going to feel good there.”

No matter where Radunz ends up helping the Titans the rest of the way, his making the most of his opportunities has no doubt revived career, something that has been one of the more positive developments of the 2023 season.

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Titans’ Dillon Radunz earns more praise from Mike Vrabel

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has praised Dillon Radunz twice following yet another impressive showing in Week 9.

After a disappointing start to his career, Tennessee Titans 2021 second-round pick, offensive lineman Dillon Radunz, has played well and revived his stock in a big way.

Radunz has started two games this season and entered two others because of injury. In 166 snaps at left guard and 57 at right tackle, the North Dakota State product has given up 11 pressures but no sacks.

Making his season even more impressive is the fact that Radunz is less than a year removed from tearing his ACL last December, so there’s reason to believe he could get even better as the season progresses.

Radunz got the call off the bench in Week 9 at multiple spots but played the majority of his snaps at right tackle with Nicholas Petit-Frere exiting early.

Per usual, Radunz was good and definitely helped stabilize things a bit after NPF was a disaster. Ultimately, he gave up three pressures and no sacks.

After praising Radunz for the way he “battled” following the Week 9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Mike Vrabel complimented Radunz once again on Tuesday.

Ahead of the Tennessee’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team is looking for a left tackle with NPF likely to miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury that will require surgery.

Right tackle may also be an issue, although Chris Hubbard, who remains in the concussion protocol, is expected to practice this week and is on track to play.

The overwhelming desire amongst Titans fans is to see Peter Skoronski get a shot at left tackle, but that doesn’t appear to be on the table right now, per Vrabel.

Knowing that, the next logical solution is to give Radunz a crack at it.

Granted, he’s only played 77 snaps there over three seasons, but he’s earned the right to get a chance, especially when you consider the other options are the mess that is Andre Dillard and a rookie in Jaelyn Duncan.

It remains to be seen if Radunz can hold it down for the long haul, something that would be a massive development for Tennessee, but he’s the no-brainer choice to be the next man up if the Titans won’t give Skoronski a look.

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Stock up, stock down for Titans going into Week 10

Shaun Calderon takes a look at the players (and a coach) who either improved or hurt their stock the most in Week 9.

The Tennessee Titans have had a handful of days to digest their deflating 20-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Thursday, a game that wasn’t a pretty contest by any means.

There were a lot of moments the team certainly wishes it could have back. In fact, if the Titans somehow find a way to go on a second-half run but fall just short of making the playoffs, this is the kind of game that they’ll look back on as one that got away.

Despite the loss, there were some players who found a way to improve their individual stock ahead of a Week 10 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On the contrary, several others ended up lowering theirs by the end of the weekend.

Scroll down below to see which three players we felt raised their stocks and which players/coaches ended up lowering theirs after the disappointing defeat at the hands of the Steelers.

Titans OL Dillon Radunz feeling stronger, ready to make most of opportunity

Titans OL Dillon Radunz is feeling stronger in his return from a torn ACL and is looking to make the most of his opportunities.

Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Dillon Radunz has successfully made it all the way back from a torn ACL and is now feeling stronger than ever.

And, by most standards, Radunz’s return was quick, as the 2021 second-round pick was cleared to practice on Aug. 28, a shade over eight months after suffering the injury on Dec. 18.

“The strength is definitely there,” he said, per Jim Wyatt of team’s official website. “The cool thing I’ve noticed about ACL rehab, when you do it right, you are just so focused on all the minor details of your body, you focus on details that you normally wouldn’t focus on during training.

“Honestly, I feel stronger than I was even before the ACL. I know everybody says that, but I think it’s actually true.”

As expected, Radunz began the season as a backup, but he was quickly thrust into an important role in Week 2 after replacing a struggling Xavier Newman, who initially replaced starting left guard Peter Skoronski following the 2023 first-round pick being ruled out due to an appendectomy.

Radunz helped stabilize the line a bit, and while he did allow three pressures, per Pro Football Focus, none of those turned into sacks.

“It’s just another opportunity for me, and definitely have to take advantage of it,” Radunz said. “I have to roll with it and just improve on the plays that I had when I was out there, and just continue to grow through this game.”

With Skoronski set to miss at least one more game, Radunz’s number is likely to be called once again in Week 3.

It has been a rough first two seasons for Radunz, both in terms of injury and ineffectiveness. But he can erase all that if he’s able to make the most of his opportunities moving forward, no matter how they come.

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Titans’ Dillon Radunz ready to help wherever needed

Titans OL Dillon Radunz said he’s ready to help wherever needed after returning from injury.

One of the biggest surprises of the entire offseason was the return of offensive lineman Dillon Radunz before the start of the season.

Radunz suffered a torn ACL in December and the expectation was he’d start the season on the PUP list and miss the first four games of the campaign.

However, Radunz was unexpectedly activated off the PUP list on Monday, just eight months after suffering the injury, which is a pretty quick return.

The North Dakota State product was included in the team’s initial 53-man roster, where he’ll likely serve as a backup to start the season, giving Tennessee depth at both guard and tackle.

“I am going to play wherever they need me, and wherever I can play,” he said on Monday, per Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com. “We’ll see what happens. I am just kind of trusting the process right now. There’s a lot of unknowns left, but you have to give it your all.”

It isn’t out of the question Radunz could work his way up the depth chart at some point, as the starter at right tackle, Chris Hubbard, is anything but fully secure in that spot, something head coach Mike Vrabel made clear.

For now, Radunz is slowly working his way back in, as he’s only taking part in individual drills at the moment. That said, Vrabel called the former second-round pick’s return “very encouraging.”

“Very encouraging,” Vrabel said, according to Tyler Rowland of All Titans. “Dillon (Radunz) worked extremely hard to get back out here and through conversations with his surgeon, our doctors, Dillon most importantly.

“Just excited to get him back out there. We’re probably a little bit away from team, but I think it is also important that the player gets to a point that you’re done rehabbing and he gets back out there with his teammates in individual and figure out group things. We’ll see where he is.”

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Titans’ Mike Vrabel: Chris Hubbard is starter at right tackle for now

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed Chris Hubbard is the starter at right tackle for now but mentioned it is not set in stone.

On Monday, Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed two things we already knew: veteran Chris Hubbard is the team’s starter at right tackle and his spot is not set in stone.

Hubbard was signed in late July as another depth option but he was thrust into the starting role once fellow offensive lineman Jamarco Jones got himself booted from the team after multiple fights in practice.

The problem with Hubbard is that he’s played sparingly over the past two seasons and it’s hard to know what to really expect from the 32-year-old.

In 45 snaps over three preseason games, Hubbard gave up two pressures and no sacks but also posted Pro Football Focus grades of 54.0 and 50.7 in run-blocking and pass protection, respectively.

As far as potential options beyond Hubbard are concerned, Vrabel named Dillon Radunz, who was activated off the PUP list on Monday, as well as Justin Murray and Jaelyn Duncan.

Of course, the right tackle job is up for grabs in the first place because of the gambling suspension for starter Nicholas Petit-Frere, who will miss the first six games of the season.

Vrabel revealed that NPF will actually be able to rejoin the team after three games and can work out, get treatment and be in meetings.

With Hubbard slotted in at right tackle, the Titans’ starting unit looks like this: LT Andre Dillard, LG Peter Skoronski, C Aaron Brewer, RG Daniel Brunskill, RT Chris Hubbard.

We are a little over 24 hours from the deadline for teams to trim their roster down to 53 players. Follow along with our tracker for all of the latest moves leading up to then.

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Titans activate Dillon Radunz off PUP list among 4 moves

The Titans made four roster moves on Monday, one of which included activating OL Dillon Radunz off the PUP list.

The Tennessee Titans are getting back 2021 second-round pick and offensive lineman Dillon Radunz right before cutdown day on Tuesday.

The team announced on Monday that Radunz has been cleared to practice and is no longer on the physically unable to perform list.

Radunz, who suffered a torn ACL in December last season, was projected to start the season on the PUP list, which would have knocked him out for the first four games.

However, clearly that is not the case and instead Radunz will be ready for the start of the season after recovering in just eight months.

This figures to shake things up a bit for the offensive line room.

It’s doubtful Radunz, who can play both guard and tackle, will grab a starting spot this late in the process, but he should be able to secure a depth role. And, if all goes well with his return and someone upfront struggles mightily, perhaps Radunz can work his way up the depth chart.

Along with activating Radunz, the Titans announced three more moves on Monday. Here’s a look at them:

Titans place Caleb Farley, Dillon Radunz on PUP to start training camp

The Titans announced some roster moves ahead of training camp, including Caleb Farley, Dillon Radunz landing on the PUP list.

With training camp starting next week, the Tennessee Titans have officially started to make several different transactions, ranging from the massive free-agent signing of DeAndre Hopkins, to injury designations.

When discussing the latter, it appears that Tennessee will open up training camp without the services of its top two draft picks from the 2021 class.

Both cornerback Caleb Farley and offensive lineman Dillon Radunz will begin camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

Both players can take part in meetings and other off-the-field activities, but neither can participate in practice. However, they can be activated off the list at any time, although it remains to be seen when that will happen.

Farley is still recovering from back surgery, while Radunz is recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered late last season. It was expected Radunz would begin camp on the PUP list after tearing his ACL in December, but Farley wasn’t as certain.

Both players have been very disappointing over their first two years in the NFL, as neither has been able to latch on to a starting spot.

The Titans also placed defensive back Josh Thompson on the non-football illness list. We won’t speculate as to why, but let’s hope that everything is okay on that front.

One notable player not placed on the PUP list is Harold Landry, who is coming back from a torn ACL. It would appear Landry will be ready to go once training camp begins, which is great news for Tennessee’s defense.

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5 Titans who could start training camp on the PUP list

The Titans appear to have five players who are candidates to start training camp on the PUP list.

Injuries and the Tennessee Titans go together like peas and carrots after the team has been absolutely decimated by them the past two seasons. In fact, injuries in droves are practically expected for the franchise at this point.

With training camp rapidly approaching, it’s time to start taking a look around the trainer’s room to see who might start camp on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

Players placed on the list before camp can be activated at any time during camp, so there’s no reason to panic at that point. But if a player remains on the list through camp, he’s transferred to the Reserve/PUP and must miss the first four games of the season.

As things stand now, it appears the Titans have five candidates for the list. It looked like they might have six after Kristian Fulton was absent for much of the offseason program, but his absence turned out to be the result of him taking a different approach to training this year.

While Fulton looks to be in the clear ahead of training camp, these five players aren’t yet, although the outlooks for some are better than others.

Tennessee Titans injury updates from mandatory minicamp

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel provided updates on a handful of players who have been absent from mandatory minicamp.

The Tennessee Titans held their third and final day of mandatory minicamp on Thursday, and we finally got at least some semblance of an update on players who have been absent thus far.

As of Wednesday, those players included Caleb Farley, Kristian Fulton, Josh Thompson, Harold Landry, Sam Okuayinonu, Dillon Radunz and Trevon Wesco. Elijah Molden was part of that group before returning Wednesday.

After the final minicamp practice, head coach Mike Vrabel fielded questions on those players who have been absent. Some of his answers were more in depth than others, but we’ll take what we can get from the always guarded Vrabel.