The Tennessee Titans made two big additions to their cornerbacks room this offseason, but none were bigger than the trade for L’Jarius Sneed, who adds a bona fide lockdown cornerback to Tennessee’s defense.
But there’s more to the addition of Sneed than just that. He’s also a great fit in Dennard Wilson’s defense, as the defensive coordinator loves guys who are aggressive, physical and versatile.
While Sneed checks all of those boxes, he is particularly good at being physical, according to Pro Football Focus’ John Kosko, who ranked Sneed as the fourth-most physical cornerback in the NFL in 2023.
Sneed’s reputation as a physical cornerback is confirmed. He used his physicality to great success, as he allowed a low 30.3% completion percentage, forced an incompletion 21.1% of the time, surrendered a 46.0 passer rating and gave up a first down or touchdown on just 18.2% of his targets when making contact with a receiver.
Sneed’s rate of making contact with a route-running receiver (33%) in 2023 will help him fit right in with Wilson’s scheme, which looks to press receivers at the line of scrimmage.
And that approach is a far cry from the ultra-conservative one that the previous regime had, which infuriated fans. Hopefully the change leads to much better results.