The Tennessee Titans’ offensive line has done its best impression of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” when comparing what the group upfront has done in pass protection and run-blocking through five games of the 2021 campaign.
The unit has been mostly bad in pass protection, allowing a league-high 20 sacks, which is five fewer than the team gave up in all of 2020. 13 of those sacks have come in two games (Week 1 and 4).
Meanwhile, running back Derrick Henry is off to the best start of his career with an NFL best 640 rushing yards, and he’s on pace to break 2,000 yards once again, and the single-season rushing record.
With all that in mind, Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson ranks Tennessee’s O-line as the No. 15 unit in the NFL after five games, which is actually a better ranking than I thought it would get. Here’s his take:
As you might expect, the Titans’ offensive line is better at run blocking than pass protecting. With running back Derrick Henry leading the league in rushing, the Tennessee unit has five players with a 70.0-plus PFF run-blocking grade. But only one (Rodger Saffold) can say the same about his pass-blocking grade. Pass protection is king in today’s NFL, so four different linemen with double-digit pressures to their name is a recipe for a middle-of-the-pack ranking at best.
Left guard Rodger Saffold has easily been the Titans’ best offensive lineman thus far, as he’s the only one with a grade above 70 in both pass protection and run-blocking.
In what is a microcosm of the inconsistency we’ve seen from Tennessee’s big boys upfront between the run and pass, right guard Nate Davis has the worst pass protection grade of the offensive line with a putrid 34.8, but he’s sporting a 73.4 when blocking for Henry.
Left tackle Taylor Lewan is the only starter to not have a 70 or better grade in either facet. Lewan has a 63.6 in pass protection — the second-best among starters — and a 58.9 in run-blocking.
The good news? Lewan had a much better performance in Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, earning a grade of 80 or better in both areas, the only Tennessee starter to do so.
If the Titans want to go far this year — and avoid getting their quarterback killed — they must get better in pass protection the rest of the way.
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