The Pro Bowl tackle identifies a critical weakness as the catalyst for Tennessee's defensive struggles, banking on new veteran acquisitions to unlock the backfield finally.
The Tennessee Titans had a lot of problems last season, on both offense and defense.
Cam Ward showed flashes, but the passing offense was too inconsistent. In other words, it was consistently one of the worst passing offenses in the league.
The Titans averaged 190.6 passing yards per game, which was the fourth-fewest last season.
Then, there was the running game.
Tony Pollard did his part, but even he couldn't elevate the rushing attack on his own. Tyjae Spears once again dealt with injuries, and Ward outgained Julius Chestnut.
The Titans averaged the third-fewest rushing yards (93.5) per game as a result.
The offensive line was even worse. Ward's jersey struggled to stay clean, as the Titans allowed the sixth-most sacks (56) in the NFL in 2025.
On defense, the Titans couldn't consistently get to opposing quarterbacks. Jeffery Simmons had a great season, finishing with 11 sacks, but the rest of the pass rushers struggled.
Tennessee ranked 14th in the NFL with 42 sacks.
The secondary allowed the seventh-most passing yards per game (248.3) after dealing with another injury to L'Jarius Sneed and looking for replacements after Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Roger McCreary were traded at the deadline.
The Titans have now added to both position groups. The defensive line now has Jermaine Johnson, John Franklin-Myers, Simmons and rookie Keldric Faulk, along with depth from the other acquisitions.
The secondary has gained veterans Alontae Taylor and Cor'Dale Flott.
Recently, Taylor appeared on Tyrann Mathieu's podcast, "In The Bayou With Tyrann Mathieu." Taylor and Mathieu overlapped at the New Orleans Saints for three seasons from 2022-24.
The Titans corner shared what it was like when he first met with the team.
Taylor immediately wanted Simmons' opinion on what's been wrong with the Titans' defense as of late. Simmons believed that with better coverage, things could start turning in the right direction.
Taylor responded well and said that's why he and Flott were brought to Nashville.
"Man, I talked to Jeff [Simmons] as soon as I got there, and you know, I just kind of asked him, you know, 'What do you think the problems have been in the last couple of years?'" Taylor said. "He expressed a couple of things as far as like, you know, coverage and kind of getting to the quarterback. He always says, like, 'Bro, you cover those guys, we're getting to the quarterback. I promise.' I just told him, I said that's why they brought us here. Me and my boy [Cor'Dale] Flott"
Leave it to Simmons to diagnose what's been wrong with the defense. There is absolutely merit to what he said.
If you look at the Titans' starting corners at the beginning of the year, it was Sneed, McCreary, and Brownlee.
Once Sneed was out of the lineup due to injury, and McCreary and Brownlee were traded, the Titans had little to no answer for replacements.
Darrell Baker, Jalyn Armour-Davis, Kevin Winston, Marcus Harris and Micah Robinson started in the secondary. Harris, Robinson and Winston didn't have any NFL experience since they were all rookies.
Before joining the Titans last season, Armour-Davis had three starts in three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.
Are the Titans' defensive woes more complicated than just improving the secondary? Maybe.
However, after looking at how the quality of corner has depreciated for the Titans lately, it could be the answer to the puzzle.
