After concluding the offensive portion with a look at center, we begin the defensive part of our trip around the Tennessee Titans position by position as we head into the 2016 offseason with a look at the defensive line.
Like last offseason, I decided to ignore my (fake) planning lump all the defensive linemen together instead of trying to limit this post by (artificially?) carving off some of the players into a separate nose tackle post.
Macro-level question: how good is the Tennessee Titans defensive line grouping? My default answer has been between mediocre and average, with a single standout player and a bunch of rotation types. I still like my default answer. Numbers courtesy of Football Outsiders (I write for FO perma-disclaimer) say the Titans were pretty much in the land of bad mediocrity, good in short yardage and goalline situations (Power, in FO parlance), blah at stopping runs for a loss, average-ish between the tackles, and most of the big runs came to the edges of the defense. And the team as a whole had a good sack rate, though that mostly was not the defensive line (details on that coming in the OLB post).
Jurrell Casey remains the standout player. He led the group and tied for the team lead with 7.0 sacks. He played the most snaps (828, 78.1%). He made the most tackles. He had the most run defeats (an FO stat that includes tackles for loss, turnovers, and third/fourth down stops). He had the most pass defeats. Because of my offseason schedule, I never ended up handing out my normal awards ballot, but he was a strong contender for the defensive MVP award.
We may see less of the Ray Horton fork and more of the “traditional” Dick LeBeau style of defense. Like I mentioned in the preseason positional analysis, though, Dick LeBeau is a sensible human being and should continue to ask Casey to be more of a penetrator than a pure two-gapping run stuffer.
I listed DaQuan Jones seventh among the seven players last offseason, because that’s where he was in the rotation in 2014. I’m listing him second here because that’s where he was in the rotation in 2015 (672 snaps, 63.4%, only non-Casey player to lead the position group in snaps in a game the past two seasons). My evaluations of defensive linemen are just as casual and non-technical as my evaluations of offensive linemen, so I’ll note that Jones was a very solid player who made nearly as many plays against the run as Casey did and fewer downfield (Jones 34 tackles on “successful” offensive runs, Casey 30). He is primarily a base downs performer, did not play nearly as often in sub as Casey did, and on the whole did very little against the pass. That he was a quality rotation player was more than I expected this time last offseason; that a quality run-stuffing rotation player who doesn’t affect the pass is the player I think makes the most sense to list second is more a statement about the position group. Pencil him in for more of the same in 2016 and don’t consider it a failure if he plays less as the Titans search for more pass-rushing chops than he showed.
Depth chart messines! Nobody was within 300 snaps of Jones, so consider the next four players together. In case you’ve missed the last couple years of Titans football, Karl Klug is a rotational pass-rushing specialist who is undersized, has good hand usage, gets blown off the ball against the run, and can give your bad offensive guards fits. His 4.0 sacks were second in the group to Casey. His 332 snaps (31.3%) were right in line with the 317 he had in both 2013 and 2014 (no, really, he played 317 snaps on defense in both 2013 and 2014, and how did I not make a bigger deal of this last offseason), and around 325 is probably a good early line for his 2016 snap count as well as being pretty much the same player he’s been.
By 2015 playing time, Angelo Blackson ranked sixth. By possible 2016 role, he’s probably third and could challenge Jones for second if he makes the same sort of improvement. He played more than the rarely-used Jones did as a rookie. 245 snaps (23.1%) isn’t many, but he played a regular role that peaked at 23 and didn’t dip under 11 after Week 3. He had 2.5 sacks, did okay against the run, and if I wasn’t quitting in March and had a much more technical view of defensive line play would be a great guy to go in-depth into before training camp begins. My 2016 expectations for him start around his 2015 role and go up into 500-600 snaps range, possibly eating into some of Jones’ snaps.
Nose tackle interlude! My past rankings, up to and including in the preseason, had consistently put Al Woods second in the two-man pecking order. He’s deservedly listed first here, as he seemed to surpass the other man. His 357 snaps (33.7% over 14 games, 38.4% when healthy) were more than the other player played. He made the third-most plays (successful and otherwise) against the run, and that’s where his strength is. He’s set to be a free agent this offseason, and the Titans have reportedly expressed an interest in bringing him back. I don’t see him being more than he is, but you could do worse with a rotational run-stopper.
The man Woods passed was Sammie Hill, who ended up playing a pretty quiet 188 snaps (17.7% of total, 27.6% when healthy) after returning from the MCL injury that cost him the first six games. Were I in a different space, this space or a separate post might see an overall analysis of Hill’s Titans career and the free agency decision they made versus what they could have made. But I’m not there, so I don’t do that. He was mostly a run-stuffer, did not do much of anything against the pass, and is set to be a free agent this offseason. My guess is he’s playing elsewhere in 2016.
Once upon a time, the Tennessee Titans made the decision to keep eight defensive linemen on the regular season roster. They made this decision because, oh, look, bright shiny object! Hill’s injury might have justified one extra spot, since they seem to like the top six, but two seemed excessive given the depth issues at other positions. Mike Martin and Ropati Pitoitua combined to be active 11 times and play 82 snaps (Martin 51 snaps in 5 games, 20 of those in Week 1 blowout; Pitoitua 31 snaps in 5 games). Martin is a free agent this offseason, and my best guess is he could be Karl Klug-lite for a 4-3 team. Pitoitua has one more year left on the contract the Titans gave him after he had a solid season in 2013, and with a $3 million base salary should be the first name on every list of potential Titans cap casualties.
Conclusion-Type Things
Four of the top six rotation players are under contract, and a fifth could join them. Depending on what happens with Al Woods, the Titans could maybe use a rotational-level addition. What I think they could really use is another standout player, like a quality interior rusher who is acceptably good enough against the run. The Titans may be hoping that internal growth, from DaQuan Jones, Angelo Blackson, or both, gives them that player. My expectation is that the group remains Jurrell Casey and the rest of the guys, though “the rest of the guys” leaves a lot of room for uncertainty. I’ve been advocating for many years the Titans make a major investment on the defensive line, but I don’t see it happening this offseason and there are bigger problems to fix on defense.
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