Ben Arthur
AFC South Reporter
Just a few weeks ago, outside expectations for the Titans entering 2024 were understandably low.
New coach in Brian Callahan. Back-to-back losing seasons. An unproven quarterback in Will Levis. One of football’s worst offensive lines. Derrick Henry’s inevitable departure.
Many team observers saw the Titans’ biggest priority for the upcoming season to be not about wins and losses, but to simply figure out if Levis is the team’s franchise quarterback.
While that’s still the case, Tennessee’s trade for Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed served as a punctuation to a growing reality: The Titans may have the chance to shock the NFL world in 2024.
Sneed was acquired from Kansas City on Friday for a seventh-round pick swap this year and a third-round pick in 2025. With the star corner, whose acquisition isn’t official until he passes a physical, the Titans have cobbled together a sneaky competitive roster for 2024, one that can contend in a rising AFC South.
On paper, Sneed’s addition gives Tennessee one of the best cornerback trios in the NFL — playing under new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, a well-regarded defensive backs specialist, to boot.
Sneed was one of the best cornerbacks in football last season. He was heavily penalized — he led the league with 18 penalties, according to NFLpenalties.com — but he was outstanding in coverage for Kansas City. Of the 47 cornerbacks who played at least 400 coverage snaps in 2023, Sneed was one of just four to not allow a touchdown, according to Next Gen Stats. He didn’t give up a score until the Chiefs’ divisional-round playoff game against the Bills.
Like Sneed, Titans third-year pro Roger McCreary is another of the four qualified cornerbacks who didn’t give up a touchdown last season. Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie, who signed a three-year, $36 million deal with Tennessee in free agency, give the team competent, veteran experience on…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/with-ljarius-sneed-titans-have-put-together-sneaky-competitive-team
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Publish date : 2024-03-25 16:01:41
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