Pro Football Focus recently revealed the Tennessee Titans rookies who earned the highest and lowest grade during the preseason.
It comes as no surprise that cornerback Elijah Molden (85.7) ranked No. 1 among Titans rookies in the preseason, per PFF. On the flip side, fellow cornerback Caleb Farley (51.9) landed the lowest grade.
Here’s what PFF’s Michael Renner had to say about both 2021 draft picks:
Farley’s grade came on such a limited sample size — 27 coverage snaps — that I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Molden’s 68 total snaps of quality play in run defense, coverage and as a blitzer are far more indicative, in my opinion. He showed his playmaking ability regardless of assignment and put a handful of wildly impressive reps on tape. This is your starting slot corner.
While Molden is set to be the team’s top slot corner in 2021, Farley will begin the season as a backup, something that isn’t wholly surprising considering the circumstances.
After all, Farley spent the offseason recovering from back surgery and didn’t play a single snap at Virginia Tech in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Farley attributed his early struggles to being rusty.
“I think it’s rust,” Farley said. “I think it’s just coming back off of my injury and getting my feet back under me. … Just getting back comfortable and trusting my abilities again.”
We firmly believe Farley will be just fine, and the Titans have enough at the position for now to have patience with their first-round pick. We do hope, however, that Farley figures things out at some point this season.
Leave a Reply