Will changes lead to more sack production for the Tennessee Titans?
The Tennessee Titans made a conscious effort to get bigger and stouter at EDGE this offseason. New general manager Mike Borgonzi made sweeping changes to the position. Dre’Mont Jones and Lorenzo Carter were signed in free agency. Harold Landry was released from his contract, and Femi Oladejo was drafted in the second round.
Jones is listed at 6-foot-3 and 281 pounds, though that’s likely a little outdated, as he confirmed he was closer to 270 at minicamp. Carter is also in that 260-270 range. Oladejo was 259 pounds at the NFL Combine and rookies usually shed some weight to test better. Titans head coach Brian Callahan and defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson consistently discussed the philosophical shift during OTAs and mandatory minicamp.
“I feel good about the players we added,” Callahan said at minicamp. “The dimensions of the outside linebacker position, I think we’re bigger, stouter, and stronger at that spot, just body type wise. That’s by design. We’ll see if we’re better than we were a year ago.”
Jones echoed that sentiment.
“We’re bigger body guys out there,” Jones said during minicamp. “We’re coming out here to [expletive] some people up, put hands on people, get nasty. Stop the run obviously, but I’m coming out there to [expletive] stuff up.”
Landry was roughly 252 pounds. The Titans’ three new edge rushers have approximately 10-15 pounds on him. It’s worth noting the smaller, speedier Arden Key is still a primary rusher, but it’s clear Borgonzi, Callahan, and Wilson oversaw a shift at EDGE this offseason.
That doesn’t necessarily guarantee the Titans will be better, which is what ultimately matters. They finished tied for 30th (third-worst) in sacks last season with 32.0 and desperately need to improve their sack production in 2025. Landry was their sack leader despite his body-type no longer fitting their preferred profile, but money and a fall-off in down-to-down efficiency were the real reasons they released him.
Jones recorded just four sacks for the Seattle Seahawks last season. Carter didn’t record any sacks for the Atlanta Falcons, though he’s had four-plus sacks on three different occasions in his career. Oladejo is continuing to make strides as a pass rusher after playing inside linebacker for the majority of his college career.
Wilson’s defense also finished 26th in rushing yards allowed last season (133.9). They hope bigger, tougher, stouter EDGEs will also help improve that metric. I’d wager that shotty linebacker play also contributed to that lackluster result, and that position also happens to be a big-time projection heading into 2025, given they’ll be reliant on steps forward from inexperienced sophomores James Williams and Cedric Gray, with one of them playing next to free-agent signing Cody Barton in base defense.
The Titans made offseason changes at outside linebacker in pursuit of improvement. There’s no guarantee that being stouter at EDGE will lead to increased sack or run-defense production, however. The on-field results will be telling. Hopefully the Titans didn’t sacrifice talent for size.