ESPN analyst predicts Tennessee Titans will lose at least 12 games in 2023. Too old.
One ESPN analyst is taking a hard stance against the Tennessee Titans' chances this season.
ESPN released its team previews for the 2023 season on Monday ahead of Week 1 action which begins Thursday. The Titans open their season Sunday (noon, CBS) against the New Orleans Saints, trying to get back to the postseason after losing seven-straight games to miss the playoffs at the end of last season.
Even though ESPN's Football Power Index gives the Titans a 31% chance of making the playoffs and a 23% chance of winning the AFC South while facing the NFL's seventh-easiest schedule, analyst Seth Walder is ignoring the data. When tasked with making one bold prediction about the Titans' season, Walder picked the Titans finishing well below FPI's projected win total of 7.9.
"The Titans will lose at least 12 games," Walder wrote. "This is the year it all finally breaks down. The offensive line is too bad, Derrick Henry and (DeAndre) Hopkins are too old, and the offense ceases to function at a contending level. I've lost by betting against Mike Vrabel before, but I'm giving it another shot."
The Titans haven't lost 12 or more games in a season since 2015, back before Vrabel was even an NFL defensive coordinator, and have only lost that many games three times since moving to Tennessee in 1997.
Henry turns 30 years old on Jan. 4 and Hopkins, who the Titans signed to a two-year contract in July, turned 31 in June. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill turned 35 in July. This makes the Titans the only team in the NFL expecting to start a quarterback, running back and No. 1 receiver all at ages 29 or older.
Still, Henry was the NFL's second-leading rusher in 2022 behind an offensive line that was arguably worse than the one he'll be playing with this season and Hopkins ranked top 10 in the league in receiving yards per game last season, giving the Titans two skill players who are outperforming the expectations based on their age.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: ESPN analyst predicts 2023 Tennessee Titans will lose at least 12 games
