Predicting Titans cornerback changes
Predicting Titans cornerback changes
After the game, many assumed Perrish Cox would be benched. Paul Kuharsky tweeted that Cox allowed Luck to be perfect throwing in his direction(6 for 6) as per PFF. This fueled that line of thinking.
Valentino Blake botched a fake punt and touched the ball around the two yard line on another punt. This led to people saying Blake should be benched or cut.
Three weeks ago, Phillip Rivers had his way with the Titans secondary as Antonio Gates, Tyrell Williams, and Dontrell Inman combined for 17 catches. Two weeks ago, Aaron Rodgers threw for 316 yards in three quarters. Jordy Nelson had 12 catches for 126 yards and Davante Adams had 9 catches for 156 yards.
Last week, the Titans really weren’t that bad. Frank Gore had a 49 yard catch and run which is on Sean Spence. Phillip Dorsett had a 50 yard catch. TY Hilton had a 50 yard catch. Those big plays were huge and “broke their back” but otherwise, the cornerbacks played well. There weren’t any 100 yard receivers against the Colts.
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Coordinator Dick Lebeau likes to blitz his safeties, especially Byard. When Andrew Luck recognized there was no safety (or outfielder) deep, he chucked it. This is how Lebeau defenses have been attacked for as long as I can remember. By my count, Luck was 1 for 3 hitting the speedy Dorsett deep. This problem is on Lebeau some; he has to take some of the responsibility with this.
On two occasions, TY Hilton wanted the ball more than the cornerback. TY had an excellent “my ball mentality.” The pass was near and either player could have grabbed it, but (as they say) TY wanted it more. This left a bitter taste with fans too.
It’s important to note that this is not a new problem. Also, this is not in anyway exclusive to Blake or Cox.
Jordy Nelson moved around but was covered by Jason McCourty most often, by my count. That was one of the worst cornerback performances. 12 catches is ridiculous.
Nelson and TY have been in the slot plenty, as was Adams on a play or two, so slot cornerback Brice McCain isn’t free from blame either.
The quote that started this was during Monday’s presser. Coach Mike Mularkey said “We’re discussing that(a cornerback change) yes.”
McCourty is one of the highest paid Titans and a leader on the defense. Chances are he is not getting benched.
Kalan Reed is on the practice squad. He was impressive in preseason- quite impressive for “Mr Irrelevant” but, a bump up would be to gameday sub, not gameday starter.
Mularkey has shown faith in Blake that has been discussed here. It doesn’t seem to be warranted, but he’s something of a coach’s “pet” or favorite. The non-fans of Blake may cringe, but he is most likely to be promoted to starter. He puts his time in n special teams and has the coach’s confidence-warranted or not.
Cody Riggs was cut.
Jeremiah McKinnon was signed to the practice squad recently. A bump up for him would be to gameday sub, not starter.
Curtis Riley was cut as a cornerback last season. He made the team as a safety in 2016. They don’t need another safety active.
Ray Horton and Dick Lebeau chose to use safeties as cornerback subs and converted Cody Sensabaugh to a safety. The team seems to adore rookie Kevin Byard. This former thinking would lend toward Byard playing corner. The issue with this is simply that safeties aren’t generally so good at coverage. They cover zones more often than man to man. He is a key cog at safety. He shouldn’t be moved.
My prediction– LeShaun Sims. When Rodgers was “gutting” the Titans secondary, Lebeau called upon Sims to sub in and he came through. He only played five plays. I noticed two contested passes and one overthrown. One play I struggled to make out the number and could be mistaken. He did allow a significant completion, but that “fight” was there and ….it was nice to see a corner battling a wide receiver.
Oh geesh, I guess so, reality- Mularkey or Lebeau could just switch McCain and Cox and call that a lineup change. Cox was a slot corner earlier in his career.
The Bears should be without Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffrey this week. If they are to be down their top wide receiver and top quarterback, this is the perfect week to “take a chance” or “send a message.” Cox said his arm hurts some. How about a week off for him to heal up? How about benching Blake? How about getting Reed active so he “gets his feet wet?” The Bears also score the second lowest amount of points in the NFL. This is the week to try something different.
The Titans coaches have seen significant improvement from the team in 2016. The secondary has not. Many have the Titans drafting a corner or two in the 2017 draft. One change may be DeShea Townsend or Steve Jackson. Both secondary coaches should be “on their heels” now and planning to energize thier unit for whatever upcoming change is about to take place.
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