Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has mixed man and zone coverages throughout the early portion of the 2042 season. When Wilson was hired, the expectation was that the Titans would be a man-heavy defense that blitzed the heck out of opposing quarterbacks. That hasn't necessarily been the case.
Wilson has shown a willingness to adapt, particularly with the rest of the league shifting to two-high defensive coverages that are designed to prevent explosive passing plays. It's working well, considering scoring and passing touchdowns have reached historical lows over the past 15 years.
The Titans have been in Cover 4 defense with four deep defenders on 27% of their defensive coverages, according to data collected by Football Insights. It's a semi-extreme coverage concept designed to prevent the opposition from hitting over-the-top passes. Tennessee's 27% mark in Cover 4 is second-highest in the league, with only the Houston Texas employing such looks more frequently at 28%. The Baltimore Ravens, who Wilson worked for last season, aren't far behind at 26%.
Wilson isn't overly-utilizing Cover 4, however. It's just slightly his most frequent coverage call. The Titans have also been in Cover 1 on 26% of their defensive coverages, and Cover 3 on 25%. Cover 1 is Wilson's man-to-man defense with one lurking safety roaming the deep zone, and Cover 3 is another zone-heavy concept with four underneath defenders, and three deep ones.
What's really interesting about this chart is that Wilson has called Cover 0 defense on a second-most 9% of defensive coverages. Only the Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders (10%) are calling the aggressive defense more frequently. Cover 0 is pure man-to-man coverage with no deep defender, a dying play-call in today's two-high safety league. Wilson learned that type of aggression under Todd Bowles and Gregg Williams, two defensive mentors of his who specialized in such calls (though Bowles has adapted, calling Cover 0 on just 4% of coverages this season).
It insinuates Wilson is towing a fine line between being aggressive and following league trends.
On Thursday, Wilson discussed defending the run from two-high looks, which places more stress on the box defenders in the run game. It offers insight into why the Titans were so intrigued by pairing Jeffery Simmons with T'Vondre Sweat. Simmons and Sweat could plug the middle, allowing Wilson to drop more defenders in coverage.
"If you have a defense that can stop the run with a light box, it gives you the best of both worlds because now you eliminate the explosive plays," Wilson told Turron Davenport. "If you can stop the run with a light box and still have overlap defenders on deep play-action passes, you're good. It's a chess match," Wilson added.
That offers insight into Wilson's defensive philosophy. The Titans have blitzed opposing pockets on 26.4% of their defensive snaps, 11th-highest in the league, according to Pro Football Reference. It sort of matches their philosophy in coverage. The Titans are aggressive, compared to metrics around the league, but they're also safe and vanilla when they need to be.
It's a shame the Titans are so poor at rushing the passer when they fail to blitz. They currently rank 26th in pass-rushing pressure percentage at 16.5%. ESPN Stats & Info has their pass-block-win-rate (PBWR) at a 29th-best 43%. It's also worth noting that while the Titans can defend the run up the middle from two-high, they've consistently struggled to defend the edges, which is dangerous versus a Miami Dolphins team that gets speed on the edges from Tyreek Hill, De'Von Achane, and Jaylen Waddle.
The Dolphins are expected to start Tyler "Snoop" Huntley against the Titans on Monday. That may tempt Wilson to employ his Cover 0 defense with more frequency, but he should still be wary of Hill and Waddle making explosive plays, regardless of who the quarterback is. Defendin the edges with more success is also a requirement, regardless of defensive coverage.
