Defensive tackle duo Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat give the Tennessee Titans their best chance to be special this season. With just over a week until Simmons, Sweat and the rest report for 2025 training camp, Tennessee's roster will be talked about as having much "potential."
This Titans team cannot afford for two of its best players to not pay off that investment in a meaningful way.
Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat can be elite
Tennessee's best chance at getting out of the AFC South's basement is No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Cam Ward.
Simmons and Sweat, however, will be an essential part of supporting the young passer in close games to get opposing offenses off the field. An elbow injury limited Simmons in 2024 from being the kind of player that saw him ranked fourth among NFL defensive tackles in ESPN's annual positional polling of league executives, coaches and scouts. The former first-round pick missed only one game, but fell well short of his own expectations.
Sweat paid higher dividends than anyone could have imagined as a rookie.
An absolute nightmare to run the football against, Sweat's 699 defensive snaps alleviated any questions about his conditioning coming into the NFL at 6-4, 366 lbs. He accounted for 24 individual run stops, according to Pro Football Focus and still showed plenty of unrealized potential as a pass rusher.
Coach Brian Callahan wants to see Sweat reach that ceiling in Year 2 as a pro.
"His body and skill set is that of, primarily, a first and second down run defender," said Callahan of Sweat during the Titans offseason program. "That's what he does really, really well. But he's also got this unique ability to move for a man his size, and he's got a lot of power.
"One of the things that we have to do up front from the interior of the pocket is we've got to be able to crush the interior of pocket and you've got to be able push it because if the quarterback has nowhere to step up, that a really uncomfortable feeling for quarterbacks and there's no lane to move in. When the interior's coming at you, that's challenging. And we're trying to get more from him in that regard, where he can really transition and use his power and size to collapse the pocket in the quarterback's lap to create more pressures."
Callahan and staff are hoping for a healthy and motivated Simmons to pair with an ascending Sweat to fortify their defense that ranked a pedestrian 17th in overall defensive DVOA last season.
Titans defensive line room
Sebastian Joseph-Day (No. 69): 6-4 / 310 lbs / Age: 30 / Exp: 7 / College: Rutgers
Jeffery Simmons (No. 98): 6-4 / 305 lbs / Age: 27 / Exp: 7 / College: MS. State
T'Vondre Sweat (No. 93): 6-4 / 366 lbs / Age: 24 / Exp: 2 / College: Texas
James Lynch (No. 97): 6-4 / 295 lbs / Age: 26 / Exp: 6 / College: Baylor
Keondre Coburn (No. 91): 6-2 / 332 lbs / Age: 25 / Exp: 3 / College: Texas
Carlos Watkins (No. 96): 6-3 / 305 lbs / Age: 31 / Exp: 9 / College: Clemson
Philip Blidi (No. 95): 6-3 / 284 lbs / Age: 23 / Exp: R / College: Auburn
Cam Horsley (No. 72): 6-3 / 312 lbs / Age: 23 / Exp: R / College: Boston College
Devonte O'Malley (No. 68): 6-3 / 284 lbs / Age: 23 / Exp: R / College: Northern Illinois
Isaiah Raikes (No. 76): 6-1 / 310 lbs / Age: 24 / Exp: R / College: Auburn
