The Tennessee Titans need to protect Will Levis on Sunday
The Tennessee Titans spent premium resources on improving their offensive line in the offseason. General manager Ran Carthon drafted left tackle JC Latham with the No. 7 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. He also made Lloyd Cushenberry one of the highest-paid centers in the league. The cherry on top was the addition of legendary position coach Bill Callahan.
Growing pains were inevitable. Head coach Brian Callahan installed a new scheme, and as positive as those acquisitions were, they also meant the offense had four new week-one starters at a position that prefers continuity. But given the capital spent on improvement, Sunday's performance against the Chicago Bears looked far too similar to the preventative units fielded in 2022 and 2023.
Starting quarterback Will Levis was sacked on three occasions. More concerning was how often he was under pressure. Levis was pressured on 39.5% of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Several Chicago Bears defenders are listed near the top of their respective positions in ESPN's pass-rush-win-rate (PRWR).
The left side, the more inexperienced bunch, particularly struggled in pass protection. Latham and left guard Peter Skoronski allowed a team-high five pressures apiece. As a unit, the Titans finished Week 1 ranked dead-last in ESPN's pass-block-win-rate (PBWR) at just 29%.
Ben Baldwin, aka The Computer Cowboy, does a fantastic job combining rankings from several trustworthy analytics-based outlets such as Pro Football Focus, ESPN, and Sports Info Solutions to create one composite ranking. Combining the data from all three, The Titans scored an 18 on a grading scale from 0 to 100. That ranked 31st in Baldwin's data, besting just the Los Angeles Rams, who dealt with various injuries to their starting offensive lineman in the middle of their Week 1 game.
If there's a saving grace for the Titans' work-in-progress offensive line, it's that the Jets did a piss-poor job rushing the passer in Week 1. Robert Saleh's defense sacked San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy twice, but context is key. One was a breakdown that led to an unblocked sack, and the other occurred via a safety blitz.
The Jets' pass-rush-win-rate (PRWR) was ironically similar to the Titans' protection unit. They posted a PRWR of just 25%, ranked 30th in the league. Something's gotta' give.
The Titans invested in the offensive line. Sunday's performance came nowhere near meeting expectations. They should showcase weekly growth, and Sunday's game versus an undermanned Jets unit would represent an appropriate time to get things trending in the desired direction.
