The Tennessee Titans are nowhere near the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Yet, there are Titans influences on all 14 rosters of the playoff teams.
Between active players on the 53-man rosters, practice squad players and those on injured reserve, would you believe there are 54 players with at least some past tie to the Titans in this postseason? That’s enough to field a full active roster with an extra guy for a practice squad.
And it doesn’t even include the best player the Titans allowed to get away in that span, Derrick Henry, whose Baltimore Ravens missed out on the playoffs, thanks to a missed field goal at the end of their game with Pittsburgh.
Local radio personality Buck Reising coined the term “Titans legend” to refer to former Titans who made at least a nominal contribution during recent years to the local franchise. It’s a term that I’ve sort of taken and run with, as it really is fascinating to see so many players who have passed through here just over the past five or six seasons still sticking around and contributing in the league.
There are former star players for the Titans, such as Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, safety Kevin Byard with the Bears and Patriots edge rusher Harold Landry. But there are plenty more players who spent time in Tennessee either as a starter, role player, backup or maybe just a camp body that are on the playoff rosters in this postseason.
This weekend saw Roger McCreary break up a key third down in the Rams’ win against the Panthers, Josh Whyle make a key catch on the Packers’ last-ditch drive against Chicago and Teair Tart tip a pass that led to an interception for the Chargers. Da’Shawn Hand, who was with the Titans briefly, recovered a Drake Maye fumble for L.A. Sunday night.
And, of course, the crown jewel is Mike Vrabel, who guided the Patriots to a 13-4 record as a first-year head coach in New England after fired by Tennessee two years ago.
Why not here?
So if that many players (and coaches) with past Titans ties are good enough to be on the teams that made the postseason, why didn’t it work out in Tennessee? The Titans are at the bottom of the barrel at 3-14 and is 19-49 during their four-year slump.
Well, most of the ex-Titan playoff players are defenders. During their slide, most of the Titans’ problems have been on offense, especially the offensive line at offensive tackle, in particular.
It also didn’t help that once quarterback Ryan Tannehill began having injury problems, the Titans were left with young players and journeyman backups as their quarterback options. Rookie Malik Willis struggled trying to replace Tannehill in 2022. Now, with Green Bay, he looks solid enough to possibly be a starter for some team in 2026.
The other options, Will Levis and Cam Ward, also had steep learning curves as young signal callers in less-than-ideal situations. Both are still with the Titans, who have to hope that Ward, especially, will begin to turn the corner and provide stability at the most important spot on the field.
Wrong all around
Lack of stability has been key to why the Titans have struggled and might explain why so many former Titans are now thriving elsewhere.
The constant turnover of coaches and general managers have taken a toll on the organization. There is no need to rehash the draft failures of 2020-23, but with change in leadership comes constant changes in philosophy. And players who might have been key pieces for one coach or general manager are suddenly expendable or simply discarded when another regime takes over.
Everyone knows about Jon Robinson’s mistake in moving Brown to the Eagles, but what of Ran Carthon, who saw a big salary but didn’t value the leadership and locker room savvy that Byard brought to the Titans? The three-time Pro Bowler – including this year – was traded for a third-day draft pick.
Tart wore out his welcome under Vrabel and was sent packing, while Brian Callahan and his staff didn’t have room for Elijah Molden and Hassan Haskins, both of whom are key contributors for the Chargers.
It adds up to this: It wasn’t that the Titans didn’t have good players who could have helped them out during their recent struggles. It was just the wrong place, the wrong time and the wrong dynamic caused by so much inconsistency and change in the Titans organization.
Terry McCormick also covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com