Four options for the Titans to replace Taylor Lewan this season
If the Tennessee Titans’ offense wasn’t facing enough problems already, A to Z Sports’Buck Reising reports that the team fears it will be without starting LT Taylor Lewan for the remainder of the 2022 season. Lewan was carted off the field after suffering a non-contact injury to his right knee in the Titans’ Week 2 […]
If the Tennessee Titans’ offense wasn’t facing enough problems already, A to Z Sports’Buck Reising reports that the team fears it will be without starting LT Taylor Lewan for the remainder of the 2022 season.
Lewan was carted off the field after suffering a non-contact injury to his right knee in the Titans’ Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills. It’s the same knee in which Lewan tore his ACL in the 2020 season.
Life without Lewan will not be easy, but here are a few options the Titans should explore in the search for Lewan’s replacement:
RT Nicholas Petit-Freire
Drafted in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Petit-Freire has started at right tackle in each of the Titans’ first two games. Moving him over to protect QB Ryan Tannehill’s blind side is the option that makes the most sense.
Petit-Freire was a two-year starter at Ohio State. After starting the 2020 season at right tackle, he was moved to the left tackle position in 2021. His play on the left side earned him Second-Team All-American honors.
By flipping NPF to left tackle, the Titans would have the option to play Dillon Radunz at right tackle. Radunz lost the starting job at right tackle to Petit-Freire in the offseason, but figures to be the most ready to step in if the Titans opt to move the rookie.
LT Dennis Daley – Titans
If you learned anything from Week 2’s dismantling at the hands of the Bills it’s that Daley is not to be trusted at left tackle.
However, he’s probably the best in-house option if the Titans elect to keep Petit-Freire on the right side.
Daley spent his first three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, logging 21 starts in his tenure.
The Titans traded for Daley in late-August, sending a 2024 fifth-rounder to Carolina in exchange for the offensive lineman and a seventh-round pick in the 2024 draft.
LT Eric Fisher – Free Agent
Fisher has nine years of experience starting at left tackle. He has appeared in 132 games, starting in 128.
Playing his first eight seasons in Kansas City, Fisher’s most recent stop was with the Indianapolis Colts. The two-time Pro Bowler struggled in Indy after returning early from a torn Achilles tendon, which he suffered in his final season with the Chiefs.
Fisher’s explosiveness and athleticism isn’t what it once was, but if he has anything left in his tank it would behoove Titans GM Jon Robinson to make a phone call.
LT/LG Ereck Flowers – Free Agent
Drafted ninth overall in the 2015 draft, Flowers started his first four seasons in the league at left tackle. It wasn’t until he joined Washington in 2019 before he made the switch to left guard.
Now a free agent, Flowers last plated in Washington during 2021 season. He logged 46 starts in the last three seasons at left guard but was released in March.
Like Fisher, it is unclear how much he has left to give.
Standing at six-foot-six and 330 pounds, Robinson might as well check in with his agent to see if he would be available for a workout.
Finding a capable left tackle at this point in the season will not be easy, but it is Robinson’s duty to leave no stone unturned in his search for Lewan's replacement.
Featured image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
