Pro Football Focus names the 3 best players on the Titans' roster
Pro Football Focus writer Ben Kinsey took a shot this week at naming the three best players on each NFL roster. Kinsey selected two defensive players and one offensive player for the Tennessee Titans. Here are Kinsey's three best players on Tennessee's roster: Derrick Henry — Running BackJeffery Simmons — Defensive LinemanKevin Byard — Safety […]
Pro Football Focus writer Ben Kinsey took a shot this week at naming the three best players on each NFL roster.
Kinsey selected two defensive players and one offensive player for the Tennessee Titans.
Here are Kinsey's three best players on Tennessee's roster:
- Derrick Henry — Running Back
- Jeffery Simmons — Defensive Lineman
- Kevin Byard — Safety
From PFF:
Henry was off to yet another prolific rushing stat line in 2021 before he was sidelined by a foot injury. There is some reason for concern about the workload he’s carried in recent seasons and the track record of short-shelf lives at the running back position, but he still enters 2022 as one of the best in the NFL.
Tennessee’s defense is headed by Simmons upfront and Byard on the back end. There are moments — like his nine-pressure performance against the Rams last season — where Simmons is unblockable, as his 62 quarterback pressures during the regular season last year ranked fifth among all interior defensive linemen. Byard is one of the more reliable and well-rounded safeties in the NFL. He has earned 80.0-plus PFF grades as a run defender and coverage defender in three of the last five seasons while playing over 1,000 defensive snaps every year.
These were pretty easy choices for Kinsey and Pro Football Focus.
Henry is one of the best players in the NFL, so of course he's one of the Titans' best players. And Simmons has quickly emerged as one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL.
As for Byard, he's a consistent performer (he's reached two Pro-Bowls) that has never missed a game in his NFL career. The former Middle Tennessee standout has proved to be one of general manager Jon Robinson's best draft selections (Byard was selected in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft).
The Titans will undoubtedly miss wide receiver AJ Brown in 2022 (traded to the Philadelphia Eagles), but this is a team that can easily repeat as the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. Tennessee has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. If Henry can stay healthy all season, the offense should be the best in the AFC South.
Featured image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
