Former Titans GM explains why Cedric Gray is a perfect fit for Robert Saleh’s defense
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon selected linebacker Cedric Gray in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Two years later, Gray finished with the fourth-most tackles in football last season with 164, and is primed to continue ascending under new coach Robert Saleh. On Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine, […]
INDIANAPOLIS — Former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon selected linebacker Cedric Gray in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Two years later, Gray finished with the fourth-most tackles in football last season with 164, and is primed to continue ascending under new coach Robert Saleh.
On Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine, Carthon explained how Saleh’s defense could help Gray continue his upward trajectory.
“If he takes any more leaps, he’s going to have 250 tackles a year,” said Carthon on The Buck Reising Show. “The thing about Robert Saleh’s system is it is linebacker oriented. It’s a linebacker defense. That middle linebacker is the focal point of that defense. You go back through “just history of, and we’ll call it the Pete Carroll scheme, right? You look at Bobby Wagner, you look at Fred Warner. Like, Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans, I always give them tons of credit for us drafting Fred Warner. Why? Because Fred Warner at BYU played detached from the formation. He was like a big nickel, so never saw him in the box. But DeMeco and Saleh had a vision for him making him our Mike linebacker. And so putting him in that system, and obviously Fred will be a future Hall of Famer when it’s all said and done.
“But for Cedric Gray, it’s about, again, now you have to reset and put yourself, you know, he’s only known Dennard (Wilson)’s way and now he’s going to come in and learn Saleh’s way, learn what Saleh wants to do, which I think will help him. But again, a lot of that system, and even going back to a Big (T’Vondre) Sweat, you need those guys up front that can eat up space and allow you to roam free.”
Gray is one of five off-ball linebackers under contract in Tennessee this season.
On a defense that has only All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons as a proven commodity, to see Gray entrench himself as a foundational piece under a new coaching staff would solve a critical need for the Titans moving forward.
Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.
