The Tennessee Titans have one position group that feels complete top-to-bottom, and that's the defensive line.

This is the full DL edition of an ongoing article series, breaking down the Titans projected 53-man roster one position at a time. Here's what we've covered so far, in case you've missed it:

• Quarterbacks
• Wide Receivers
• Offensive Tackles
• Interior Offensive Line
• Running Backs
• Tight Ends
• Special Teams
• Edge Rushers
• Linebackers
• Safeties

In this installment, we'll dive into the unit headlined by Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat.

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Defensive Linemen

1. Jeffery Simmons
2. T'Vondre Sweat
3. Sebastian Joseph-Day
4. Keondre Coburn
5. James Lynch

Cut: Philip Blidi, Cam Horsley, Isaiah Raikes, Carlos Watkins, Devonte O’Malley

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Can Simmons Get Titans Fans Back On His Side?

Jeffery Simmons is entering what feels like a pretty big year for the Titans star. The longest tenured player on the roster is in a weird spot with fans of the team, where he’s the consensus best player on the roster who just about everybody wants to see more from. His dominant 2021 and 2022 campaigns have been followed up by 2023 and 2024 seasons that left most wanting for more, in direct correlation to the team’s overall downturn.

Complicating the stakes of his season is the fact that—and I don’t think fans really realize this yet—it’s time for Simmons to get a new contract soon. He has very little guaranteed money left, and there’s a team "out" built into his deal after this season. So it’s put up or shut up time for the talented soon-to-be 28 year old.

In preparation for the season, Simmons is down 20 pounds. Here’s what head coach Brian Callahan had to say about that earlier this summer:

“No, I think that was Jeff (Simmons) looking at himself and at his body at his age, and a lot of these guys, you start to feel as you get older and you’re carrying weight, sometimes dropping a handful of pounds helps your longevity, it helps your body feel good. So, he’s in fantastic shape. Obviously when you look at him, you can see it. He just made the decision he wanted to be a little bit lighter and that’s totally fine.”

And here’s Callahan on Simmons facing double teams, and how he can play better despite drawing so much attention:

“I think it’s a little more nuanced than that. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Most really good interior players are getting a slide to them most of the time so they have to deal with that. But I think one of the things that we can do a better job of collectively up front is our rush working together better. Those things are areas of improvement for us. To where when you are getting double-teamed, someone else is taking advantage of that opportunity and finding ways to get one-on-ones. You can structure your front different ways to keep slides off of guys and you can structure for your rush package to game off those slides.So, I think we can do collectively a better job of putting guys in position up front to have more opportunities and Jeff should benefit from that. Again, I think that’s part of what I talked about earlier, just that outside linebacker group and defensive line group working together more often, meeting together more often so we can do a better job balancing our rushes, we can do a better job gaming our rushes and getting guys in position to get one-on-ones. So that’s on us coaching wise too, to do a good job of that. So yeah, Jeff’s going to get double-teamed, he’s not going to win all of them. Then there’s going to be times where we got to help him find opportunities to get one-on-ones.”

Unlocking T’Vondre Sweat’s Next Gear

Let history show that I was a through-and-through T’Vondre Sweat proponent in the 2024 draft. When the Titans took him, many were quite upset. I was elated. Because (and I get plenty of these wrong) I saw in him what he became his rookie season: a three-down starter who is nails in run defense and provides plenty as a pass rusher.

His rookie year according to PFF earned him a 76.1 overall grade. The telling split was run vs. pass, where he earned a 75 against the run and a 64.5 as a rusher.

This is where he’s looking to step up in 2025, and it’s the only question I have about him: how much can he bring on passing downs? When we look at ESPN’s anonymous defensive line rankings this time of year, there are a lot more Jeffery Simmons types on there than nose tackle types, such as T’Vondre Sweat. The Jordan Davis’s and Vita Vea’s of the world are few and far between. Can Sweat be one of those guys? I think it’s possible. Here’s Brian Callahan on Sweat’s next step:

“I think it’s the details of the position. He’s a supremely talented person. There’s not a lot of people on the planet that can do what he does at his size. And it’s more about the consistency of performance. I’d like to see more from the pass rush game. He’s got ability to rush for a man his size and that’s a point of emphasis for him is affecting the quarterback more. He’s a tremendous run defender, that was a strength of his already from last year. Part of it’s going to be just improving the detail and then improving the ability to help affect the quarterback. So I think those are the things we’re looking for progression wise from him. And he has the ability to be a full three-down player. He’s not necessarily your explosive interior pass rushers that are out there. But he’s got great ability to push the pocket too. So looking for more of that from him and I think he had a solid start to his career and I think there’s a whole lot more meat on that bone for him.”

Rare Decent Depth

The Titans are not a team anybody would characterize as “deep”. But at defensive line specifically… they actually are! It’s no coincidence that new GM Mike Borgonzi came in and immediately re-signed some of these guys even though they aren’t his own, something he hasn’t generally done. He’s smart enough to realize that this might be his only position group that multiple other teams would line up to swap for their own, today.

Sebastian Joseph-Day is a big leader on this team, and somebody his coaches lean on to play his role behind Simmons and Sweat. He’s a roster lock. I’m projecting 2024 contributors Keondre Coburn and James Lynch to make up the final two spots in this room, but there’s some intrigue competing behind them heading into camp. Carlos Watkins has played 87 career games, which is a ton of experience. And a slew of UDFA rookies make up the rest of the depth chart right now. Any one of them could pop off and surprise folks.

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