We’ve talked about it a million times already, so using it to set the table once more isn’t going to hurt anybody: the Titans came into this off-season with three glaring needs at premium positions. GM Mike Borgonzi needed to address wide receiver, cornerback, and edge rusher pretty badly.

At receiver, he signed Wan’Dale Robinson, drafted Carnell Tate, and secured Calvin Ridley for one more year. At cornerback, he spent strong in free agency on Alontae Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott to be his starters on the outside. Second year, Day Three developmental CB Marcus Harris appears to be the favorite to win the job in the slot.

But the renovation along the defensive line might be the most extensive of all. Robert Saleh has consistently preached the importance of having a deep stable of talented players to rotate on his front. Jeffrey Simmons was already the crown jewel, but he brought some old friends in to round out the room. And that’s where we get to what I think is the Titans’ backup plan for the need they didn’t quite fill.

Titans pass rush plan is simple, but will it be effective?

With second round EDGE Femi Oladejo already in the fold, the Titans traded for former Saleh first round pick Jermaine Johnson during the NFL Combine. That made the remaining need at this position clear. The strength of this edge room was a lot better off than where we’d started, but they still lacked a true speed edge rusher. The closest thing to this designated pass rush, wide nine alignment, speed archetype is Jacob Martin. He’s the free agent they added for a reasonable price from with the Commanders.

Martin is the kind of guy you love to have in your rotation, but if he’s your go-to DPR, you’re going to be left wanting more. This is why we spent so much of the off-season talking about the possibility of adding Arvelle Reese or David Bailey in the draft. Then once Carnell Tate was the pick at fourth overall, we naturally turned our attention to all of the DPR options that were going to come off the board on Day Two.

But the Titans had other plans, and their trade up into the back of the first round solidified what they intend on doing this year.

Mike Borgonzi jumped back up to pick 31 to grab Auburn edge Kedrick Faulk. It was tremendous value, but Faulk is somebody that profiles more like John Franklin-Myers on this roster than he does Jacob Martin.

Faulk joins a defensive front that’s comprised of Jeffrey Simmons, John Franklin-Myers, Jermaine Johnson, Femi Oladejo, Solomon Thomas, Jordan Elliott, and Jacob Martin. If you know anything about these players, it’s clear to see what this unit is going to be fantastic at: stopping the run.

The theory here is simple. If you put together a defensive front that is an impenetrable wall against the run, it forces your opponent to be one-dimensional. You know what situation even the worst past rushing teams in the league tend to excel in? Pinning your ears back and getting after the passer on third and long. If the Titans can force their opponents into some of the longest third down and distance situations in the league, it’s going to raise the natural floor and ceiling of their pass rush potential.

Given the way, that free agency in the draft panned out, I think this is probably the best backup plan they could come up with for the time-being. It’s not like they have no pass rush potential, they just don’t have a true speed guy to test the boundary. When this group gets home, they’ll be doing so with brute strength, and technical savvy most of the time. John Franklin-Myers and Jeffrey Simmons will be collapsing the interior while these edge rushers worked to crumble the tackles on the perimeter.

If recent trends are any indication, this is hardly a bad way to go! The defending Super Bowl champions weren’t a team with a blue chip, household name edge rushers on their roster. But they were absolutely menacing anyways. Building along the interior of your defensive line is something that has looked like a better and better investment in recent years.

So don’t get it twisted: the ideal version of Robert Saleh’s four man pass rush still involves somebody who can operate at a higher level as a speedy DPR. But with how things shook out this off-season, I think reinforcing your strength in an effort to make your opponent one dimensional is the best strategy Mike Borgonzi could’ve chosen.