True thumpers aren’t as common amongst NFL linebackers as they used to be.

But Cedric Gray is more of one than most. His ability to fill gaps and wreak havoc working downhill is impressive. He broke out in his second year and is the best linebacker on the Tennessee Titans’ roster that Robert Saleh has inherited. But is he what Saleh needs? And what do we make of Cody Barton’s fit in this system?

Saleh sat down with us in Phoenix, Arizona this week at the NFL’s annual Owners Meetings and shared some eye-opening insight on what he needs from the linebackers in his defense. It’s left me with a simple conclusion: the Titans probably need linebacker help more than most of us realize.

Robert Saleh’s biggest misconception about the linebackers in his defense

During free agency, there was a lot of chatter about the Titans being in the market for an upgrade at linebacker. I was somebody pushing the idea that they wanted an upgrade here. There were even some whispers about them poking around the trade market. Ultimately, they came away empty handed. But I haven’t been given any reason to think that their alleged interest wasn’t real. Keep reading, and I think you’ll see why it made sense then and still makes sense now.

Here is what Robert Saleh had to say about how LB Cody Barton fits into his defense, since he is the player highlighted as likely to be bumped down to a rotational role if the right addition is made.

“Cody’s played in our system, so he’s gonna know exactly how to play it,” Saleh began. “As long as he can get to the outside of the numbers, he will be all right, and Cody’s very capable.”

This is your run-of-the-mill gladhanding from a coach about a current player of theirs. That isn’t to say Barton is some bum, but I remain highly skeptical that he’s the right fit to be a starter alongside Gray in this completely different scheme.

That being said, Saleh did take this opportunity to point out what he sees as one of the biggest misconceptions about his defense:

“You know, one of the things that… I almost feel like it’s easier for the linebacker, especially for the Mike (middle linebacker) in our system, because the range at which we ask them to cover isn’t nearly as much as people think. You know, as we go through OTAs and training camp, he’ll start to get a feel for what he needs to defend on a play-in and play-out basis, which will tighten up his drops and getting closer to where he needs to get to, which will increase his speed, if you will. So I think Cody, Cody’s got great instincts. He’s got great awareness, and he’s proven that over time. So hopefully we can maximize who he was.”

This is where we start to get into the imperfect fit of it all. The Titans toyed around with Cedric Gray as the Mike and Cody Barton as the Will (weak side LB) last season, but ultimately needed Barton in that Mike communication role. So most of the season, we saw Gray as the Will and Barton as the Mike. Let’s hear the rest from Saleh before digging into that further. Here was his response when asked to elaborate on his defense not requiring as much range from the linebackers as many seem to think it does:

“We do, and we don’t (require range). like, for example, the Mike linebacker, he’s hook to hook. He’s monitoring the hash marks, basically. And there are times where he’s got to expand a little bit, based on the scheme that we’re getting. But our system always transfers stress from one position to the next, and we’re always trying to move it… You know, back in the day, the linebackers, there’s stress on them 60 plays a game from the Seattle system. Based on how we do things, we’ll transfer stress to the linebackers, then to the safeties, then to the corners based on play call, just to keep the moving target away.”

My biggest takeaway from this is that Saleh is saying, no, I don’t need superheroes at linebacker for my defense to work. His history of working with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw in San Francisco, as well as CJ Mosley and Quincy Williams in New York, kind of betrays him here. Just because he has had great players doesn’t mean he needs them, at least as I’m interpreting this. But I think he does need the right kind of players.

This is most emphasized by his description of the role of his Will LB:

Will linebacker is a little more, I don’t want to say versatile, in the sense that he’s got more to do. In terms of…we’ll ask him to defend the flats. We’ll ask him to defend the hooks. Yes, he’s got more responsibility from a technical standpoint.”

So the Mike patrols hook-to-hook (hash-to-hash), and the Will covers even more ground form hook to the flat. How does that pertain to Cedric Gray and Cody Barton?

Why Tennessee needs a different type of linebacker

To understand this question of player fit, you have to understand how fundamentally different Saleh’s San Fran defense is from the Baltimore system Dennard Wilson employs.

Put extremely simply, I think it boils down to being asked to play north-south vs east-west. Look at some of the standout skillsets in this Baltimore system around the league. We’re talking about Roquan Smith and Ernest Jones, as well as how well I think Cedric Gray does/did start to fit into that system as he developed. Dennard asked more of his backers getting north and south than a lot of other defenses do.

Saleh asks a lot more east to west. To his own point this week, it isn’t as dramatic a lateral ask as many seem to think it is. And point taken! But a lateral skillset, especially for his Will, seems like a necessity.

Who is that guy on this roster? I think Cedric Gray is a classic Mike LB archetype, and that’s why the Titans toyed with it last year. I believe his skillset could work well at that spot in this Saleh defense. But is he an ideal fit as the Will again, now that the scheme has swapped? I think that’s a tall ask and doesn’t maximize him as a player.

And the communication element could come into play again for all I know, not that the green dot has to be the Mike LB. If the chips all fall and the Titans are still looking at playing Grey and Barton, perhaps they try to fit this square peg into a round hole with them in their same roles from last year. But I just don’t see that as being something they want to do.

Believe it or not, the player that you could argue has the best physical ability to play this Will role might be James Williams, the converted safety from his days at Miami. Perhaps a Saleh development masterclass is on the table here, but that’s also something I don’t expect them to bank on. So long story short, the more I look into this setup, the more convinced I am that the Titans need another linebacker worse than just about everybody is thinking they do. And it leads me to believe drafting one with a valuable pick is more firmly on the table than most realize.

Linebackers who fit what the Titans need in the 2026 NFL Draft

So who could the Titans target in this draft to pair with Cedric Gray as a strong fit for Will LB in this system? A to Z draft analyst Ryan Roberts put together a list of targets ranging from Rounds 3-5:

Kaleb Elarms-Orr | LB | TCU

Consensus Big Board: 134th

The former Cal transfer is one of the more underrated linebackers in this class and has an outside chance to go inside of the top-100. He has outstanding overall range and speed on the second level, particularly playing in pursuit. Elarms-Orr is an inconsistent processor and will need some time to get comfortable in an NFL defense. There is a bit of a developmental feel to his game but the long-term payback could be huge. 

Kyle Louis | LB | Pittsburgh 

Consensus Big Board: 77th

Louis is one of the more interesting linebackers in the 2026 class. He’s an undersized second level defender who has spent the majority of his time as an overhang player. That brings some cloudiness to his evaluation due to lack of reps playing stacked, but Louis is physical enough to figure it out if his processing speed takes a step forward. The amount of fun and versatile things you can do with Louis is extremely interesting for a creative defensive coordinator. 

Jake Golday | LB | Cincinnati

• Consensus Big Board: 56th

You can insert the same concerns for Louis and paste it for Golday. Despite him being around 6-4 and 240 pounds, Golday spent the majority of his snaps as an overhang. He’s a really rangy athlete who moves exceptionally well for his size. Just how well will Golday’s game translate as a true inside linebacker? Nobody really knows, but there are obvious physical traits to make that transition.

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