Titans' offensive-line woes at crux of issues early in 2023

The Tennessee Titans' blew up their offensive line in the offseason. 

They cut longtime left tackle Taylor Lewan and center Ben Jones as cap casualties. They let right guard Nate Davis walk in free agency. Then in came rookie Peter Skoronski, the No. 11 overall pick. In came Andre Dillard, a former first-round pick who didn't pan out with the Eagles. In came veteran Daniel Brunskill, who had ties to new general manager Ran Carthon from their days with the 49ers. It wasn't just youth that was prioritized. It was about athleticism and versatility, too. 

The group that was supposed to be revamped has been a mess so far for the Titans (1-2), collectively. Poor offensive-line play has been at the crux for their disjointed offense — which is tied for third-worst in the NFL averaging just 15 points per game — entering Sunday's game against the Bengals (1 p.m. ET on FOX). 

The Titans have given up 13 sacks so far this season, tied for second-worst in the league. That includes five in each of the past two games. Only one team has a worse adjusted sack rate than Tennessee's 13.5%, according to FTN Data. The Titans are allowing a 38.%% pressure rate per dropback, 22nd in the league, according to Next Gen Stats. 

The run game, Tennessee's bread-and-butter for years, has been a struggle, too. Star Derrick Henry is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry, on pace for the worst of his career. The Titans are tied for 21st in adjusted line yards, which measures offensive-line responsibility on running back carries, per FTN. For reference, they were 18th the year before, 16th in 2021 and second in 2020. Tennessee's run blocking has been on the decline for years. 

The Titans' offensive line wasn't expected to be fixed overnight. It takes time to build continuity with many different faces. Skoronski, the No. 11 overall pick, has missed the last two games after an emergency appendectomy, too. Nicholas Petit-Frere, the team's starting right tackle last season, is slated to be reinstated on Monday after serving a four-game suspension to start the year for violating the league's gambling policy.

Playing three strong defensive fronts to start the year (Saints, Chargers, Browns) can certainly exacerbate issues. 

But the play upfront must improve. 

"Making sure we understand who we're working with," offensive coordinator Tim Kelly said Thursday. "Making sure we understand the different checks, plays, looks that may be triggering based upon what we're seeing. And then understanding when we have help. There are going to be times when we have to go out there and win one-on-one matchups and understand when that is going to happen and what techniques we need to use to make that happen." 

Dillard has been particularly problematic. The Titans signed him to a three-year, $29 million deal in free agency, but he's been their biggest liability to start the year. According to Pro Football Focus, he's given up six sacks and 16 pressures through three games, ranking worst and third-worst in the NFL among all offensive linemen, respectively.

Dillard is getting paid a lot of money. And until Skoronski returns (he's been the left guard to start the year) or Petit-Frere becomes eligible, the Titans don't have a strong internal replacement for him anyway. So the best choice for Tennessee appears to be riding the storm with him. 

Titans coaches say it hasn't been all bad with Dillard. Coach Mike Vrabel acknowledged Wednesday that there will be times Sunday where Dillard will be lined up one-on-one with the Bengals' Trey Hendrickson, a Pro Bowl pass rusher each of the last two seasons. 

"You go and you watch the tape, there are times where he's singled up on arguably one of the best pass rushers in the NFL and he's blocking him, doing a good job," Kelly said. "Again, it's finding that, ‘OK, look: here are the techniques that we're teaching that you're using and when we do it consistently, you're pretty effective. In terms of athleticism and his ability to match and mirror on the edge, it's up there. Just being able to continue to trust the techniques and trusting in his ability to be able to go out there and execute because when he does, it looks pretty good." 

The Titans could also help out the offensive line by staying on schedule. They're tied for 22nd in the league with 21 accepted penalties on offense, according to Pro Football Reference. Seven of the 10 sacks they've allowed in the last two games have come on second- and third-and-long. 

Kelly acknowledged that he can call better plays on first down to avoid those situations. 

"If we're living in that world, it's going to be hard," he said of facing second- and third-and-long. "I don't care who you have blocking. That's hard. Those guys are pinning their ears back. They don't have to worry about any time of run in that situation and they're able to go rush the passer, which is what they get paid to do and work all day on. So we have to do a better job of staying out of those situations." 

Brunskill is confident the unit can find consistency in the long term. 

"I think we've done a good job communicating like in-game, when teams hit a certain pressure or game package," he said Thursday. "To be able to take that and be like, what can be fixed on the sidelines? … And if they bring something that they got home, to be able to fix that on the sideline and go back (in).  I think guys have communicating really well on the sidelines. Then also just getting into our double teams and getting guys down the field. I think we've done a decent job of getting that. Now, we just have to focus on when they're bringing pressure and stuff like that."

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.