What to Know Before the Titans Take on the 49ers

Written By Jack Loeb

The Tennessee Titans will take on the San Francisco 49ers this Saturday at 6pm ct. It will be there first opportunity to see the new look Titans against real competition. Unlike previous regimes in Tennessee the first team offense didn’t receive many if at all any snaps during the preseason. True, some players who may be a bit banged up won’t see time to prevent them from further injuring themselves. However, that’s the norm in preseason. There are several positional battles that fans should keep an eye on as the Titans make their way through the preseason to gear up for their Bears in the opener.

One of the most recent position battles to open up is the RG position as Saahdiq Charles decided to retire a few days ago. Both Dillion Radunz and Daniel Brunskill will get their shot. It’ll be interesting to see which one goes out with the 1’s first. I expect Radunz to get the start with Brunskill then Rupcich in that order. Hopefully the Titans can find a serviceable RG on their roster. If not they’ll need to scour the waiver wire once cuts are made.

Titans fans should also keep an eye out for Jaylen Harrell, the teams 7th round pick. Harrell came out of Michigan as a game wrecker to help lead the Wolverines to a National Championship victory. Harrell has been impressive in training camp sometimes working against the 1’s. He’s been catching the attention of his positional coach and also HC Brian Callahan. It would be a huge boost to the Titans defense if Jaylen Harrell can play serviceable out of the gate as the impending Arden Key suspension could likely drop at any point. We’ll have to see where and when Harrell starts to play during the game. However, for the time being it’s great news that he’s caught the attention of his HC in a positive manner.

As the Titans are reeling from injuries in the secondary several players will get an opportunity to play much of the game. Players like: Jeudy-Lally, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Matthew Jackson and others. There’s a great opportunity for the Titans young secondary to pick up snaps in the preseason. With Caleb Farley out for a few weeks, surprise, the Titans will need to have 2-3 players behind McCreary to keep at corner. That should be Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Tre Avery with the possibility of Jeudy-Lally getting moved to the practice squad.

As stated previously the Titans are going to give their starters “1 to 2 drives” against the 49ers per Brian Callahan. Put this example on the long list of differences between Coach Callahan and the previous coaching staff. I have always been of the belief that you need to have your players work up to the regular season and thus they need that live action game experience. For the past few years the Titans have come out flat in their opening games. Last year against the Saints which they barely scrounged up 15 points. Then the year previous losing to the lowly Giants against rookie QB Daniel Jones, yikes. It’s been bad. Hopefully with the new approach the starters can get going faster than previous years.

With the starters playing a drive or two we get to see what a Titans team with ankle weights looks like. How will the OL hold up? How does Levis’s connection with his WR’s look like? How do Pollard/Spears work in this offense? There are lots of questions to be had that we may get a few answers to as we watch the game unfold.

JC Latham has a great shot to solidify himself as the future left tackle of this franchise. It will be intriguing to see how if at all the 49ers play their DL starters. However, even if the 49ers don’t put up the A team against Latham they’re deep enough at DL and OLB to put up good competition against this Titans team that struggled too often to protect the QB last year. I’ll be looking very intently to see how he holds up against the 49ers pass rush and how he moves blockers when asked in the run game. No one should expect Latham to come out and look like Trent Williams day 1. It’s a process and this preseason game is pivotal for Latham’s overall development.

The kick return situation will also be something to keep an eye on. Currently Tyjae Spears is the kickoff returner and Mason Kinsey is labeled as the PR from the latest depth chart sent out by the team. I expect Jha’Quan Jackson to get some looks at either position too. Especially since Jackson was selected in part because of his special team prowess. The Titans have been hexed at the PR and KOR position for years now. Not since Marc Mariani have the Titans had a solid starter at both positions. Far too often over the last few season have returners made idiotic decisions fielding the punt within the 10 yard line or fumbling the ball at the slightest contact or struggling to field a punt. It’s been unacceptable for too long. Hopefully the Titans will be able to find a long term solution to the position(s) and that starts this weekend.

The most pivotal item to keep an eye on for the Titans as they take on the 49ers is the Titans’ 38th overall pick, T’Vondre Sweat. The rookie NT is already listed as a starter at the position. Although there’s slim pickins’ at the DL position it’s phenomenal to see that Sweat has earned the trust of this coaching staff and every day is a new highlight reel to add to his highlights. Sweat has consistently shown throughout camp that he’s a wrecking ball at the position. I likened him to former All-Pro Haloti Ngata of the Baltimore Ravens. In fact, Sweat is actually taller and heavier than Ngata, and not by a little. Sweat has a great chance to show this fanbase that the noise coming out of the draft, although warranted due to his DWI, was just that…noise. He can quickly put that terrible mistake behind him by playing ball to his best ability. I look forward to seeing how the 49ers OL handles Sweat, if at all.

Titans fans have a lot to look forward to this Saturday. Although it’s just an exhibition match, it’s an opportunity to see how some of the puzzle pieces that Carthon put together in his 2nd season come together. In addition, we get to experience Coach Callahan’s ability to call a complete game and show his leadership. Tomorrow will be a fun one and hopefully the start of something new.

Jack Loeb https://twitter.com/jakjack91
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