5 NFL teams that could surprise people in 2018

Tennessee Titans

Man, I’m so high on these Titans. When I talked about the biggest remaining needs for each AFC team and I got to Tennessee’s roster, I simply didn’t know which position I could mention. Rather, I discussed the necessity of creating a gameplan, that suits Marcus Mariota’s strengths and I think they are on their way of building an offense around him that can move the ball up and down the field.

I cringed every time I saw the coaching staff ask Derrick Henry to run gap-schemes and go through defenders on his way. While the 250-pounder is a load to bring down, he fits a zone-rushing attack much better, where he has the speed to stress the edges and a mean stiff-arm once he gets around that corner. He is not the guy who manipulates double-teams and jumps gaps once the linebacker peaks too much to one side, but rather he needs to build up momentum and wants to use his off-arm to keep defenders from even putting hands on him.

With Matt LaFleur coming from that Shanahanian play-calling style, I expect the Titans to build their offensive attack around that zone-run game. I expect a lot of bootlegs, sweep fakes, etc. to give Mariota easy high-low reads, where he can tuck and run when he doesn’t like what he sees. I expect a big year from the QB going into his fourth season as well as the fellow Heisman trophy winner, who lines up in the backfield within and the young receivers on this roster, most notably Corey Davis.

Defensively, they have yet to really live up to their potential, but there are multiple reasons to believe in them making the jump in 2018. First and foremost, I am a big fan of new defensive coordinator Dean Pees. This will be a much more aggressive and versatile unit with the hybrid schemes he brings over from Baltimore. They will present multiple fronts, a variety of zone blitzes and a lot of safety movement before the snap. The key pieces of Jurrell Casey and Kevin Byard are still in place and as good as ever, but despite a minimum of four draft picks, I thought they added exactly what they needed with Alabama’s Rashaan Evans as a thumping inside-linebacker and BC’s Harold Landry as a burst-and-bend edge rusher.

Add former Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler to the mix and this team might field one of the better offenses and defenses in the league. This AFC South seems to be loaded, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Titans are the last team standing from this division.