Tennessee Titans’ revamped roster still doesn’t impress ESPN analysts in starter rankings

ESPN NFL analysts Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz and Seth Walder ranked every projected starting lineup in the NFL from best to worst on Tuesday, slotting the Tennessee Titans among the worst rosters in the league.

Clay, Schatz and Walder rank the Titans with the 25th-best unit in the league heading into the 2024 regular season, ahead of only the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos among AFC teams. The Titans’ next-closest division rival is the Indianapolis Colts, slotted at No. 21, while their other AFC South foes from Jacksonville and Houston are both ranked in the top half of the league.

The trio of ESPN analysts rank wide receiver as the Titans’ biggest strength heading into 2024, raving about the revamped unit built around DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd. They also identify cornerback L’Jarius Sneed as the “x-factor” for 2024 since cornerback is such a difficult position to project year-over-year success carry over from and pick off-ball linebacker as the Titans’ biggest area of weakness, arguing that Kenneth Murray II is a downgrade from Azeez Al-Shaair.

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ESPN’s projected starting lineup for the Titans doesn’t match up with The Tennessean’s observations from OTAs and minicamp in some areas. In particular, ESPN still lists offensive lineman Dillon Radunz as a starting right tackle despite the fact that Radunz talked about working exclusively as a guard this spring and lists veteran Daniel Brunskill as the starting right guard even though Brunskill talked about practicing almost exclusively as a center in OTAs.

The Titans return for training camp practices on July 23.

Tennessee Titans schedule 2024

• Preseason Week 1 (Aug. 10): vs. San Francisco 49ers
• Preseason Week 2 (Aug. 17): vs. Seattle Seahawks
• Preseason Week 3 (Aug. 25): at New Orleans Saints
• Week 1 (Sept. 8): at Chicago Bears
• Week 2 (Sept. 15): vs. New York Jets
• Week 3 (Sept. 22): vs. Green Bay Packers
• Week 4 (Sept. 30): at Miami Dolphins
• Week 5: Open date
• Week 6 (Oct. 13): vs. Indianapolis Colts
• Week 7 (Oct. 20): at Buffalo Bills
• Week 8 (Oct. 27): at Detroit Lions
• Week 9 (Nov. 3): vs. New England Patriots
• Week 10 (Nov. 10): at Los Angeles Chargers
• Week 11 (Nov. 17): vs. Minnesota Vikings
• Week 12 (Nov. 24): at Houston Texans
• Week 13 (Dec. 1): at Washington Commanders
• Week 14 (Dec. 8): vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
• Week 15 (Dec. 15): vs. Cincinnati Bengals
• Week 16 (Dec. 22): at Indianapolis Colts
• Week 17 (Dec. 29): at Jacksonville Jaguars
• Week 18 (TBD): vs. Houston Texans

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.