logo
Tennessee Titans bottom out in PFF's post-free agency power rankings

Tennessee Titans bottom out in PFF's post-free agency power rankings

USA Today17-03-2025

Tennessee Titans bottom out in PFF's post-free agency power rankings
With the first week of free agency in the books, the Tennessee Titans have started the process of rebuilding their roster. While they have made some moves to improve their offensive line, there are still a lot of questions to be answered in the coming weeks. The Titans still have major needs at quarterback, edge and wide receiver and could use depth everywhere on their roster.
The question that remains at this point is how much these moves have moved the needle, and are the Titans a better team today than they were in 2024. In the mind of Mason Cameron at Pro Football Focus (PFF), they haven't made an impact and the Titans remain at the bottom of the PFF Power Rankings, No. 32 overall.
With the first wave of free agency behind us, the Titans' draft plans have become clearer — Tennessee will be selecting a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick. Cam Ward, PFF's top-ranked quarterback prospect, has plenty of talent, but the roster around him still has glaring weaknesses.
Given the team's significant investment in its defensive front, featuring Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat, Tennessee's defensive line will need to play a major role if they hope to be competitive in the AFC.
The additions of Dan Moore and Kevin Zeitler definitely upgrade the offensive line, which will be a tremendous help to whoever plays quarterback in 2025. The offensive line was arguably the weakest unit they put on the field in 2024 and was the cause of many of the issues on that side of the ball. It's a start to digging out of the cellar, but a lot more is needed.
Cody Barton, Xavier Woods, Dre'Mont Jones, and Johnny Hekker were all needed additions that solidified depth and are possible upgrades over 2024, but a lot more is needed to make a difference and move the Titans out of the bottom.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Pro Football Focus gives Falcons one reason for optimism in 2025
Pro Football Focus gives Falcons one reason for optimism in 2025

USA Today

time6 hours ago

  • USA Today

Pro Football Focus gives Falcons one reason for optimism in 2025

Pro Football Focus gives Falcons one reason for optimism in 2025 PFF says second-year QB Michael Penix Jr. should give Falcons fans a reason to believe this season The Atlanta Falcons are kicking off their second day of mandatory minicamp and there's a genuine feeling of optimism surrounding the team. The offense is ready to take off with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback, while the defense added two first-round edge rushers and some new faces in the secondary. At the end of the day, though, the Falcons will be judged by their record and whether or not they make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Last season, the team started 6-3 but collapsed over the second half. Will 2025 finally be the year Atlanta gets over the hump? Pro Football Focus gave every team one reason for optimism ahead of the 2025 season. For the Falcons, PFF highlighted a full year of Penix as something to look forward to. Penix made just three starts during his rookie campaign but showed plenty of promise in the process. Over the final three weeks of the regular season, he recorded an 84.0 PFF passing grade while producing nine big-time throws, the second most in the NFL. He was more than willing to attack defenses with vertical passes and quickly developed a nice rapport with top receiver Drake London. Penix should give Falcons fans plenty of hope based on what we saw last year. -- Dalton Wasserman, PFF Atlanta waited a little bit too long to put Penix in last season, but Morris won't make the same mistake this time around. Even with Kirk Cousins still on the roster, Penix is the undisputed starter at quarterback. The former No. 8 overall selection has all the tools to put up elite numbers in Atlanta's offense. When he took over in Week 16, there was a noticeable uptick in big plays as Penix's big arm opened up the entire field for the team's many weapons. The numbers weren't overly impressive on paper -- 775 passing yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions -- but the former Washington star showed a unique mix for poise and fearlessness that only the great quarterbacks in this league seem to have. With Penix leading the way, the 2025 season should be a fun one for Atlanta.

Broncos' RJ Harvey snubbed on PFF's list of top 32 NFL running backs
Broncos' RJ Harvey snubbed on PFF's list of top 32 NFL running backs

USA Today

time7 hours ago

  • USA Today

Broncos' RJ Harvey snubbed on PFF's list of top 32 NFL running backs

Broncos' RJ Harvey snubbed on PFF's list of top 32 NFL running backs Seriously, what is up with Pro Football Focus? This offseason, PFF has ranked reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain as the second-best cornerback in the NFL, Nik Bonitto outside the top 20 pass rushers and Zach Allen as the 20th-best interior defensive lineman. The latest curious ranking is that of rookie running back RJ Harvey. Actually, it's a non-ranking. Trevor Sikkema released PFF's rankings of the top 32 running backs in the NFL going into the 2025 season, and Harvey did not make the list. And it's not because he's a rookie -- fellow rookie Ashton Jeanty is ranked 13th on the list, and Omarion Hampton (No. 24), Quinshon Judkins (No. 27) and TreVeyon Henderson (No. 28) also made the cut. One could argue that those four rookies were all drafted above Harvey, so it's reasonable that they would be ranked above him going into 2025. But are all three of Hampton, Judkins and Henderson in better offensive situations going into their rookie campaigns? Debtable. Harvey figures to serve as Denver's primary running back in 2025, and it's hard to imagine any running back lists omitting him in 2026. Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.

Chipboard and carpet: refugee cricket tournament brings a moment of happiness
Chipboard and carpet: refugee cricket tournament brings a moment of happiness

Yahoo

time12 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Chipboard and carpet: refugee cricket tournament brings a moment of happiness

A BBQ held to thank Project Front Foot for the kit they supplied to Caen Cricket Club Festival Day 2024. An event organised for refugees to play cricket. A BBQ held to thank Project Front Foot for the kit they supplied to Caen Cricket Club Festival Day 2024. An event organised for refugees to play cricket. Photograph: Supplied Next week in Caen, at a baseball practice ground, on a pitch made out of two pieces of chipboard with some carpet stapled on top, a cricket tournament will unroll. Nine teams of refugees, mostly based in Normandy, will fight it out over two days in a series of round-robin T5 tape-ballgames. The battles will be fierce, the bowling often fast, with added jeopardy if the ball hits the not-very-well-disguised join between the two bits of chipboard. Chris Drew, a Guardian reader who lives locally, will umpire. Advertisement 'You watch county cricket, and there is time,' he says via video call from France. 'Time is one thing that you don't have here. It is hit, it is whack, it is run, it is bowl – it is quite something. When they whack the ball, it stays whacked. There are no defensive shots. 'It's all about having a good time. People being together who want to be together because we love the game. They leave everything else at the door. I never ask anyone where they come from or what their status is – it's just about bringing a moment of happiness.' In 2023, the tournament's first year, it was sponsored by a kebab shop with free kebabs all round. This year Drew will make Welsh cakes and bara brith and his wife cucumber sandwiches. 'Somebody will bring a salad and somebody will bring a chicken – it's a communal thing.' The community spirit extends further. Teams do not yet know whether they will qualify for the knockout matches on the second day so players will bring tents, and many will camp in local gardens. 'It's all about mucking in,' says Drew. But there are limits. The bowlers will only run in from one end of the ground, so the houses lining one side of the boundary do not get peppered with unfamiliar flying objects. Advertisement That the players have equipment at all is largely down to another group of volunteers. Project Front Foot (PFF) are a registered charity that collects spare kits from clubs and redistributes it to refugee groups. For the first 10 years of its inception, PFF mostly worked in the Dharavi slum in Mumbai, providing equipment for the children living there. They changed tack shortly before Covid to provide for those closer to home – to Germany, where cricket clubs sprung up overnight with the arrival of 1.5m refugees, to France, to Portugal, to Lebanon and to London. It is a labour of love for the project leader Vic Mills and his team. In September they collect from clubs who have something to donate (often because of a change of sponsor), take three or four days going through it all, number it for customs – who post-Brexit need everything individually labelled – and store it in volunteer Tim Gill's double garage until March. Then they unpack it all again, refill the spread sheet, stock the van with the right equipment for the right clubs, and get on the road in time for the beginning of the northern hemisphere cricket season. This year there were 48 bags and 13 boxes of clothing and equipment, plus a dozen bin liners of sportswear – over 2000 items. They included: 48 bats, 30 wicket sets, 86 pairs of pads, 123 pairs of batting gloves, 15 pairs of wicket keeping gloves, 35 helmets and 74 caps and sun hats. 'We've moved up to the largest Transit that the boys feel confident enough driving,' says Mills. 'Many of the county clubs have been extremely generous – with particular thanks to Steve Archer and the Yorkshire Cricket Board, and the Lancashire Foundation. Advertisement 'These guys we're delivering to have nothing, they haven't got much money or practise kit, we're finding a home for equipment that would otherwise go to the charity shop or to landfill. With a lot of projects, very rarely does all the money allocated get to where it is needed; we can reassure people that we can find a home for pretty much everything.' On 4 April, the PFF van arrived in Caen and some of the bags were unloaded into another friendly garage, this time belonging to Drew, before a celebratory barbecue for players and volunteers at the house of Caen CC's president, Julia. '[PFF] provide us with bats, with pants, with helmets, with jock straps, with everything you could want,' says Drew. 'They, like Julia, who is absolutely fantastic, are heroes for providing something for the mental health of these lads.' Have they had any feedback about the tournament three years in? 'The teams want to come back, which I take as a positive sign. There's a demand, there's an enjoyment and we're growing. I'm not saying everything's perfect. It's like every cricket club. Not everybody loves everybody all the time. Advertisement 'But if you come along to the events, you respect everyone else there. The fair play, the spirit of cricket, and that goes outside the bounds of the cricket pitch as well.' In the current wild and fragmented landscape, there is something comforting in the cricket's ability to still bring hope and community, as well as grasping around for yet more dollar bills. If you would like to donate to, or are a club with refugee cricketers who would like a kit donation from Project Front Foot please contact them on projectfrontfoot@ Quote of the week 'Our lives have been upended over this issue; we've lost our spot in the team, our contracts have been torn up, and we have been forced to leave the country' – Kashyap Prajapati telling Cricinfo that neither he, nor any of the other Oman players, have been paid their prize money for last year's men's T20 World Cup. Trophy title tribulations The announcement of the shiny new Anderson-Tendulkar trophy to mark the Test series between England and India's men's teams has brought a mix of reactions. No one seemed too upset about the retirement of India's Anthony de Mello Trophy, named after a founding father of the BCCI, but the disappearance of the Pataudi Trophy caused some dismay. The Pataudi family, in particular the former Indian captains Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and his son Mansur Ali Khan 'Tiger' Pataudi, have long links with both countries. Iftikhar Ali Khan was the only man to play cricket for England and India; Tiger was India's youngest captain, a wolfish fielder, and someone able to persuade his charges to put aside regional rivalries. As Sambit Bal wrote: 'he led Indian cricket out of its morass of defeatism and instilled in his fellow cricketers a belief that winning was possible.' Advertisement So if you felt a pang of nostalgia while looking at a black and white photo of Tiger, I am with you. But the Pataudi family do not lack trinkets. They were the rulers of the Pataudi state until 1949 – and collected a privy purse for a while longer. Tiger was coached by Frank Woolley at a Hertfordshire prep school, packed off to Winchester, read Arabic and French at Balliol college, Oxford. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Jimmy Anderson came from more ordinary backgrounds. Anderson is England's greatest bowler; Tendulkar was a little genius – an Indian obsession who, for a few years, was the best batsman in the world. Already, though, both are fading into the distance. Anderson turns his arm over for Lancashire in the Blast; Tendulkar is long retired, even his heir Virat Kohli has stepped away from Test cricket. The Anderson-Tendulkar trophy keeps their names alive for the next generation – but only until they, like the Pataudis, become irrelevant and the trophy is renamed again. Either way, it would be nice to see the boards come up for a name for the upcoming contest between the women's teams too – and even better to have, as for the multi-format Ashes, a Test match nailed into the schedule. Memory lane West Indies playing England presently takes the memory back to happier times for the tourists who, in 1984, played three one-day internationals and five Tests here. England were beaten 2–1 in the ODI series, and whitewashed 5–0 in the Test series with one of the most memorable moments coming at Old Trafford in the first ODI when Viv Richards scored 189 runs. By the end of the fifth Test the West Indies had won eight Tests in a row and would go on to set the then-record of 11 consecutive wins. Still want more? Pat Cummins in riveting conversation with Donald McRae, taking in leading Australia against South Africa and not getting too big for his boots – but he plays a dead bat regarding that Jonny Bairstow dismissal. Advertisement And here's Mr McRae chatting to South Africa's Temba Bavuma, on his path from a township childhood to the World Test Championship final. Martin Pegan on where that final will be won and lost. And Daniel Gallan on South Africa hoping to shake off their tag of 'chokers'. Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont smashed England to ODI series victory over West Indies … … while Tom Banton sealed men's T20 glory for Harry Brook's side. Barney Ronay on modern man Jacob Bethell and old-school Shoaib Bashir. And Northants and Somerset are still in winning form in the T20 Blast – this and more in Gary Naylor's 99.94 cricket blog. Contact The Spin … … by writing to Tanya. In? To subscribe to The Spin, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store