The Tennessee Titans fought through incredible adversity in the 2021 regular season en route to a 12-5 finish and home field advantage in the playoffs. Of course, they wouldn’t make use of it, but to even get to that point after having an injury list the size of the one the Titans were sporting for most of the season is a real testament to Mike Vrabel’s coaching.
After a good deal of roster turnover the Titans seem to be more or less just as good in 2022 as they were this time last year. As the AFC arms itself for nuclear war, the Titans have been no exception, but one of the harder schedules in their own division makes for an interesting season, so here’s three way too early predictions for the Titans’ 2022 season.
Titans 2022 Predictions
1. Derrick Henry gets less than 300 carries
Derrick Henry comes into the 2022 campaign after a devastating foot injury suffered in week 9 caused him to miss the entire second half of the regular season. Aside from the obvious injury shortened 2021, Henry last had less than 300 carries in 2018. At 28 years old, the Titans back is certainly in his prime, but NFL running backs don’t often handle that kind of workload that long. With Dontrell Hilliard, Jordan Wilkins and rookie Hassan Haskins behind him, there just isn’t a need for Henry to carry as heavy a load anymore.
Hilliard, alongside D’Onta Foreman who departed for Carolina, was able to not only steady the ship in Henry’s absence, but the pair of them perfectly replaced Henry’s production. Haskins is also an incredibly similar runner to Foreman, so therefore, it’s not unreasonable to suggest Henry shares the backfield enough to ensure he ends up with less than 300 carries on the season. This may end up prolonging Henry’s prime, so it’s a fair trade off it seems.
2. Ryan Tannehill gets 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns
2021 was an odd year for Ryan Tannehill. At times he looked elite and at other times he looked like he could be on his way out of the Music City in the offseason. Cap math prevents that from being a possibility in 2022, though the drafting of Malik Willis surely puts pressure on Tannehill.
However, with the addition of pass catchers like Robert Woods, Austin Hooper, Treylon Burks, Kyle Philips and the return of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Tannehill seems poised for a better 2022 season with the Titans. This lineup of receivers and tight ends, assuming they stay healthy, has enough talent to push Tannehill to eclipse both the 4,000 yard and 25 touchdown milestones.
3. Titans win AFC South again
After going a full decade without a division title, the Tennessee Titans have now done it back to back. As they’ve done so, the Texans and Jaguars have completely fallen apart to say the absolute least, leaving the Colts as the only real opponent capable of stealing the division. After winning a handful of division crowns with Andrew Luck, when he left football, many questions arose surrounding the quarterback position in Indianapolis
The Colts thought they had answers at quarterback for the Titans in Phillip Rivers and then Carson Wentz, but the Titans have won each of the last five meetings between the two teams, with three of those wins coming in Indianapolis. The Colts surely believe Matt Ryan will be an improvement, and he may be, but in the end it won’t be enough. Not only will the Titans snag the division for the third consecutive year, they’ll win 10 games and sweep the Colts for the third consecutive year.
Follow Us
Subscribe