A case for Kevin Byard being the Titans’ most valuable defender How do you explain going from zero interceptions?

Who knows Tennessee Titans T-Shirt , but that’s the story of Kevin Byard, the superstar free safety for the Titans entering his third season in the pros. Byard’s eight interceptions are the most from any defensive back in a sophomore year since Antonio Cromartie put up 10 back in 2007. That’s great company to be in, because like Byard last year, Cromartie was a first team All Pro at his position. Make no mistake, Byard had a phenomenal 2017, one that established him as the premiere player on Tennessee’s secondary. But is he already the best player on the entire defense? It may seem premature to give a safety entering his third year in the league that title, but this is an All-Pro safety we’re talking about. This is a player that tied for the league lead in interceptions in 2017 (with Darius Slay of the Detroit Lions). Besides, any Titans fan who disagrees with this notion can’t deny the enormous potential Byard has yet to reach at this moment.With that said, let’s dive into Byard’s value to see how much he impacts the Titans’ defense.According to Pro-Football-Reference, Kevin Byard led all safeties in defended passes last year with 16. Micah Hyde of the Buffalo Bills came in second with 13. Nine of Byard’s defended passes came in four games against AFC North teams, and all four of those games were played consecutively.I wanted to get Byard making the “incomplete” signal so you guys would trust me with the information I wrote below this GIF.gamepass.nfl.comIt goes without saying that Byard’s ability to defend the ball comes from his ability to play at a high level in both man and zone coverage, and he has the quickness needed to get it done. On this play, Byard surveys the quarterback, Deshaun Watson, putting him in his trap by moving inside left to give off the impression that Watson has Deandre Hopkins wide open without a chance at having the ball disrupted.Of course, this is the correct read for the quarterback, but Byard offsets any impact that would have. He plants his feet and bursts over to Hopkins once the pass is released, and although Hopkins gets the ball in his hands, Byard wins the fight against him and pops the ball out, resulting in an incomplete pass. We can’t talk about defended passes without bringing up interceptions, and considering eight of Byard’s 16 defended passes last season were interceptions, there’s a lot to choose from.The backpedal is a beautiful thing.gamepass.nfl.comThe Titans go zone defense against this play Tennessee Titans Hats , which is a rollout to the right. Byard covers the area where the tight end in the flat is running, and spies DeShone Kizer looking over to Byard’s right. At that moment, Byard backpedals, and Kizer releases the ball a split second after. Because Byard’s vision is excellent, it allows him to show off his quality ball skills and bring in one of his three interceptions he had against the Cleveland Browns that day. It’s a bad read, but an impressive play from the safety.Picking off an elite quarterback: Priceless. There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Master Byard.gamepass.nfl.comByard also has the coverage ability of a cornerback on the outside, giving the Titans a proven, versatile player in the secondary they haven’t had in a while. I have no idea what Joe Flacco is thinking on this interception, but that’s for another article. Byard gets the leverage on the outside receiver, preventing any chance for Flacco to throw a back shoulder pass or go more inside. But because it’s Flacco, he does the latter anyway after pump faking and failing. Byard prevents the wide receiver from bailing out the quarterback with ease and snags in his second interception on the day.If you want a player comparison for Byard, think of him as a safety version of Marcus Peters. Like Peters, Byard’s vision and athleticism are both excellent, making him a ball magnet that reads the quarterback’s eyes near flawlessly. Coincidentally, Byard was also second to Peters in return yards on interceptions with 130 to Peters’ 137 last year.Andy Dalton thought not adjusting the play call for the blitz was a good idea. gamepass.nfl.comAs a free safety, Byard is no stranger to the blitz, and neither is new defensive coordinator Dean Pees, previously with the Baltimore Ravens. Pees hasn’t had a free safety this high in quality since Ed Reed back in 2012, the only year Reed was with him as defensive coordinator (Pees was previously the team’s linebackers’ coach). Of course, Reed fell off after the 2012 Super Bowl season, while Byard is just getting his career started Tennessee Titans Hoodie , so Pees has more to work with.Reed in his prime wasn’t just a monster in coverage, but also as a blitzer. Byard can’t compete with the future Hall of Famer just yet, but he’s going into the right direction. Byard has the dangerously quick reaction time and vision to work as a blitzer, as seen on this delayed handoff. #31 isn’t fooled by the delay, using patient footwork to prevent any escape plan for Andy Dalton or the running back. The back gets the handoff, and Byard gets an easy tackle-for-a-loss. Picking off a playoff winning quarterback: Priceless.gamepass.nfl.comAnd of course, we can’t talk about Byard’s impact on the secondary without bringing up his game saving interception in week 17 to send the Titans to the playoffs for the first time in nine years. His technique on this play is excellent, as he’s changing angles to follow Blake Bortles while managing to keep proper balance. Byard backpedals to help cover the receiver on the outside right. As Bortles releases the ball, Byard pushes off his right foot and accelerates to the area the quarterback is throwing to. He snatches the ball from the air, sealing the game for the Titans. So, while I can’t completely confirm Kevin Byard is the most valuable defender on the Titans roster, there is a strong case for it. He’s a ball hog that combines lighting quick reflexes with impressive speed in coverage, great ball skills, and tenacity to draw himself into and overwhelm the receiver’s window. Finally, Byard has the strong hands of the top receivers in the league, and his refined footwork executes the fundamentals of a defensive back to seemingly near perfection.The Titans’ secondary would not be the same without Byard’s impact last season, and that’s obvious As the leader of the Titans secondary going into 2018, he is already a superstar safety and is only getting started on what looks like the beginning of an excellent career in football.Exploiting Texans Possible for Titans After reviewing the Houston Texans and New England Patriots game, the Titans have a real chance of earning a home field win against their division rival.But, it won’t be easy.Even with an ailing Marcus Mariota, a recovering Taylor Lewan and the likelihood to be without Jack Conklin for another week, a win is not outside the realm of reality. The CheckdownThe Patriots offensive attack didn’t change much since last season. QB Tom Brady still targets TE Rob Gronkowski no matter how many opposing jerseys are surrounding him. What Brady will also continue to do is utilize his stable of running backs in the passing game. Brady exposed the Texans coverage mishaps by dink-and-dunking to the running backs underneath. His second passing touchdown of the day was a short dump-off to RB James White. The play looked like a blown coverage assignment by DB Kevin Johnson - who had a dismal day throughout. David Butler II-USA TODAY SportsBut Customized Tennessee Titans Jerseys , we’ll get to Johnson later.The Titans witnessed first hand what former Patriot Dion Lewis could do as a receiver. Expect OC Matt LaFleur to continue to increase Lewis’s workload - especially against a Texans team that struggled covering running backs. Lewis is capable of inflicting the same amount of damage as White did, especially if Johnson continues to have lapses in coverage.Brady tried to hit White prior to the touchdown coming across the middle, but newly acquired DB Tyrann Matheiu snagged the ball for his first pick as a Texan.
This is the instance the Titans should steer clear of targeting their running backs - when Matheiu is covering them.Containing RPOThe Texans use a lot of RPO in their offense. The Titans will be prepared - or should be, at least - considering the defense sees a ton of those looks in practice. The Quality Control Coordinator Chandler Hendley will have to ensure his plan for the scout team is air-tight and will provide a comprehensive sample of what the Titans defense can expect.Houston will allow QB Deshaun Watson the freedom to use his legs when his instincts beg him to. That’s a given. The Titans have to be able to set the edge and deliver some punishment (within the legal limit) to Watson when he makes himself a ball carrier. The Titans defense has to discourage Watson from using his legs in order to take away one dimension of his game.David Butler II-USA TODAY SportsAgainst the Patriots, the Texans tried to get WR DeAndre Hopkins going early. Bubble screens and quick read slants were dialed up early and were effective. The Titans secondary has to avoid giving too much cushion to Hopkins and the ILBs must be prepared to linger in the spaces where Hopkins sees targets coming over the middle. The Texans will not shy away from attempting a deep strike downfield. Watson connected with TE Jordon Thomas deep. He tried to go deep again on a second and short, but threw an interception in the end zone.Expect Houston to test the Titans defensive backs ability to cover deep. The Texans will use Watson’s legs to gain some of the Titans’ defenders respect and attention. This will create some opportunities downfield that the defensive backs must be ready for. The communication will be paramount. Containing the Pass RushAs of today, it is unclear who will line up at both starting tackle positions on Sunday. An optimist would guess LT Taylor Lewan clears the protocol and is available while RT Jack Conklin is given another week of rest.The offensive line graded well in handling the Dolphins edge rushers considering they were without two starting tackles for the majority of the game. The duo of defensive ends in Houston is a much different animal. The combo of DE Jadaveon Clowney and DE J.J. Watt can induce migraines. Clowney was a nuisance against the Patriots. He had his way a few times with tackle Trent Brown. Troy Taormina-USA TODAY SportsThe Patriots made some adjustments and were able to keep Clowney from doing more damage than he was already doing. FB James Develin destroyed Clowney on a clean-up chip block in which Brown made the initial contact. The Titans will have to attack Clowney in a similar way to keep him from getting to whomever is under center. The Texans also were able to create pressure against the Patriots interior front. C Ben Jones and company must be able to withstand the pressure and avoid enabling an interior collapsing pocket.Attack Kevin JohnsonI mentioned Johnson earlier as I believe he is a weak link the Titans can expose. He was on the wrong end of a few touchdowns and was visibly deflated following his coverage errors that turned into points. Gronk is Gronk, let that be said. No matter who is covering him or how many defenders there are, sometimes the guy is just flat out uncoverable. Johnson wasn’t in terrible position at times and had the help, but Gronk still hauled in some catches for big gains. Outside of a controversial catch that Gronk made nearing the tail end of the first half - a catch that moved the chains and contributed to the Patriots putting up 7 before the break - Gronk was unstoppable. The Titans had their own version of Gronk in TE Delanie Walker, who could’ve been lethal in the game plan heading into Houston. Now, the Titans must hope TE Jonnu Smith can muster up the confidence in his own abilities to keep the tight end position an area of concern for the Texans defenders. Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY SportsThe Titans can scheme match-ups of Smith vs Johnson early, which could boost the confidence of Jonnu assuming he capitalizes on Johnson’s blunders. That’s also assuming Johnson doesn’t bounce back from his performance against Brady, who routinely makes defensive backs look bad anyway. Johnson allowed some big gains underneath and was on the opposite end of the James White touchdown early. He also was on the wrong end of the Phillip Dorsett touchdown.Brady was like a shark smelling blood in the water. He continued to attack Johnson and rattle his confidence throughout the game. The Titans need to be familiar with where Johnson is on the field and scheme for mismatches that could result in new sets of downs, big plays and points.Whether it is QB Marcus Mariota or QB Blaine Gabbart set to start, the offensive game plan should be unwavering. To beat Houston, the Titans must contain Watson, avoid the deep pass plays, utelize their backs in the passing game and attack Johnson. The first game against Houston last season was horrific. The Titans must use that as motivation and lean on the blueprint the Patriots laid out to help the team be at .500 and securing a much needed division win.