Titans still searching to fill starting cornerback slots
The Tennessee Titans ranked ninth in the NFL in pass defense before their veteran cornerback became the third starter in the secondary to suffer a season-ending injury. In the final five weeks of the season, they gave up yards left and right and slid to 26th in the league.
But the Titans released Rolle and starting free safety Lance Schulters this offseason for salary cap reasons and let starting cornerback Andre Dyson, who hadn’t missed a start since moving into the lineup 2001 and had a team-high six interceptions in 2004, leave as a free agent for Seattle.
Three weeks into training camp, coach Jeff Fisher has his starters at safety. Both starting cornerback spots remain open, especially with top draft pick Adam “Pacman” Jones still holding out.
“I think everyone is on notice on the outside,” Fisher said. “Pacman is on notice right now. We need players to make plays consistently.”
Andre Woolfolk, their top draft pick out of Oklahoma in 2003, has worked at right cornerback with Tony Beckham, a fourth-round pick in 2002, at left all through minicamps and so far in training camp. But Fisher said he hasn’t ruled out Michael Waddell as a starting cornerback.
“All he’s done is improve. Like we said all along, there’s competition out there, and we want to see guys making plays. We’re going to give Michael a chance to play a little earlier in the game against some better competition and see where it goes,” Fisher said.
When it comes to their safeties, the Titans feel confident with two of the top three safeties drafted in 2002 in strong safety Tank Williams and Lamont Thompson.
Williams started his first 41 games before tearing a left anterior cruciate ligament on Nov. 14 against Chicago, but he has been working out in training camp and plans to be ready for the opener on Sept. 11 at Pittsburgh.
The Titans originally picked Thompson up off waivers from Cincinnati in 2003 and signed him to a five-year contract extension before camp opened. He started the final 13 games of 2004 after Schulters hurt his foot and is viewed by the coaches as the veteran starting free safety.
But they don’t have a lot of experience among whoever wins the job because the players competing at cornerback have combined for 11 NFL starts.
Woolfolk, who spent his first two seasons as the extra defensive back in passing situations and was converted to defense from receiver at Oklahoma, calls the doubters irritating. The 6-foot-2, 197-pound Woolfolk believes he learned well from Rolle and Dyson.
“You have to have some type of fight in yourself to look at that and be mad at it,” he said.
“Some people, they crawl under a rock and others thrive on it. I love being the underdog going out there having to prove myself. That means I have a goal every game to play well and prove something to the fans and the rest of the NFL.”
Waddell, who was timed at 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash in pre-draft workouts last year, was roasted by receivers in games against Indianapolis, Kansas City, Oakland and Denver. He admits he struggled.
“It was just like putting someone out in the desert without a compass. I had a little sense of the defense and during the offseason, I studied the playbook and I learned the plays. Not only did I learn the plays, I learned a couple other positions,” Waddell said.
The Titans drafted Jones with the sixth pick overall hoping he would compete for one of the starting slots. But talks have stalled, which means his chances of contributing this season drop with each passing day.
In the meantime, there’s two jobs up for grabs at cornerback.
“You can’t ask for anything else,” Waddell said. “The door is wide open, and no one’s going to give it to you.”