The Tennessee Titans entered Sunday’s contest versus the Jacksonville Jaguars with several injuries at the linebacker position. Current starters Kenneth Murray Jr. and Jerome Baker were sidelined. That forced defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson to insert Luke Gifford and Otis Reese IV in the starting lineup. Reese was particularly outstanding, leading you to question why he wasn’t playing earlier.
Reese was everywhere, recording seven tackles. The former undrafted free agent out of Ole Miss also recorded an interception on a Mac Jones tipped pass. Reese also made an outstanding tackle for loss seven yards behind the line of scrimmage on a misdirection end around.
Reese also recorded two quarterback pressures. Pro Football Focus assigned him an overall defensive grade of 64.0. He was significantly better than Baker was versus the Washington Commanders last week. By comparison, Baker had a PFF score of 39.8 and missed several tackles in a game the Commanders landed 28-0 early in the second quarter.
The Titans have been through a lot at the linebacker position this season. They traded Ernest Jones IV to the Seattle Seahawks at the NFL trade deadline because they valued the fourth-round compensation more than signing Jones to a long-term deal. Jack Gibbens initially replaced him in the lineup. Gibbens was playing outstanding football before suffering a season-ending injury against the Minnesota Vikings.
Reese shouldn’t have been playing ahead of Jones or Gibbens. Both of those off-ball linebackers were playing terrific football when healthy. Murray has been inconsistent, but he was always going to sit atop the depth chart after signing a lucrative two-year contract during the offseason.
But playing Baker ahead of Reese last week brings this staff’s ability to evaluate talent in practice into question. Remember this staff also chose to play Treylon Burks ahead of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine for a significant portion of the season. Perhaps Brian Callahan and his staff were interested in evaluating Baker and Burks, but you can’t claim you’re trying to win now and purposely play worse players.
Reese was among the few bright spots in Sunday’s embarrassing defeat to the Jaguars. He should have been playing earlier, certainly ahead of Baker in last Sunday’s blowout loss to the Commanders. Reese should leapfrog a healthy Baker on the depth chart.