What players have had the biggest impact on the Titans 2017 turnaround? Here are the top five, in no particular order:
LB Wesley Woodyard
When a guy is in his 10th season, he’s supposed to be on the downhill side of his NFL career. Not Woodyard.
The former University of Kentucky star has 109 tackles through nine games and has routinely led Tennessee in tackles each week, highlighted by a 20-tackle effort two weeks ago against the Ravens.
S Kevin Byard
Byard has six interceptions, including five in a two-game span in wins against the Browns and the Ravens. He nearly had another interception Sunday against Baltimore, and in only his second season is showing the type of ballhawking skills that have helped the Titans oft-maligned secondary to improve mightily as the season has gone on.
QB Marcus Mariota
Mariota hasn’t had the type of season many had hoped for in Year 3 after a stellar run over the second half of his second campaign. Still, the sight of what the Titans offense looks like without him or without his ability to run and move outside the pocket shows just how valuable the young franchise quarterback is to this team.
Obviously, with him rehabbing his broken fibula in the off-season, it has hindered him from taking the next step in the offense. But with his hamstring now getting closer to 100 percent, Mariota could be on the verge of taking off for the stretch run of the season.
K. Ryan Succop and P Brett Kern
These guys deserve a ton of credit for the work they have done in keeping the Titans afloat, especially given the offense’s red zone sputtering in the first half of the year.
Succop has already made as many field goals (22) in nine games as he did all last season. And Kern is having the best year of his nine-year career, averaging 52.2 yards per kick with a 46-yard net. Oh, and did we mention that he has downed 16 punts inside the 20, compared to only five touchbacks.