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Despite many Tennessee Titans fans giving Taylor Lewan grief for his performance yesterday, he may be one of the best tackle in the league regardless of age.
For a second, take all of your frustration about the late penalty away (I’ll address it later). If you were making a list of traits that you would want from a left tackle what would you ask for? I know what I would ask for, it would look like this.
1. Keep my quarterback clean
Marcus Mariota is going to be great. You know it, I know it and we all know that what is holding him back is not his ability, but coaching. With the overall talent of this team increased (and it is a better team) there is a clear disconnect between the coaches and what is going on between the hashes.
Back to the matter at hand though, I want my left tackle to be able to match up with the best pass rushers and stone wall them for 90% of the snaps or more. So, is Lewan doing that? Well I would first point to him owning PFF’s 11th highest pass blocking grade at OT (out of 94 OTs).
I have seen him win in a lot of different ways at OT, he has won with standard pass blocking, quick set, fanned out and won by selling play action and then getting in good position that way. He wins with long arms, a nice punch and a solid base. He has quick enough feet to kick slide with any speed rusher in the league and rarely does he let defenders get into his body.
Also, watch here. Lewan helps Spain pick up the blitz by literally dragging the DL off & taking him over in pass pro https://t.co/QWxLJN3WTc
— Will Lomas (@jlomas72) September 26, 2016
So, not only is Lewan beating his own man he is taking over for the man next to him to help his left guard give Marcus Mariota more protection. Pretty great job.
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Make an impact in the running game
Honestly 90% of teams in the NFL don’t have a left tackle who is really dominant in the running game. It just isn’t common to find a left tackle who can kick slide against a defense’s best pass rusher AND make plays in the run game.
Well fortunately for the Titans, they just so happen to have one of those in Taylor Lewan. Again, if you like PFF know that they have graded him out as the top run blocking tackle in the NFL again, out of 94 possible contenders.
Check out some of his work through my tweets this morning:
Before yall cut Lewan, you should really see what he does 95% of the time. Not many guys can maul DLs like this https://t.co/BZiFOAT8lj
— Will Lomas (@jlomas72) September 26, 2016
Also, textbook here. Lewan leaves the read man, seals off the LB which gave the #Titans a chance at a huge play https://t.co/aFU4j14jrW
— Will Lomas (@jlomas72) September 26, 2016
Yall also didn't hate Lewan when he was opening up this massive hole by manhandling his DT https://t.co/0tcTP5WHeR
— Will Lomas (@jlomas72) September 26, 2016
I mean damn, he is out here killing DL & he gets a boarderline call late & its time for Kelly to start at LT WTH https://t.co/0Yg0ZpUmY7
— Will Lomas (@jlomas72) September 26, 2016
Don’t do anything dumb
Alright, here is the one place you might have an issue with him. Sure he makes some emotional plays every know and then that get him in trouble, but honestly so what?
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If that is what it takes for an OT to get in the head of a defense and for him to preform at that level then I don’t mind an occasional hands to the face, false start, or holding penalty.
But Will, you say, didn’t Lewan cost the Titans the game on Sunday with that unnecessary roughness penalty? Well, did he?
Here is the definition of unnecessary roughness:
He isn’t on defense so the first two don’t apply, so it has to be the violent contact part right? Well, many people believe that he dived right into the Oakland Raiders players, but did he? Watch again here and you can make the argument that the only real damage he could have possibly done is to DeMarco Murray, not a Raiders player.
Tell me which D player he hits on this play? Barely even touches 21 https://t.co/xsfODNj7WA
— Will Lomas (@jlomas72) September 26, 2016
That is the softest call I have seen in a long time, but it wasn’t the softest of the game after the officials flagged Andre Johnson for a garbage OPI call that the Titans didn’t get on defense all day.
Honestly, Taylor Lewan may be the best offensive tackle to come out of the last five drafts (since Tyron Smith) and half of the people calling for his head have no idea what they are talking about. If you want to see this Titans rebuild take 4 years instead of 2 years go ahead and cut one of the best left tackles in the NFL and tell me how that goes.
If you want this team to be good in 2017, then just sit back and relax. This team has their quarterback, bookend tackles, some talented edge players, Jurrell Casey, two talented running backs, Delanie Walker, and Tajae Sharpe. They are going to be ok.
The worst thing you could do is subtract from this team now that they finally have some talent, so don’t do something crazy like call for Taylor Lewan to be cut or benched. It just makes us all look stupid as fans.
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