The Titans surprised everyone by releasing Adoree’ Jackson earlier today just a week after saying goodbye to Malcolm Butler. Now we begin to see their plan to rebuild the secondary as Janoris Jenkins is signing with the Titans according to his agent, Neil Scwartz.
Terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, but I can’t imagine this is going to be a big dollar figure. We will update once we get the numbers.
Jenkins — who goes by “Jackrabbit” — is 32 years old, but is still playing at a high level heading into his 10th season in the NFL. He started 13 games for the Saints last year and recorded three interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and 55 tackles while allowing a passer rating of just 79.0 on passes into his coverage according to PFF charting. That passer rating figure ranked as the 14th lowest among 78 qualifying cornerbacks.
Quarterbacks targeting Jenkins completed just 59.0% of their passes for 7.4 yards per attempt with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Jenkins is a great scheme fit, excelling in the man coverage concepts that the Titans use more than almost any team in the league. He’s also been pretty durable during his time in the league, appearing in at least 13 games in eight of his first nine seasons.
The downside, of course, is his age. At 32, Jenkins is certainly more of a bandaid than a long term fix. He’s also got a checkered past off the field. He was kicked off the team at Florida — which you should know takes a LOT if you’re familiar with the Urban Meyer Gators tenure — after multiple arrests and his brother was charged with manslaughter in relation to the death of a family friend at Jenkins’ home in New Jersey. Most recently, he was released by the Giants after using a slur in an argument with a fan on social media.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler hinted at more moves to come at corner for the Titans.
And that makes total sense. Even if you view Jenkins as a good solution at one starting cornerback spot, you’re still looking at a cornerback depth chart that looks like this:
- Janoris Jenkins
- Kristian Fulton
- Chris Jackson
- Breon Borders
- Kareem Orr
That’s not going to cut it. I would think there is probably another free agent addition coming along with a draft pick to replace Jenkins in a year or two.
Whatever it is, the Titans secondary will look a lot different when they line up in September, and given how last season went, that’s probably not a bad thing.
