Late-season surges don’t always make headlines, but for teams trying to build something sustainable, they’re often the clearest sign of who’s ready to take the next step. For the Tennessee Titans, Jaylen Harrell’s finish to the 2025 season wasn’t just encouraging-it was eye-opening.
The second-year outside linebacker quietly strung together a five-game streak with at least half a sack in each, the longest such run by a Titans defender since Harold Landry III’s eight-game stretch back in 2021. In a year when Tennessee’s edge-rushing depth chart was filled with question marks, Harrell delivered a few much-needed answers.
Let’s be clear: sacks get the spotlight, but consistency earns you a bigger role. Harrell’s streak wasn’t built on one dominant game or a lucky matchup-it was the product of repeatable pressure, week after week.
That’s the difference between a rotational pass rusher and someone who can be counted on every down. And Harrell is starting to look like the latter.
From Afterthought to Impact Player
Harrell came into the league as a seventh-round pick in 2024, and his rookie season was quiet-13 tackles, no sacks, no QB hits. He started his sophomore campaign buried on the depth chart, not even seeing the field defensively early on. But when his number was called, he didn’t just fill a spot-he made his presence felt.
Over the final five games of the season, Harrell racked up four of his 4.5 total sacks, added six QB hits, and registered 13 tackles. For comparison, in the seven games prior-when he was starting to get defensive snaps-he had just half a sack, two QB hits, and 14 tackles.
The turnaround wasn’t subtle. It was a player figuring things out in real time.
And it wasn’t just about getting home. Harrell’s burst off the line improved, his hand usage got sharper, and he started winning with leverage instead of just effort.
Even when he didn’t record a sack, he was forcing quarterbacks off their spots, speeding up their reads, and disrupting offensive rhythm. Those moments don’t always show up in the stat sheet, but they show up on film-and they matter.
A Glimpse of What Could Be
The comparison to Harold Landry III isn’t about hype-it’s about trajectory. Landry’s 2021 season was built on consistent pressure, not just splash plays.
Harrell’s five-game streak doesn’t put him in Landry’s category just yet, but it does suggest he’s on a similar developmental path. Sustained production, even in small doses, is what coaches look for when deciding who gets more snaps-and more responsibility.
It’s also worth noting the broader context: the Titans’ pass rush as a whole took a major step forward in 2025. After finishing near the bottom of the league in sacks in 2024 (just 32 total), Tennessee jumped into the top 12 with 42 sacks this past season.
That’s not a coincidence. It’s a sign that pieces are starting to come together-and Harrell might be one of the most important ones.
Looking Ahead
Harrell’s late-season surge doesn’t just suggest he belongs-it hints that he could be part of the long-term answer on the edge. He’s not just a depth guy anymore. He’s a player who’s learning how to win at the NFL level, and doing it with traits that translate: burst, leverage, motor, and now, production.
If he can carry that momentum into the offseason and build on it in Year 3, the Titans may have found a reliable pass rusher in a place few expected. For a team still shaping its defensive identity, that’s a big win.
Jaylen Harrell isn’t a finished product-but he’s trending in the right direction. And in the NFL, that’s often the first sign of something bigger.