Cedric Gray’s freak injury has suddenly opened the door for a pair of young Titans linebackers, and Week 1 could tell Tennessee a lot about what it has behind its starters.
Gray, the team’s leading tackler and an emerging linebacker, is questionable for this weekend after a UTV accident landed him in concussion protocol. It’s a brutal bit of timing for Tennessee, but the immediate concern is simple: if Gray can’t go against the New York Jets, Robert Saleh and his staff have to patch together the second level fast.
That puts James Williams and Anthony Hill Jr. squarely in the spotlight.
Hill is the name most people will jump to first, and for good reason. Among the Titans’ backups, he and Elic Ayomanor have been the two players most consistently pressing the men ahead of them for more work. Hill has made a habit of flashing in coverage and against the run, and if Tennessee turns to him, there’s a real expectation he can be effective right away.
Williams, though, brings a different flavor. If the Titans want a more explosive, more volatile option next to Cody Barton, he’s the one to watch. He didn’t pile up as many standout preseason moments as Hill, but he’s the bigger, longer athlete and he plays with a rare edge that makes him hard to ignore.
For older Titans fans, the comparison is easy enough: Williams has some David Long Jr. to him, just with much longer arms. He can get too aggressive, sure, but that same trigger is also what makes him dangerous. On an outside-zone play, he’s the kind of linebacker you want crashing from the backside because he can turn a routine run into a five-yard loss.
Tennessee has a few days to sort out the decision, and that’s not a bad thing. This is a chance for the coaching staff to see how these young defenders hold up against starters in a real game. And if Barton continues to be a half-step slow with some of his decisions, the best performer here could end up being the one the Titans lean on to replace him, too.
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