Joshua Williams has turned the Titans’ Alontae Taylor dilemma into an even trickier mess.
Taylor, the $58 million cornerback, has already been pushed to the side once. Tennessee made him a healthy scratch for the Week 6 win over the Indianapolis Colts, then brought him back for Week 7 only to keep him off the defensive field entirely. While the Titans search for a way to get him involved again, Williams has stepped in and made a convincing case to stay there.
Robert Saleh’s staff is working through a plan that could send Taylor to nickelback, a spot he handled more often with the New Orleans Saints. That would be one possible path out of a situation that has gotten rough fast for a player on a multi-year deal worth nearly $20 million per year. But Williams’ play has complicated every option.
After spending five weeks on IR, Williams made his Titans debut as a starter against the Colts in Week 6. Pro Football Focus charged him with two catches allowed on five targets for 16 yards, and he added a pass breakup - something Taylor did not produce across his five starts.
Williams followed that up in the Week 7 loss to the Cleveland Browns, giving up three catches on six targets for 18 yards. Through two starts, quarterbacks are completing only 45.5% of the passes thrown his way.
That kind of production makes it harder to justify moving him out of the lineup. It also matters because the corner on the other side, Cor'Dale Flott, has picked off passes in back-to-back games and is starting to look like Tennessee’s best option at the position. Flott is on a $45 million contract, and the Titans are not in a spot where they can simply pull him off the field for Taylor either.
So where does that leave Taylor? In a holding pattern, again.
It would be a surprise if Williams doesn’t make his third straight start at cornerback Sunday against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. If that happens, Taylor’s role gets murkier still.
Tennessee is trying to sort out how to use him, but the numbers are brutal: PFF has Taylor as its lowest-graded cornerback at 29.8 among qualified players. He has given up 21 catches on 24 targets, along with one touchdown, two penalties, and zero interceptions or pass breakups.
A move inside at nickelback may be the only realistic answer, though even that isn’t simple. Marcus Harris has played well there, despite blowing the coverage on the Browns’ game-winning play. That mistake could open the door for Taylor, but nothing is settled yet.
For now, Williams is the player making all the decisions harder.
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