2009 Tennessee Titans Roster Review: Secondary

The secondary was probably the most often discussed position group on this site during the season.  This unit underperformed even the defensive line in 2009, and that is saying quite a lot.  There were a lot of injuries, and who could have had any idea that injuries would be a HUGE problem if they were suffered by this unit?  Oh, that's right- that is pretty much all we talked about leading up to the season.  Depth in the secondary, specifically at corner, was my biggest concern heading into '09.  Now it turns out there were a lot of problems that I didn't see coming, but it still blows my mind that the front office didn't do more to address the issue.

The lone bright spot from the unit was the play of Cortland Finnegan.  Finnegan is an elite corner and a guy that the Titans can build their secondary around.  Granted it is easy to look pretty good playing opposite of Nick Harper, but Finnegan has all of the tangibles and intangibles to be a star in this league for years to come.

Follow us through the jump for some Nick Harper analysis.  Who doesn't love that?

The biggest disappointment in the secondary was Michael Griffin.  We were all expecting big things from him after his strong sophomore campaign, but it was not to be.  ProFootballFocus.com ranked the play of 87 safeties from last season.  Griffin came in dead last.  87th.  His play was nothing short of shocking.  Griff did say that he had some off the field issues that were distracting him during the season, and I would expect he will get that stuff cleaned up this offseason and be ready to go in 2010.  At least I am strongly hoping....

Chris Hope was pretty much the only guy in the unit that stayed healthy the entire season.  His play also slipped from last season, but not as much as Griff and Harper.  I would imagine most of his slippage can be attributed to the lack of a pass rush.  Hope will look a lot more like '08 Hope than '09 Hope in 2010 if the Titans can add an impact pass rusher.

Vincent Fuller battled a broken forearm but played well when he was in there.  He is a very valuable player to the squad because he is a good nickel and the only decent back-up safety on the roster.

The Titans decided it would be wise to use third and sixth round picks to add depth to the corner position.  Those picks yielded Ryan Mouton and Jason McCourty, neither of which played well when they had a chance last season.  I guess we just have to sit back and hope they make a big jump from year one to year two.  It is too bad that the NFL doesn't have the same rule my little league baseball did where you got a guy's brother for free when they moved up.