Tyler's Take: Titans CB Kristian Fulton Should Not Be Benched Yet

Tennessee Titans cornerback Kristian Fulton has had a rough start to the season and even with head coach Mike Vrabel considering benching the young corner, the Titans shouldn't give up on Fulton just yet.

The Tennessee Titans have seen an incredible drop from preseason expectations to on-field performance with cornerback Kristian Fulton early in the year. After being one of the top performers in camp, Fulton has been a liability in three out of the four games he's played this season.

Fulton has allowed 14 catches for 272 yards with one touchdown and four penalties committed. Those penalties often coming in the worst moments with dire consequences. With the struggles of the fourth-year corner out of LSU, head coach Mike Vrabel admitted he has and will consider benching Fulton.

While any fan of the team or even Vrabel himself are justified if they want Fulton on the pine, the problem is there is no alternative that offers similar upside. Fulton has had an up-and-down career with the Titans full of inconsistency and injuries, but he's also given them some of the best corner play they've had over the last few seasons.

Now, there of course is a line in sand. If Fulton continues these mistakes and continues to make mental errors then yes, you would have to bench him, but that time isn't now. While Fulton is an easy target, giving up 193 rushing yards and only scoring 16 points on offense seem like bigger issues.

The real problem is though, there is no one who can play the spot better than Fulton in this organization or in reasonable gettable a trade. The options behind Fulton on the depth chart don't inspire confidence and teams aren't just giving away talented young corners heading into Week 6.

Fulton's direct replacement would be Tre Avery. Avery has had good moments for the Titans and he certainly is a solid backup corner, but the last time Avery had to start, Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Avery was attacked.

The second-year corner out of Rutgers was thrown at 15 times, gave up 12 catches for 100 yards, two touchdowns and had a pass interference penalty. The truth is Avery looked even worse than Fulton through most of that game even if he did have his bright spots.

Behind Avery, you have the recently-acquired Kindle Vildor who the Titans got in a trade from the Chicago Bears prior to the season. Vildor has only played nine defensive snaps so far this season and appeared in two games.

However, worth considering in 2022 in 296 coverage snaps, Vildor committed 5 penalties, gave up three touchdowns and a passer rating of 112 when thrown at. It was worse in every category in 2021.

Vildor was brought over to help on special teams and has barely been asked to do that because of rookie Anthony Kendall. Another name on the corner list, Kendall is an undrafted rookie out of Baldwin-Wallace who surprised when he made the 53-man roster.

Kendall, like Vildor, is a guy meant to help on the Titans' special teams units. He has made a positive impact on those groups, playing 81 special teams snaps and registering four tackles, but Kendall is not ready to be a full-time starter at boundary corner in the NFL. Certainly isn't better than Fulton.

The Titans added cornerback Tay Gowan to their practice squad on Monday. Gowan is a long, physical corner standing at 6-foot-2. Gowan has played 44 defensive snaps in his two years in the NFL, none coming in 2022. He is not a valid replacement for Fulton.

That leaves reconfiguration as an option. The Titans could move slot-corner Roger McCreary back to the outside, where he primarily played in 2022 as a rookie and then place Eric Garror, undrafted rookie on the practice squad, into the slot role. 

The Titans converted Elijah Molden to safety from slot corner this offseason. Molden has flourished in a limited role as the third safety, but was a slot corner his rookie season in 2021. You could put McCreary back outside and bring Molden back to corner.

I think that would be a major mistake though. McCreary was destined to be a slot due to his limited size and arm length. There is a reason the Titans wanted him inside this year and McCreary has been playing well. 

There is also a reason that Molden was moved to safety. He does not have the quickness needed to play man coverage on wide receiver consistently. His position was changed because it was the best use of his skillset.

Without a logical in-house option, the most stubborn would scream trade. Some have pointed to the mid-season trade for Desmond King in 2020. In the nine games King played he allowed 29 catches on 36 targets for 305 yards, two touchdowns and committed seven penalties. The Titans gave up the fourth-most passing yards that season.

The trade did not fix anything and it cost the Titans draft capital which, in their current position, they can't afford to do. The Titans don't have a third or fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft. It looks like the Titans could be in a full rebuild this upcoming offseason.

Giving up future picks to try and salvage this team would be a questionable decision. This team isn't a starting cornerback away from making a deep postseason run. Not to mention, as I said above, NFL teams aren't lining up to give away good corners for cheap in the middle of the season.

The Titans couldn't afford to make a move for any corner worth having and if they did it may not move the needle enough to truly change this team's ceiling. Again, the Titans gave up 193 rushing yards and only scored 16 points on Sunday. A new corner doesn't fix all of that.

Also, a quick note at the end, the Titans certainly were hoping to get a compensatory pick from Kristian Fulton signing with a new team this offseason. Those hopes would be extinguished if Fulton were benched. 

So, while it may be frustrating, and it is certainly not what many want to hear, Kristian Fulton needs to continue to play because at the end of the day, he is the best option the Titans have. The best possible outcome for both sides would be for Fulton to just give them average play and move on after the year with a reasonable contract from another team.