Radunz Still Trying to Find His Place

The 2021 second-round pick out of North Dakota state enters his second season as a backup option at guard and tackle but no clear future at either.

NASHVILLE – Dillon Radunz won’t be a starter when the Tennessee Titans open the 2022 season in a little more than a week.

That does not mean he is finished as an NFL tackle. Not according to the team’s top voice on personnel matters, at least.

As coaches focused increasingly on rookie Nicholas Petit-Frere as best option to start at right tackle, Radunz began to move around on the offensive line. The 2021 second-round pick got more and more work at guard during practices late in training camp and then played 21 snaps at right guard and 16 at left guard in last Saturday’s preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals. In the first two preseason contests, he played exclusively at right tackle (33 snaps total).

General manager Jon Robinson said this week that the change is not an indication that franchise officials have given up on the idea that Radunz can be a tackle in the NFL.

“He’s worked mostly at tackle throughout the course of the spring and then through training camp,” Robinson said. “He’s getting some guard work now because if you’re not one of the (starting) five you want to be able to go in and play multiple spots.”

There is evidence, though, that guard might be the best spot for Radunz.

According to Pro Football Focus, the game against the Cardinals was – by far – his best and most consistent performance of the preseason.

His overall grade was 64.7, his highest of the three contests, and the difference between his run blocking and pass blocking marks (66.1 and 86.4, respectively) was the smallest of any of the three contests. The pass blocking grade was particularly notable because it was more than twice what he posted in either of his two tries at tackle.

The result is that Radunz is now in a wait-and-see situation. He is not a starter. Nor is he the so-called “swing tackle,” the primary backup on either end of the line. The recently acquired Dennis Daley and free agent addition Jamarco Jones are the leading candidates for that role.

Randuz, therefore, will have to fill in when – and where – he can. There were six games in 2021 when he saw at least some action on offense. In five of them, he was inserted at guard. The lone exception was Week 16 when a spate of injuries left him as the starter at left tackle when Taylor Lewan was unavailable.

“We’ve seen his work at tackle,” Robinson said. “He played guard some last year for us during practices and stuff. He played left tackle in the San Fran game last year. He’s working at guard now, just trying to get brushed up because he spent so much time at tackle so that he can punch in at any of those spots.”

In other words, he is right back to where he started his rookie season.