Tennessee Titans Roster Rundown: Outside Linebackers

It's Thursday, and we continue our Titans roster rundown through the defense, with the outside linebacker position up next.

Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

NASHVILLE- As we move closer to the end of our Tennessee Titans Roster Rundown on Thursday, we look at the linebackers inside and outside, and now we move to the outside linebacker.

The outside linebacker spots are set as to the starters and one of the two backups, but there is still some question about who will fill the one backup position. 

THE PLAYERS

Harold Landry III, Arden Key, Rashad Weaver, Thomas Rush, Caleb Murphy, Zach McCloud, Sam Okuayinonu

THE STARTERS

Harold Landry III: Returning from a season-ending knee injury in 2022, Landry is likely to deal with some issues in his return, as most players do not return to their pre-injury form in year one, but his return should still boost the defense. 

Arden Key: The well-traveled veteran was a force in the offseason program without Landry on the other side. Hopefully, having these two together will allow the Titans to do multiple things in the pass rush.  

THE BACKUPS

It's anyone's guess who will win the lone open spot here, but we know one of the two, and the competition for the other spot should be good. 

Rashad Weaver: Entering his third season with the Titans, Weaver is the top backup. He could see some extra snaps to lessen some of the workload on Landry early on as he works to improve his conditioning as he returns from the injury. 

Okuayinonu has the most NFL experience, entering his third season, while McCloud is entering year two. Rush and Murphy are undrafted rookies who have shown early promise but are still rookies. 

If forced to predict who will fill the role, I'll give you this. 

Sam Okuayinonu: Sam O has been one that some coaches have been high on, so I'm going to leap out on a limb and give him the call here ahead of the others.  

PRACTICE SQUAD

While all three remaining players here could be candidates, I'm considering Rush and Murphy as locks and McCloud as a possibility. 

CONCLUSION

This unit must avoid the big injuries and keep their top three on the field more often than not if this pass rush is to be impactful. There's also the potential of Murphy if he can transfer what he was able to do in college to the pro level, but don't hold your breath waiting for that this season. Still, he could develop into a player that could jump into that backup role and produce.  

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