When Tennessee Titans OLB Harold Landry was drafted out of Boston College back in 2018, we called him “The Bend God.” On tape, he looked like a freakish athlete with incredible bend that could get around opposing offensive linemen and get to the quarterback. The book on Landry was that he had a nasty bend move, could generate a lot of speed around the edges, and if he could round out a few more pass rush moves, he had the potential to be an elite pass rusher in the NFL.
Landry has consistently been the best pass rusher on the team for the bulk of his tenure with the Titans. I’m not sure if that speaks to Landry’s skill, or this team’s woes in building out a robust pass rush unit. But, if you look at his career stats, in a broad overview, for better or for worse, this is who the Titans have elected to build around.
- 2018: 4.5 sacks, 7.5 TFLs
- 2019: 9 sacks, 13.5 TFLs (both led team)
- 2020: 5.5 sacks, 10.5 TFLs (both led team)
Landry has been productive, and given the number of snaps he’s done it on, you can see the vision with him – the Titans want their thoroughbred. He played 1,115 snaps in 2020, 2nd in the NFL only to Jason Pierre-Paul. But, we’re still waiting on him to develop a more well-rounded and complete pass rush game that would see him reach his full potential. Based on rumblings that have come out of Titans training camp so far, it sounds like OLB coach Ryan Crow is well aware of this and is actively working to get Landry a broader skillset.
#Titans OLB Ryan Crow says he told Harold Landry that he can’t use his fast ball during camp. Wants him to develop another move. pic.twitter.com/p4Y1m8ppDz
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 7, 2021
Well, folks – this is the time to do it. Training camp, preseason – you do it now when the bad reps don’t hurt. I like Landry a lot, but his production dipped in 2020, and I’d imagine an awful lot of offensive lines and offensive coordinators just watched the tape and said, “hey, if we can stop this one move, we can stop Harold Landry altogether.” You get a tackle that just pushes him out or throws him off balance, and you’re adding to the distance he has to travel to get to the quarterback. It’s right there – plain and simple. So, if Landry is going to take the next step as a rusher, and not just be a one-move specialist, this is how you do it. So, I commend Crow and the Titans coaching staff for doing this – Landry has a wealth of talent and athleticism. There’s no reason he can’t form a fierce duo with Bud Dupree and rejuvenate this Titans pass rush (that’s me being overly optimistic, I know).
Now, this is just reckless speculation on my part, and yes I’m comfortable recklessly speculating as long as I’m transparent with you guys about it. But, I would think if I was a general manager in the NFL and had to make a decision about signing a player to a second contract, I would want to know exactly what I have in said player. If Landry comes out of this season still only utilizing one real pass rush move, and being a mostly one-dimensional player, I think you’d have your answer on whether or not to hitch the wagon to this guy moving forward. Just saying.
Oh, and please – let’s stop dropping Harold Landry into coverage. Thanks.
Don’t forget to check out our friends at MANSCAPED, who just launched the new Refined Cologne. Get 20% off your entire order and free shipping with the promo code ‘SOBROSTITANS20’ at checkout.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
