Tennessee Titans: Wesley Woodyard’s profound impact

If this season were to end today, the Tennessee Titans would have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft after drafting franchise QB Marcus Mariota in this year’s class, but Mariota isn’t the only reason why Titans fans should be optimistic despite their 2-9 record; look no further than the likes of Wesley Woodyard and Avery Williamson on defense.

While the Tennessee Titans are unsurprisingly one of the worst teams in the NFL and have barely any talent at the skill positions, the rebuild is progressing along nicely. Marcus Mariota looks like the answer at the position, and you can only imagine how good he’ll look if he has a legitimate receiving corps to add to the excellent work Delanie Walker has put in this season. Maybe more importantly, the defense has shown tangible quality this season, and Wesley Woodyard’s jump in his second season with the Titans is a big reason for this.

ALSO ON SPIN ZONE: Who are the greatest coaches in NFL history?

Jurrell Casey has always been the superstar on the Titans defense, and he finally started to earn national attention last season. There’s no doubt that Casey remains this defense’s star, but he has other standouts emerging around him. Big-name offseason signing Brian Orakpo has obviously been a positive force, and fellow offseason addition Da’Norris Searcy has been just as much of a stabilizing force.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

But let’s go beyond the big names. DaQuan Jones has arguably been the Titans breakout star on the defensive line with his forceful run defense making up for his lack of sacks, Avery Williamson looks like a key part of the Titans nucleus on defense for the future, and 2014 offseason signing Woodyard has went from being a liability to being one of the team’s three best defenders this season.

In Woodyard and Williamson, the Titans can feel confident knowing they have one of the league’s better and most underrated inside linebacker pairings. Woodyard leads the Titans in defensive stops, as per Pro Football Focus, and in solo tackles, according to Pro-Football Reference.

I wouldn’t take those numbers lightly, if I were you, because the Titans run defense has quietly been putting in some serious work against the run. So far this season, they’ve held opponents to just 3.9 yards per carry, and only one team has run the ball for more than 100 yards on them in their past five games.

That one team? Oh, just the undefeated Carolina Panthers, who lead the NFL with 379 rushing attempts this season. So yeah, you can forgive the Titans for allowing 119 yards on the ground to Jonathan Stewart, Cam Newton, and Co., especially since Carolina only averaged 3.5 yards per carry in that game anyway.

As a whole, the Titans defense has been a positive this season. Even though the offense has been the third-worst in the NFL in both yards per game and points per game, the defense has been 8th and 15th in these stats, respectively. The pass defense has plenty of room for improvement, but the front seven (run defense and pass rush) have been legit positives.

Woodyard is at the heart of that. After missing 14 tackles last season with seriously deplorable work in all facets of the game, many were wondering if the Titans made a blunder in the 2014 offseason when they decided to ink him to a four-year deal worth $15.75 million. In fact, he seemed like a legit candidate for release this past offseason with little guaranteed money on his contract, as he looked nothing like the serviceable linebacker he was while with the Denver Broncos for several seasons.

Instead, Woodyard is playing the best football of his career here in 2015, and it’s almost hard to believe that he was part of the problem and a legit candidate for release. At 29, Woodyard is in the prime of his career at the inside linebacker position, and the Titans have a duo of Kentucky products worth praising in their linebacker corps.

Sep 13, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Titans inside linebacker Wesley Woodyard (59) reacts during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Tennessee Titans defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 42-14. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It hasn’t just been a season of plenty of tackles and strong plays against the run for Woodyard, though that is indeed his main asset at this point.

He’s also contributed five sacks to this defense, which ties Casey for the second-most sacks on the team behind Orakpo’s oft-overlooked 7.0. The craziest part? No other non-3-4 outside linebacker has as many sacks as Woodyard so far this season.

You know what makes all of these numbers more impressive? After missing 14 tackles, as per PFF, last year, he’s only missed three through 11 games this year. On pace for 97 tackles (three more than last year), Woodyard’s lack of mistakes shouldn’t be taken lightly either.

Next: Here are this week's best-kept secrets in fantasy

Sadly, because he is a veteran linebacker on the Titans, nobody is going to notice the fact that he’s been one of the NFL’s best run defenders this season (first in PFF’s Run Stop%) and one of the best ILBs at getting after the passer.

He’s a huge reason why the Titans defense is making strides, and it looks like signing him through the 2017 season may have been a good move by Ruston Webster after all.