Tennessee Titans: Jevon Kearse, Defensive End
When a player is simply nicknamed “The Freak,” then you know he’s just built differently. That’s especially true with Jevon Kearse, the former Tennessee Titans defensive end who spent the first five seasons of his career in Tennessee and then returned for the final two.
Originally a first-round pick from Florida in 1999, Kearse was insane for his first three seasons with 36 sacks in that span including 14.5 as a rookie. He missed 12 games in 2002 before returning in 2003 to record 9.5 sacks and 42 tackles.
That was enough for him to land a big contract in free agency with the Philadelphia Eagles who rewarded him with $64 million over eight seasons. He ended up playing out just half of that contract and had 105 tackles and 22 sacks in four seasons. He was good, but not the elite player the Titans had.
Kearse then returned for 2008 and 2009 and was a decent piece in the pass rush rotation but nothing like he was early in his career. Here, we bring back Kearse to the 2021 Titans roster when he was at his best.
Right now, they have been trying to find that elite pass-rusher and even took a shot in 2020 with Jadeveon Clowney — which didn’t work out. They countered that in 2021 with the signing of Bud Dupree but there’s no guarantee he will live up to his contract status. What we can guarantee is Kearse would be able to take this defense to the next level.