10 most improved position groups in the 2021 NFL off-season

#6 Edge rushers – Tennessee Titans

Edge rusher

Moving on to the defensive side of the ball, I believe no position is tougher to really upgrade than the play on the edge, unless you are ready to trade assets. Elite pass rushers are arguably the second-most important pieces to any NFL team, so those difference-makers rarely hit the market.

The likes of Chase Young and the Bosa brothers have skewed our perception of instant playmakers that are usually available in the draft. So looking at the Titans here, of course the additions they have made would have helped any team out there. But they make this list because of how desperate they were to upgrade in this area.

Looking at their numbers from a year ago, their tally of 19 sacks on the season were more than only two teams – the one-win Jaguars and the four-win Bengals. However, unlike those bottom-feeders, they were ranked next to a division-winning 11-5 squad.

The next-closest playoff team in that category still had 32. And the Titans were only 0.1% better than the worst team (Lions) in terms of percentage of pressures provided on dropbacks (17.6%). Harold Landry and Jeffery Simmons were the only reliable players on that D-line for them.

They added Bud Dupree from Pittsburgh, who came into his own last season and was on track for 11.5 sacks and 41 pressures by himself. He is a reasonable 16.5-million annual salary with a potential of two years from now, coming pff a torn ACL. Then there is the highly underrated Denico Autry, who quietly racked up 7.5 sacks for Indy last year, on a two-plus-one deal for 7 million per year.

There is also the very technically-sound, powerful Rashad Weaver (Pittsburgh) in the fourth round, so they go four deep on the edge, with a couple of guys having inside flexibility.

Notable Mentions: New York Giants (Azeez Ojulari, Ryan Anderson and Ifeadi Odenigbo)