After dismantling their cornerback corps, the Titans are starting to put pieces together at the position. They are signing veteran Janoris Jenkins, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The Saints made Jenkins a cap casualty last week. The Titans have made both Malcolm Butler and Adoree’ Jackson cap casualties, creating major needs at this spot.
Tennessee boasted one of the worst third-down defenses in modern NFL history last season and ranked 29th against the pass. The Titans will add Jenkins, a longtime starter who has been a first-stringer with three teams, in hopes of improving here. This move comes after the team addressed its front-seven needs by agreeing to terms with Bud Dupree and Denico Autry.
In 2019, the Titans possessed a high-end group of corners in Butler, Jackson and Logan Ryan. All three are gone, leaving 2020 second-round pick Kristian Fulton and multiple vacancies at this rather important position. Jenkins, 32, profiles as a stopgap solution of sorts. He will turn 33 midway through the season but has managed to stick as a starter in multiple seasons with the Rams, Giants and Saints.
Pro Football Focus has rated Jackrabbit as an above-average corner over the past two seasons. He slotted at 42nd and 38th among qualified corners in 2019 and ’20. The Rams let Jenkins walk as a free agent in 2016; the Giants traded him in 2019. Formerly a pick-six maven, with seven return TDs as a Ram and one as a Giant, Jenkins will hope to deliver another solid season as a pro.
Jenkins and Fulton should do fine together, Dupree and Autry were both good signings.