The Tennessee Titans lost in completely demoralizing fashion to the Baltimore Ravens yesterday. In short, it was bad. Like, real bad. So bad, in fact, that I had trouble sitting down to write something positive to take away from that bludgeoning. I mean, the Titans couldn’t get anything going on offense, and they allowed the Ravens offense to plod methodically down the field and hammer in a few touchdowns. But, perhaps lost in the shuffle was the encouraging progress made by rookie middle linebacker Rashaan Evans.
The Titans made Evans a first round pick in the spring, and for the most part, the Nashville media lauded the pick. From what I remember, it was pretty well unanimously liked, myself included. For several reasons, namely that he was a good player in college. Wouldn’t you know? That’s usually what leads to a player being selected in the first round. But, at Alabama, Evans showed a versatility and range that the Titans have lacked at the inside linebacker position for a long time.
For whatever reason, it hasn’t worked out quite yet. He missed a lot of time during camp and the preseason due to injury, so it’s taken him a minute to catch up.
If you’ll remember, Evans struggled mightily the week before against the Buffalo Bills. At times, he looked completely lost, and it drew a lot of criticism from Titans writers and fans alike. The game went so poorly for him that Nashville sports talk started throwing around the b word – “bust.”
Evans tweeted that middle linebacker is not his natural position, which of course raised a few eyebrows in town. But, like a lot of sports talk, it was just hyperbole. The dude wasn’t even three full games into his NFL career. The verdict is still out on the guy and really, any talk about whether or not he’s a bust is entirely premature.
Nonetheless, you want to see how a young player responds to a bad game.
Rashaan Evans and his explosiveness..my goodness #TitanUp pic.twitter.com/4z9gSgKz8t
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) October 15, 2018
Evans responded well against a Ravens offense that played pretty damn well on Sunday. He recorded seven tackles (only Adoree Jackson had more, with eight), including one tackle for loss, the first of his career. He tackled well and was a presence in run support, running down Alex Collins for that TFL. At one point, he ripped the ball out of a Ravens receiver’s hands, but the guy was already down by contact so it didn’t count.
All in all, a nice step up for Evans, and whether he was listening or not, it was a nice response to his critics. With Will Compton and Wesley Woodyard both battling injury, a lot is going to rest on his and Jayon Brown’s shoulders. Just goes to show you how the narrative can change in the NFL from week to week. Let’s hold off on calling people busts until January, can we?
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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