Malcolm Butler Had a Rough Night at the Office Against the Cowboys

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Cornerback Malcolm Butler was one of the prized free agent acquisitions for the Tennessee Titans this offseason. Dude was given a $61M contract with $30M guaranteed to come in and bolster a secondary that needed a boost. But, Butler’s play has been the subject of much criticism in recent weeks. Let’s just say some of his work against the Dallas Cowboys last night didn’t do much to negate that perception.

The Cowboys needed a guy who could create separation in the receiving corps. Amari Cooper is perfectly capable of that, but Butler made this touchdown way too easy. He has displayed an obvious lack of recovery speed, so expect every NFL team that plays the Titans to throw double moves at him. This is a prime example. All Cooper needed was a few yards, and with the way Butler pursued him, one quick move and Butler didn’t stand a chance. Death by lateral quickness. But, as bad as that play was, it was nowhere near Allen Hurns putting Butler on skates:

No disrespect to Allen Hurns….but this is Allen Hurns. Come on, man. It’s not like Antonio Brown suiting up out there. This is bad. Again, it’s the Cowboys going at Butler with the double move. But, what makes this one worse is that Hurns doesn’t even turn and run straight line speed. He hits the double move and just kind of glides laterally down field for the touchdown reception.

That’s how much space he got on Butler with the double, and that’s how bad Butler’s recovery speed is.

I don’t know what you do with Butler here, but the bottom line is that he just hasn’t covered elite receivers to the level he’s being paid for. He struggles against speed, and I’m not really sure how you fix that. “Get faster,” I guess? He was supposed to be the missing piece for this secondary. But, to this point, teams have shown a deliberate effort to target him in the passing game. As long as plays like this keep happening, teams are going to continue to take advantage of receivers matched up on Butler.

That is, as they say, not good.

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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