While the Titans are playing out the string and deciding what players fit into their 2024 plans, there is one name among their veteran unrestricted free agents that stands out above all the others: defensive lineman Denico Autry.
At age 33, one wouldn’t figure Autry to be much of a building block for the overhaul that will be coming to Saint Thomas Sports Park next year.
But most 33-year-olds aren’t Denico Autry. In his 10th NFL season, Autry is performing better than ever, setting career highs with 11.5 sacks and 48 tackles. Amid the injuries to others and the problems the Titans have had, Autry showed himself to be arguably the team’s best defensive player this season.
Autry signed a three-year contract to join the Titans from the Indianapolis Colts in 2021, and for all the mistakes Jon Robinson might have made as a general manager, Autry was one of his best moves.
And as Ran Carthon and Mike Vrabel make the hard choices of who stays and who goes this offseason, Autry is someone who should be in their plans, regardless of his age.
Clearly Autry is a Vrabel kind of player, and the coach even remarked that a big part of last year’s late slide was due to Autry being out of the lineup for more than a month.
“(We) kind of missed him, obviously, last year in the stretch that we didn’t have him,” Vrabel says. “(He) understands football very well, whether it’s in the run game or what he’s trying to do in pass rush, or if he has to move a gap and attack another offensive blocker.”
Autry has already stated he is amenable to a return, if a contract can be worked out in Tennessee. The Titans would be wise to explore that for a player who keeps himself in top shape in order to perform at a high level.
“My body still feels good. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better as far as technique-wise and knowing what to do on the field,” Autry says. “I see a lot of things on the field, and once you see it and recognize it, you know what it is, and it’s just about having a lot of playing time.”
He and his defensive line coach, Terrell Williams, have a long history, first crossing paths when Williams coached Autry as an undrafted rookie with the then-Oakland Raiders.
“My first exposure with him was in 2014 when he was an undrafted free agent with us in Oakland. It’s funny, because you watch tape of him, even from back then, and he still moves the same. So whatever he’s doing, he needs to bottle it up and start selling it to people,” Williams says.