Kristian Fulton is in the final year of his rookie contract and came into the season with high expectations as the Tennessee Titans’ top corner. Fulton’s performance in camp against DeAndre Hopkins gave Titans fans hope that he was progressing into the player he was drafted to be. However, he has not done himself any favors in earning a 2nd contract since the season began. Fulton has allowed 14 catches on 18 targets for 272 yards and 1 TD, giving opposing QBs a 137.3 rating when targeting him.
In Week 4, Fulton gave up 4 catches for 95 yards & two penalties that results in first downs for Indy. On the final drive, a pass interference on a 3rd & 12 allowed the Colts to chew an additional 3 minutes off the clock and extend their lead to 7. This was the difference in the Titans getting the ball back with 1:00 on the clock and no timeouts, rather than having the ball with 4:25 and 3 timeouts. Predictably, Titans fans are demanding his head on a platter. Surprisingly, Coach Vrabel doesn’t seem opposed to giving fans what they are demanding, saying that he considered benching Fulton in-game and adding “we’ll see where things go” with the position as the team prepares for Baltimore.
What are the Titans options?
Next Man Up
In 2022, fans prayed for Daley to be replaced, but their prayers went unanswered because there simply was nobody behind him who could play left tackle any better. The answer is probably the same in Kristian Fulton’s case. The next man up would be Tre Avery, who started against the Chargers in Week 2. Avery was picked on all day, allowing 12 completions on 15 targets for 100 yards, 2 TDs, and a 134.0 passer rating. Avery also had a pass interference to go along with it. This isn’t exactly an upgrade.
Trade
If Fulton has a poor performance against the Ravens on Sunday, the timing could be ideal for a trade. The Titans would be going into the bye week, so it would give them 2 weeks to onboard a replacement. The roadblock here is the compensation the Titans could offer. Tennessee only has five picks in the 2024 draft, and three of them are Day 3 picks.
Coach Him Up
The most likely scenario is that Fulton’s job is secured by a lack of other options. Luckily, Fulton’s biggest errors are mental mistakes that can be corrected with coaching and film study. Fulton is physically capable of covering receivers, and he has shown sustained flashes of this in the past. On the pass interference against the Colts, your safety has rotated down to play a zone concept under you. A 4th-year player should know he doesn’t have help over the top, so he can’t crash on an under route. If he trusts Amani Hooker to cover the out, then Fulton is in a great position to cover the double move and get off the field. Instead, he makes a mental error that puts him out of position on the play.
