Johnathan Cyprien reportedly signing with Titans

The Tennessee Titans are reportedly signing Jacksonville Jaguars free agent strong safety Johnathan Cyprien at 4pm EST today for the start of the new league year, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Cyprien was the second pick in general manager Dave Caldwell's initial draft class and until this past season, had been viewed as a major disappointment. He's range from being just average to being a big time liability, but the worst of it was he rarely, if ever, made impact plays for the Jaguars. Cyprien was picked in the second round of the draft with the idea to be the team's version of Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor, filling the role in then head coach Gus Bradley's defensive scheme. Cyprien was never able to come close to filling those shoes, though.

This past season, Cyprien had by far the best season of his NFL career. He was able to have this season, in part, because the Jaguars were able to finally play him in a highly specialized box safety role. In the previous seasons the team was missing that center field free safety, which would allow Cyprien to operate in or around the box and the line of scrimmage, but with the signing of Tashaun Gipson, he was able to play that role.

Cyprien played well, and I don't want to discredit his season because for him he did a nice job. But, the reality of it is that Cyprien exceeded his expectations so the perception of his season is multiplied past what it really was. He wasn't a huge liability like he had been in years past, he didn't miss as many tackles and most games he wasn't really noticeable. That's both good and bad, though. Good in that he didn't make any plays that made you notice him, in a bad way... buuuuuuuuuut also bad in that he didn't really make any plays to make you notice him in a good way.