NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sylvester Williams is probably the Tennessee Titans' first true nose tackle since they moved to a 3-4 in 2014.

He’s not coming off his best season in Denver, which has been attributed, in part, to the Bronco’s free-agent loss of Malik Jackson to Jacksonville in 2016 free agency.

“He’s a good, try-hard guy,” a scouting source who’s familiar with Williams said. “But he’s not strong enough or powerful. Average player.”

Sylvester Williams started all 16 games for the Broncos in 2016 and had 29 tackles and a sack. Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire

While it's wise to be wary of free agents coming off a career year, it's also wise to wonder about a pending free-agent who was not at his best.

The Titans are counting on one of their special ingredients to be able to pull more out of Williams: defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.

“He’s got good quickness, he’s got good hands, he’s got good block recognition in there,” Jon Robinson said on "The Midday 180" radio show on 104.5 FM. “He can get on the edge of centers and guards and push the pocket. He can be disruptive as a gap penetrator. So we’re looking forward to getting him in here and working with him.

“We think that Coach LeBeau will be able to cook up some type of scheme to make him an impact player for us.”

In strong safety Johnathan Cyprien, Williams and cornerback Logan Ryan, the Titans have added two starting defenders whose forte is against the run and another who’s effective at helping out.

“The strength of our defense, up the middle, with (Avery) Williamson at linebacker, with adding Sly Williams, with adding Cyprien – every head coach ... whenever they start to go over the game plan for the week’s opponent, the No. 1 thing when you start to talk about defensive goals is ‘Stop the run, stop the run, stop the run,” Robinson said. “At least every team that I’ve been a part of, you’ve got to stop the run, don’t allow them to run the football.

“We’ve added some pieces here that will continue to bolster our run defense and make it strong.”