In our first installment of winners and losers from the entire 2022 season, we take a look at the most notable Tennessee Titans players to land on either side of the aisle (or somewhere in between).
The Titans’ offense was dreadful overall in 2022, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Here’s a look at the team’s rankings:
Total yards: 30th
Passing yards: 30th
Rushing yards: 13th
Points per game: 28th
Big yikes. Even the Titans’ strength, the rushing attack, wasn’t it’s normal elite self in 2022.
Thank the football gods, the Titans finally made the decision to fire Todd Downing, which some would argue was a season too late. Fans have been calling for his head since 2021, and I can’t say I blame them.
There were no shortage of losers on offense for Tennessee this past season, but there were also some glimmers of hope to talk about. Let’s see who were the most notable winners and losers from the Titans’ 2022 campaign.
Winner: QB Joshua Dobbs
Dobbs did a lot to help himself over the two starts he made with the Titans at the end of the season. He didn’t get a win in either, but he did show he’s a capable backup who should be on an NFL roster in 2023.
Look for Dobbs to be back in Nashville next season with the chance to compete for the team’s backup job against Malik Willis.
Loser: QB Ryan Tannehill
The Titans failed Tannehill miserably this year. Granted, he wasn’t perfect, but he had no offensive line in front of him, and a wide receiver corps. that was among the worst in the NFL.
No surprise that offensive line led to Tannehill taking a beating, something we’ve seen in years past, but this time around it led to the veteran starter getting hurt, which really doomed Tennessee’s season.
The Titans almost owe it to Tannehill to give him another season with a better team around him. Of course, that’s not how any of this works and Tennessee will likely explore it’s options during the offseason.
But don’t be surprised if Tannehill is restructured and brought back for one more year. That may end up being the best avenue for the cash-strapped Titans to free up the most money to be able to improve the team.
In between: RB Derrick Henry
There were many experts out there who were writing Henry’s obituary at the start of the season, saying the superstar running back may not be the same ever again after his injury-shortened 2021 campaign.
However, Henry proved the doubters wrong, and did so behind arguably the worst offensive line in football.
Henry still managed to rush for 1,538 yards and 13 touchdowns, both ranking second in the NFL. He also had a career year as a pass-catcher, reeling in personal bests of 33 catches for 398 yards.
The negative side of Henry’s season came in the turnovers department, where he lost three (he had six in total) fumbles, all of which came in two pivotal games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.
Head coach Mike Vrabel even mentioned Henry’s fumbling issues in the wake of the team’s season-ending loss to the Jaguars.
Mike Vrabel was asked about the #Titans offense and in his answer he mentioned how they gave their best player the ball and he fumbled it mroe than previous years. pic.twitter.com/DayufGK6le
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) January 9, 2023
It’s full-steam ahead for Henry with the Titans in 2023, but it’s fair to start thinking about the future with The King set to turn 30 next January and entering the final year of his deal.
Loser: QB Malik Willis
We always knew it would take Willis a year to develop, but that didn’t stop some fans and media from going into all-out panic mode about the rookie signal-caller — and at least some concern is warranted.
After all, not only did the offense get far worse with Willis under center in place of Tannehill, but the rookie was also outplayed by Dobbs, who had been with the team for all of eight days before passing him on the depth chart.
It’s hard to truly know if the move to Dobbs was the Titans giving up on Willis, or if it was just a win-now move with the writing clearly on the wall that Dobbs gave Tennessee the best chance to win in that moment.
What we do know is the Titans simply cannot roll with Willis as the starter in 2023, which was the hope when Tennessee drafted him. Instead, the Titans will let him compete for the backup job behind an established veteran and hope he shows enough to eventually hand him the keys to the car.
Winner: TE Chig Okonkwo
Chig was one of the few bright spots on offense for the Titans this season, and it only took them until Week 9 to start getting him involved regularly.
Despite Todd Downing being asleep at the wheel with his best playmaker in the passing game, the explosive rookie still managed to post 450 yards and three touchdowns, leading all first-year tight ends in both categories.
That total was also the most by a Titans tight end since Delanie Walker posted 807 in 2017.
There are so many cool stats from Chig’s first season, but here’s the one that jumps off the page the most: Okonkwo had 2.61 yards per route run, which ranked third in the NFL among both wide receivers and tight ends.
The only two who finished with a higher mark? The Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill (3.0) and the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson (2.62). Now that’s impressive company.
Most yards per route run in 2022, minimum 100 pass routes, regardless of postion
1. Tyreek Hill – 3.20
2. Justin Jefferson – 2.62
3. Chigoziem Okonkwo – 2.61— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) January 10, 2023
With his special combination of speed and power, Okonkwo has star potential. Now the Titans need to find a way to maximize it.
Loser: WR Robert Woods
When the Titans brought Woods in, he was expected to be the No. 2 to A.J. Brown. However, as we know, that didn’t pan out and instead, Woods was thrust into a No. 1 role, at least at the start of the season.
And that did not work out. Not only did Woods have trouble getting open, a problem that existed throughout the receiving corps., but he struggled with drops to the point we cringed every time he was thrown the ball.
As the season progressed, Treylon Burks became the clear No. 1 in, although Woods was still getting the most snaps. The veteran did end up leading the team in receiving yards, but that’s not saying much with this group.
I tend to believe this year was an outlier for Woods — who has always been a good player — and he’ll be better next year, but the fact that he’s turning 31 in a few months is an added cause for concern about his future.
He’ll likely be cut this offseason.
Winner: WR Treylon Burks
Depending on how you look at his season and the context you add, Burks could either be a winner or somewhere in between. We’re going with the former.
The Arkansas product had a rough start last offseason thanks to conditioning issues, and he missed six games during his first season, two of which were the result of a concussion via an illegal hit.
When he was on the field, it was clear Burks was a difference-maker and the Titans’ best play-making wide receiver, and he showed us flashes of the exciting ability he possesses when the ball is in his hands.
Granted, the production wasn’t anything to write him about overall and he didn’t provide the numbers Tennessee needed in the wake of trading Brown, but I’m not sure anyone could have in this offense.
After all, Burks was in an offense that was broken, with a terrible play-caller that didn’t use him enough and an offensive line that made throwing the ball difficult.
The Titans definitely have something in Burks, and I can’t wait to see what that looks like in full when Tennessee’s offense is operating at a competent level.
Loser: Titans' offensive line
I’m not really sure there’s a single offensive lineman who came out of 2022 as a winner when you take everything into consideration.
Dennis Daley was the worst left tackle in the sport and will not be back with this team in 2023. Next to him, Aaron Brewer was bad, and while he didn’t go completely unnoticed, he definitely had some cover from Daley.
At the very least, the Titans should fire the left side of their offensive line into the sun. Brewer is the only semblance of a redeemable asset, but that’s only as a backup, not a starter.
At right tackle, Nicholas Petit-Frere was just about what you’d expect for a third-round rookie thrust into a starting role. I’m not totally sold on him yet, but I’m more optimistic than not that he’ll be fine.
Nate Davis had himself a solid season overall, but the pending free agent also missed five games due to injury. Ben Jones was the stalwart per usual, but he suffered two concussions that ended his season early and now puts his future in doubt.
In all, the group upfront was tied for the fifth-most sacks given up in 2022, with Daley tying for the top mark in the NFL with 12 allowed.
Taylor Lewan suffered a torn ACL for the second time in his career and is likely gone. Dillon Radunz will be back, but he also has to recover from a torn ACL and the jury is still very much out on him after he got hurt the second Tennessee FINALLY gave him a shot.
With NPF the only player completely locked-in for next season, the Titans could be looking at a full rebuild of their offensive line, which is actually a welcomed proposition after what we all had to witness in 2022.
However, if Tennessee can keep Davis and Jones does return for another season, Vrabes and the new general manager will only have the left side to replace, which is far less daunting a task.
Winner: TE Austin Hooper
Hooper was another player Downing apparently didn’t realize he had until about halfway into the season. However, from Week 7 on, the veteran tight end was among Tennessee’s most reliable pass-catchers.
He finished tied for fourth on the team in receiving yards, but he was no doubt the No. 3 option through the air behind Chig and Burks.
Hooper is one the Titans’ 34 pending free agents going into 2023, and he’s one that the team should want to bring back to pair with Chig.
Loser: Todd Downing
Downing did just about everything wrong during his time as the offensive coordinator. In fact, I can only think of one thing he really did well, which was including Derrick Henry in the passing attack more.
Other than that, it was a disaster. Downing’s play-calling was predictable and just plain bad, he didn’t utilize his best weapons enough, and he was even arrested for a DUI, which happened to come after one of his better games.
Sure, Downing wasn’t exactly given a ton to work with in 2022, but there was never a point where we could say he elevated the offense in any way over two seasons.
In fact, it was quite the opposite, as his play-calling was a detriment.
Downing is now out of a job, and chances are he won’t sniff another role as important as offensive coordinator for the rest of his career after what the world witnessed with him calling the shots for Tennessee’s offense.
