It is no secret the Tennessee Titans will be a run-first football team in 2019, and that former Alabama rusher Derrick Henry will lead the way.
But, what’s a good run game’s best friend? Threatening wide receivers on the outside.
The 2019 receiving corps has been restocked and revamped — with a host of new names added. With key new receivers on the roster and others returning from injury, who will lead the Titans in each receiving category?
We took a dive into how things could potentially play out for Tennessee’s pass-catchers.
Receptions
1. Adam Humphries
2. Delanie Walker
3. Corey Davis
4. AJ Brown
5. Dion Lewis
Humphries is an elite slot wide receiver. He’s a master of getting off the line of scrimmage cleanly, and creating space in the middle of the field.
Marcus Mariota is a quarterback who is more comfortable working the middle of the field, which brings us to tight end Delanie Walker at No. 2.
Walker has led Titans receivers in most statistical categories for years. His season was cut short in the very first week last season, but he returns to health this year.
Davis lands at No. 3 here after being the Titans’ only truly dependable receiver last season. In 2019, he has more quality players to compete for targets with, but he should see far fewer double teams.
Lewis will serve as a third-down/passing down back in 2019. He has a year of chemistry built with Mariota, and the team trusts him to catch the ball and break a tackle.
Brown likely won’t have as many opportunities as he will open the 2019 season as the team’s third receiver off the bench, and the Titans don’t run 3-wide sets as often as many other teams.
Receiving yards
1. Corey Davis
2. Adam Humphries
3. Delanie Walker
4. AJ Brown
5. Taywan Taylor
If Davis isn’t going to lead the team in receptions or even come in second, how will he have the most yards?
The simple answer to that is Davis is a hard man to tackle. Once he has the ball in his hands he’s almost like a running back, and not a shifty back, but a power back. Davis excelled in college with making a man miss and taking the ball a good ways after the reception.
Unlike Davis, Humphries will rely on skill to create space to catch the ball – and if enough space is created – he can use that to gain some extra yards. Humphries will likely stick to short and intermediate routes, but there could be a deep route or two thrown in along the way for him.
Hardly any other player on this roster has more chemistry with Mariota than Walker does. We’ve seen Mariota force the ball to Walker in double or even triple-coverage on multiple occasions. With his route-running ability and overall power, he is similar to both Humphries and Davis. Walker will stick to short and intermediate routes like tight ends do.
Like Davis, Brown is exceptional at using his power to create yards after the catch. But opportunities are going to be what hampers him in his rookie season.
Taylor is likely to see a significant cut in his playing time, but he will be used as the deep threat weapon in this offense, and we’re likely to see him come away with a couple of the deep shots Mariota takes.
Touchdowns
1. Delanie Walker
2. AJ Brown
3. Corey Davis
4. Adam Humphries
5. Dion Lewis
In the red-zone, there’s limited space and the opposing defense is coming full force.
While Mariota has plenty of new targets this season, when he gets rushed, he’s likely to go back to old faithful Walker out of instinct.
We’ve talked a lot about how Brown will have limited chances. But the red zone offense is where he should really shine. His size and skill set says this should be an area he dominates.
But with so many proven weapons on the offensive side of the ball, Brown probably won’t get as much attention from defenses.
Davis is a big target, and he has a knack for coming in clutch in trying situations. He is probably the Titans’ best jump ball target right now.
Humphries’ size is what hurts him in this part of the field. In order for him to secure catches in the red zone, he’s going to have to get open in hurry, and in limited space.
While the Titans probably prefer to pound the ball in with Henry, Lewis will have some opportunities in the red zone with designed plays to get him into space.
If you’re reading this for fantasy football advice, the best advice would be to avoid Titans receivers altogether, aside from Delanie Walker who will be around the top of the NFL at the tight end position.
It’s difficult to project just what this group of receivers will do, and where exactly they’ll end up making the most impact within the offense. For now, the best we can do is guesswork based off of the Titans’ past and the trends within it.
