Tag: Chigoziem Okonkwo

Titans-Bengals Week 15: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The Tennessee Titans lost their Week 15 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The Tennessee Titans fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 37-27 on Sunday in a game that saw 10 turnovers and 26 penalties between the two teams. It was a sloppy outing that forced Brian Callahan to bench Will Levis after his third interception, and Tony Pollard’s foot/ankle injury impacted the ground game.

There was a lot of back-and-forth in this game, and both teams accumulated 370 yards or more on offense, but the Titans’ six turnovers compared to the Bengals’ four turnovers is what made the difference.

Now, let’s examine the snap counts that contributed to the Titans’ Week 15 loss.

Offensive snaps: 70
Defensive snaps: 69
Special teams snaps: 22

Despite Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Calvin Ridley getting the most snap counts on offense, Tyjae Spears was the most productive offensive player on Sunday. Chigoziem Okonkwo was the second-most productive offensive player, despite being on the field far less than both Ridley and Westbrook-Ikhine.

On defense, the only player on the field for the entire game was Amani Hooker, and he recorded six tackles (three solo). Chidobe Awuzie and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. were only one snap shy of being out there for every defensive play, and both played relatively well.

The special teams unit wasn’t called upon very often on Sunday, and that’s probably a good thing for the Titans given how they’ve played of late.

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PFF selects two Tennessee Titans as fantasy sleepers

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis and tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo were selected by PFF as fantasy sleeper picks in 2024.

The Tennessee Titans had some major changes happen after the 2023 season. A new head coach, a new starting quarterback, three new wide receivers, and more.

It stands to reason that most fans don’t really know what to expect from this team or its players due to all of these changes. But that hasn’t stopped PFF from putting two Titans on their fantasy sleeper list.

Both players were drafted by the Titans within the last two seasons — Chigoziem Okonkwo in 2022 and Will Levis in 2023.

At 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds, Okonkwo is a smaller tight end, but that is part of what makes him successful on the field. He’s not an enigma like George Kittle or Travis Kelce or Rob Gronkowski — he’s not loud and flashy, he simply goes on the field and does his job to the best of his ability. Last year he was the Titans’ second-leading receiver behind only DeAndre Hopkins.

Levis took the starting position from Ryan Tannehill in the middle of last season. He played one less game than Tannehill and still threw almost 200 yards more. Not only is Levis looking to improve on last season and show that he really is the guy for the job, but he has some new targets to throw at this year.

Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd will open Levis’ options even further as his receivers stretch opposing defenses thin.

Both of these players have the potential to have a breakout season. They aren’t household names outside of Tennessee yet, but it’s likely that fantasy players will know exactly who they are by the time the season ends.

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Chig Okonkwo talks vision for Titans TEs in new offense

Chig Okonkwo recently touched on what he expects for the Titans’ tight ends in the new offense.

The Tennessee Titans are moving to a new offense in 2024 after the firing of Mike Vrabel and hiring of Brian Callahan, and that change figures to favor the passing attack more.

But not only will the Titans likely be throwing more passes, they should be taking more shots down the field, which wasn’t always possible in the past few years thanks to terrible pass protection. Hopefully, Tennessee will be better in that area in 2024.

Chigoziem Okonkwo touched on what he envisions for Titans tight ends in Callahan’s new offense, and it’s clear he expects more plays down the field.

“I think more down the field, attacking stuff, I would say,” Chig said, per Jim Wyatt. “Using our speed to get those balls down the field. A lot of stuff has been shorter stuff in the past. I think we’re going to be able to open up a lot more things.

“It is very exciting when you see the stuff we’re bringing in. It feels like we’re going to be relying a lot on the pass, and that is going to be a big part of my game, too. So, I am very excited for that. I am very excited to have those guys on the outside, and get a lot of the attention, and then make plays on the inside.”

While Chig has struggled with drops over the course of his career, his athleticism and ability to rip off big plays is undeniable, and that’s what makes him such an intriguing player in Callahan’s offense.

Chig is certainly going to have more competition for targets with what the Titans added to their wide receivers room, but he can still manage to have a career-best year if he’s breaking off bigger gains.

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Titans’ Chig Okonkwo details ‘more relaxed’ and ‘free’ atmosphere

Titans TE Chigoziem Okonkwo noted a big change in the atmosphere and culture, both in the locker room and on the field.

We’ve seen Tennessee Titans players who were around for the Mike Vrabel era note different changes they’ve seen between previous years and this one, and tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo is the latest to weigh-in.

After the second open session of OTAs on Wednesday, Okonkwo said the players are “just more relaxed” and “free,” both in the locker room and on the field.

“I feel guys are just more relaxed now with our building,” Chig said. “I feel like guys come in and they’re not as tense, not as stressed out and it allows people to be a lot more free in the locker room. I mean, we were always free in the locker room but there’s a lot more freedom on the field. I think we’re going to see a lot of that this year.”

When asked to give an example of how things are more free, Chig said, “I feel like just coming in and being yourself. Not feeling like you need to minimize yourself and what you’re doing. Just coming in and fully being you.”

Chig was then asked to explain what he would attribute that to.

“It’s just different cultures,” he replied. “Right now, we’re seeing a new culture, the way we do things is a lot more on us players to get going. I feel like us having ownership of that has been a big thing to help us be more free.”

Understandably, this is going to be taken as a knock on the culture that Vrabel created during his tenure in Nashville. Vrabel was definitely pro-player, but apparently not to the level we thought.

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Titans offseason preview at TE: Pending free agents, biggest needs

In our latest installment of offseason previews for the Tennessee Titans, we take a look at the tight end position.

In our latest offseason preview for the Tennessee Titans, we’re taking a look at the team’s pending free agents and biggest needs at the tight end position.

Tennessee’s best tight end in 2023 was 2022 fourth-round pick, Chig Okonkwo, who led the position with 528 yards and one touchdown.

While it wasn’t the true breakout campaign Titans fans were expecting, Chig still managed to top his rookie yardage total after a slow start that was filled with bad drops. Okonkwo no doubt saved face with a strong finish.

The other notable tight end was 2023 fifth-round pick, Josh Whyle, who showed flashes both as a pass-catcher and blocker but ultimately didn’t do much because of a lack of playing time and injury.

The Titans will be depending on both of those tight ends in 2024, but what’s the situation beyond them? We’ll go over that and more in our Titans offseason preview for the tight end position.

Titans highlights: Derrick Henry throws TD pass to Chig Okonkwo

Titans RB Derrick Henry

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry added another chapter to his illustrious career as a passer in Week 16 against the Seattle Seahawks.

In the second quarter with the Titans in the red zone, Tennessee drew up a play that had quarterback Ryan Tannehill hand it off to Henry, who then pulled up to throw a touchdown pass to tight end Chig Okonkwo.

Including playoffs, Henry has completed 8-of-10 passes for five scores during his career. It was his second touchdown pass of the season, which is the same amount Tannehill has.

Also, the score was Chig’s first of the season and he’s now 29 yards shy of his single-season career-high in receiving yards.

The touchdown pass gave Tennessee its first score and a 7-0 lead.

It has been a blast to watch the “Young Peyton Manning” throw touchdown passes since 2019. As sad as it is to think about, that could be the last one Henry throws in the two-tone blue.

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Derrick Henry throws 12-yard TD pass for Titans

Derrick Henry got the call to throw a pass and it wound up as a Titans TD

The Seattle Seahawks need the game far more than the Tennessee Titans. The NFC West squad will be climbing from behind after a TD pass from an unlikely source.

Mike Vrabel called a trick play and it worked perfectly as star running back Derrick Henry threw a 12-yard pass to Chigoziem Okonkwo.

After the PAT, the Titans led 7-0 early in the second quarter.

Henry has thrown TD passes in 2021, ’22 and ’23.

Titans’ Week 11 snap counts: Snaps split evenly at LB, TE

A look at the Titans’ snap counts from Week 11.

There were some interesting takeaways from the Tennessee Titans’ snap counts following their Week 11 blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tennessee had a full-blown timeshare at linebacker between Monty Rice and Jack Gibbens. It was the second-straight week in which Rice eclipsed his season-high number of snaps.

Meanwhile, tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo saw a season-low number of snaps and did not lead the team in playing time at the position.

On top of seeing how the Titans divvied up snaps at linebacker and tight end, we’ll also be taking a look at how the team replaced some of their missing players at wide receiver, cornerback and offensive line.

Titans’ Chig Okonkwo ranks dead-last in success rate when targeted

Titans TE Chigoziem Okonkwo has had a rough first six games of the 2023 season.

Tennessee Titans tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo was among the most hyped-up players throughout the entire offseason.

Many local and national outlets had the Maryland product listed as a breakout candidate after he led all rookies in receiving yards, catches and touchdowns while also being among the most efficient players at his position.

Sadly, Okonkwo has actually regressed in nearly every possible way. The Maryland product went from a reliable playmaker who you expected big things from whenever he touched the ball, to someone who fans now hold their breath for in hopes that he makes a routine catch when targeted.

Chig’s overall grade currently sits at 55.2, per Pro Football Focus, which is more than 20 points lower than where he was a season ago.

The second-year tight end has caught just 68 percent of his targets for 122 scoreless yards. His 17 catches are already more than half of the 32 he had in 2022, but his yardage is less than a third of what he totaled last season.

As if that wasn’t disappointing enough, Okonkwo is currently producing the lowest success rate when targeted in the NFL (MIN. 15 targets).

According to data collected by Arjun Menon, the Titans’ tight end has been targeted a total of 26 times, yet is only producing a success rate of 26.92 percent at the moment.

That percentage ranks dead-last out of 132 players who qualified.

In order for the Titans’ offense to get back on track, they desperately need Okonkwo to get back to being the electric playmaker he was expected to be.

Thankfully, the team is coming off a bye, and maybe that time to rest and reflect can be what catapults him back to being one of the most productive young tight ends in the NFL.

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Colts vs. Titans: Keys to victory in Week 5

Here’s how the Colts can beat the Titans in Week 5.

The Indianapolis Colts continue their homestand in Week 5 with an AFC South rivalry game against the Tennessee Titans.

The division is currently a very contested race. All four teams hold the same record entering this week and need a win to continue their push for the South’s best. The Colts, in particular, are looking to right the wrongs of several games past and break a five-game losing streak against Tennessee.

Here are the keys to victory for overcoming the prowess of the Titans: