Tennessee Titans tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo has had an up-and-down sophomore season.
Chig had some rough outings earlier in the year that were littered with uncharacteristic and unacceptable drops. However, over the last few weeks, Okonkwo has started to show glimpses of still being the electric playmaker we all saw throughout his rookie season.
Despite his early struggles, the Titans tight end is still putting up some of the best numbers in comparison to the other 19 players at his position who were selected in the 2022 NFL draft.
The Maryland product enters Week 16 ranked second among second-year tight ends with 845 career receiving yards, fourth with 75 receptions, and tied for second with 40 receiving first downs.
Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride is the only second-year tight end who has totaled more yards and first downs than Okonkwo has thus far.
One area where the former fourth-round pick leads all second-year tight ends is yards per reception (11.3). Chig not only leads all qualifying tight ends in his draft class but also ranks seventh among all NFL tight ends since the beginning of the 2022 campaign.
.@ChigTweets has been productive for the #Titans. pic.twitter.com/1ZOrGkoSBk
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) December 21, 2023
While this may not have been the dominant second season many of us projected for the Titans’ young pass-catcher, there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about his long-term potential.
Several players have had impressive rookie campaigns before suffering a sophomore slump, only to break out in Year 3. Time will tell if that’s the type of trajectory Okonkwo is on, but there’s no denying he has the talent to do so.
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