Since the Tennessee Titans landed star wide receiver Julio Jones in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons, the hype surrounding the team is at a fever pitch.
And the excitement is understandable, as the Titans sport one of the best and seemingly most unstoppable offensive trios in the NFL with Jones, wide receiver A.J. Brown and running back Derrick Henry.
NFL.com’s Adam Schein, who lauded the Titans for making the deal for Jones, recently compiled a list of the best bandwagons to jump on ahead of the 2021 campaign — and he listed the Titans at No. 1 in his rankings.
Here’s what Schein said about Tennessee, a team he believes is at least in the conversation for the third-best team in the AFC behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
This was a fantastic deal for the Titans, a monster transaction. Jones is a future Hall of Famer. He’s one of the most talented receivers in the last 30 years. Yes, he’s 32 years old and missed seven games last year due to thigh and hamstring injuries. But he still produced at a high level when he played, as evidenced by his average of 2.60 yards per route run — the fourth-highest figure in the league, per Pro Football Focus. I think he has plenty of gas left in the tank. And in Tennessee, he’s the third wheel of the Titans’ offensive weaponry.
This is still Derrick Henry’s show. And all A.J. Brown has done in his first two NFL seasons is post a pair of 1,000-yard campaigns, averaging a robust 17.4 yards per catch and scoring 20 touchdowns in the process. With Jones joining Brown on the outside, opponents can’t stack the box like they used to against Henry, which feels unfair. In the wake of this transaction — and on the verge of the league’s first 17-game regular season — a second consecutive 2,000-yard season from Henry doesn’t feel bold, it feels right. And Jones will see more single coverage than he has since Roddy White was in his prime. That’s frightening. Brown and Jones could be THE elite receiver duo in 2021. The key is to continue forgetting what you thought about the Miami version of Ryan Tannehill. I’m guilty of living in the past on that front at times, but Tannehill’s been undeniably terrific in Nashville. And after the veteran quarterback lost Corey Davis and Jonnu Smith in free agency, this trade is a huge offseason savior.
Mike Vrabel is a fabulous coach. This offseason, the defense added some needed pass-rushing juice (free agents Bud Dupree and Denico Autry) and swapped in two notable cover men (first-round pick Caleb Farley and veteran Janoris Jenkins). Kansas City is the best team in the AFC, and the Chiefs’ opponent in last season’s conference title game, Buffalo, is No. 2. But after that? Well, this trade tosses Tennessee into the conversation with Cleveland, Baltimore and Indianapolis. Hop on board now. This bandwagon’s gonna fill up quickly once the season kicks off.
Schein isn’t the only analyst to get on board the hype train.
Former NBA center and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins predicted the Titans will win the Super Bowl this season, while former NFL linebacker and FS1 analyst Emmanuel Acho believes the addition of Jones makes Tennessee a Super Bowl contender and the most potent offense in the NFL.
While there has been plenty of positive reaction to the Titans’ trade for Jones, there are some out there who think this doesn’t move the needle all that much for Tennessee.
To the detractors: don’t worry, we’ll save you a seat on this bandwagon when you eventually come around to realizing how great of a trade this truly was for the Titans.
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