Prior to signing DeAndre Hopkins, the Tennessee Titans had one of the most underwhelming groups of pass-catchers in the league.
Even though Treylon Burks and Chig Okonkwo routinely showed flashes of being potential budding stars in Year 1, they are still just second-year players who have shown more potential than they have production early on in their careers.
In all honesty, as promising as Burks and Okonkwo are, entering the 2023 season with those two being the only realistic threats in the passing game would’ve been flirting with fire.
Thankfully, the front office recognized this as well, which led to Tennessee aggressively pursuing Hopkins once he officially became a free agent.
Adding the perennial All-Pro wideout to the team now gives the Titans a potent trio of pass-catchers that have a strong mix of youthful and experienced talent atop the depth chart.
The addition of Hopkins has helped the Titans’ group of pass-catchers in the wide receiver/tight end rankings of Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, who bumped the Titans up from the very last spot (No. 32) to No. 24 overall.
Here is what Sharp had to say about his decision to move the Titans up:
The Titans were dead last in these rankings before signing DeAndre Hopkins in July. Hopkins showed he still had gas left in the tank by finishing 25th in yards per route run in nine games with the Cardinals last season. He will join sophomores Treylon Burks and Chig Okonkwo in a pass-catching group that still lacks depth but suddenly looks much better at the top of the roster.
I personally would’ve had the Titans a little higher, but I can’t blame anybody for taking a wait-and-see approach with this group before fully buying into the hype.
Should Burks and Okonkwo make the type of leap that many expect them to take in Year 2, and if Hopkins still looks like the player he has always been, you can bet that Tennessee will be much higher on this list by year’s end.
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