Khalfani Muhammad has great chance to make Tennessee Titans roster

An under-the-radar seventh round pick, Khalfani Muhammad could make an impact starting as soon as the 2017 season for the Titans.

If you follow TitanSized’s official twitter count, then you’ve probably seen tweets lately about Khalfani Muhammad. It’s hard for me to contain my excitement when watching videos of the diminutive playmaker, so I decided to share those with the Titans community. Muhammad has a really good shot at making the 2017 roster and contributing to the team.

The first thing that’s mentioned when discussing Muhammad is his speed. He blazed a 4.38 forty yard dash at his school’s Pro Day, and his quickness shows up often when watching his film from college. Cal’s official YouTube channel even has a whole video titled “Cal Football: Khalfani Muhammad – Speed Plays”, which I will link to below and I implore you to watch as a hype video for next season.

He outran everyone that was on the same field as him in college, disintegrating defenders’ pursuit angles and housing plenty of opportunities in the run game and passing game. As you can see from that video, he made some nifty catches deep down the field, which makes sense considering Jon Robinson said Muhammad had one of the best pass-catching workouts for a running back he’s ever seen. He’s also very adept at finding open holes, which will come often behind the Titans’ stellar offensive line.

But that was a highlight video, showing the best moments throughout his collegiate career. What does a normal game of his look like? Let’s take a look at the first game of 2016, his most productive and active season. It’s important to note that Muhammad wasn’t a full-time player, but he got 10 carries in this game and handled the kick off returns.

The first 30 seconds are magical. Muhammad converts a fourth-and-one by plowing through and delivering hard contact to the first tackler. He jaws with that same defender, showcasing his feisty attitude. On the very next play from scrimmage, Muhammad shiftily finds a hole down the middle and outruns the safety to the end zone for a 34 yard touchdown. The next play in the condensed video is a kick return of his, which he takes from the two yard line, uses his vision to find a hole on the right side, bulldozes through a weak tackle attempt, and brings it out all the way to the 48 yard line.

More from Titan Sized

The subsequent play from scrimmage after the long kick return is a long run of his own, a forty yard scamper where he took a handoff to the left, slightly stretched it horizontally, and then exploded upfield for a huge gain.

The rest of his runs during this game were thwarted by the defense and weren’t helped by subpar offensive line play. His second kick return was solid, and his final return was an explosive 50 yarder.

The Titans’ longest kick return last season was 37 yards. That is one area that needed to be upgraded, and Muhammad could easily win that job, especially with newly signed Eric Weems an uninspiring returner and dynamic rookie Adoree’ Jackson probably restricted to punt returns.

Unfortunately, the only negative from this game was a brutal dropped touchdown pass where he was bafflingly wide open. Call it a lapse in concentration, but Muhammad has to come down with that. He looked very good catching the ball in other videos, so we can call it a one-time thing.

Muhammad is a completely different running back than DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry. Where they’re bigger backs with soft feet, Muhammad is a pint-sized dynamo who can flip the switch with just one touch. I really enjoy pro comparisons, and Muhammad’s is LaRod Stephens-Howling. If Muhammad can give the Titans the type of impact in the receiving and return game that Stepherns-Howling did a few years ago, then he will get a good amount of playing time as a rookie.

Home/Titans News