Training camp has begun and we are just over a month away from meaningful football games.
The roster is a hot topic of debate, and it also provides us a chance to reevaluate players year in and year out. While our opinions don’t matter much to Ken Whisenhunt, we can still have some fun and spout out what we think. This is Titan Sized on Fansided after all!
Let’s take a look at the offense’s most overrated and underrated player:
Underrated: Kendall Wright
Titans fans and fantasy football players are already very aware of Kendall Wright’s presence and production. Yet, the mainstream media hasn’t seem to have bought in on the hype out of Nashville.
The product out of Baylor University hasn’t recorded elite-level NFL stats in his two seasons, but stats aren’t necessarily an accurate measure of what Wright does for the Titans offense.
While Nate Washington is the vocal leader of the receiving corps, and Justin Hunter is gaining all the hype, drawing comparisons to Randy Moss, Kendall Wright is absolutely the central cog in the Titans passing game.
Showing improvement from season one to season two, Wright became the security blanket for Jake Locker/Ryan Fitzpatrick. He hauled in 94 receptions for 1,079 yards and 2 touchdowns. While his touchdown number dropped from 4 in 2012 to 2 in 2013, his catches and yardage were both vast advancements.
Wright has all of the talent to be a top 10 receiver in the NFL, but until his numbers catch up to his value, he will continue to be underrated by national media and fans alike.
Overrated: Jackie Battle
Jackie Battle earned the love and respect of Titans fans for being a hard-nosed runner who is unafraid of contact and tough to bring down. After several seasons of frustrating play from Chris Johnson, most simply grew tired of seeing Johnson “dance around in the backfield” and “always go for the home run.”
In seeing Battle’s style, fans started their own snowball effect. The more Chris Johnson negative plays and the more Jackie Battle positive plays that occurred, the more the demand grew. Jackie Battle fever had swept the Titans community!
My theory is that this “movement” was more about finding the anti-Chris Johnson than it was about Jackie Battle’s ability. Here’s the problem with all of this:
Jackie Battle has never had the production to warrant the starting running back job.
If Battle was the answer, the Titans wouldn’t have signed Dexter McCluster or drafted Bishop Sankey. Battle has played 6 seasons in the NFL, and amassed 1,168 yards and 8 touchdowns for his career.
Does that sound like the franchise running back?
I actually like Jackie Battle, and enjoy watching him play – but the hype is out of control. Early word out of Titans training camp is that he’s played snaps at fullback, which might end up being the best way for a good player and hard worker to see the field on Sundays.