Tennessee Titans: 30 greatest players in franchise history

• 3x Pro Bowl (2015-17)
• 360 career receptions w/Titans
• 4,208 career receiving yards w/Titans
• 26 career touchdown catches w/Titans

Delanie Walker first entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick out of Central Missouri by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2006 NFL Draft. Though a great player for the Mules in college, Walker’s first five years in the NFL were nondescript to say the least.

Frankly, San Francisco was a terrible football team during the early part of his stay in the Bay Area. Walker had only two touchdown receptions during his first half-decade in the league. That all began to change in 2011 in his age-27 season when former Stanford Cardinal head coach Jim Harbaugh took over on the 49ers sidelines.

Walker had six combined touchdowns in the 2011 and 2012 NFL seasons in Harbaugh’s offense. After the 49ers made it all the way to the Super Bowl in 2012, Walker would leave the Bay Area for the Music City in free agency. That turned out to be the best thing for his pro football career.

Walker immediately set then-career highs in receptions (60), receiving yards (571) and touchdown catches (six) as a member of the 2013 Titans. He would improve on two of his career-best receiving marks in 2014 with 63 grabs and 890 yards. However, Tennessee was still largely a terrible football team.

Then in 2015, the Titans selected 2014 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota with the No. 2 overall pick out of Oregon. Mariota remains the Titans starter under center, but hasn’t been a Pro Bowler yet in his NFL career. However for Walker’s sake, that hasn’t really mattered.

2015 proved to be a breakout year for the veteran tight end. Walker made his first of three straight trips to the Pro Bowl. He set new career-highs in catches with 94 and went over 1,000 receiving yards for, up to this point, the only time in his career with 1,088 yards. Walker also matched his career-high with six touchdown grabs.

2016 saw Walker set a new high in touchdown catches with seven, as he went over 800 yards receiving at the tight end position. He went over 800 yards receiving again in 2017, making it to his third career Pro Bowl. Tennessee made it back to the AFC playoffs that winter for the first time since winning the AFC South back in 2008.

Unfortunately for Walker and the Titans’ passing game, he suffered ligament damage in his ankle in Week 1’s weird loss to the Miami Dolphins. Weather delays extended that game for several hours, well past the 1:00 p.m. ET window. He was then placed on season-ending injured reserve in his age-34 season. To date, Walker has 360 career receptions for 4,208 yards and 26 touchdowns six seasons in Titans uniform.