Tennessee Titans have duo of WRs that make DBs rethink getting physical
By Will Lomas
The Tennessee Titans finally have two bullies on the boundaries for the offense.
To me, it has always been clear who the Tennessee Titans WR2 would be this season, though maybe some people aren’t quite sure.
Despite all of the money given to Adam Humphries, the WR2 in the Titans offense is going to be A.J. Brown.
The rookie from Ole Miss is more fit to be a boundary player and in the NFL you do see some looks where the offense has two receivers split out on one side and none on the other side. However, that is usually to take advantage of a mismatch or to force the defense to put an unfavorable lineup on the field.
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Think about it like this, if you are going to run a naked bootleg pass, then the less receivers you have on the side you are booting towards, the better.
However, you can’t run this look consistently because corners, safeties and linebacker will start sitting on those plays and all you will be doing is forcing your quarterback right into the laps of the defenders.
So when you say WR1/2 you are really talking about the guys who will play on the boundaries, with WR3 being the next man you bring onto the field.
The first time I had even seen the idea that it would be Humphries and not Brown as the WR2, was in Mike Clay’s article for ESPN+ where he ranked the NFLs WR3. He said:
"“Brown has good size and is a terrific all-around prospect, but his career figures to begin slowly.”"
The context of this was centered around the fact that the Tennessee Titans are a run-heavy team or at least have been in the past.
However, James Jones of NFL Network doesn’t necessarily agree. He thinks that Brown will start out of the gate in large part because of how dominant he can be through contact and when the ball is in the air.
"“Those are two big, physical receivers that teams are going to have to stop, and if you want to get in [his] face you better stop and think about it because he can make all the catches, he has the body frame to make all the catches.”"
That is what I see with Brown, a dynamic receiver who threatens you after the catch, but who also isn’t afraid to put his hands on you and out work you for those tough passes.
Whether or not the Tennessee Titans will give these receivers enough volume for it to make a huge difference in the offense is yet to be seen. However, for the first time since watching the Titans I am optimistic that they will have multiple playmakers at wide receiver starting with Corey Davis and A.J. Brown.