Did PFN nail the Tennessee Titans top-5 offensive players under 25?
By Will Lomas
My top-5
5. Isaiah Wilson, OT
-Wilson made this list almost exclusively because the cut off was 24 and not 25. Anthony Firkser and Kalif Raymond would have probably beaten him out here just because I think we are about a month away from finding out that Wilson will take longer to groom for the NFL than nearly any other top-100 Jon Robinson pick…with one notable exception.
The size is there, the pedigree is there, but I still really question the mobility, but then again some people thought that would be an issue with Jack Conklin too. We will see.
4. Darrynton Evans, RB
-I am a huge believer in winning in the trenches first, but Darrynton Evans is too exciting to rank fifth on this list. He has the one cut ability that the zone scheme relies so heavily on and if you watch him find holes to run at App State, you have to be amazed at his visions because there were so many brutal miscues on that offensive line.
Evans should be RB2 already and he is primed for a big season on offense and potentially on special teams.
3. Nate Davis, RG
-Davis faced some of the same questions that Isaiah Wilson faced coming in, but he spent last year evolving from a problem to an asset. Heading into the playoffs Davis really started to feel himself and step up his run blocking. While he still has some question marks in pass protection, he looks like a 3rd round hit, which isn’t easy to do.
2. Jonnu Smith, TE
-Earlier I talked about how very few of Robinson’s top-100 picks take a long time to develop because you usually see some positive things within a year or two (Kevin Byard, Jeffery Simmons, Rashaan Evans, Harold Landry, Derrick Henry, Corey Davis, Adoree Jackson) or they fall down the depth chart and rarely make an impact (Kevin Dodd, Austin Johnson, Taywan Taylor).
Smith took the 2019 season to step out of Delanie Walker‘s shadow and turn himself into one of the most dangerous TEs in the NFL after the catch. With a head of steam, we are about to see Smith take another step forward and see how high he can go.
1. A.J. Brown, WR
-I mean, what can you say about him that hasn’t already been said. Brown is a bonafide stud and the sky is the limit for him at this point. Think about this, in 2019 the five players in the NFL with the most receptions averaged 115 catches, and the five pass catchers with the most receiving yards averaged 1,377 yards.
In a world where the Titans somehow manage to get A.J. Brown 115 receptions, at his current rate his stat line would look like this: 115 receptions, 2,323 yards and 18 TDs.
No WR has ever topped 2,000 yards in a single season and only two players in NFL history have had more receiving TDs than that in a single season and they are Randy Moss and Jerry Rice. That is the only way I can describe to you how ridiculously impressive Brown’s season was.