The Tennessee Titans are in a familiar, but uncomfortable spot at wide receiver.
While Mike Vrabel and company are always quiet about injuries, it looks like at some point over the last three days Racey McMath sustained a hip injury that will push him to the I.R. list. We don’t know the severity, but for the first month of the season, it looks like the Titans will be without their deep threat.
Since the team only kept five receivers after Tuesday’s cuts, that means that they were already going into the season with fewer receivers than most teams. Even a run-heavy team like the Titans will need someone who can take the snaps that a WR5 normally takes.
The problem that Tennessee has to solve is finding a receiver who can not only fill those snaps but fill a similar role to Racey McMath on offense.
Luckily, they might have found the perfect band-aid in former All-Pro receiver Josh Gordon who worked out for the Titans on Wednesday
Why Josh Gordon makes sense for the Tennessee Titans
Whether he has been disappearing like in 2021 or having great practices like in 2022, the Titans should have had the same role in mind for McMath. He should be a player that can stretch the field vertically, but a player whose presence doesn’t give the play away before the snap.
That is something that Gordon can do for Tennessee.
Whether he can catch the ball or not isn’t really the point of signing Gordon. Remember, secondaries aren’t just going to let someone go running past them unaccounted for so just the existence of someone who can force the safety to back up will help the Titans.
Given that Gordon has that speed, he can make the safety drop back and when he gets to the safety he can get his hands on him and block him given that he is 6’3 and nearly 240 lb.
For the time being the Titans have elevated Cody Hollister to the 53-man roster because he is a hard worker and Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel love rewarding hard work, but Hollister just can’t fill the role that McMath will leave behind while he is on I.R.
The obvious solution is for the Tennessee Titans to:
1. Sign Josh Gordon tomorrow
2. Cut someone like Kevin Strong, Da’Shawn Hand, or Julius Chestnut
3. Keep Hollister on the roster until you are completely comfortable that Gordon can get the playbook, and then scratch him on gameday once Gordon is clear.
It is just that simple.