Tennessee Titans will have Josh Gordon vs Buffalo Bills
By Will Lomas
Josh Gordon was a nice addition to the roster before the season started and it looks like he is going to make his Tennessee Titans debut in Week 2.
Now, every Titans fan needs to take a deep breath and remember exactly how you should view Gordon. This is not the same guy who lead the league in receiving yards and looked like a future Hall of Famer all those years ago.
Having said that, he isn’t a bum either.
He still has some of his speed and he has something you can’t teach i.e. his elite size. Built like a tight end who can still get behind cornerbacks, Gordon did enough in practice to prove to the Titans that he should be brought just two weeks after signing with the Titans.
The question going forward is how does he fit in the Tennessee Titans offense?
Josh Gordon’s fit in the Tennessee Titans’ passing attack
When the call-up was announced, everyone started panicking about Kyle Philips possibly missing the game tonight.
Buck Reising calmed that down with a report that Philips is still tracking to play tonight, but the rumor never made much sense anyway. Philips is the Tennessee Titans’ slot receiver and Gordon will almost certainly spend most of his time on the boundary.
Sure, you could argue that there is a domino effect and that bringing Gordon up allows Treylon Burks or Robert Woods to take over those snaps in the slot. However, the Titans still have Mason Kinsey on the practice squad and Mike Vrabel and that is important no matter how much some fans may argue.
Mike Vrabel doesn’t like to have one injury cause the team to get worse at multiple positions, so instead of moving a few guys around to accommodate an injury, he would rather replace the injury one-to-one which means it would be Mason Kinsey getting the call.
Gordon should play on the boundary for the Titans, but he should play sparingly. While he may still have a lot left in the tank, no one knows that yet and Mike Vrabel has always been an ” I need to see it before I believe it” kind of coach.
He should occupy the role left behind by Racey McMath’s injury before the season. He should be a deep threat that wins on explosive plays or who convinces teams that he can get behind them so that he can run curls off of that cushion or catch defensive backs off-guard when he starts run-blocking.
We will keep an eye on Gordon throughout the night, but fans have every right to be more excited about the former All-Pro getting the call-up instead of expecting more from Cody Hollister (no offense Cody).