Going into the 2023 NFL draft, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Tennessee Titans would spend a Day 1 or 2 pick on a wide receiver after failing to adequately address the position in free agency.
So it came as a surprise when the team waited all the way until Round 7 to add help at the biggest position of need, with Tennessee selecting wide receiver Colton Dowell out of UT-Martin.
While expecting a seventh-round pick to amount to anything is expecting too much, Dowell has intriguing tools that give him a decent chance. More specifically, hit athleticism is what really jumps off the page.
Dowell posted a Relative Athletic Score of 9.78 out of 10 prior to the draft, which ranks him 67th out of 3,062 wide receivers recorded since 1987.
Colton Dowell was drafted with pick 228 of round 7 in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 9.78 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 67 out of 3062 WR from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/HlJBgVkueQ pic.twitter.com/JJnSjgDbgN
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2023
That’s all well and good, but first Dowell will have to adjust to the NFL game and learn the ropes before he can make an impact on the field. So far, he feels he’s doing a pretty good job in that process.
“Things move a little faster than they do in college but I think I’m adjusting pretty well and I’m excited to see how much more I continue to get accustomed to being an NFL player,” Dowell said.
“I think I’m doing a good job, though. I’m not a prideful guy but I’m proud of the work I’ve put in and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Dowell has already made a positive impression with Treylon Burks, who lauded Dowell for how smart he is and how much he knows the plays, something Burks admitted he struggled with in Year 1.
“He’s very smart, intelligent,” Burks said of Dowell. “[Wide receivers coach] Rob [Moore] will ask him a question and he knows his stuff. He knows the plays and that’s something I kind of struggled with coming in and he’s already on top of that. So, I just encourage him each and every day just to just keep getting better and better with his routes and listen to Rob because he knows what he’s talking about.”
The Titans were well aware of Dowell’s ability to process the information given to him during the pre-draft process, as head coach Mike Vrabel explained.
“When we met with him, he was able to process the information with Rob on the Zoom and so we felt just good about who he was and he’s continued to get better and show up.” Vrabel said.
It’s never easy for a seventh-round rookie to make an NFL roster, but thanks to the Titans’ current lackluster situation at wide receiver, Dowell has a better shot than most to make the cut in 2023.