It’s no secret that the Tennessee Titans have had their fair share of wide receiver troubles this season. Shockingly (or not), the group may have reached a new low on Sunday night in front of the entire country.
According to Next Gen Stats, the league average receiver separation is approximately 2.92 yards of distance from the nearest defender.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single wide receiver on the Titans that averaged even a single yard of separation on Sunday night.
Robert Woods, the $10 million wide receiver, led the entire room with an embarrassing 0.92 yards of separation.
Other receivers who qualified were Chris Conley, who averaged 0.88 yards of separation, and Cody Hollister, who somehow also made the cut at 0.57 yards of separation.
Via Next Gen Stats
Nick Westbrook Ikhine is another pass catcher who has yet to top the league average this year. However, him not even being in the top 5 on this day may be a new low for him.
Tight ends Austin Hooper and Chig Okonkwo were the only two to at least eclipse two yards of separation on the day.
This is obviously unacceptable on any level.
To be perfectly honest, it’s borderline pathetic that this is the level of pass-catchers this caliber of team is forced to go forward with, especially when you consider the fact that this Titans defense and running game are more than ready to compete for a championship.
The Titans appear to be receiving a glimmer of hope in the form of rookie Treylon Burks, who is expected to return from injured reserve when eligible this week.
Prior to the injury, the Arkansas product was starting to establish himself as the superior player in the receiver room.
More: Robert Woods has only topped that average one time this season, while NWI has yet to eclipse that average at all.
In fact, they both have more games where they’ve had less than 2 yards of separation than they’ve had games in which they topped the league average.
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) October 28, 2022
Tennessee’s only realistic hope at jumpstarting the passing offense is to feed Burks upon his return. Theoretically, doing so would put the entire unit back in its proper position, which would hopefully maximize the offense’s potential if everything goes to plan.
Woods could go back to the No. 2 wideout role that he truly thrives in. Westbrook-Ikhine would then revert to being the third or fourth option, while Burks eventually elevates himself to the unquestioned No. 1 alpha role, a role that the first-round wideout deserves a shot at until he proves otherwise.
Only time will tell if it does enough to help the offense going forward, but the Titans desperately need to figure something out because the defense, Shane Bowen, and Derrick Henry deserve much better than this.