The wide receiver position has been a bugaboo for the Titans ever since the franchise relocated to Tennessee in 1997. The team found a long-term answer on the outside in A.J. Brown through the 2019 NFL Draft but, as Titans fans witnessed in 2021, one is not enough. In fact, when looking at the league’s top offenses. there is one glaring element which those teams possess that the Titans do not – speed.

General Manager Jon Robinson has tried his hand in the draft, free agency, and even trades as the team was able to acquire Julio Jones last offseason in an effort to solidify the position. While the Titans have made strides under Robinson’s direction, the team finds itself in a position that has become all too familiar for Titans fans – searching for a complementary receiver.

Will say, beyond AJ Brown and Julio Jones, the Titans don’t really have much of a deep threat.

— Tre (@Tre092) November 21, 2021

With the Titans’ Super Bowl window slowly beginning to close, Robinson must find the solution to this long-standing issue in the first round. Not only do the Titans need to draft a player that will contribute in 2022, but the team will essentially be drafting a WR2 since Jones failed to prove he can be counted on due to his injury struggles.

QB Ryan Tannehill clearly prefers throwing to targets who possess a big catch radius. The top three wide receivers in 2021 for the Titans were Brown (6’1”), Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (6’2”), and Jones (6’3”). While having size on the outside is important for a quarterback like Tannehill, the team suffered from not having a player to stretch opposing defenses vertically.

According to Sports Info Solutions, Tannehill ranked 25th in the NFL in passes that traveled 20+ yards in the air. While part of that can be attributed the conservatism of Todd Downing’s offense, it can certainly be argued that the Titans do not have the personnel or pass protection conducive to a deep shot offense.

The #Titans 1st round pick situation is incredibly clear at this point:

Acceptable: WR, OL, trade down (in that order)

Absolutely unacceptable: anything else

I cannot see a scenario in which they do something outside of that acceptable column that fans should be ok with.

— Easton Freeze (@eastonfreeze) February 21, 2022

While finding the next Tyreke Hill or Ja’Marr Chase is not a realistic expectation with the Titans picking 26th overall, the 2022 NFL Draft does have three players that could elevate Tennessee’s passing attack next season.

Chris Olave (Ohio State), Jameson Williams (Alabama), and Jahan Dotson (Penn State) are three players projected to go in the back half of the first round who could step in and transform the Titans offense in 2022.

Olave is currently being mocked in the early 20s because of his abilties to work in the slot as well as on the outside as he demonstrated during his time with the Buckeyes. Dotson and Williams are slotted in the late 20s and both possess game-changing speed from the slot position that defenses across the NFL will be forced to account for.

While Williams is coming off a torn ACL in the CFP National Championship Game, Robinson has proven that he is willing to take a player with injury history so long as he feels the reward is worth the risk.

I need to see Jameson Williams in a Titans jersey.

— 2nd & Victory (@2ndandVictory) December 4, 2021

The combination of Robinson’s inability to adequately address this need, along with the documented deficiencies, of Tannehill have put the Titans in a position to prioritize speed at the wide receiver position. If the Titans whiff on another receiver in the first round, fans are likely to see another disappointing season from the team's passing attack.

Featured image via Jerome Miron – USA TODAY Sports