Critical Year 2 leaps are in progress for three Titans pass catchers, but in three completely different ways at OTAs and Mandatory Minicamp
TE Gunnar Helm, WR Chimere Dike, and WR Elic Ayomanor all flashed potential as rookies in 2025. 2026 is all about taking a step forward as professionals, and each is showing progress already.
The Tennessee Titans filled out their war chest of offensive weapons in free agency and the Draft this spring. But there are three Day 3 pass catchers who just finished a rookie season in which they were leaned on more than expected, and largely rose to the occasion. They’re all working to take a second-year leap, and I’ve seen flashes of the improvements they’re making during offseason practice. Here’s what you need to know about TE Gunnar Helm and WRs Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor.
TE Gunner Helm
The second year tight end is the unquestioned TE1 in the passing game heading into 2026. The thing about him that stood out the most this spring is how he has matured physically since this time last year. Now, that’s not uncommon for a lot of guys in his situation, but I remember explicitly discussing this with one of his coaches last season. He came out of the draft with a lot of room for physical improvement. He was already a freak athlete coming out of college, but his frame had the potential to “harden” in a way that you could only do with a professional mindset and program. That coach told me to check back in on Gunnnar this time next year, alluding to the fact that he will have changed significantly.
That coach was right! Gunnar came into the NFL on the softer side from a physique standpoint. Now a year in, you can see the added musculature and mass he’s built up in his midsection. Veteran TE Daniel Bellinger has come in and provided an interesting frame of reference (pun intended) from a physique standpoint for what I think Helm will eventually become as a seasoned vet. His improved physique will allow him to be just that much better in the blocking game, and better utilize his frame as a box-out receiver option. His hands are already amongst the very best on the team, and if he can be 10-15% more physical, he’s got breakout written all over it.
WR Chimere Dike
Chim’s versatility is what was most impressive as a rookie. He was an All Pro returner, and developed into a productive member of the offense in his capacity as a receiver by year’s end. He played a lot of big slot for this team, but they moved him around the formation and trusted him to do more than you often see with a day three rookie.
Even though this coaching staff is new, I don’t think his trajectory and level of trust is changing. He’s being used in ways at practice that I’m not allowed to explicitly notate here, but rest assured you can tell his coaches trust him to do a variety of things. He’s moving around the formation as much or more than anybody else at his position. He’s got a veteran “Swiss Army knife” feel to him, even though he’s entering just his second season. With Wan’Dale Robinson now in the fold, Chim’s slot rate will obviously go down. But I don’t think that’s going to stop this team from using him as the big slot thunder to Wan’Dale’s standard slot lightning. They’ll look to get him in mismatched situations as a contributor.
WR Elic Ayomanor
Have you seen Elic this off-season? Apologies if you’re too old to understand this, but he’s had a real Giga Chad transformation this season.
He and Dike really do share a mindset of maturity and determination. They are boring in all of the right ways. They’re grinders who feel like second year leap candidates because of the way they approach their work.
What Elic has going for him is the inverse of what a guy like Xavier Restrepo has working against him. Part of the reason why Ayomanor was such a big contributor early last season was because he earned it. But another part of the reason had to do with his physical ability, and the roles needed on the field for any given play. This team doesn’t have a whole lot of size and true X receiver ability. Ayomanor has that.
As a rookie, he was somebody who some evaluators reasonably argued might need to be playing a big slot role to better maximize his size. He spoke to the media during mandatory minicamp about how his posture was one of the biggest things he worked to correct this offseason. He has the size and (increased) strength to win against just about any defender. But there were times last year that he frustratingly failed to use them. He attributed that largely to the way that he oriented his body and carried himself, especially when he got tired. The Titans worked him hard as a rookie, harder than most rookies work. It was obvious when he hit the rookie wall.
Because he has his physical characteristics, he’s somebody that will probably see the field a little bit more often than you might otherwise think. A lot of plays require an X receiver with a certain skill set, and Ayomanor is one of the few guys on this team that fits that mold. If he can better utilize his size and level out the consistency of his play, he’s going to be a real contributor on this offense also.