Colton Dowell's ideal role for Titans in his rookie year
The Tennessee Titans surprised everyone in the 2023 NFL Draft when the only wide receiver they selected was UT Martin's Colton Dowell with the 228th overall pick in the seventh round. Tennessee lacked playmakers last season, and after their only free agent move was swapping Robert Woods for Chris Moore with the Houston Texans, it […]
The Tennessee Titans surprised everyone in the 2023 NFL Draft when the only wide receiver they selected was UT Martin's Colton Dowell with the 228th overall pick in the seventh round.
Tennessee lacked playmakers last season, and after their only free agent move was swapping Robert Woods for Chris Moore with the Houston Texans, it felt like a safe assumption that the Titans would invest heavily in the group this offseason. Instead, they've decided to gamble on Dowell as a seventh-round rookie.
Now the question is, what can Dowell's impact be on the Titans offense in 2023 and what should fans be expecting?
If nothing else, the Titans are getting some really impressive physical traits in Dowell. With good size at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Dowell has elite athleticism in the broad jump and vertical jump. Dowell's 41.5-inch vertical and 133-inch broad jump helped him post a 94.5 relative athletic score (RAS).
That combo of size and vertical talent translates to the field. Dowell had a 63.2 percent contested catch rate last season for UT Martin, that was the second best amongst all receivers in the 2023 draft class. He has the speed to get over the top of defenders and the ball skills to secure contested grabs and high point the football.
So what can Dowell be in Tennessee's 2023 offense? James Foster of AtoZ Sports Film Room suggested in his latest breakdown that Dowell could be in a similar role to Kalif Raymond was in 2019 and 2020 with Tennessee.
"I think day one Colton Dowell can create vertical seperation and come down with the football constantly, which are the two most important skills to be a deep threat in the Titans offense," Foster said. "If you think back to 2019 when the Titans had Kalif Raymond and they would target him on one shot play each game, that's the role I think Colton Dowell can play as a rookie while he develops the rest of his skillset."
In 23 games with the Titans from 2019-2020, Raymond had just 27 targets, but hauled in 18 passes for 357 yards. That's 19.8 yards per reception over two seasons. Since leaving Tennessee for Detroit, Raymond has over three times the production, recording 1,192 receiving yards in 2021 and 2022 combined.
Size, speed, ball-tracking, and quick releases off the line of scrimmage are all things we know Dowell can do as a rookie. That makes him well equipped to be the vertical threat for the Titans this season. Combing those abilities with his impact on special teams, and Dowell should be able to earn himself a spot on the 53-man roster.
But if he ever wants to be more than a deep threat and become a more balanced receiver like Raymond has, he'll need to develop the rest of his skillset including route-running and hands.
Don't expect Dowell to be an immediate star. I wouldn't expect Dowell to even be a number three or play more than 25 percent of Tennessee's offensive snaps this season. But for this pick to be worth it and the Titans to justify not taking a receiver earlier in the draft, they'll need to get some production from the rookie downfield.
