Ran Carthon reveals interesting plan to upgrade Titans WRs
To the surprise of many, the Tennessee Titans did not prioritize their need at wide receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft. Tennessee took just one receiver in the draft, UT Martin's Colton Dowell, with a seventh-round pick that was the 228th overall selection despite a major hole at the position. So what is the Titans' […]
To the surprise of many, the Tennessee Titans did not prioritize their need at wide receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Tennessee took just one receiver in the draft, UT Martin's Colton Dowell, with a seventh-round pick that was the 228th overall selection despite a major hole at the position.
So what is the Titans' plan to upgrade at wide receiver? GM Ran Carthon answered that question in an interview with Ramon Foster, Kayla Anderson, and Will Boling on 104.5 The Zone on Monday.
Carthon continued to emphasize that the NFL offseason is nowhere near complete. While the major acquisition periods of the offseason are now behind us, teams do not need to have a 53-man roster complete until September.
The process of building that roster and finding upgrades is ongoing, and in previewing what might be next for the Titans at wide receiver, Carthon brought up an interesting possibility.
"The offseason isn't over. Our 53-man roster doesn't have to be set until September. So we'll continue to look to address that," Carthon said of the wide receiver room. "We're in the third phase of player acquisition. It was free agency first, and now the draft, and then now we have other leagues coming to the end of their years. There are going to be these waiver wires coming up because as teams are adding players, they have to be compliant with the 90-man roster rules and so people are going to get cut."
Tennessee being active on the waiver wire would not be a surprise. Mike Vrabel mentioned that as a possibility in a press conference with the media following this weekend's draft.
But Carthon mentioned "other leagues coming to the end of their years" as the next phase of player acquisition the Titans will look at. One can only assume he's referring to the XFL, which will play its championship game on May 13 in San Antonio, TX.
By the sound of things, Carthon and the Titans may target current XFL players to add to their wide receiver room once the season officially wraps in a couple week. The fact that this problem has reached this point is crazy, but that's a different conversation. Let's ignore the past for now and focus on the future. Can any real NFL talent be found playing in the XFL?
Generally speaking, yes, but there has not been a great amount of wide receivers out of the league that wind up finding success at the next level. Taylor Heinicke, P.J. Walker, and Donald Parham Jr. are a few of the XFL's greatest success stories.
But if the Titans were to target an XFL wide receiver for 2023, who would they call?
The league's two standout wide receivers this season and league leaders in receiving yards are Jahcour Pearson of the Seattle Sea Dragons (670 yards) and Hakeem Butler of the St. Louis Battlehawks (599 yards).
Pearson is a former Ole Miss wide receiver that tried out for the New York Giants last year but wasn’t even on a practice squad in 2022. He may find himself getting calls pretty soon after dominating the XFL as a human joystick and averaging 11.2 yards per catch. He's only 5-foot-7, but his elusiveness on tape doesn't lie.
Butler is a 6-foot-7, 227-pound wide receiver that can do it all. The former Iowa State wide receiver and fourth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft has been one of the league's very best in 2023. In the final game of the regular season, Butler had nine catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
Keep an eye on those two names after the XFL season wraps. The Titans have their work cut out for them, and Tennessee may be inclined to give one of these guys a shot in training camp.
