‘Real dude’ and ‘dirty worker’: Tennessee Titans new tight end duo is the perfect blend with Gunnar Helm and Daniel Bellinger
The Tennessee Titans new tight end pair is different from a season ago, and falls inline with the NFL’s latest trend
Welcome to 2026 in the NFL, please provide at least two forms of versatile tight end identification please.
The success the Los Angeles Rams most prominently had with using multiple tight end sets to dictate terms to opposing defenses in 2025 is absolutely painting the landscape this year. Both in Free Agency and in the Draft, you could feel the league-wide arms race to add capable blocker/receiver dual threats to rosters.
In the past two offseasons, the Tennessee Titans have added a promising draft pick and a useful free agent signing that they hope can help be the engine of Brian Daboll’s offense. Their names are Gunnar Helm and Daniel Bellinger.
Gunnar Helm & Daniel Bellinger sound excited about their Titans roles
“Gunnar (Helm) looks good,” head coach Robert Saleh told us on Thursday. “He looks like a legit dude—from what he was a year ago to what he is now, especially physically. Again, once pads come on, we’ll be able to decide all that, but like all these guys, hopefully they take a big jump and find a way to grab the bull by the horns and take advantage of their opps.”
This comment reminded me of a conversation I had with a Titans coach around this time last year. They were explaining the important of patience for most young draft picks to develop their “hardened pro bodies”. It might sound silly, but it’s true. These first couple years of an NFL career are when a lot of guys finalize the youthful maturity of their physique. The combination of NFL weight and nutritional programs with the internal biological clock wrapping things up in your early 20’s is a common but largely missed element of development.
And that coach mentioned Helm by name as an example of a guy they wouldn’t be surprised to see look (both on and off the field) a good deal different in a year or two.
Gunnar Helm is the younger of this duo, but he’s unanimously expected to be the TE1 in this offense. But given the shift league-wide to multiple tight ends sets as well as what little practice we’ve been able to see so far, I’m expecting to see a lot of both of these players in the fall.
“Daboll’s not afraid to use the tight end, did so wherever he’s been,” Helm explained to us on Thursday. “There’s been great clips of (Rob) Gronkowski, Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox just doing things that usually you see receivers do.”
When Bellinger spoke to media earlier in OTAs, he sounded ready to embrace his role as the dirty worker of the two. He’s likely going to be a key blocker in a lot of Brian Daboll’s playbook, lining up all around the formation to execute a critical and often under-appreciated role.
Bellinger’s free agent contract has unique purpose
Austin Stanley: When free agency frenzy was in full effect in mid March many were caught off guard by the contract number Bellinger got to follow Brian Daboll from the Giants to Tennessee. Three years, $24 million, the general number, is quite a bit for someone whose career high receiving yards is 286 yards for a season, just last year.
In my opinion, the dirty work, explained above, is worth a perceived overpay for his services as TE2.
“Wherever they need me and however they wanna use me, I’m ready for it.” Bellinger told Titans media in May.
Then the San Diego State product drafted in the fourth round in 2022 was asked specifically about living up toe the financial investment the Titans organization gave him.
“My job overall is to help us win,” Bellinger began. “Whatever that takes and what they need me to do, I’m here to do it.”
I heard that answer at the press conference and immediately thought to myself ‘they’re going to let Bellinger carry the heaviest, most physically demanding aspects of the tight end postion so that Gunnar Helm doesn’t have to.’
Am I right? The season will tell, but I think Helm’s development as a pass catcher and red zone scorer for Ward is crucial, but it can’t come at the sacrifice of what Bellinger is going to do for this team.