Titans make final decision on Xavier Restrepo’s NFL debut with Cam Ward vs. Seahawks in Week 12

X gonna give it to ya?

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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It’s finally X’s time. The most talked about UDFA practice squad player in NFL history is making his NFL debut on Sunday in the Titans’ Week 12 matchup against the mighty Seahawks.

I’ve written all week about this being the expectation, and the team announced that it became a reality on Saturday afternoon.

Xavier Restrepo is getting a standard gameday elevation from the practice squad because of the triage Tennessee has endured at the receiver position. Calvin Ridley is out for the year with a broken leg, Tyler Lockett was released, Bryce Oliver is on IR with a nagging knee, and Elic Ayomanor is out this week nursing a hamstring.

Now that Restrepo has made his way onto a gameday roster, what should we expect to see?

What to expect from Xavier Restrepo in his NFL debut

The four active roster receivers who are healthy for Tennessee this week are Chimere Dike (no injury designation but suffered a chest contusion last week), Van Jefferson, Mason Kinsey, and James Proche. Proche and Kinsey were both once on the practice squad alongside Restrepo, but have been given the full-time elevation in recent weeks as depth has dwindled.

All three of these guys are roughly in the same tier of talent in my opinion, but Kinsey and Proche are more experienced and offer more versatility on the outside and on special teams than Restrepo does. That’s the kicker here because Restrepo is all but certain to begin the game as the fifth guy in the pecking order. So don’t expect 50 offensive snaps from the guy just because he’s finally active; he might be lucky to get five. He’s primarily going to have to contribute on special teams.

The most likely way he sees the field more than just a couple of times is, unfortunately, if the Titans suffer the same injury luck as they did last week. Against the Texans, Kinsey and Jefferson weren’t scheduled to get nearly the amount of run they did. But Ridley, Dike, and Ayomanor all got hurt.

The other way you may see more of Kinsey this weekend is if the Seahawks crush the Titans like they have a handful of other teams this year. Seattle’s efficient offense and suffocating defense have allowed them to jump out to multi-touchdown leads in the first quarter, getting into the 30s on the scoreboard by halftime.

Seattle is a 13.5-point road favorite in this one, and if most of the second half is garbage time, Restrepo is among those who could get a little more run to protect banged-up pieces that mean more to the team’s future.

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