Titans roster dramatically different in one critical way in 2025, in hopes of eliminating massive issue for rookie Cam Ward
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, America is all about speed
The Tennessee Titans had a serious issue with wide receiver separation in 2024. Heading into 2025, it’s impossible to say how good their WR room will look. But one thing is for sure: they’ll be able to separate with speed.
One of the biggest limitations of the 2024 Titans offense was their ability to separate downfield. It was a constant problem that you could see on the television copy of the games. This didn’t even take looking into the tape to understand. But it was a regular complaint I heard from fans, media, and the coaching staff alike. “These guys can’t get open unless they’re schemed open!”
Calvin Ridley was the lone exception to this, though he had a slow start to the year that was a completely different story. Take a look at these charts. Find Will Levis and Mason Rudolph on the “average separation” X-axis here:
And see if you can’t find the Titans receivers charted on this one, all disappointing aside from Ridley:
Well, the Titans have had enough of that nonsense. They didn’t take any receivers until Day 3 of the draft this year, and once we got there, it certainly felt like the league was sorting by pure, unadulterated speed and drafting based on that. We saw guys like Dont’e Thornton, Isaac TeSlaa, and the Titans own Chimere Dike go well above their anticipated draft position on Days 2 and 3 of the draft. It’s clear that long speed is a desirable trait in the modern NFL.
And after adding Dike and Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor in the 4th, the Titans receiver room suddenly came together as a collection of almost exclusively speedsters. Here is the 40 yard dash time of WRs currently on the roster:
- Chimere Dike 4.34
- Mason Kinsey 4.36
- Van Jefferson 4.39
- Tyler Lockett 4.40
- Colton Dowell 4.40
- Jha’Quan Jackson 4.42
- James Proche 4.42
- Calvin Ridley 4.43
- Elic Ayomanor 4.44
When was the last time the Titans had a team of receivers this fast?!
Now, is all of this speed certain to translate into success in the passing game? Absolutely not. A handful of these players won’t even make the active roster. Those that do, such as rookies Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike, will have to work to develop into real NFL receivers. But having the ability to get open with speed is a fantastic place to start.
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