ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that the Titans are expected to start QB Mason Rudolph against the Colts this weekend. QB Will Levis bottomed out (again) in the Week 15 loss to the Titans, completing 8 of 12 passes for 89 yards, 0 TDs, and 3 INTs in about 2.5 quarters of action. Rudolph went 21-of-26 for 209 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT the rest of the way. His completion rate (63.0%) and yards per attempt (6.6) are nearly identical to Levis' this season. Rudolph has a bad 3.2% INT rate -- but less bad than Levis' 4.2%. And he's crushing Levis in sack rate (3.8% to 12.4%) Rudolph brings a bit more stability to Tennessee's offense but isn't a significant upgrade.
Titans TE Chig Okonkwo led the team in targets (10) and receptions (8) in Sunday's loss to the Bengals. His 59 receiving yards ranked second on the team, behind RB Tyjae Spears. He drew just
Titans QB Will Levis will be back as the starter this Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. Levis has been dealing with a shoulder injury and has not played since Week 6. He replaces back-up Mason Rudolph who has started since Levis was out.
Titans HC Brian Callahan said his team will fill the TE role with "a lot of different players." TEs Chig Okonkwo, Josh Whyle, and Nick Vannett will all get "plenty of opportunities" this season, Callahan added.
The Titans are set to hire Brian Callahan as their new HC, according to multiple sources. It'll be the 39-year-old's first HC gig. Callahan spent the past five seasons as Cincinnati's OC, leading the Bengals to top-13 finishes in total yards and points in 2021 and 2022. Cincinnati sunk to 22nd in yards and 16th in points this past year, due in large part to QB Joe Burrow missing 7.5 games. Callahan was a pass-leaning play caller, with four of his five Bengals offenses ranking top-12 in pass rate, including a trio of top-6 finishes. That means a big shift is coming in Tennessee, where the Titans never finished higher than 25th in pass attempts in six seasons under HC Mike Vrabel. Callahan's arrival is certainly good news for the fantasy upside on QB Will Levis, WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks, and TE Chig Okonkwo.
The Titans fired HC Mike Vrabel. Tennessee went 41-24 over Vrabel's first four seasons, making the playoffs in 2019, 2020, and 2021. But the Titans won just 13 games total over the last two seasons and ranked bottom-5 in total offense both years. This offense might look a lot different in 2024, with a new coaching staff and potentially no Derrick Henry.
Titans TE Chig Okonkwo is active for today’s game vs. the Seahawks. He missed Friday's practice with an illness, but we’re expecting him to be ready for his usual role today.
Titans TE Chig Okonkwo missed Friday's practice with an illness and is listed as questionable for Week 16. It's unlikely to keep him from playing vs. the Seahawks, but you'll need to check back around 11:30 am ET on Sunday to make sure Okonkwo is active.
Titans QB Ryan Tannehill (ankle) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Falcons. HC Mike Vrabel said early in the week that he’d use both QB Will Levis and QB Malik Willis in this one, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Wednesday that Levis will be the “primary QB.” Regardless, you should try to avoid the entire Titans passing game in fantasy lineups this week.
Titans TE Chig Okonkwo nabbed a season-high 5 receptions for 33 yards in Sunday's loss to the Colts. His 9 targets beat his previous high by five, but the yardage remained unimpressive. Missing WR Treylon Burks (knee) and the team setting a season high for pass attempts certainly helped. Don't expect this game to change our outlook for Okonkwo going forward.
Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins snagged 4 of 6 targets for 63 yards in Sunday’s win vs. the Bengals. Teammate Nick Westbrook-Ikhine hauled in a TD in the contest to go along with 5 catches and 51 yards of his own. Despite WR Treylon Burks missing Week 4, TE Chigoziem Okonkwo didn’t factor into the passing game very much. He only saw 3 targets turn into 5.9 PPR points. Next up for the Titans is a Week 5 matchup vs. the Colts.
Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins (ankle) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the Chargers. He didn’t practice all week and was non-committal about his availability when talking to reporters on Friday. Fantasy owners can’t be counting on Hopkins at this point. We’ll look for updates on his status and will get Tennessee’s inactives around 11:30 am ET on Sunday. Hopkins’ absence would open up big opportunity for WR Treylon Burks and TE Chig Okonkwo.
Titans HC Mike Vrabel shared on Saturday that he expects TE Chig Okonkwo to return to practice this coming week. The second-year player has been held out due to an undisclosed injury sustained on Tuesday. This news indicates the strong possibility that he'll be healthy to begin the regular season. Despite the free agent addition of WR DeAndre Hopkins, Okonkwo should still carry some quality fantasy value as a low-end TE1/high-end TE2 in 2023. We'll monitor this situation and update as more information becomes available. See where Okonkwo appears in our current TE rankings.
It's not hard to see why some fantasy football drafters are excited for Titans TE Chig Okonkwo's second season. After delivering a 94th-percentile 40 time among TEs at the Scouting Combine, Okonkwo was efficient as a rookie. Among 43 TEs who drew 30+ targets for the season, Okonkwo ranked third in Pro Football Focus receiving grade and first in yards per route. He ranked third in targets per route among all TEs who ran at least 10 routes. So what's not to like? Okonkwo's biggest question will be playing time. No Titans TE cracked 56% playing time for the season last year. No Titans TE has reached 71% in HC Mike Vrabel's five seasons. Okonkwo's per-route efficiency can combat that and still give him fantasy value, but playing time was the main drag on the fantasy value of Jonnu Smith -- a similarly enticing athlete with intriguing efficiency. Okonkwo moved slightly down our fantasy football rankings with the DeAndre Hopkins signing. He remains an upside play for 2023, as long as you don't reach for him too early. We'll also be watching reports on the role of rookie TE Josh Whyle through training camp and preseason.
WR DeAndre Hopkins is signing with the Titans, according to multiple reports. Tennessee has ranked among the front-runners for a while now and could certainly use the help at WR. Second-year WR Treylon Burks arrived in Round 1 of the draft last year and followed a disappointing 2022 with a buzzy spring. But there’s little aside from him at the position. Hopkins’ arrival will challenge the target-share upside for Burks and TE Chig Okonkwo. But it wil also clearly add upside to QB Ryan Tannehill. He has been going near-last among starting QBs throughout best ball draft season. Tennessee doesn’t sport the highest ceiling for Hopkins, who isn’t a lock to beat Burks in targets or fantasy points. Even if he does, the Titans have ranked among the league’s most run-leaning offenses under HC Mike Vrabel. See where all the Titans sit in our 2023 fantasy football rankings.
Update: Hopkins got a two-year, $26 million contract with another $3 million available in incentives each year, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The deal lands Hopkins 23rd among WRs in average annual salary.
Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official website expects a "big leap" from TE Chig Okonkwo this year. "He's had a solid offseason," Wyatt adds. Okonkwo didn't see quite enough volume to be a real fantasy factor as a rookie last season, turning 46 targets into 32 catches, 450 yards, and three TDs. But he averaged a huge 14.1 yards per catch and shined in underlying metrics like targets per route and yards per route. With very little target competition in Tennessee, Okonkwo has breakout potential in 2023.
New Titans OC Tim Kelly is excited to expand TE Chig Okonkwo's role in 2023. "We're gonna look to continue to grow his skills and his abilities so we can utilize him more," Kelly said from the Combine on Tuesday. "When the ball found him, he caught it. And he was good with the ball in his hands." Okonkwo finished his rookie campaign with 32 catches for 450 yards and 3 TDs. His underlying metrics scream big upside going forward. Okonkwo's 84.6 Pro Football Focus receiving grade and 2.61 yards per route run were both top 3 marks among 31 rookie TEs with 40+ targets over the past 10 seasons. Highlight his name as 1 of 2023's top breakout candidates at TE.
The Titans have promoted passing-game coordinator Tim Kelly to OC. 2022 was Kelly's first season in Tennessee. He spent the previous 3 years as Houston's OC. Those first 2 Texans teams had middling finishes in points and total yards under QB Deshaun Watson before sinking to bottom-3 levels in 2021 with QBs Davis Mills and Tyrod Taylor. It's not an overly inspiring hire by Tennessee. Expect the offense to again revolve around RB Derrick Henry in 2023.
The Titans fired OC Todd Downing. He deployed slow-faced, run-heavy offenses the past 2 seasons. Tennessee sunk from 17th in total yards and 15th in points in 2021 to 30th and 28th this past year. We'll see who the Titans tab to run the offense going forward -- and if that guy will open up the passing game a bit. RB Derrick Henry turned 29 last week, and Tennessee has a couple of intriguing, young talents in WR Treylon Burks and TE Chig Okonkwo.
Titans insider Paul Kuharsky hears that QB Ryan Tannehill is "very likely" done for the season with an ankle injury that may require surgery. Tannehill has hurt this right ankle twice this season -- but was surprisingly allowed to re-enter last week's loss to the Chargers. His absence leaves QB Malik Willis at the controls the rest of the way. The rookie made 2 starts the first time Tannehill went down, TOTALING 135 passing yards on 26 attempts. Tennessee will go as run-heavy as possible with Willis, tanking the fantasy value of pass catchers like TE Chig Okonkwo and WR Treylon Burks.
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