NASHVILLE – Early in the offseason, Mike Vrabel said the Tennessee Titans needed “to be great around” Ryan Tannehill.
No one said anything about surrounding the quarterback with familiar faces.
Thursday’s trade that sent wide receiver A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia took away Tannehill’s preferred target throughout the time he has been the Titans’ starter. Of Tannehill’s 860 completions since he took over for Marcus Mariota six games into the 2019 schedule, 171 went to Brown. That is 19.9 percent or basically one out of every five.
As a result, the offense moves toward the next phase of the offseason program with little established trust between Tannehill and his 2022 targets, particularly the wide receivers.
Of the nine wideouts on the roster following this weekend’s NFL Draft, five never have caught a pass from Tannehill in a regular-season game. Of the four who have, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has the most with 41. The others are Dez Fitzpatrick and Cody Hollister with five apiece and Racey McMath with two.
“I think timing and confidence, just working with guys, knowing where this guy is going to be and how he runs the route [are important],” general manager Jon Robinson said. “They all may run it a little differently. Some faster players might get to a certain spot a little more quickly, so you have to let the ball go a little more quickly.
“All of that takes timing and working with the guy and being on the same page.”
Work that has yet to be done, in most cases.
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It is not much different at tight end, where only one of the top three has any established rapport with Tannehill. That is Geoff Swaim, who caught 40 passes over the last two years. The others are newcomers, free-agent addition Robert Woods and fourth-round pick Chig Okonkwo.
“I mean, we're excited to work with (Woods) and with (Hooper) and seeing what those guys can bring,” coach Mike Vrabel said recently. “They've been productive players in this league.”
Tannehill’s absence from the opening days of the voluntary offseason training period created some consternation among the fan base. If he set his spring and summer schedule – at least in part – on the idea that he always would have Brown and their deeply rooted professional relationship, the time has come to adjust.
Brown’s departure came weeks after the Titans bid farewell to tight end Anthony Firkser (86 receptions) in free agency and cut Julio Jones, whose 31 receptions in 2021 tied for fourth on the team. Last year, it was wide receiver Corey Davis (92 receptions) and tight end Jonnu Smith (70 receptions) who signed with other franchises.
That means in the last 13 months or so, the top four in receptions during Tannehill’s time as Tennessee’s starter have left. That quartet has accounted for just shy of half the catches during that time.
The one remaining Titans player with whom Tannehill has hooked up most is running back Derrick Henry. They have connected 49 times over the last two-plus seasons. And Henry is hardly a player think about when it comes to the passing game.
The bottom line is this: First-round pick Treylon Burks, taken with one of the two selections in the Brown trade (18th overall), will have to be a major contributor this season. So will Woods, who is still on the mend from reconstructive knee surgery midway through last season. The same might be true for another member of the draft class, fifth-round pick Kyle Philips, who is the only prototypical slot receiver on the roster.
None of them have practiced with Tannehill, let alone caught passes from him in a game.
“We'll continue to work and build,” Vrabel said. “We don't play until September, so it's, you know, it's a long process with putting the team together so that it's ready for opening week. … We're trying to get as many good football players really at every position that we can as possible.”
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Tannehill Now Lacks Familiarity With Targets - Sports Illustrated
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