The Tennessee Titans came into the season with an obvious lack of explosive weapons on offense.
Many expected the first-round pick at wide receiver to be the most explosive pass catcher, and while Treylon Burks has shown he can certainly fill that role, injuries have kept him out a good portion of the season.
In his absence, fourth-round pick and tight end Chig Okonkwo has emerged as not only the most explosive pass-catchers on the Titans’ offense, but one of the most explosive tight ends in the league.
Okonkwo’s role has grown over the past few weeks and the Titans have FINALLY featured him in the offense consistently.
He had his career-high in catches on Sunday with six, added 45 yards, a one-handed catch for a two-point conversion AND his second receiving touchdown of the season (first since Week 4).
Okonkwo wasn’t just a limited gadget player against the Jacksonville Jaguars, either. He was constantly being targeted and expected to not only make big plays, but be relied upon to move the chains.
So, as we do every week, let’s dive in to the tape and see how he did it…
Play No. 1
Smart route-running from a rookie here using limited space in the red zone. Chig is going to run a curl route against Jacksonville’s Cover 2 zone, and he has to sit down right in the middle of the linebackers in hook zones.
Watch as Chig gets skinny and just barely squeezes by the first linebacker. This gives him more space to sink into and gives Tannehill a wider window to throw into.
Credit to Tannehill here as well; he puts the ball on Chig’s left shoulder, away from the closing backer. Not only does this gives Chig a safer catch, but it puts his weight on his left foot allowing him to POP back to the right.
He goes inside and heads up field for a few more yards. Very next play is a touchdown.
Play No. 2
It is second-and-10, something the Titans know a lot about. They have to find a way to get four to five yards in these situations to realistically convert third downs.
Titans go empty with Chig as the inside-most man on the trips side, and it’s another sit-down curl meant to find a hole in the Jaguars zone defense.
Chig sits but isn’t immediately open. Hooper’s deep in route backs off the linebackers and gives Chig a little more room underneath. However, Chig does a real crafty thing here.
He floats toward the open gap between the hook and the flat zone. This is just a five-yard pick up, but again, these are so valuable to the Titans, and them trusting Chig in these situations now is positive growth.
Play No. 3
Wonderful design here against the Jaguars’ zone defense in the red area.
Love using Chig in a stack alignment to get him a free release off the line of scrimmage. All the routes other than Chig’s are vertical, so it pulls the zone defenders towards the inside leaving more room underneath for Okonkwo.
Great pass by Tannehill gets it to Chig where he can turn and run. He uses his great YAC ability to barrel into the end zone while being helicoptered by the defenders. He’s the only guy available right now for the Titans who has this in their bag.
Play No. 4
This is another example of how to properly use a weapon like Okonkwo: line him up in the backfield to get him in unusual opportunities.
Devin Lloyd has not been very good this season for Jacksonville, and here he totally misplays Chig’s route. That is not important though; what is important is how NUTS this catch was.
Play No. 5
Here we see Okonkwo line up as the slot receiver, a great way to use his skill. He runs another curl route and sits down right in between the two zone defenders.
My favorite part is he turns his back to the closest defender, so if the ball is inaccurate, he can use his body to shield it off and it allows him to float toward the sideline where there is more room.
Pass comes in a little high, but Chig is an athlete. He goes up and snags it, then delivers a nice juke to free himself up for more YAC. He plays physical and uses his strength to get up the field for more yards.
Again, with Burks out, there aren’t any other options on the Titans’ offense with this kind of play-making ability.
Conclusion
I will be the first to admit, Chig had bad plays, too, as Mike Vrabel pointed out. He had a sub-50 run-blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus, and he had a swing pass that was charged as a run where he clearly went too far backwards on the swing route. Vrabel called that mistake out directly.
The point is, Chig Okonkwo is still a rookie, and rather than that being a bad thing, we should all realize it is an amazing thing he is this good with that much room to grow.
He needs to be a main focal point of this offense going forward. The hope has to be that Burks can get back and Henry can get going. With those three explosives threats, the Titans’ might be able to win a playoff game.
