Chig Okonkwo

[Two Cents]

(and all the rad ways they deployed him, especially as a pass catching fullback)

This is the key detail. I’d try to buy Chig for a 2nd everywhere I could regardless of my team needs.

¢¢

[j4pac]

Price check on Chig. Lots of shiny new TEs out there. Chig still likely better than pretty much all of them right?

[Bronco Billy]

There’s a real possibility Okonkwo isn’t even the best TE on his own team right now. He could be at his peak value right now. He had a nice minirun near the end of the season last year, but at the end of the day he was still TE33 ffppw in our TEP league. I’m pretty sure that there are several TEs in this draft that are fully capable of exceeding that.

[killer_of_giants]

ffppw

wut?

[Bronco Billy]

ffppw

wut?

Fantasy football points per week

[killer_of_giants]

gotcha.

[jenkins.math]

There’s a real possibility Okonkwo isn’t even the best TE on his own team right now. He could be at his peak value right now. He had a nice minirun near the end of the season last year, but at the end of the day he was still TE33 ffppw in our TEP league. I’m pretty sure that there are several TEs in this draft that are fully capable of exceeding that.

Are you really concerned about a 5th round TE coming in and taking snaps away from Chig? The Titans let Austin Hooper walk this offseason so they needed another TE anyway.

Chig's end of the year run also had Malik Willis and Josh Dobbs throwing him the ball for half of those games, which makes it even more impressive. Also, the Titans might have the worst WR room in the NFL. Someone has to catch the ball there and they seem to want to involve Chig and manufacture some touches for him. I'm not saying he is going to be an elite fantasy TE but I really think you're selling him and his situation short.

[j4pac]

There’s a real possibility Okonkwo isn’t even the best TE on his own team right now. He could be at his peak value right now. He had a nice minirun near the end of the season last year, but at the end of the day he was still TE33 ffppw in our TEP league. I’m pretty sure that there are several TEs in this draft that are fully capable of exceeding that.

Well…he was a rookie TE, and most TEs take a few years to develop. He wasn’t heavily featured until week 12, but was active for every game. That’s clearly going to drive down points per game. But look at his second half of the season. In week 9-11 he only had one reception/game but went over 30 yards on all three catches. Then when utilized more weeks 12-18, he averaged 9.5 Points/game in PPR. He was the most productive rookie TE last year. He still has really poor competition for receptions, and his explosiveness is unreal. A lot of good TE prospects in this class, but they won’t be ripping off 40 yard receptions in consecutive games.

[Bronco Billy]

Well, dismiss Whyle at your own risk. Odd hearing the dismissal because he’s a 5th rounder when Okonkwo was a 4th rounder last year in a much weaker TE class.

Whyle is bigger and a better athlete. He’s a good receiver and a good blocker, albeit with room to improve. He’s got all the earmarks for being a very solid starting TE in the NFL. Okonkwo seems like he has a future as an H back on this team, but he’s going to very likely get competition for TE touches.

[Cameron Giles]

I think there's a decent argument that Chig is the best pass catcher on the Titans right now.

The current group:

Treylon Burks
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
Kyle Phillips
Chris Moore
Racey McMath
Colton Dowell
Reggie Roberson Jr.
Josh Whyle
Trevon Wesco

This may be the worst collection of receivers in the league right now (it is). He is in line for a lot of work this season and will be a popular TE value in redraft this year.

Overall, there is opportunity here for anyone on the Titans. The issue though is that Tannehill doesn't look like the QB who played lights out in 2019-2020. He looks closer to the talent the Dolphins let go of. After him, Levis is a rookie and the Titans don't seem to trust Willis to be on the field at all. Chig should get volume, but the quality of it could be pretty poor.

[j4pac]

Well, dismiss Whyle at your own risk. Odd hearing the dismissal because he’s a 5th rounder when Okonkwo was a 4th rounder last year in a much weaker TE class.

Whyle is bigger and a better athlete. He’s a good receiver and a good blocker, albeit with room to improve. He’s got all the earmarks for being a very solid starting TE in the NFL. Okonkwo seems like he has a future as an H back on this team, but he’s going to very likely get competition for TE touches.

Not buying the better athlete argument until I see it on an NFL football field. Chig looked like a young Vernon Davis/Delanie Walker at times last season. I think there is probably a better chance that Whyle doesn’t make the team than passing Chig on the depth chart next season.

[mild]

Overall, there is opportunity here for anyone on the Titans. The issue though is that Tannehill doesn't look like the QB who played lights out in 2019-2020. He looks closer to the talent the Dolphins let go of. After him, Levis is a rookie and the Titans don't seem to trust Willis to be on the field at all. Chig should get volume, but the quality of it could be pretty poor.

It's funny how that happens when you trade a Top 8 WR away.

Interesting that it instantly turned Jalen Hurts into a QB who could "throw over the middle" too.

I maintain that pretty much all of Tannehill's success coincided with the rise of AJ Brown, and the Titans successfully executing a "hard fake, ball-out" PA offense.

You just don't have to respect it as much anymore with Burks and Chig being the only guys catching balls, and D-Henny maybe, perhaps, finally slowing down. (Surely?!)

[Bronco Billy]

Well, dismiss Whyle at your own risk. Odd hearing the dismissal because he’s a 5th rounder when Okonkwo was a 4th rounder last year in a much weaker TE class.

Whyle is bigger and a better athlete. He’s a good receiver and a good blocker, albeit with room to improve. He’s got all the earmarks for being a very solid starting TE in the NFL. Okonkwo seems like he has a future as an H back on this team, but he’s going to very likely get competition for TE touches.

Not buying the better athlete argument until I see it on an NFL football field. Chig looked like a young Vernon Davis/Delanie Walker at times last season. I think there is probably a better chance that Whyle doesn’t make the team than passing Chig on the depth chart next season.

When one guy has a RAS of 6.47 and the other guy has a RAS of 8.94, it’s pretty safe to say the guy with the 8.94 is a better athlete. Being a better athlete does not necessarily translate to being a better football player, that remains to be seen. But Whyle’s athletic foundation is there and his tape seems to support his ability as a player. We’ll see when he puts pads on in the bigs, but if you’re going to wait for absolute proof one way or another you’ll be too late if Whyle does indeed pan out.

ETA - and Okonkwo ain’t Vernon Davis. Never will be.

[Sriracha]

Overall, there is opportunity here for anyone on the Titans. The issue though is that Tannehill doesn't look like the QB who played lights out in 2019-2020. He looks closer to the talent the Dolphins let go of. After him, Levis is a rookie and the Titans don't seem to trust Willis to be on the field at all. Chig should get volume, but the quality of it could be pretty poor.

It's funny how that happens when you trade a Top 8 WR away.

Interesting that it instantly turned Jalen Hurts into a QB who could "throw over the middle" too.

I maintain that pretty much all of Tannehill's success coincided with the rise of AJ Brown, and the Titans successfully executing a "hard fake, ball-out" PA offense.

You just don't have to respect it as much anymore with Burks and Chig being the only guys catching balls, and D-Henny maybe, perhaps, finally slowing down. (Surely?!)

It is strange how elite WRs can cover a QBs deficiencies

[jenkins.math]

Well, dismiss Whyle at your own risk. Odd hearing the dismissal because he’s a 5th rounder when Okonkwo was a 4th rounder last year in a much weaker TE class.

Whyle is bigger and a better athlete. He’s a good receiver and a good blocker, albeit with room to improve. He’s got all the earmarks for being a very solid starting TE in the NFL. Okonkwo seems like he has a future as an H back on this team, but he’s going to very likely get competition for TE touches.

Not buying the better athlete argument until I see it on an NFL football field. Chig looked like a young Vernon Davis/Delanie Walker at times last season. I think there is probably a better chance that Whyle doesn’t make the team than passing Chig on the depth chart next season.

When one guy has a RAS of 6.47 and the other guy has a RAS of 8.94, it’s pretty safe to say the guy with the 8.94 is a better athlete. Being a better athlete does not necessarily translate to being a better football player, that remains to be seen. But Whyle’s athletic foundation is there and his tape seems to support his ability as a player. We’ll see when he puts pads on in the bigs, but if you’re going to wait for absolute proof one way or another you’ll be too late if Whyle does indeed pan out.

ETA - and Okonkwo ain’t Vernon Davis. Never will be.

What killed Chig’s RAS was his size. Which I get is a part of being an athlete, but he was better in virtually every other metric that goes into the RAS. Chig had an elite speed score and better broad jump and vertical than Whyle.

I really don’t see the tape on Whyle either. If this guy is so athletic why is his best season a whopping 353 receiving yards? He had good QB play with Ridder and they play in a bad conference. I know you enjoy playing the contrarian but you’re really reaching here with this one.