Great minds think alike. Drexel hypothesized in a great article yesterday about the pros and cons of the Titans upgrading the passing game by acquiring a top-shelf wide receiver before Tuesday’s trading deadline,
I am in complete agreement with Drexel about the necessity to upgrade the receiving corps, which I regard as the weak link among the chain of Tennessee’s position groups.
However, the chances of signing Roy Williams or T.J. Houshmandzdeh are rather slim, so I’m also thinking about another recipe for improvement. The receivers have been inconsistent and one of them needs to step forward. The Titans need a receiver who will be Mr. Reliable, someone they can count on week in and week out. Will someone please step up?
Justin Gage, Justin McCareins and Brandon Jones are decent receivers. None of them would be the number one receiver on most teams in the league and wouldn’t even be number two on some teams. But it would be a boon, a serendipity, if one of them emerged as a legitimate threat.
Gage and McCareins have been around for a while. Their careers have peaked and plateaud, and you can’t realistically expect their performances to improve anymore. What you see now is what you’re going to get until the inevitable decline sets in.
Brandon Jones is a different story. He’s in his fourth year and still has time to develop and mature as a receiver. I am reminded of former Titans WR Derrick Mason, who had three very unnoticeable seasons before busting out in his fourth year and developing into a Pro Bowl receiver.
Can Jones follow a similar path and grow in his fourth year? I’m not looking for him to become an All-Pro but it would be nice if he would become Mr. Reliable for the Titans. You know, five or six catches every game for 80 yards. That shouldn’t be a lot to ask.
Brandon is one of those players who just frustrate you. Guys like that can really upset you. They’ve got a lot of ability and you see flashes of it from time to time on the field, but they are raggedly inconsistent and have periods when they don’t do diddly-squat.
If Brandon Jones can begin to consistently perform at the level he’s capable of, the Titans’ offense will be much improved. If not, it will be “wait until next year” to get a proven wideout in free agency who won’t break the bank.
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