NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans are banking on a big season from second-year tight end Chig Okonkwo. With the lack of talent at wide receiver and the Titans' lack of weapons on offense in general, any one with explosive ability will need to be featured and Okonkwo fits that bill.
He proved it in his rookie season by putting up the most receiving yards of any rookie tight end with 450 and tying for the rookie lead in receiving touchdowns with three. Okonkwo led all tight ends in yards-per-route-run with 2.61.
Seems like a slam dunk to lead the Titans in snaps at tight end, right? Well, not so fast, my friend. Sadly, when it comes to personnel deployment, Mike Vrabel and his staff can't necessarily be trusted and what we know about how Vrabel wants the offense to function creates some doubt.
Simply look at the Titans' snap counts at tight end in 2022. Geoff Swaim played 56% of the Titans' offensive snaps and 199 more than Okonkwo. If Okonkwo was that explosive for an ugly Titans' offense last year and that is all the run he got, it is fair to worry how Vrabel handles his snaps this year.
Now, it would be fair to point out that 2022 was Okonkwo's rookie year and Vrabel should have more faith in him after his performance in year one, but it may be more about the offense than the player. Let's take a look at Swaim's snap count in 2020 and 2021.
In 2020, Swaim played 53% of the Titans' offensive snaps and Swaim played an incredible 65% of plays on offense in 2021. Swaim is a big bodied, physical in-line tight end that can line up with his hand in the dirt next to an offensive tackle and go one on one with a defensive lineman. That is not Okonkwo's role.
Swaim may no longer be on the roster, but newly-signed Trevon Wesco is. He is the new Geoff Swaim, with a penchant for physical play and blocking. He will slide into Swaim's place in the offense. There is a good chance he matches or comes close to Swaim's snap count from last season.
So, everyone is expecting a big year from Okonkwo. His talent would indicate he should get a large amount of the snaps and dwarf the others at his position. Once again though, Mike Vrabel's vision for how he wants to play may complicate that. It will be something to keep an eye on come Week 1.
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