By John Glennon
On the fourth-down play that broke the Indianapolis Colts’ back last Sunday, Titans wide receiver Corey Davis found a seam deep in the zone, slid to catch Ryan Tannehill’s low pass and cradled the 37-yard completion inches above the turf.
One play later, Tannehill strolled into the end zone from a yard out, putting the Titans ahead by three touchdowns with seconds left in the first half. It was, for all intents and purposes, game over at that point.
Davis’ big catch was another example of the breakout season the fourth-year receiver is putting together, as he’s on pace to produce career bests in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and yards per catch among other categories. He’s also posted first downs on 34 of his 42 catches in 2020, an 81 percent rate that’s second in the NFL for receivers with 25 or more catches, trailing only Carolina’s D.J. Moore (84 percent).
In fact, aside from touchdowns, Davis’ numbers have been on par with those of A.J. Brown this year, Davis having posted 42 catches for 619 yards (14.7-yard average) and three touchdowns, compared to Brown’s 40 catches for 638 yards (16.0-yard average) and eight scores.
| Player | Rec | Yds | Y/R | Lng | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Davis | 42 | 619 | 14.7 | 50 | 3 |
| A.J. Brown | 40 | 638 | 16 | 73 | 8 |
| Jonnu Smith | 30 | 338 | 11.3 | 63 | 7 |
| Anthony Firkser | 29 | 282 | 9.7 | 45 | 1 |
| Adam Humphries | 22 | 219 | 10 | 23 | 2 |
Titans top receiving leaders, via TitansOnline.com
“He’s done a great job, especially this year, he’s improved a lot, and I think there’s a lot of consistency in what we’re asking him to do,” Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said. “It’s a great credit to Corey and how he’s come in and worked week to week. He’s got a great mindset. Obviously he’s had some unfortunate things happen this season to him personally, but he’s come out here on the football field and been very impressive in how he’s approached the game.”
But Davis’ big numbers – compiled in a year that saw him lose his older brother to cancer – also raise an important question: Will he still be wearing a Titans uniform beyond this season?
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Pay Davis. Trade Humphries to NE. Pay Jonnu. Get ready to pay AJ. Ask Henry & Tannehill to restructure. Keep Firkser around for cheap. Draft to replace Lewan. Keep building that D through the draft.
Just some thoughts.
I like your thoughts except for Lewan. We have a lot of holes on defense before we can put a high pick into a tackle. We need to give Wilson a normal year to see what he can do. We are also getting old at center and left guard. You can get a top center in the second or third round.
I like the idea of the one year prove it contract for Davis assuming he, his agent, and the team obviously agree to it. We’ve got our window and it’s best to just do everything we can to go for it right now. I still like Humphries, and his injury issue this year is more the awful hit he took in the Bengals game. Wishful thinking but hey it’s the season of hope haha
This will be such a pivotal off-season for JR and the future direction of this team. I went into the year believing that we would resign Jonnu, Jayon, and DaQuan… while letting Davis walk and cutting Butler. But now both Davis and Butler are playing like core pieces for the team’s success. Add in the addition of King who will be a FA and we have 6 great players where we can probably only afford 3 of them.
With this likely being a down year for FA contracts, I wonder if Jonnu’s reduced production in recent games due to having to play a larger blocking role combined with Jayon’s injury will keep their cost modest enough to get them for less than initially anticipated. Furthermore, if David Long comes in and plays well the rest of the way does this make Jayon expendable? Does that depend of what JR wants to do with Evan’s next season?
In the secondary, if Borders continues to play like a legit outside corner I wonder if JR decides he’d rather get rid of Butler a year too early than a year too late and resign the younger King. Assuming Borders accomplishes the above, I could feel okay about moving forward with Adoree, King, Fulton,and Borders.
I didn’t think about the prospect of cutting Humphries, but if cutting him and saving $4.75M gives us the ammunition to keep Davis and 3 of the other 5 I think it is something worth considering.
I think Jonnu is probably gone after this year and we try and retain Davis. Having that consistent 1-2 punch on the outside is extremely valuable, and while Jonnu is an elite receiving talent at TE, our offense is fine without him. Swain and Firkser are fine pass catchers and blockers plus we can draft or sign a cheaper option.
It will be interesting to see how David Long plays out the rest of the year. If he lights it up, maybe we move on from Brown too. That would be tough as a fan cause I really like him and the way he plays.
I think we have to re-sign King. He meshes well with our secondary. I don’t know how I feel about Butler anymore. He was terrible, then he wasn’t and now he’s the highest graded CB in the last several weeks? It’s either him or King in two toned blue next season. And doesn’t the name Breon Borders just scream NFL cornerback to you? It does to me and I think he stays a while. Assuming we’re healthy, I feel good about the CB room.
I think Lewan should retire a Titan. Give Wilson a shot but I’m comfortable about our group up front heading into 2021.
Next years draft: OLB, ILB, TE, QB