On Tuesday, the Tennessee Titans finally signed first-round rookie receiver Kendall Wright to a four-year deal worth $8.2 million, including a $4.47 million signing bonus, according to sources.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide out Justin Blackmon and Wright were the only unsigned rookies from the first round in the 2012 NFL Draft up to this point as training camp is already underway.
Now is the time for Wright’s head to be wrapped up in the Titans’ playbook. It’s extremely important that Tennessee gets him up to speed during training camp since Wright will be a pivotal part of what this offense tries to accomplish through the air.
Without Kenny Britt, the Titans would be relying heavily on young receivers with very limited experience, with the exception of veteran Nate Washington, who likes his new leadership role). Some of that valuable experience came last year for Damian Williams and Lavelle Hawkins.
In his second season, Williams, 24, racked up 45 receptions for 592 yards and 5 TDs in 2011, while Hawkins, 25, also experienced a borderline-breakout season with 47 catches for 470 yards and a score. But both still have plenty to prove.
That essentially leaves Nate Washington once again as the go-to guy, unless Wright performs beyond his years.
In addition, Wright figures to see some action in the return game, or at least competing with special teams specialist Marc Mariani.
With the opening schedule the Titans are facing during the first six weeks of the season (vs. New England, at San Diego, vs. Detroit, at Houston, at Minnesota and vs. Pittsburgh), Tennessee is going to need to put up plenty of points—more than last year (325), which put them 21st in the league.
If the Titans don’t find a way to score early and often, they could be in danger of starting the season 0-4 and having their postseason hopes over before the weather even starts changing.
Wright, 22, will make the Titans offense more vertical than in year’s past.
In addition, the Titans have always missed that deep threat since coming to Nashville.
His presence should also allow more success for Chris Johnson between the tackles. However, Wright will also have to earn that respect from opposing defenses before they really being backing off of Johnson inside the box. Part of the reason Johnson struggled last season was due to the lack of other weapons on offense, as teams keyed on him more than any other player.
It was said that Wright looked impressive in OTA’s earlier this summer.
Now he just has to translate that to training camp and ultimately to Week 1 against the New England Patriots.
For the Titans’ sake, he better be ready to turn some heads during his rookie season.
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