The Wright Stuff?
Like many seasons before this one, 2013 brought breakouts from a few second year receivers. Josh Gordon caught 87 passes for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns in fourteen games to lead all sophomore wideouts. Not far behind, Alshon Jeffery hauled in 89 passes for 1,421 yards and seven scores. Some might even call the 66 catches for 1,054 and five touchdowns Michael Floyd put up a breakout. In my opinion, the more interesting of the second year standout receivers is Kendall Wright, who tallied 94 receptions for 1,079 yards and just two scores.
While at Baylor, Wright was used often as a deep threat. In his four college seasons, he caught 302 passes for 4,005 yards and 30 touchdowns. As a senior, he hauled in 108 receptions for 1,663 yards and 14 scores and routinely caught over-the-shoulder bombs from Robert Griffin III. Whether he lined up wide or in the slot, he was a big play waiting to happen.
After his final year in Waco, Wright ran a disappointing 40-yard dash at the combine. His official time was 4.61 seconds, but that didn’t stop the Titans from taking him in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft. He entered the league as the third receiver taken, behind Justin Blackmon who was chosen fifth overall by the Jaguars and Floyd, who was taken 13th by the Cardinals.
Because of his slow 40 time, many thought Wright would be limited to slot receiver duties in the NFL. That thinking is irresponsible however. No player should be judged solely on one workout.
Let’s take a look at the numbers he posted as a rookie:
|
Routes |
Targets |
Rec. |
Yards |
Ave. |
TD |
|
| Slot Receiver |
52 |
13 |
9 |
66 |
7.3 |
0 |
| Outside Receiver |
346 |
82 |
55 |
560 |
10.2 |
4 |
| Totals |
398 |
95 |
64 |
626 |
9.8 |
4 |
After seeing these stats, many might come to the conclusion that Wright was given the opportunity to prove the critics who thought he was only a slot receiver wrong. As you can see, he ran nearly 87% of his routes as an outside receiver and a majority of his production came when lined up outside the numbers. Offensive coordinator Chris Palmer seemed focused on getting him the ball quickly and in space. He was primarily used in the screen game and on underneath crossing routes. That caused him to average only 10.2 yards per catch when running routes from an outside receiver position – that’s well below what’s expected of a flanker.
Some may attribute the low average to poor quarterback play, but that simply isn’t the case either. Wright’s average was noticeably worse than the rest of the receivers in Tennessee. The other five wide receivers for the Titans averaged 13.8 yards per reception when lined up out wide in 2012. That means that together, the likes of Kenny Britt, Damian Williams, Nate Washington, Mike Preston and Lavelle Hawkins averaged better than 3.5 yards per catch more than Wright during his rookie year.
So if it’s not the quarterback play that made Wright’s numbers look so mediocre as a rookie, what else could it be? Let’s dig a bit deeper.
Wright was targeted at least 20-yards downfield only nine times, catching three passes (the only three that were catchable according to Pro Football Focus) for 96 yards and a touchdown. That can mean one of two things. Either he was unable to get open when running deep routes or he wasn’t called upon to run them. You can make up your own mind as to which it is, but as I mentioned earlier, Palmer, who was fired late in the season, was hell-bent on getting the ball to Wright quickly  -that’s evident when you consider that 73 of Wright’s 95 targets (77%) were inside of 10-yards, which didn’t allow him to run deep very often.
It’s pretty clear to me that the Tennessee coaching staff was only willing to let Wright run shallow to intermediate routes as a rookie.
That brings us to Wright’s second season with the Titans.
|
Routes |
Targets |
Rec. |
Yards |
Ave. |
TD |
|
| Slot Receiver |
369 |
86 |
63 |
694 |
11.0 |
2 |
| Outside Receiver |
170 |
48 |
31 |
385 |
12.4 |
0 |
| Totals |
539 |
134 |
94 |
1079 |
11.5 |
2 |
Before his sophomore season in Tennessee, the Titans decided to retain former quarterback’s coach Dowell Loggains as offensive coordinator. Wright’s role was much different than the year before. He was the Titans’ primary slot receiver, running 64% of his routes from that position. His numbers while lined up outside were more interesting however.
Wright averaged 12.4 yards per reception when flanked out wide, a substantial improvement from the year before, but still nothing close to the numbers of big-play threats around the league and well below the combined average of every other receiver in Tennessee once again. Britt, Williams, Washington, Preston and Justin Hunter averaged 14.9 yards per reception when lined up outside the numbers in 2013. Wright was 2.5 yards per catch behind the rest of the group. What’s interesting is that Wright improved his numbers without being counted on to catch the ball downfield any more than he was as a rookie. He was only targeted 20-yards downfield twelve times in 2013, catching all four of his catchable passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.
For the second straight season, the Titans weren’t allowing Wright the opportunity to prove himself as a deep threat. 96 of the 134 passes (72%) intended for Wright were within 10-yards of the line of scrimmage even though Tennessee completely changed their offense before the season.
At this point, you may be wondering to yourself what my point is. It’s simple, the Titans haven’t used Wright to his full potential and if they would, it would benefit his fantasy owners greatly.
Head coach Mike Munchak and Loggains, who were both been fired last week, were convinced Wright could only be used in a role similar to that of Wes Welker. No doubt, his slow 40 time at the combine has helps support that theory, but it’s obvious to most that have watched him on the field that he plays much faster than what he showed that day in Indianapolis.
Before he was drafted, many compared Wright to Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith. Smith, at 5’9 and 185 pounds is of similar stature to Wright (5’10 and 196 pounds).
Rather than using Wright like the Patriots and Broncos have used Welker, the Titans should use him like the Panthers did with Smith while he was in his prime or like the Giants have with Victor Cruz over the last few years. Both are routinely moved around the formation and are asked to stretch the defense regularly, no matter where they line up. He should be used in a similar way. If he is, I firmly believe he could put up numbers like Smith and Cruz have over their careers. 85-95 catches for around 1,500 yards and 8-10 touchdowns certainly wouldn’t be out of the question.
In college, Wright was known for getting open vertically by blowing past corners off the line and catching bombs from RB3.  At this point, nobody knows who will take over in Tennessee, but whoever is put in charge of the Titans’ offense should make it a priority to do the same.
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