ESPN's Bill Barnwell Gets Skill Assessment for Titans Incorrect

Yahoo

12-07-2025

ESPN's Bill Barnwell Gets Skill Assessment for Titans Incorrect originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Tennessee Titans are a team trying to build themselves back up to being the team they once were, competing for division championships and the playoffs. Each offseason, though, there is optimism with each team, including the Titans. And each year, there is someone who tries to kill any optimism. In this instance, it is ESPN's Bill Barnwell when it comes to ranking the skill position players for the Titans.
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Barnwell ranked every skill position group in the NFL, and he had the Titans' skill position players as dead last in the NFL.
"No.1 pick Cam Ward's group of receivers are … well-seasoned," Barnwell wrote. "Tyler Lockett, 32, was a cap casualty in Seattle whose numbers were way down during his final year with the Seahawks. He joins to link up with 30-year-old Calvin Ridley, who was better moving around the formation in Tennessee after being trapped on the outside in Jacksonville, but he dropped seven passes and wasn't always the reliable target a struggling group of quarterbacks needed."
Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
Rough criticism from Barnwell, but it is criticism that some have already expressed about the Titans. But to list them dead last in the NFL was interesting, especially when teams like New England and Cleveland are ahead of them.
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The Patriots signed veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs, coming off an ACL midseason. They are depending on Diggs to be their guy as the best wide receiver on the roster. That seems shaky, putting a team that does not have a wide receiver who has ever posted 1,000 yards receiving in their career outside of Diggs ahead of the Titans.
The Titans have two of those guys in Lockett and Ridley, although it is well-known that Lockett's numbers dropped off in the 2024 season. And when you look at the comparison at the running back position, Pollard, the leading running back for the Titans, had 1,079 yards rushing last season. For New England, their leading rusher was Rhamondre Stevenson, and he had only 801 yards. While there may be optimism in New England, it's not clear that their talent and skill position players are better than Tennessee's.
Meanwhile, in Cleveland, they have a talented wide receiver in Jerry Jeudy, who put up 1,229 yards receiving last season and showed the talent people saw when he was a first-round pick for the Denver Broncos. However, one notable aspect of his numbers is that he accumulated 485 of his 1,229 yards in just three games, averaging 53 yards per game in the remaining 14.
So the big season he had doesn't seem as big, and it does make you wonder about his abilities as a number-one wide receiver. At the tight end position, David Njoku is better than any tight end the Titans have. However, with questions at running back for Cleveland without Nick Chubb, can you say their skill position players are better?
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The Titans may not be the most talented offense with their skill positions, but Barnwell listing them last is something that does not make sense.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 12, 2025, where it first appeared.