Tennessee

Titans

Okonkwo ever-so-slightly Moss’d Tyrique Stevenson on his 17-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter but was otherwise invisible along with the rest of the Titans’ passing game as Will Levis attempted to set the quarterback position back 10 years. Okonkwo is not looking like a compelling TE2 streamer ahead of Week 2 against the Jets.

Burks’ missed connection was a horrendous drop. Will Levis was the Titans’ biggest problem this afternoon, but Burks isn’t going to be part of the solution any time soon.

Boyd out-targeted a hobbled DeAndre Hopkins 5-1, but only Calvin Ridley exceeded 20 yards amongst the Titans’ pass catchers as Will Levis stunk up the joint. Until Levis demonstrates progress and the Titans actually open up the offense, Boyd appears to be PPR irrelevant.

Spears got out-touched 19-8 by Tony Pollard as the Titans dealt with super bizarre game flow, racing out to a 17-0 lead then slowly bleeding it away and losing 24-17. Will Levis essentially could not move the ball in the second half. NextGenStats charted Spears as playing 44 percent of the snaps. Despite the strange game script, it’s definitely not a good sign for Spears, who found himself behind Pollard in essentially every game situation. Although not quite yet a cut candidate, Spears will not be FLEX viable for Week 2 against the Jets’ elite defense.

It was an extremely bizarre game where the Titans were both in milk-it mode up 17-0 and comeback mode down 24-17. Whatever the mode, Pollard was the lead back over Tyjae Spears, out-touching his supposedly “interchangeable” backfield mate 19-8. The majority of Pollard’s production did come in the Titans’ profitable first quarter, including his 26-yard touchdown where the Titans set the edge and sprung Pollard to the second level essentially untouched. We would not consider the matter “case closed” after one weird game, but Pollard is obviously the fantasy play over Spears for the time being, and is looking RB2 relevant ahead of a tough Week 2 matchup with the Jets.

Hopkins’ third quarter snag was his only target as Will Levis flirted with league-worst quarterback play. Hopkins’ knee injury undoubtedly didn’t help. With Levis not looking ready for prime time and the Jets on tap for Week 2, Hopkins isn’t looking like a legitimate WR3 for the moment.

Making his Tennessee debut, Ridley was the only Titan to exceed 20 yards receiving as Will Levis turned in a stink bomb for the ages. That included horridly under-throwing Ridley on what should have been a 43-yard second quarter touchdown. Levis looked like a man who could have only a few starts left in the tank before giving way to Mason Rudolph. The Jets are an utterly horrendous Week 2 matchup, rendering Ridley a back-end WR3, at best.

Levis also lost a fumble. Levis had a solid if unspectacular first half before coming completely unglued after the break as the Titans slowly blew a 17-0 lead. His first interception was a game-changing pick-six at the 7:35 mark of the fourth quarter. Going down for a clear third down sack, Levis essentially pitched the ball to Tyrique Stevenson. It was the kind of mistake you’re supposed to stop making after your first season in big-time college football. The second giveaway sealed the game. Levis floated the ball off his back foot to no one in particular. In between, Levis took a number of bone-crunching hits on fearless but foolhardy scrambles. He could have hit a deep touchdown to Calvin Ridley but badly under-threw the ball. It’s one start against a strong defense, but it was the kind of effort that made it look like we’ll see Mason Rudolph sooner rather than later. The Jets are a horrendous Week 2 matchup.

It seems like Hopkins is probably playing through a considerable amount of pain, but it seems like he will be ready for his usual allotment of snaps. He’s a boom/bust WR3/4 as he sorts through his health issues in the Titans’ new-look, hopefully far more pass-friendly offense. Inactive for the Titans are S Jamal Adams, LB Otis Reese, OL John Ojukwu, TE David Martin-Robinson, TE Thomas Odukoya and OLB Ali Gaye.

Hopkins told reporters earlier in the week that he is dealing with a torn MCL and is attempting to play through it, with his ultimate snap rate likely coming down to pain management. Hopkins returned to limited practices this week after sitting out three weeks with an injury initially disclosed as a knee sprain. The fact that he tore his MCL does not instill confidence for the veteran pass-catcher to start the season, forcing fantasy managers to look for additional options if they are available.