This Titans Rookie Could Be Cam Ward’s X-FACTOR

This Titans Rookie Could Be Cam Ward’s X-FACTOR

there’s one receiver on the Titans roster that is not getting enough buzz and he could be Cam Ward’s X Factor this season we’re talking about Shimray DK the fourthround pick it seems like all the fans attention has been focused on Ellea Manor this exciting big-bodied exceps former college teammate who somehow went undrafted but Shimmer DK adds an element that no one else on this Titans roster can replicate yeah I wanted to talk about Shimray DK a little bit today because you know as you noted throughout OTAAS throughout mini camp there was a lot of buzz on the other two rookie receivers Alec I manor and Xavier Restrepo understood right probably the most hyped up UDFA in Titans history that’s saying something but the natural connection between him and Cam Ward and it showed up on the field you know I I read an article by Jim Wyatt the other day I can’t believe we track these things but he led Titans receivers at mini camp with 13 catches with Alec Ioman Manner you know there was a lot of buzz you know guys like Terron Davenport talking about how good he looked at practice you and I have kind of banged on the battle at X receiver there’s not a whole lot there in that room so there’s a direct pathway to snaps for him well Shimray DK might be the X factor of all those guys now what’s most interesting to me is we’re focusing on him the least right of the three rookies he was the first one they took of the three of them right like they started the fourth round by taking him which means they had all Friday night to think about what they were going to do with that opening pick of the fourth round remember they hadn’t taken a wide receiver yet the sky was falling in this fan base i can’t believe they haven’t taken a receiver yet what are they going to do well they opened Saturday of the draft by taking Shimray DK it came as a bit of a surprise i want to talk a little about what I think he adds to this offense what he brings to the table from an athletic perspective but I’ll throw it back to you in case I’m talking a little too much here yeah I think it is interesting because when he was drafted it was an underwhelming selection because it wasn’t a name that Titans fans were as familiar with i don’t think he produced the same big numbers in college that gave him like a pre-draft hype he wasn’t necessarily a draft Twitter darling he wasn’t someone that every fan knew their name and there were other receivers on the board who fans were aware of and I think maybe wanted fans wanted Restreo there probably right there yes everyone wanted Restrepo and there was another guy Jaylen Royals who everyone on Titans Twitter was clamoring for but the Titans go with Shimmer DK and I think what’s most interesting about him and you’re about to get into some of his profile stuff he was used in a very specific isolated way at Florida where he didn’t get the chance to run a full route tree and show everything he can do in an NFL style offense and the Titans want to use him in all kinds of ways i think he actually has the most versatility of any of the receivers they added this off seasonason in free agency or the draft and he was used with the least versatility in college you know I’d agree with that’s a great point i hadn’t thought of that and I agree with that because one thing I’ll add and I think the Titans would agree too is you know with Alec I matter we’re very focused on him playing X understandably so with Xavier Restrepo we’re really focused on him playing the slot understandably so when it comes to Shimray DK he’s the only one who Brian Callahan has gone up to the podium and said well he’s playing Z and he’s playing slot like we’re using he’s learning both positions cuz we envision using him at both back to the profile stuff we talked on a recent episode about Mike Borggonzi and and Chad Brinker as well saying “You know what a Tennessee Titans going to look like.” Well a wide receiver I think that’s speed because they added a lot of speed this off seasonason no more proof than that than Tim DK himself so he goes to the NFL combine he runs a 4340 that was the third fastest 40 of any receiver in attendance he runs a 6823 cone that was fifth fastest anything under seven is really really good so that is high level speed straight line speed but it’s also high level agility and change of direction not just the straight line stuff it’s the ability to kind of sink your hips and he did that right in the three code when you run times like that the sort of stereotype is oh this must be a small receiver to be moving that quick or to be changing direction that quickly no he’s 61 196 terrific size for the position and then when you add that again with the speed and agility profile you’re really excited about what he could become by the he also jumped a 38 and a half inch vertical and a 10 foot8 broad those are really good results you know the lower body explosion stuff as well yeah and on that note I don’t know if people realize this that’s about the same height and weight as Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase now I’m not saying DK is going to be the best receiver in football but he is not like if you think those guys are big that’s the same size that DK is he’s a little bit lighter but he’s about the same height and almost the same weight so he is definitely big enough and strong enough to be an effective NFL receiver who is an everyown player no matter where they want to use him and he runs a 4-3 440 exactly and then I go back to what he did at Florida this past year you talked about him not running the complete route tree he was really good at running those deep crossing routes you know that was his bread and butter i talked to him about that i I knew it was coming but I asked him “What was your favorite route to run?” And he said “Well I did a lot of damage on those deep crossing routes this past year.” He started his career out at Wisconsin and you know the production was pretty tame he goes to Florida this past year they use him in this sort of specialized role it worked he averaged 18.6 yards per catch this past year anytime their passing offense needed a big play they looked his way they put him in those positions to run those deep crossing routes he excelled he made big time plays down the field for them and when I look at that route and I think you’ll agree I look at some of the stuff they’re putting into the playbook for Cam Ward this year the switchver verts forverts ycross all of them have something in common deep down the field it’s searching for explosive plays we know Cam Ward is a big-time play quarterback he’s going to love Shimmeray DK’s ability to sort of take the top off the defense and sometimes we get tangled up in these you got to run a complete route tree nfl execs scouts they’ll tell you don’t always focus on what a guy can’t do what can he do for my offense if Shimray DK is in a specialized role where it’s hey we’re going to put you on the field when we want big time plays when we want 15 20 25 yard gains down the field that could add a layer of explosion to the Titans offense one that was desperately lacking last season yeah on that note the Titans last season had 30 plays that gained 25 plus yards this is total plays that gained 25 plus yards that was tied for 24th in the NFL aka ninth worst in the league the Titans need to get a lot more explosive on offense and DK is potentially the most explosive player on the entire roster and I totally get why you know fans have been focusing a bit more on IO Manor and Restrepo you know with IO Manor specifically I’ve said this a million times I’ll keep it short not a lot of competition out there at X totally get that for Restreo it’s you know the fanfare between him and Cam Ward what he did at OTAAS and mini camp i get that too with DK it’s a little harder to see where he gets on the field on offense because if he is playing Z you know that’s where Calvin Ridley plays if he is playing slot then he’s contending with Tyler Lockett and Xavier Strepo but I’ll wager the ability to play two of those positions does give you more opportunities to get him onto the field at least in certain packages right you can move Calvin Ridley around a little bit tyler Locketta at his age might not be an every down guy and you never know with injury so his ability to back up two positions does create a pathway to getting him on the field and keep in mind he is so different from Restrepo he’s so much bigger than him he’s so much faster than him don’t just assume oh if Lockett’s not on the field at Slot it’s going to be Restrepo because of that big playability DK adds to the offense there’s an opportunity uh for him to get snaps and then I’ll take it one step further if you’re okay with it how about special teams i wager he is going to be the starting kick returner and punt returner week one i think he’s your kick returner 26 career punts returned in college 20 career kickoffs he is the only guy that’s a shorefire bet to make this roster that has experience returning kicks and punts if it’s not him it means they’re forced to keep someone they probably don’t want to keep a James Proche a Mason Kinsey a Julius Chestnut i know I’m keeping DK i know he can return kicks and punts that gets me an extra roster spot i don’t have to keep James Proche because DK is going to do it for me so for me when I look at what he adds on offense the speed the positional versatility that the other two rookies don’t have and then what he can do for you on special teams when I combine that with how little we’re talking about him as a fan base I start to think that he’s the rookie receiver we need to be talking about way more than we currently are and there’s also another super underrated element which is his football intelligence he has been praised up and down by Mike Boronzi by Brian Callahan by Tikeke Tolbert the wide receivers’s coach everyone is talking about how quickly he’s picking up the offense and that’s why they’re able to throw multiple positions at him so early in his NFL career is because he is very smart on the football field and you see it the way he runs his routes because that deep crosser you talked about you have to be able to read coverages and adjust to them on the fly if it’s man coverage you have to know where your landmarks are if it’s zone coverage you have to understand where the spacing is within the defense to find those open shots and he is really good at that on the field live running full speed but he’s also really smart in the meeting rooms and I definitely think a huge part of his ability to pick up the offense as quickly as he has is going in at 5:00 a.m and meeting with Cam Ward every morning and watching film together and running through the script for the day so that they all have a good understanding of what they’re doing and it’s not just DK who’s picking up the offense quickly all the rookies seem to be according to the Titans coaching staff who’s talked about them after practices so you combine that football intelligence with that insane athleticism there’s no one else on the roster like that and I think when you talk about rookies who transition slowly to the NFL or who end up like a Dez Fitzpatrick who was a fourth round wide receiver who completely busted there’s an element of not being able to pick up the game and not being able to adjust to the speed of the game but Tikeke Tolbert said that DK is playing as fast as he looks when he’s running in shorts that he’s playing at that speed which means he’s not spending a lot of time thinking so we can’t as much as we love the athleticism component we can’t underrate the mental component and I think DK has both which is another reason why you and I think he’s going to be an early contributor in this offense probably won’t open the season as an every down contributor but by the end of the season he could be one of the leading receivers on this roster from a game-to-ame basis i also keep coming back to 11 personnel like as excited as I am about what Tyler Lockett and Xavier Restreo bring to this offense if I can get Shimray DK into a package role at that slot position I’ve got him let’s say Calvin Ridley and one of Ellio Manor or Van Jefferson on the field at the same time all three of my receivers are like pushing 61 i manner is even taller than that 61 plus 190 plus i’ve got three big fast receivers on the field that gives Cam Ward so many options right you’re not worried about the undersized matchup things of that nature you got three big fat remember Titans want to get big and fast they’ve talked a lot about that at edge this off season but they’ve also done it at wide receiver in my opinion as well so don’t underestimate what DK can bring to this team especially in 11 personnel where the Titans could have one of the bigger faster packages in the NFL so stop sleeping on Shimmery DK he is the X factor the underrated no one’s talking about him X factor for this Titans offense for Cam Ward this season i’m really excited to see what he can do when the Titans take the field thanks for watching everyone if you enjoyed this short video remember to like it hit subscribe to the channel and drop a comment below what are you expecting from Shimmer DK this year and check out some of our other videos we did a short on Femio Lejo and why he hasn’t signed his rookie contract yet and we also have the Music City Audible podcast where we do full length episodes covering everything Tennessee Titans you don’t want to miss it check it out until next time y’all stay safe out there and tighten

Justin Melo and Justin Graver break down an underrated, explosive player on the Titans offense that no one is talking about, and he could become the X-Factor for Cam Ward this season.

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