March 18, 2026, 1:24 p.m. ET
Ex-Tennessee Titans tight end Chig Okonkwo is now a member of the Washington Commanders. Titans fans never got to see what Okonkwo can really do because he was stifled by poor quarterback play and poor coaching. Some say he drops too many passes, but the truth is that his 7.6% drop rate is average among all NFL pass-catchers. Among tight ends only, it’s better than average.
Okonkwo is beginning the next stage of his career with the Commanders and will be catching passes from Jayden Daniels. He appeared on the “Next Man Up” podcast shortly after he was signed, and seemed to take a (not-so-)subtle jab at his former team.
“For me, there’s just so much more I’m able to do,” he says. “That’s why one of the things in coming here, too, is seeing how the offensive leaders of this team just, like the role that they see me playing, and I’m just so excited, bro, to just know that I’m gonna be a featured guy from the first week. I can’t even imagine what my numbers would look like if I was getting real targets from Week 1, where I was running real routes from Week 1, I’m telling you all. The pretend,” he stops himself from going further, opting instead to say, “I’m just excited, bro.”
When the host said that he could see the chip on Chig’s shoulder, Okonkwo replied, “I’m just excited.”
Chig will get a huge opportunity with the Commanders, who are not re-signing Zach Ertz. John Bates will remain as the blocking tight end, and Ben Sinnott will continue his role as TE2, but Okonkwo has a real opportunity to show the NFL exactly what he is capable of. And, while this was definitely a dig at how the Titans used him, he stopped himself from going too far and remained professional.
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