Titans’ Elic Ayomanor showing a knack for the contested catch | Football

One thing the Titans and quarterback Cam Ward have learned very quickly this season: Even when Elic Ayomanor isn’t open, he is.

The 6-2, 206-pound rookie wide receiver is off to a very good NFL start, as he ranks first on the Titans in first-down receptions (five), second in receiving yards (69) and tied for third in catches (six).

Ayomanor’s success has not, according to at least one analytics website, come from an ability to regularly shake free of defensive backs down the field.

He’s averaging just 1.6 yards of separation when targeted with passes, which is the sixth lowest figure in the league among qualifiers, per Next Gen Stats.

But that hasn’t stopped Ward from throwing to Ayomanor, whose 13 targets through two weeks rank second on the team behind Calvin Ridley’s 14.

Six of those pass attempts to Ayomanor have been contested, per Pro Football Focus, with four of those coming in last Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Ayomanor managed to haul in two contested grabs, a total that included a phenomenal 23-yard reception down the right sideline in the second quarter.

On that play, Ayomanor was tightly covered by Rams cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr., to the point that Ayomanor couldn’t use his left hand. Instead, he reached up with his right hand, snatched the football and pinned it to his helmet in order to secure the catch before going out of bounds.

Three plays later, Ayomanor made another tough reception, following Ward’s highlight-reel scramble and long throw into the end zone.

“What you saw [against the Rams] is really what you saw out of him in college,” Titans Offensive Coordinator Nick Holz said.

“He’s really good on the contested catches … He got a lot of double coverage, a lot of press coverage, and he was really kind of the focal point of that Stanford offense. So he’s kind of used to that competitive situation of [when] that ball is in the air and he’s got to go get it. It plays to his strength.”

Ayomanor’s 38.5-inch vertical jump, 32-3/8 arm length and 78-3/8 wingspan all help when it comes to snaring contested catches. His two contested catches in the first two weeks are one more than the rest of the team’s pass catchers combined.

But as Holz referenced, outbattling defensive backs isn’t something that’s new to Ayomanor.

He racked up 14 contested catches during his final year at Stanford, tied for 17th best in the country. That helped Ayomanor total 63 receptions overall, despite the fact he ranked only in the 37th percentile nationally in terms of separation percentage versus single coverage.

Ayomanor credits his mindset with helping him make contested catches, but notes that quarterbacks can help with their ball placement as well.

“I think the biggest thing in my opinion on contested catches is being aggressive,” Ayomanor said. “But first and foremost, I think a good ball is really what can shoot up those contested catch numbers. So a lot of that really is on Cam, not me.

“Like if the defensive back is on your back hip, and the quarterback throws it at the back of the defensive back’s head or underthrows it, it’s not going to be a catch. If he throws it over the shoulder, it’s going to be an easy catch, even though it might be like contested. So I think a lot of it is on the quarterback.”

As impressive as Ayomanor’s one-handed sideline catch against the Rams was last Sunday, the most memorable tight reception of his career likely occurred in 2023 against Colorado.

Covered by the Buffaloes’ Travis Hunter, who would win the Heisman Trophy in 2024, Ayomanor ran a deep route down the left sideline during overtime. Hunter could not have covered Ayomanor any closer. But that didn’t stop Ayomanor from reaching behind Hunter, grabbing the football and pinning it to the back of Hunter’s helmet before eventually securing the catch for a 30-yard touchdown.

“Yeah,” Ayomanor said with a smile, “that’s probably one of my better contested catches, for sure.”

Ward got a sense of Ayomanor’s playing style when the quarterback was at Washington State, and the Cougars played against Stanford in 2023.

It hasn’t taken long for Ward to form an even deeper connection with Ayomanor this season.

Good things happen, it seems, when you throw the ball in Ayomanor’s direction, whether he’s covered or not.

“He’s always been a physical receiver who’s good at 50-50 balls, who can win off press-man [coverage] with his releases,” Holz said. “I think he doesn’t get enough credit for how fast he is and how explosive he is. So it’s good that we were able to steal him [in the draft] to continue to make plays for us. He sure makes my job easier.”