Believe it or not, wide receiver is not a huge position of strength for the Titans this year. Yes, they have one of the game's top young deep threats in Kenny Britt, but outside of him you have a couple of guys who are part of the two-true-outcome club (meaning they're just as likely to make huge play as they are to drop an easy pass) in Nate Washington and Justin Gage. The three young wild cards in Hawkins, Williams, and Mariani are, well, they're wild cards. Williams runs great routes, Mariani seems like a perfect fit for the slot man, and Hawkins has always made plays when given the chance, but it takes more than that in all three cases.
So I was thinking whether or not the Titans should seriously think about signing on a proven veteran to help a young QB out.
First off, who's out there? The list is long and distinguished; I was actually pleasantly surprised when I saw just how many solid players were in this year's group. While I highly doubt that some of my favorite targets, Mike Williams, Malcolm Floyd, Santonio Holmes, and Steve Smith (Giants, not Panthers), are on the move, there are several other players out there who can come in for a discount and play the position well.
In place of Holmes, I'd be all for bringing in Donte Stallworth. You probably haven't heard much out of him in a few years, but that's okay because the fact is that he deserved much more playing time last year in a Baltimore offense that was criticized for not putting some of it's more talented players on the field at times. Stallworth has still got world-class speed and could be an awesome compliment to Britt's Moss-ish skill set in the slot.
Sidney Rice is a guy who flew under the radar last year as well due to a pretty serious hip injury sustained early in the year. His numbers were down from his flat out dominant performance in 2009, but look at it this way; Brett Favre was his starting QB for a large part of the year and was replaced by Joe Webb for a portion of his other starts. Not many guys are going to put up significant numbers, especially not Rice circa 09 numbers, in an offense that includes that FUBAR collection of gunslingers. It would be very hard for teams to key in on both Britt and Rice while trying to keep Chris Johnson in check at the same time.
Braylon Edwards, a player who plays his best when play-action takes focus off of him down field, should also be available. If this offense is truly going to be based on a lot of play-action, (as it should be) Edwards could be a decent addition to the team. Not a fan of Edwards' hands, but he could be valuable in the big-play department, at least as valuable as Washington is now.
So there's a quick list of three, anybody have some suggestions? Do we stick with what we've got right now or do we go out and try to make a splash in free agency?