NFL.com Tennessee Titans position battle: Wide Receiver

The Tennessee Titans are about to undergo a huge upheaval over the next month. That will include two major positional battles according to NFL.com.

The second position is an area where I thought the Titans would have a huge hole this year, but it is an area where Tennessee has done a great job of rebuilding: #2 wide receiver.

Chris Wesseling had this to say about the Titans receiver battle:

"Hunter has been one of the NFL's least-efficient receivers, failing to make good on his size/speed gifts. DGB offers plenty of upside, but will need time to develop. Douglas should be limited to slot duties. Don't sleep on Nicks, who rediscovered his playmaking ability down the stretch for the Colts last season."

It is easiest to break this down by receiver in the order that Wesseling lists them:

Justin Hunter:

Let's not beat a dead horse here. Hunter is a great athlete that has Randy Moss deep ball ability and size, but just has not been able to catch passes or be consistent. Either way, I think he is the least likely to win this job.

Hakeem Nicks:

Wesseling isn't wrong about Nicks finding his stride the last few games of his season. From Week 15 through the Wild Card game, Nicks was the fourth highest graded receiver with less than 135 snaps. He is just a few years removed from being one of the hottest young receivers in the league and if he can stay healthy he could be an asset.

Dorial Green-Beckham:

I think DGB is the odds on favorite to win this job by Week 8, however, that is just if no other candidate really emerges as a solid #2. I believe that in Marcus Mariota's first year they will go with reliability over the potential for big plays. Having said that, I am a bigger believer in DGB than I was in any receiver the Titans have drafted highly including Kendall Wright, he just screams ideal receiver.

He wins with height, strength, speed, and vision and you really can't ask more than that of a receiver, so if he can keep his nose clean I think he can be a top-end player in this league.

Harry Douglas:

Douglas is the safe pick for the #2 job, and rightfully so. He has been a dependent player in Atlanta for years and he understands how to play as a teammate. After being the third musketeer to Julio Jones and Roddy White, Douglas will now get his chance to really make a big impact in games.

Sometimes that doesn't work, but other times you end up with a steal much like the Titans did when signing Delanie Walker who was second fiddle to Vernon Davis.

I would have to say that if the season started today that I believe Douglas would get the start opposite Kendall Wright, but that the Titans would have 15-20 plays per game where they deliberately rolled out DGB to create some mismatches. DGB is the player they want to start, the only question is when.