Titans vs Jaguars: Stock Up, Stock Down as Titans collapse down the stretch

The Tennessee Titans finished their total collapse of the 2022-23 season, losing their seventh game in a row and being swept by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the AFC South Championship and a playoff berth on the line.

It was a tough night to be a Titans fan, as the team will not play in the postseason for the first time since 2018.

In a win-or-go-home game against Jacksonville, there was more negative than positive, so let’s get right into it and see who saw their stock rise and who saw their stock fall as the Titans prepare for maybe the most important offseason of the Mike Vrabel era.

Stock down: Todd Downing

The theme that has been ongoing all year made another appearance in Week 18.

I fully grant that Todd Downing was not given a good hand this year. An atrocious offensive line that was decimated by injuries by the end of the year and a lackluster receiver group make an offensive coordinator’s job a lot harder, but Downing has done himself no favors this year with predictable play calls and an inability to call plays within the flow of the game.

But at the end of the day, the offense was this team’s downfall throughout most of the season.

The Titans finish the season as one of the worst offenses in the league, averaging the third-fewest yards per game (296.8), finishing 30th in passing yards per game (171.4) and in the bottom five of points per game (17.5).

During the 7-game losing streak, the Titans averaged 15 points per game. That's simply unacceptable in today’s NFL.

Mike Vrabel has seemingly been committed to Todd Downing since promoting him to OC, but Vrabel must make a change at the position to give Titans fans some hope headed into next season.

Stock down: The Offensive Line

A major reason the offense struggled this season was because of the offensive line, and that problem was once again evident in last night’s game against the Jaguars.

Joshua Dobbs was sacked four times and hit 13 times over the course of the game, as the Jaguars consistently pressured Dobbs and that pressure played a big factor in the turning point of the game, a Dobbs fumble that resulted in a scoop-and-score that gave the Jags the lead late in the game.

The offensive line has been a problem all year, allowing the fifth-most sacks in the league and just about any QB in the league would struggle when under pressure every time they drop back for a pass.

This unit has to be addressed in the offseason, maybe through both the draft and free agency.

Stock up: Chig Okonkwo

The rookie tight end has been one of the few bright spots on the Titans offense this season.

Okonkwo led the Titans in receiving yards with 42 against the Jaguars, including this touchdown catch.

The 4th-round pick finished the season with 32 receptions for 450 yards and 3 TDs on the season, but it felt like he was underutilized for a good chunk of the season.

Going into Year 2, Okonkwo should be a featured part of the Titans offense.

Stock mixed: Joshua Dobbs

The Joshua Dobbs story was pretty cool, with him coming from out of nowhere and putting together a solid performance in Week 17 against the Cowboys to earn the starting nod in the most important game of the season.

But I think Saturday night showed that Dobbs isn’t the future of the QB position in Tennessee like some fans hoped.

Dobbs had a pretty bad interception on a deep ball, and the final play where he hit the check down to Hassan Haskins well short of the first down marker instead of throwing it to Treylon Burks was a poor decision.

I think there’s a chance Dobbs is brought back to compete for the backup QB position with the Titans, but he’s not a starting QB in the NFL right now.