Guys, I’m not gonna lie – full on transparency here. That’s the ‘SoBros Way.’ When I saw that the Tennessee Titans were letting Tajae Sharpe walk, and then they didn’t draft a single wide receiver, OR bring in a coveted free agent….I thought that was bad news for the Titans wide receiving corps. A step back, if you will. I love the explosiveness of Kalif Raymond, but I’ll admit it – I questioned whether or not he would be the guy that would step up and claim firm hold of one of those receiving spots.
I mean, hell – the guy only caught nine balls for 170 yards and a touchdown in 2019. His 18.9 yards per catch were only behind AJ Brown on the team, and that’s an indicator of that explosiveness, but I didn’t peg him as a guy that would develop into a good all-around WR4, or maybe even WR3. We saw that explosiveness against the Baltimore Ravens when Ryan Tannehill hit him on a deep bomb score.
Kalif Raymond may have had only 10 catches in 2019, but he picked up 7 first downs and averaged 21.5 yards per reception #Titanup pic.twitter.com/Unr9RGHwjD
— PFF TEN Titans (@PFF_Titans) August 15, 2020
Now, that he’s getting more of an opportunity to show what he can do, I’m starting to realize how wrong I was about labeling this guy as an occasional ‘big play guy.’ He could be a bona fide and useful weapon in this offense (especially if NFL coaches have been sleeping on this guy like I was). I know you don’t typically put too much stock into the first week of training camp, but for Kalif Raymond, he’s been one of the real bright spots of camp so far.
I know we all gushed about Kalif Raymond's speed on Friday with that deep ball, but SHEESH look at those quick cuts. #Titans pic.twitter.com/lSfKSr5rtC
— Emily Proud (@emily_proud) August 16, 2020
Showing a lot of heart, coming in and competing with some of the best defensive backs in the league, demonstrating some excellent footwork – and, folks, I’ll listen to the gospel of Mike Herndon any day. On that clip of Raymond blowing past Johnathan Joseph above, Herndon tweeted: “The jets are nice, but that release leaving a 14-year vet grasping at air is no joke either.”
Shout out to the boys at Broadway Sports for sitting down and studying some film with Raymond. Check that out here if you want to dive a little deeper into what exactly this man’s game is like.
Can I officially say it? I was wrong about projecting Kalif Raymond. My bad, #14.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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