The 2022 NFL Draft takes place April 28-30 this year, emanating LIVE from Las Vegas, Nevada. As it stands, the Tennessee Titans have one first round draft pick. General manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel currently hold the 26th overall selection. Over the next few months, your boy “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley will be taking a look at some of the prospects who are either rumored to be tied to or who make sense for the Titans. Today, we’re lookin’ at Texas A&M tight end Jalen Wydermyer.
I’ve been saying “blow up the tight end room” all offseason long. Metaphorically, of course….errr…at least if you are going to blow up the tight end room, make sure everyone’s out of it first. Anyway, the Titans are in dire need of upgrades on offense – they need some new, more dynamic tight ends. They need an element of speed capable of stretching defenses downfield. And, I dare say they could even use a gadget player to wiggle around all over the field. Given who they’ve met with so far throughout the draft process, I expect them to be really keyed in on tight end. Props to me for calling that. Anyway, that’s how we get to Wydermyer, who I’ve seen mocked to the Titans at #26 by several folks (hey, at least they aren’t mocking linebackers at #26).
Wydermyer enters the NFL as an accomplished tight end out of Texas A&M. WIth 447 yards and six touchdowns in 2019, he was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman Team, and earned 2nd Team All-SEC to boot. In fact, that would be his first of three consecutive 2nd Team All-SEC honors. He’s also a two-time Mackey Award finalist, though he lost out to some elite company (Kyle Pitts in 2020 and Trey McBride in 2021). He finished his Aggies career with 118 catches for 1,468 yards and 16 touchdowns – all records among tight ends in Texas A&M’s history.
I’m not as high on Wydermyer as some are. I get that he’s a long strider, but man…I want to see at least some sort of element of speed. The Titans are in need of an electric play-maker at the position, and Wydermyer just doesn’t look like that guy. He doesn’t simply outrun guys. There’s not a lot of separation in his game and while I’d say he’s wily in the open field, he’s not a pure burner. I watched some plays during which his routes were a little clunky and his breaks were a tad awkward. I kept waiting for him to hit another gear. And, while he’s certainly willing as a blocker, and he did put some good reps against Will Anderson on tape, he doesn’t block with a ton of power.
I don’t want to rail on the guy – I think there are a few things that he does particularly well. One, while he has some bad drops on tape, by and large, he has some solid hands and catches the ball away from his body. He is also a physical presence at the point of the catch, with the big frame required to wrestle the ball away from opposing defensive backs. The Aggies had him running hella curl routes, and he seemed to have a nose for the soft spot in zone coverage. If you need a guy to get to the sticks and turn around, Wydermyer is your guy.
He’s a really interesting prospect – he’s the type of guy that you look at and think he should move and perform in a way that he really doesn’t. But, it’s like everything else…if he gets in the right spot with the right people who can get the most out of him and spark further development, he could be a serviceable player at the next level. I could see him growing into an effective chain-mover and red zone threat. But, he’s not the electric, splash play-maker some make him out to be, and that is what the Titans need at the position. In other words, I will flip this table over if the Titans draft him at #26. Round 3? We can talk…but Round 1? I’m flippin’ a table.
Further Reading: Aggies TE Jalen Wydermyer Shades Longhorns At NFL Combine
2022 TITANS FIRST ROUND OPTIONS
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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