The Tennessee Titans are coming off a phenomenal showing by practically the entire team during Sunday’s lopsided 27-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
In fact, Tennessee did such a good job in Week 4 that it honestly made this article somewhat difficult to write because there weren’t a lot of players who you could realistically say lowered their stock.
Buy Titans TicketsIn the end, I landed on two high-profile players who I’d imagine aren’t really that controversial of a decision given their expectations and the type of investment the team made in each of them.
On the positive side of things, this article is stacked with several players who undoubtedly increased their stock ahead of the Titans’ Week 5 division showdown with the Indianapolis Colts.
Now that we’ve teased the list below, scroll for yourself and check out which handful of players we felt either improved or lowered their stock after last Sunday’s 24-point victory over the Bengals.
Stock up: RB Derrick Henry
After averaging less than two yards per carry the week prior, Derrick Henry bounced back in a big way against the Bengals, rushing for 122 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries (5.5 yards per carry).
The Titans’ running back looked like his legendary self throughout the game, consistently breaking arm tackles while being a massive problem to bring down once he picked up a full head of steam.
2️⃣2️⃣ 👑 pic.twitter.com/1g7oyqrL8d
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 2, 2023
As if his excellent performance on the ground wasn’t enough, The King also threw for a touchdown for good measure.
After that performance, I don’t think we’ll be seeing too many “Henry is washed” takes going into Week 5.
Stock down: WR Treylon Burks
Heading into the season, Treylon Burks was one of the most hyped-up players on the team who many (myself included) genuinely believed was on the verge of a massive breakout.
Instead, you could argue that he’s been the fourth-best wide receiver on the team after the first quarter of the season.
Burks has only tallied 99 receiving yards in the three games that he’s played in, with 70 of those yards actually coming on just one play. To make matters worse, he’s dropped several passes thrown his way.
With Burks sidelined due to injury in Week 4, the receiving corps. was just fine without him in it, as both Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Chris Moore stepped up, and DeAndre Hopkins was his normal reliable self.
Treylon Burks clap-attack drop. pic.twitter.com/qUqrMsKGno
— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) September 10, 2023
Burks still has plenty of time to turn his season around, but as of right now, he hasn’t done enough to come close to erasing the pain of trading A.J. Brown away.
Stock up: The offensive line
Andre Dillard could get his own section, but I’d rather shout out to the entire offensive line. Dillard, in particular, deserves a ton of credit after he followed up a horrendous showing in Cleveland with arguably his best game of the season.
The Washington State product wasn’t perfect or even great, for that matter, but he did a much better job of giving himself a fighting chance on nearly every rep instead of putting himself in disadvantageous positions.
It definitely helped that he wasn’t facing a generational talent such as Myles Garrett, but Trey Hendrickson is more than good enough to wreak havoc, yet Dillard kept him in check for most of the game, only allowing one pressure.
As for the rest of the offensive line, the unit did a solid job, only allowing two sacks, three quarterback hits, and four quarterback hurries.
🧵: #Titans Advanced stats versus the Bengals
Offensive Line Pressure Stats:
Dillard: 0 sacks | 0 QB Hits | 1 QB Hurries
Radunz: 0 | 1 | 1
Brewer: 0 | 1 | 1
Brunskill: 1 | 0 | 2
Hubbard: 1 | 1 | 02023 Team Pass Blocking Grade: 23rd Best
— Football & Other F Words (@FWordsPod) October 2, 2023
Tennessee could also be on the verge of getting their most talented lineman back in the fold after head coach Mike Vrabel hinted that Peter Skoronski could be nearing his return following his emergency appendectomy.
Stock down: OLB Harold Landry
I was as big of a believer as anybody when it came to the return of Harold Landry.
While I never expected him to show up and hit the ground running after his serious knee injury, I’d be lying if I said I thought he would be this irrelevant through the majority of four games.
I don’t think we’ll see this version of Landry right out of the gate, but I do think we will at some point this season.
We’re over 12 months removed from the injury at this point. And by all accounts, he’s looked like himself throughout camp.
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) September 6, 2023
Outside of the Boston College product’s potential game-saving sack in Week 2, he’s been nowhere to be found, recording just eight tackles and the lone sack through four contests.
Landry only recorded one tackle against the Bengals and is slowly starting to look more like a liability than an asset at the moment. It’s far too early to write off someone as talented as Landry, but it hasn’t exactly been encouraging thus far.
Stock up: OLB Trevis Gipson
Trevis Gipson was one of the more confusing healthy scratches over the previous two games before Week 4.
After a dominant preseason, combined with his previous production in a similar scheme, many felt that Gipson would be an integral piece to the Titans’ defensive rotation.
Instead, he stood on the sideline with a baseball cap instead of a helmet for almost the entire month of September.
However, Gipson finally got his chance to play and he made the most of it, recording a beautiful strip-sack where he easily beat the tackle and knocked the ball out of Joe Burrow’s hand, subsequently leading to a Titans turnover.
Trevis Gipson 🫣 pic.twitter.com/Wkqn8mZRTX
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) October 2, 2023
Following Gipson’s impressive showing, Vrabel confirmed that he’s going to be playing more going forward, so that makes him an easy choice for this section of the article.
When asked about Trevis Gipson, #Titans coach Mike Vrabel's first response was "he'll play more."
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) October 2, 2023
Stock up: TE Josh Whyle
Josh Whyle was a pleasant surprise in Week 4.
After an underwhelming preseason, followed by minimal impact through the first three games, the Cincinnati product finally showed signs of life as a pro in a game in which he played a career-high 19 snaps, three fewer than his first three games combined.
The rookie right end ended up having a few big catches against the Bengals, including a nice seam route that led to a 24-yard gain to help put the Titans in scoring position. He was then on the receiving end of Henry’s latest jump pass that resulted in a touchdown.
Arguably the biggest surprise of the day was the fact that Whyle produced a few impressive blocks in the run game, with the most notable occurring on Henry’s touchdown run, where he perfectly executed a kickout block to seal the edge against Trey Hendrickson.
Can’t get over Josh Whyle’s block on Trey Hendrickson on Derrick Henry’s 29-yard TD run.
Beautiful play design, got the LB to bite, Dillard/Radunz pin, Whyle STICKS Hendrickson, and Henry does the rest. #Titans pic.twitter.com/wMEflGN2LA
— Jake (@JakeAndBall) October 2, 2023
This was Whyle’s most encouraging day as a professional thus far, so let’s hope this continues going forward.
Stock up: The secondary
You could make a strong argument that the Bengals have the best group of pass-catchers in the NFL. That, combined with a star — albeit a hobbled star — quarterback in Joe Burrow, had many believing that it was going to be a long day for the Titans’ secondary.
Instead, Tennessee’s group held the Bengals’ trio of pass-catchers in check for the majority of the game, essentially eliminating the type of big plays that had been breaking the Titans’ back.
If the Titans’ secondary can continue playing at the level it did moving forward, the defense will finally have the chance to reach its full potential.
Stock up: WR Kyle Philips
This one is based on Kyle Philips returning from injured reserve this week, which is looking good after he was designated to return on Monday.
If he can remain healthy, Philips will have an opportunity to be a focal point of the passing offense.
The UCLA product is a phenomenal route-runner who is capable of being a reliable chain-mover on third downs, and his short-area quickness is ideal for getting open in a hurry when pass protection isn’t up to snuff.
He’ll also likely return to his role as the punt returner, even though it’s not a great idea to put an oft-injured player in such a role, especially when it was behind his latest injury.
Nevertheless, Philips gives quarterback Ryan Tannehill yet another weapon to utilize in the passing game, something he can’t have enough of.
