It’s no secret that the Tennessee Titans had a tumultuous 2022 season on offense. However, despite their collective struggles, the Titans had a relatively unforeseen bright spot in Chigoziem Okonkwo.
The fourth-round rookie tight end ended up being a pleasant surprise for the Titans, earning All-Rookie honors by year’s end after he led his peers in yards (450), touchdowns (three), and broken tackles (seven).
Even more impressive is the fact that Okonkwo’s 2.61 yards per route run (YPRR) actually led all tight ends in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus, and ranked second in the entire NFL behind only Tyreek Hill.
“Yards per route run” essentially takes into account the number of times a pass-catcher runs a route and how many yards they gain on those routes, objectively providing a better indicator of production than yards per reception, or even yards per target.
To add even more context into how promising Tennessee’s rookie tight end was, according to Chris Wecht of Fantasy Points, Okonkwo recorded the highest YPRR against zone coverage in 2022 among tight ends (approximately 2.9).
But how important is a Chig? pic.twitter.com/J0MAqGJ3m9
— Chris Wecht (@ChrisWechtFF) March 24, 2023
Chig is also responsible for the fourth-highest YPRR against man (approximately 2.7).
Okonkwo ultimately ended his first season in the NFL as the highest-graded rookie tight end, receiving an overall grade of 75.4, nearly 10 points higher than the next closest rookie tight end, per PFF.
Say what you want about former general manager Jon Robinson, but saying he hit a grand slam at the end of Round 4 would be a massive understatement.
