“Could somebody hold one of my balls?”
Last season, Kendall Wright had 94 receptions for 1,079 yards with 2 touchdowns. Yes, you read that correctly. Just two. That is not Kendall Wright, rather, it’s Kendall Wrong. Bold pun strategy there, I know. Simply magical. Now that I got that out of my system, you should know there are quite a few reasons why Wright is underrated. He’s a 5’10” receiver, which translates into a smaller target in terms of the red zone, and his yards after the catch potential has been limited. Add in the fact that the Titan’s quarterback position is questionable, on the surface, you have a  guy that only has 6 career touchdowns spanning 26 games with a mediocre supporting cast. Yes, even after telling you all of that, you still need to buy. Why, may you ask? And you probably should, seeing as how I specifically tailored the rest of this post based on that assumption. Then again, I’m basically having a conversation with myself pretending that you are asking me something when the lack of time-travel and telepathy specifically does not allow this…
So I’m just going to pretend that you did ask, even though I can’t really verify this… And so the reason you want Kendall Wright on your fantasy team is not really because of Kendall Wright (though he does play “some” part in this), but because of Ken Wisenhunt. The new head coach of the Tennessee Titans brings what is arguably one of the top offensive minds in the NFL today, and just left a wake that saw the resurgence of Philip Rivers, a career year from Ryan Mathews, and the rookie-breakout campaign from Keenan Allen. He did a couple of things here and there with the Cardinals and Steelers too, so let’s just say he has a strong body of work to draw upon. Specifically with Kendall Wright and the wide receiver position, Wisenhunt has shown a philosophy that focus’ on catching abilities, separation, and after the catch skills.
“Some of the short passes that I caught, I maybe let the first person tackle me… I have to break that tackle and get way more yards than I did. And that is what I am working on — my explosiveness. It is great to get 1,000 yards. But I want to do a whole lot more after the catch. I need to make more guys miss.” — Kendall Wright
Sounds like a good idea, as I would assume most wide receivers would like to work on this ability. I would work on my explosiveness too, but I don’t really have any athletic ability to speak of, combined with a strong desire to stay physically intact and not molecule and red mist in someone’s face. And as stated in the beginning, while Wright’s pass-catching ability is a positive, these other facet’s of his game are being focused on, and that’s good. But what’s even better is that they are being focused on by a coach with a proven track record and system who can augment those skills. While Jake Locker may or may not be the long-term answer at quarterback, a Wisenhunt offense has always shown a penchant for the short and medium pass, a quick-rhythm offense and spread scheme, and always taking whatever the defensive is giving each Sunday. All these things should benefit Locker, and in turn, Wright. And let’s not forget Wisenhunt’s stacked formations and bubble screens, which create even more touchdown potential for Wright and company.
For many legitimate reasons, Kendall Wright, and for the most part, the entire Titan’s roster is flying under the radar for the upcoming season. And because of that, you’ll probably see a couple more names pop up in our underrated series. But starting with Kendall just felt too Wright. (Sorry.)
