Titans Like What They See out of Receivers

[SD2042]

http://www.titansonline.com/news/articl ... 42118b2e59

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The best review of the Tennessee Titans' revamped receiving corps might come from safety Michael Griffin.

"It's a great challenge. We never had that opportunity to face the fast receivers because we'd been able to hang with a lot of our receivers. Like they always say, if you're even, you're leaving. And with Nate Washington, if he's even with you, which he is rarely because he's always leaving," Griffin said.

"It's going to be something I'm looking forward to this season to see what he can actually do on the football field."

Tennessee reached the playoffs in each of the past two seasons almost in spite of a passing offense that ranked just 27th in the NFL and produced only 176 yards passing in 2008. Tight end Bo Scaife led the team in catches, and running back Chris Johnson ranked second. The top three receivers combined for 105 catches, 20 fewer than Scaife, Johnson and tight end Alge Crumpler caught.

So the Titans got busy working on arguably the weakest area of their offense this offseason.

They signed Washington away from Pittsburgh in March with a six-year, $27 million deal and used the No. 30 pick overall on Kenny Britt of Rutgers - only the third time in the franchise's 50-year history that the team drafted a receiver in the first round. They also drafted tight end Jared Cook of South Carolina and speedy receiver Dominique Edison.

Now veteran Justin Gage, who ranked third in the NFL averaging 19.1 yards per catch and led the team with 651 yards receiving, has some company.

It has Kerry Collins quite excited.

"Obviously, Nate is a veteran guy who's just coming into his own and has a chance to make a real big impact right away, and then to get Kenny Britt with the first pick in the draft shows that we're willing to do what it takes and bring the guys into improve the passing game, which I think we need to do. I'm obviously excited about the additions," Collins said.