The Tennessee Titans didn’t just take Cam Ward at No. 1 overall in April’s NFL Draft and call it a day.
Instead, they took the smart route of investing in pass catchers for him, too, grabbing tight end Gunnar Helm out of Texas and wide receiver Elic Ayomanor out of Stanford.
Both of them have looked in their initial preseason like they can be problems – the good kind of problem.
Ayomanor once had a gigantic college game with Travis Hunter guarding him, and now he’s showing off his impressive catch radius on NFL fields.
Helm helped Texas turn into one of the best teams in the country and seems ready for a real role from Week 1 onward.
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“Rookie receiver Elic Ayomanor had what he called his worst practice of training camp Tuesday when he went up against the Falcons’ defensive backs,” writes ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “Ayomanor bounced back with a solid practice Wednesday, and he carried that momentum over to game day. Ayomanor caught two passes for 47 yards and is becoming a problem working the middle of the field. Fellow rookie Gunnar Helm is a playmaker, whether it’s finding holes in zone or running seam routes. Helm went up and grabbed a Brandon Allen pass over two defenders for a 25-yard touchdown, finishing with four receptions for 48 yards.”
The only real concern, if you want to call it that, is that Ward himself hasn’t looked amazing in his first couple of preseason games. But it’s early, and he’s got tons of talent, and there’s a lot of reasons to believe he’ll still turn into a great QB for the Titans.
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If Ward does indeed follow that optimistic path, he’ll have great targets along the way with him.
Ayomanor and Helm can both be quality NFL players for years to come. It hasn’t taken them long to prove that they belong.
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