There’s a blurb on SI.com suggesting Delanie Walker might begin training camp on the PUP list. He’s going to be 35 next month, so that’s one to keep an eye on.
Walker suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 1 last year, but he sounds as if he isn’t in danger of being ready for the start of the season. “I’ll leave that up to the coaches,” he told Jenny Vrentas of Sports Illustarted. “They’re probably not going to let me hit the ground running like I want to, but I look forward to getting into my groove.”
If Walker is healthy and hasn’t lost too much, he could be the most underrated of the top tight ends. He’s not a dynamic athlete and he’s an older guy, but he’s long had a strong rapport with Marcus Mariota – a security blanket type of guy.
The Titans have strengthened their receiving corps. Entering his third year, Corey Davis could be ready to be a breakout kind of season. They’ve signed Adam Humphries and drafted A.J. Brown. Their receivers coach was talking up Taywan Taylor last week.
But Walker is the one guy who’s proven he can reliably produce with Mariota. Mariota doesn’t seem to be much of a downfield passer, but he’s been comfortable throwing short balls to Walker in the middle of the field.
Last year was a disaster, of course, but Walker put up top-5 PPR numbers in each of the three previous season. In the 2015-17 seasons, Walker finished with three of the top 18 seasons by tight ends.
| TOP 30 TIGHT ENDS (last 4 years) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yards | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2018 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 103 | 1,336 | 10 | 296.6 | 1 |
| 2018 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 116 | 1,163 | 8 | 280.3 | 2 |
| 2018 | George Kittle, S.F. | 88 | 1,377 | 5 | 258.7 | 3 |
| 2015 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 72 | 1,176 | 11 | 255.6 | 1 |
| 2015 | Jordan Reed, Was. | 87 | 952 | 11 | 248.2 | 2 |
| 2015 | Delanie Walker, Ten. | 94 | 1,088 | 6 | 244.4 | 3 |
| 2015 | Gary Barnidge, Clev. | 79 | 1,043 | 9 | 237.3 | 4 |
| 2017 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 83 | 1,038 | 8 | 235.5 | 1 |
| 2015 | Greg Olsen, Car. | 77 | 1,104 | 7 | 229.4 | 5 |
| 2017 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 69 | 1,084 | 8 | 227.4 | 2 |
| 2018 | Eric Ebron, Ind. | 66 | 750 | 14 | 224.2 | 4 |
| 2016 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 85 | 1,125 | 4 | 223.0 | 1 |
| 2016 | Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 83 | 840 | 7 | 209.0 | 2 |
| 2016 | Greg Olsen, Car. | 80 | 1,073 | 3 | 207.3 | 3 |
| 2017 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 74 | 824 | 8 | 204.4 | 3 |
| 2018 | Jared Cook, Oak. | 68 | 896 | 6 | 193.6 | 5 |
| 2015 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 72 | 875 | 5 | 193.5 | 6 |
| 2016 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 65 | 923 | 6 | 193.3 | 4 |
| 2015 | Benjamin Watson, N.O. | 74 | 825 | 6 | 192.5 | 7 |
| 2015 | Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 52 | 615 | 13 | 191.5 | 8 |
| 2016 | Delanie Walker, Ten. | 65 | 800 | 7 | 188.1 | 5 |
| 2016 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 78 | 816 | 4 | 183.6 | 6 |
| 2017 | Delanie Walker, Ten. | 74 | 807 | 4 | 178.5 | 4 |
| 2017 | Evan Engram, NYG | 64 | 722 | 6 | 173.6 | 5 |
| 2017 | Jack Doyle, Ind. | 80 | 690 | 4 | 173.0 | 6 |
| 2015 | Zach Ertz, Phil. | 75 | 853 | 2 | 172.3 | 9 |
| 2016 | Cameron Brate, T.B. | 57 | 660 | 8 | 171.0 | 7 |
| 2017 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 57 | 520 | 10 | 171.0 | 7 |
| 2016 | Dennis Pitta, Balt. | 86 | 729 | 2 | 170.9 | 8 |
| 2016 | Jordan Reed, Was. | 66 | 686 | 6 | 170.6 | 9 |
—Ian Allan