The Tennessee Titans made a late splash in free agency when they signed free agent receiver DeAndre Hopkins. While the team has moved on from many of their long time players, don’t take this as a message that they are not ready to compete in the AFC. In a recent interview, Hopkins said that this team is flying under the radar.
Tennessee Titans DeAndre Hopkins On 2023 Team
In one of his first interviews with the team’s official site, Hopkins made it clear he came here to compete.
“I feel like I’ve always had something to prove, and that’s how I play my game. The decision to come to Nashville, obviously, made a lot of people mad. But I kind of felt at home being here from the get-go, from early on.
“Tennessee is a team not many people put on their list, and I think I am not just speaking for myself, but the team as well, people are writing us off.”
Hopkins thinks that people are writing the Titans off because of the strength of the AFC. However, he is expecting the Titans to make some noise.
Is This Realistic?
Here’s the case for it. Mike Vrabel has been able to consistently get more out of his team than many expect. Good coaching can cover up a lot of roster deficiencies. The Titans also play in the easiest division in the AFC. While the Jaguars are the favorites, the other two teams are in the midst of rebuilding. This means that almost a quarter of the schedule is guaranteed to be teams that are not ready to compete for a Super Bowl. This is an advantage that teams like the Bengals and Ravens do not have.
Even with the weak division, the Tennessee Titans are going to have a tough time competing in the AFC. The hope is that the trio of Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry and DeAndre Hopkins can dominate and Vrabel can squeeze every ounce of talent out of the roster.