The Titans added WR Justin McCareins as a free agent to a WR corps that needed much more than that.  27-year old Justin Gage is the #1 receiver by default.  He’s a big guy at 6’4″, 212 pounds and he has a good set of hands but he doesn’t make a lot of game changing plays.  Gage played in 16 games for the Titans last season and he caught 55 passes for 750 yards (13.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  It will be interesting to see if Gage can improve on his 2007 performance as it was a career year for him.  Gage has now played in 65 games in his NFL career and he has caught 119 passes for 1,658 yards (13.9 avg) with 6 TD grabs.

29 year old Justin McCareins returns to the team where his career started and he will be hungry.  He is also a big receiver at 6’2″, 215 pounds and he’s fearless in competing for throws over the middle of the field.  He played in 16 games for the Jets last season and he caught 19 passes for 232 yards (15.5 avg) without a TD grab.  McCareins was in the dog house the last couple of seasons in New Jersey with the Jets so it will be interesting to see if he’s rejuvenated with a return home.  He has now played in 100 games in his NFL career and he has caught 210 passes for 3,264 yards (15.5 avg) with 16 TD grabs.  McCareins has also carried the ball 6 times for 34 yards (5.7 ypc) in his career.

Roydell Williams will be the #3 WR for the Titans if he can hold off Brandon Jones for the job.  Williams played in all 16 games for the Titans last season and he caught 55 passes for 719 yards (13.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for a loss of 17 yards.  Don’t expect Williams to be running the ball anytime soon and like Gage he’s coming off a career season so it will be interesting to see if he keeps playing well in 2008.  Williams has now played in 40 games in his NFL career and he has caught 84 passes for 1,139 yards (13.6 avg) with 6 TD grabs. 

Brandon Jones will battle for the #3 WR job for the Titans and he has looked pretty good in training camp so far.  Jones played in 9 games for the Titans last season and he caught 21 passes for 248 yards (11.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 37 yards (18.5 ypc).  Jones could surprise this season for the Titans who have expected much more out of him.  Jones has now played in 35 games in his NFL career and he has caught 71 passes for 931 yards (13.1 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He has also carried the football 4 times for 41 yards (10.3 ypc) in his career.

The Titans also like 24-year old Biren Ealy.  He is a big guy at 6’3″, 207 pounds so the Titans like his size as they run a lot of plays that would benefit a player like him.  Ealy played in 4 games for the Titans last season and he caught 1 pass for 6 yards.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C-