Tennessee Titans: What will Hakeem Nicks bring?

In an effort to boost a wide receiver corps that is currently led by Kendall Wright, drop-prone youngster Justin Hunter, and veteran offseason signing Harry Douglas, the Tennessee Titans decided to take a flier on Hakeem Nicks yesterday. Per FOX Sports’s Mike Garafolo, the signing has since been confirmed by the Titans and is obviously a one-year pact.

Nicks was once one of the NFL’s most impressive wide receivers before injuries and apparent spats with the New York Giants coaching staff caused his stock to plummet, culminating in him taking a meager one-year, prove-it deal with the Indianapolis Colts last offseason. That said, it was a great situation for Nicks on paper as a piece in a high-powered offense led by Andrew Luck, and he would also get plenty of pressure taken off of him by T.Y. Hilton and Reggie Wayne.

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However, Nicks didn’t have a bounce-back season of any kind, and he actually ended up hitting rock-bottom after failing to take advantage of a favorable situation. Despite having Luck at QB, Nicks put up just 38 receptions for 405 yards and four touchdowns, as the former No. 1 wideout looked like a No.4 or 5 wideout with little speed, solely making a red zone impact.

To be fair, Nicks did improve as the season went on and actually played a nice role for the Colts in the postseason (his game against the Cincinnati Bengals was a nice highlight), but that doesn’t do enough to overcome the poor numbers he put up for most of the year.

According to Advanced Football Analytics, Nicks caught a horrible 55.1% of everything thrown at him with an average of just 5.9 yards per target. Those are ghastly numbers on any team, as even a receiver catching passes from a raw rookie like Blake Bortles or a subpar veteran like Drew Stanton would be criticized for those stats. But to catch just 55.1% of Luck’s passes? That’s just outrageous. To compare, Luck had a 61.7% completion percentage with 7.7 yards per attempt; he averaged almost a full two yard less per attempt when targeting Nicks.

So while Hilton and explosive rookie Donte Moncrief had no issues catching passes from Luck, Nicks did absolutely nothing. The main knock on him is the fact that he’s lost explosiveness due to recurring knee injuries, so that’s why it was encouraging to see his performances pick up near the end of the season.

What was discouraging, on the other hand, was his complete inability to reliably move the chains for the Colts offense. I mean, you’d expect Nicks, who was once excellent at making circus/tough plays at the catch point in New York, to reinvent himself as more of a possession guy to make up for his loss of speed. Or, at least, you’d expect him to catch more than just 55.1% of everything thrown at him when he was averaging a possession-type 10.4 yards per reception. Ouch.

No matter how you spell it, Hakeem Nicks flat-out sucked last season. He was a detriment to the Colts offense, but that’s not as damning of a statement as his yards per target and catch rate are. There’s a reason why he had to wait to be signed after Michael Crabtree and Greg Jennings, because he’s clearly worse than those guys right now. Nicks’s stock is right there with the worst receivers in the league, because he’s been a disappointment in each of the past two seasons.

This is the second time Nicks has been forced to take a prove-it deal, and hopefully things go much better for him with this AFC South team. The situation he finds himself in is clearly different, and he might not have a real role on the team if gunslinger Zach Mettenberger, who showed a love for the deep ball as a rookie, feels Nicks isn’t fast enough to go deep or reliable enough to be a safety valve.

I don’t think Nicks will prove to be either, but I sure hope he does. He used to be one of my favorite wide receivers to watch, because he was capable of the extraordinary and looked like a very promising talent in his first three seasons. Injuries have played a role, but Nicks also isn’t a good enough receiver in the finer points of the game. He’ll have to improve on that, because he’ll need to do a better job of getting open if he wants to stick with the Tennessee Titans.

Sep 28, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (14) is unable to make a catch while being defended by Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty (30) during the second quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Although I understand the desire to see if Nicks can bounce back and become the player he used to be, the Titans already have a boom-or-bust receiver with more “boom” in him (that would be Hunter). They also have much more reliable veteran targets in Wright, Douglas, and tight end Delanie Walker.

I’m not a fan of this signing, but it honestly doesn’t matter since his contract will most likely show that he’s guaranteed nothing in the form of money or a roster spot.

After how poorly he played last year, that’s how it should be, though he has a chance to become a useful No. 3 guy for the Titans if all goes well. I’m rooting for him, but I remain doubtful given his recent play.

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