Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky
Tennessee's wide receivers believe they are going to do a lot to change perception this season.
But that doesn't mean any of them expect to rank among the league leaders in catches.
"I'm not saying somebody is going to catch 90 or 100 balls," receiver coach Fred Graves said. "Because we're going to run the football.
"The big thing is for us to make plays when we get the opportunities, for us to score in the red zone, for us to have a couple of guys that average 13 to 18 yards a catch. Those are the things I look at. It's not necessarily if a guy catches 90 balls. If you can catch 70 balls and you're averaging 16 yards a catch and you've got almost double digit touchdowns, I think that's a good year."
The last Titans receivers to hit or surpass those benchmarks were Derrick Mason (96 catches, seven TDs) and Drew Bennett (80 catches, 15.6-yard average, 11 TDs) in 2004.
Justin Gage and Justin McCareins are the likely starters now. Camp will feature interesting battles as the rest of the group of largely unknown or unproven players sorts itself out.
Gage said the wideouts expect to be significantly more productive. Last year Tennessee got only nine receiving touchdowns, eight from receivers. The numbers Gage cites as goals would be big gains, but still would not even match Randy Moss' individual record of 23 receiving touchdowns set last year.
"We have to get more touchdowns from our receiving group," Gage said. "We're looking for 15 or 20 plus. And as an offense we're looking for 25, somewhere in there."
That's pretty optimistic.
But if Vince Young is as improved as the team thinks, he could make the kind of jump where he throws 10 more touchdowns. If they are healthy, I can see Gage and McCareins in the 60-catch range with tight end Alge Crumpler close to 50. Sound too big? Those totals would only amount to 14 catches more than the Titans' top three pass-catchers made last season, when the Titans ranked 27th in passing offense.
