Chig

Okonkwo

Okonkwo came in to the game with a questionable tag and wound up starting, but played just three snaps before leaving and did not return. He enters the final year of his rookie deal as a classic receiving tight end that coaches fall in and out of love with in-season. With any luck, he’ll eventually find his Jonnu Smith spot. It’s hard to speculate on Okonkwo’s 2025 role without knowing if the current coaching staff will return, but he certainly looks to be Tennessee’s best tight end heading into the offseason. He finished the year with a 52/479/2 receiving line that was essentially in line with what he did in 2023.

Okonkwo appears to be more doubtful than questionable after apparently injuring his abdomen on Thursday and failing to practice on Friday. Fantasy managers should not expect him to play. He is a volatile TE1, if active though.

Okonkwo’ injury appears to be a new one, as he wasn’t listed during Wednesday’s practice. For now it appears likely the 25-year-old will play, but fantasy players planning on starting Okonkwo will want to pay close attention to Thursday’s injury report.

Okonkwo also added an end-around carry for 17 yards. He has been Mason Rudolph’s’ favorite target since Rudolph took over as the starter, and that continued against the Jaguars. Okonkwo drew a defensive pass interference on the first Titans pass play of the game and led the team with seven targets. He was wide open on the Titans’ final drive, but Rudolph just missed him on the sideline for what would have likely been a touchdown. Instead, Nick Vannett was the tight end who had an eight-yard score earlier in the game. Okonkwo finishes with a solid 5/42 receiving line, with 17 rushing yards. He is in the back-end TE1 mix against the Texans for those still in fantasy matchups Week 18.

Okonkwo has seen a monstrous target share over the last two weeks with Mason Rudolph at quarterback. He now has back-to-back weeks of double-digit targets, tallying nine catches for 81 yards. Okonkwo also caught a fourth-quarter two-point conversion. He looks to have a stable short-yardage role in the middle of the field with Rudolph as the quarterback. Okonkwo will be in the TE2 mix for Week 17 against the Jaguars.

Okonkwo saw a spike in usage for Week 15 as the Titans played two different quarterbacks against the Bengals. The bulk of his targets were in the short-yardage area, but he did see a few looks downfield. The only “conversion” on his deeper looks was a defensive pass interference drawn in the endzone to set up a rushing touchdown. Okonkwo’s usage could change if Mason Rudolph remains the Titans’ quarterback, but the offense does not produce many scoring opportunities, keeping Okonkwo in the borderline TE2/3 range.

Okonkwo had a quiet day, with just eight yards on four targets. He was dropped for a six-yard loss on a checkdown, bringing down his yardage total. He is the lead tight end, but that does not mean much in the inefficient Titans offense. Fellow tight end Nick Vannett caught 1-of-2 targets for four yards while Josh Whyle caught 2-of-2 targets for 31 yards. None of the Titans’ tight ends should be in fantasy lineups; Okonkwo should be the only one on the fantasy radar.

Okonkwo was targeted early in Sunday’s loss to the Commanders, with four of his six targets coming in the first half. His six targets were his most since Week 8, but the third-year tight end continues to be a lightly-used option in Tennessee’s passing game. Okonkwo won’t have much fantasy upside in Week 14 when the Titans face the Jaguars.

Left wide open on an underneath drag route, Okonkwo simply continued to run right up the middle of the field and the Texans decided against tackling him. (Eric Murray, mainly, appeared to have no idea what he was doing.) Okonkwo will remain fantasy irrelevant in Week 13 after back-to-back games with one target.

Okonkwo, who had at least four targets in each of his past three games, was not part of a low-volume passing offense against the Chargers. Okonkwo led the Titans in tight end pass routes on the day. He should remain on waiver wires in Week 11.