"Big leap" coming from Okonkwo?

Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official website expects a "big leap" from TE Chig Okonkwo this year. "He's had a solid offseason," Wyatt adds. Okonkwo didn't see quite enough volume to be a real fantasy factor as a rookie last season, turning 46 targets into 32 catches, 450 yards, and three TDs. But he averaged a huge 14.1 yards per catch and shined in underlying metrics like targets per route and yards per route. With very little target competition in Tennessee, Okonkwo has breakout potential in 2023.

Titans TE Chig Okonkwo is active for today’s game vs. the Seahawks. He missed Friday's practice with an illness, but we’re expecting him to be ready for his usual role today.

Titans TE Chig Okonkwo missed Friday's practice with an illness and is listed as questionable for Week 16. It's unlikely to keep him from playing vs. the Seahawks, but you'll need to check back around 11:30 am ET on Sunday to make sure Okonkwo is active.

Titans TE Chig Okonkwo nabbed a season-high 5 receptions for 33 yards in Sunday's loss to the Colts. His 9 targets beat his previous high by five, but the yardage remained unimpressive. Missing WR Treylon Burks (knee) and the team setting a season high for pass attempts certainly helped. Don't expect this game to change our outlook for Okonkwo going forward.

Titans HC Mike Vrabel shared on Saturday that he expects TE Chig Okonkwo to return to practice this coming week. The second-year player has been held out due to an undisclosed injury sustained on Tuesday. This news indicates the strong possibility that he'll be healthy to begin the regular season. Despite the free agent addition of WR DeAndre Hopkins, Okonkwo should still carry some quality fantasy value as a low-end TE1/high-end TE2 in 2023. We'll monitor this situation and update as more information becomes available. See where Okonkwo appears in our current TE rankings.

It's not hard to see why some fantasy football drafters are excited for Titans TE Chig Okonkwo's second season. After delivering a 94th-percentile 40 time among TEs at the Scouting Combine, Okonkwo was efficient as a rookie. Among 43 TEs who drew 30+ targets for the season, Okonkwo ranked third in Pro Football Focus receiving grade and first in yards per route. He ranked third in targets per route among all TEs who ran at least 10 routes. So what's not to like? Okonkwo's biggest question will be playing time. No Titans TE cracked 56% playing time for the season last year. No Titans TE has reached 71% in HC Mike Vrabel's five seasons. Okonkwo's per-route efficiency can combat that and still give him fantasy value, but playing time was the main drag on the fantasy value of Jonnu Smith -- a similarly enticing athlete with intriguing efficiency. Okonkwo moved slightly down our fantasy football rankings with the DeAndre Hopkins signing. He remains an upside play for 2023, as long as you don't reach for him too early. We'll also be watching reports on the role of rookie TE Josh Whyle through training camp and preseason.