Titans Getting a Steal in Stanford's Ayomanor

While former Stanford wide receiver Elic Ayomanor was taken towards the end of the fourth round of the NFL Draft with the No. 136 overall pick, there's a reason why the Tennessee Titans are getting heaps of praise for selecting him.

Standing at 6-foot-2, 206 pounds, Ayomanor can absolutely thrive in the NFL. If you look at his stats over his two seasons with Stanford, he put up 125 catches for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those are solid numbers split over the course of two seasons. Nothing flashy, but solid.

But one big reason why this could be a huge steal for the Titans is because the program he's coming from has struggled in recent seasons, going 3-9 in each of the past four years. With a record like that, not as many people are tuning in to see what the Cardinal are up to, and are therefore less familiar with Ayomanor's game.

Of course, Ayomanor put himself on the map when he went head-to-head with the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft, Travis Hunter, and lit him up for a school record 294 receiving yards and three touchdowns--all in the second half and overtime. That's a big-time performance against a big-time player. They now get to face each other twice a year with Hunter landing in Jacksonville.

But the real reason this could be a steal for Tennessee is that Stanford has struggled with consistency in a couple of key areas while Ayomanor was enrolled. Those two positions groups were on the offensive line and at quarterback.

While Ashton Daniels is a decent college QB, he does have a knack to tuck the ball and run. This is partly due to the large gaps left by his O-line, making some of those runs mandatory.

With a quarterback under pressure that also takes off running, Ayomanor wasn't given as many opportunities to showcase his own skillset as often, and yet, he still managed to put up 63 receptions this past season while racking up 831 receiving yards and six scores.

Ayomanor has also been the focal point of opposing defenses, given that Stanford hasn't had much of a ground game to speak of. In 2024 he got some help with an extra weapon joining the program in Emmett Mosley V, but those underlying issues still remained.

Now just imagine having the No. 1 overall pick, Cam Ward, as his quarterback. An offensive-minded head coach that loves to throw the ball. The Titans O-line isn't necessarily great, but there will at least be some other pieces surrounding Ayomanor that will give him room to adjust to the pro game and grow as a player.

He has the tools to succeed, and the Titans' young core of players may be the perfect place to help him reach his full potential.

It should also be noted that the Titans traded up to snag the Baltimore Ravens pick that was used on Ayomanor. The Ravens sent the 136th overall pick and the 183rd overall pick (sixth round) to Tennessee in exchange for the 141st overall pick (fifth round) and the 178th overall pick (sixth round).

That one tidbit indicates that the Titans knew that Ayomanor was coming off the board shortly, and they were high enough on him to move up a bit in the draft to make sure they added yet another piece for their rebuilt offense.

It may take a year or two for the Titans to get going as all of these new additions get up to speed, but this was certainly an exciting draft for the franchise's future.