Titans Rookie WR Could Breakout Sooner Than Later

The Tennessee Titans had one of the best wide receivers in the 2025 NFL Draft, Elic Ayomanor, fall right into their laps in the fourth round. The former Stanford standout probably should've been selected much earlier than he was, and he's proving that with the Titans.

After an incredibly impressive offseason, Ayomanor was named a starter for the Titans' season opener against the Denver Broncos alongside two veteran wideouts, Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett. If you just looked at the stat sheet, you wouldn't think his debut was all that impressive. He caught two of his seven targets for 13 yards, but it could've been much more than that.

Tennessee Titans, WR, Elic Aymano — Tennessee Titans wide receiver Elic Ayomanor (5) watches his teammates during an NFL football training camp practice at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For starters, if Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan had challenged Ayomanor's catch early in the third quarter, he would've added 20 more yards to his total. However, if you look at PFF, you'll find that Ayomanor could've had over 100 yards in his NFL debut.

PFF has a stat called unrealized air yards, which essentially shows how many yards a receiver could've had if all of his targets were completed. It does take into account drops and other receiver errors, but even with those taken out, Ayomanor could've added another 117 yards to his total in week one.

Most unrealized air yards in Week 1 on incompletions that occurred for any reason OTHER than receiver error, per @PFF:

1. Elic Ayomanor - 117
2. Brian Thomas Jr. - 84
3. Tyquan Thornton - 79
4. Ja'Marr Chase - 75
4. Malik Nabers - 75 pic.twitter.com/gdhwMaFdSU
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 10, 2025

Obviously, incompletions, pass breakups and other things are going to happen. It's never going to be perfect, but this stat shows just how much Cam Ward was looking Ayomanor's way in week one. Outside of Calvin Ridley, Ayomanor was the Titans' most targeted receiver, and his average depth of target of 19 yards was much higher than any other receiver on the team.

Part of Ayomanor's target share being so high was because Patrick Surtain was covering Ridley on most plays, but it's still impressive to see a rookie get such a target share in his first game. It's pretty clear that he and Ward have a strong connection, so once the offensive line figures out their issues and can give Ward time to drop back and survey the field, Ayomanor will start turning those unrealized air yards into actual yards.

The Elic Ayomanor breakout game isn't a matter of if, but when. It's coming, and it will likely happen sooner rather than later.

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