Countdown to Kickoff: 97 Days

The countdown to kickoff has started.

The Tennessee Titans will open the 2020 regular season Sept. 14 at Denver. That is 97 days away. So, we look at how the number 97 figures into the team’s history.

Tight ends were a big part of the Tennessee Titans offense before it became vogue for much of the rest of the NFL to feature them. From Frank Wycheck to Bo Scaife to Delanie Walker, it has been common for a player at that position to lead the team in receptions.

Then there was Craig Stevens.

A third-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, Stevens played eight seasons for the Titans. During that time, he built a reputation as one of the game’s best blocking tight ends – and was targeted 97 times in the passing game. That was less than once for each of the 109 games he played.

“Craig (was) a consummate pro,” former Titans coach Mike Mularkey said when Stevens retired. “I have enjoyed working with him as a position coach and as a head coach, and he was someone who could always be counted on. He worked at his craft and was always accountable for his play. The qualities we use to describe players here — Tough, Dependable, Team-First — those are the qualities Craig had as a player.”

Stevens’ best season as a receiver was his fifth (2012). That year he caught 23 passes for 275 yards on 33 targets, more than one-third of his career total. In his final season, he caught 12 of the 16 passes that came his way and equaled his career-high with two touchdown receptions.

Those numbers paled in comparison to what the likes of Wycheck, Scaife and Walker did in the passing game. Walker was targeted more than 100 times in the passing game in four straight seasons (2014-17) and had as many as 94 receptions in a single season (2015). Wycheck had more than 100 passes come his way in each of the first two seasons of the Titans era (1999-2000).

Stevens, at 6-foot-3, 255 pounds, was of similar stature to those guys (Wycheck was 6-3, 253, Walker was 6-2, 248 and Scaife was 6-3, 249).

He just did things a little differently. And what he did, he did better than most.