Calvin Ridley, Wan'Dale Robinson beg fascinating questions at Titans Training Camp Practice without Carnell Tate

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Calvin Ridley, Wan'Dale Robinson beg fascinating questions at Titans Training Camp Practice without Carnell Tate

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) makes a catch during training camp at Vanderbilt Health Football Center Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.

Easton Freeze

Thu, Aug 20, 2026 ·

4 min read

Calvin Ridley is in the perfect spot for the Titans this year

Ridley was one of the first players that popped during Ward's sharp opening period Wednesday, where the quarterback completed all three of his passes. And he was on the receiving end of a really nice gain in their preseason opener last weekend too.

Here's the thing about Ridley's situation in 2026: he's a gravy guy now. He's not being relied upon as the WR1 or even the WR2 in terms of production anymore. The Titans have set themselves up so they don't have to bank on Ridley recapturing his peak form. But what if he just has a physically and mentally healthy season and ends up being the most productive receiver on the roster anyways? I think It's still in him to do that if the stars align. It just has to all come together.

I have said it before and I'll say it again: Calvin Ridley is a first ballot Hall of Fame practice player. He might be the best practice player I've ever seen in my life in terms of moving differently. But as always, we have to see that translate on the field consistently. That's not anything new from the past couple of years. But I do feel like he's in a good spot right now in terms of the mental pressure of the season, the expectations, and his role in the offense.

If he's awesome, it's a multiplier, a turbo boost for the Titans offense. If he's not, Tennessee has other receivers on this roster who should be ahead of him in production anyway. Those guys can carry the load. That's the beauty of where Ridley sits right now.

Wan'Dale Robinson is going to catch a ton of passes

Wan'Dale Robinson's Wednesday practice served as your periodic reminder that he is going to catch a trillion passes in this offense. That shouldn't surprise anyone, because each of the last two years he's gotten 140-plus targets and caught 90 passes in both seasons.

I'm still not sure his volume will rise quite to that level in Tennessee. In fact, if you told me he got 90 catches on 140 targets this year in this Titans offense, I would lean toward that being an indicator of a bad thing more than a good thing. That kind of lopsided target rate would reflect poorly on the other mouths to feed in this offense and suggest Ward's distribution was too concentrated between Robinson and perhaps Carnell Tate at the top of the totem pole.

I don't want the Titans to necessarily aim for that. But, speaking out of both sides of my mouth, if you're getting 3, 4, 5, 6 yards a pop throwing to Robinson underneath… those completions are going to work! You're going to move the chains that way. You're going to stay in phase as an offense. Robinson is sometimes used as a run-solution guy, sometimes as a chain mover. He's never a deep-pass merchant. If he's going deep, it's usually up the slot trying to get a mismatch on a linebacker or a smaller DB. But he can obviously win in this league. He's proven that. That's why the Titans paid him to come here.

During practice, I counted at least five catches and he definitely drew more targets than that. Every time you'd look up, it was Cam to Wan'Dale, Cam to Wan'Dale, Cam to Wan'Dale. Not having Tate out there was part of that, but there are other capable receivers on this team. Ridley, Ayomanor, Dike, and Oliver were all involved, and the ball just kept finding Robinson.

He's going to be a big part of this offense. And as a bonus, if you play fantasy football, Wan'Dale Robinson is once again going to be a PPR cheat code. Keep that in mind on draft night.