Dorial Green-Beckham Can Have Martavis Bryant-Like Impact for Tennessee Titans

Around this time last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers were reaping the rewards of their patience.

The reward the Steelers received was a six touchdown, 310-yard burst over four games from rookie receiver Martavis Bryant. Their patience had come over the previous six weeks of the regular season as Bryant remained a gameday inactive while refining his routes and comfort in practices.

While Dorial Green-Beckham of the Tennessee Titans hasn't made the same instant impact, he is following a similar path to his predecessor. Green-Beckham caught five passes for 77 yards in extended time against the New Orleans Saints this past Sunday.

The receiver had seven receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns in seven previous games. Although he was active for those seven games, his role was diminished by his lack of comfort in the offense. According to Pro Football Focus, Green-Beckham has played just 203 snaps so far this season.

His involvement in the offense has incrementally increased each week, from just nine snaps in Week 1 to 121 over the past three weeks.

Part of the reason for Green-Beckham's increased role has been the health of his teammates. Both Harry Douglas and Kendall Wright have missed time over recent weeks to push both Justin Hunter and Green-Beckham closer to the starting lineup.

Unfortunately for both players, those greater roles came in an offense that was relying on the unreliable Zach Mettenberger.

Mettenberger is a big-armed quarterback who has always been more appealing to those who focus on measurables rather than actions. His inability to consistently throw with accuracy—or on time—meant that the Titans' pass-catching players suffered.

In Week 9 against the Saints, Mariota returned, so it was easier to gauge where Green-Beckham is in his development.

During previous games with the rookie quarterback, Green-Beckham regularly looked uncertain in his movement and appeared to be in the wrong spot on a couple of his targets. His first two targets against the Saints suggested those issues are still impacting his play.

Green-Beckham's first target was a short curl route underneath. Mariota found him with an accurate pass that he dropped. His second target went further downfield as Mariota looked to his receiver on a back-shoulder throw. Green-Beckham turned back for the ball later than Mariota expected.

He eventually caught his first pass early in the third quarter, and it was an impressive one.

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Before being sidelined for off-field issues in college, Green-Beckham was known mostly for his size and athleticism. At the combine, he registered in at 6'5" and 237 pounds. He is a huge receiver who showed his value in the redzone despite only playing a bit-part role in the offense earlier this year.

There are plenty of big receivers in the league, but few with Green-Beckham's measurements can adjust to low passes as easily as he did on this play.

Mariota's pass arrived low as he rushed his throw under pressure in the pocket. Green-Beckham turned on his slant route before reacting to the ball and working quickly to get beneath it. He was able to immediately gain possession and spin around before fighting forward through contact for more yards.

Even though this isn't a huge gain or a touchdown reception, it's a great example of what makes the rookie receiver such an exciting prospect. He has no physical limitations despite carrying around such a huge, heavy frame. When he was being tested at the combine, he was compared to Calvin Johnson.

Physically, he is like Johnson, but Johnson isn't a great receiver just because of his physical ability. Before Green-Beckham was drafted, NFL.com's Mike Mayock touched on this by saying, "I watched every target to him in 2013, and he has no idea what he's doing, but he changes games."

He changed games in college by being so dominant at the catch point and so comfortable moving at speed with his frame. It will take him a long time to establish consistency in those areas while refining the nuances of his technical ability, but like Bryant in Pittsburgh last year, Green-Beckham can offer big value right now.

Bryant was—and is—a big play waiting to happen. Green-Beckham is similar to the receiver in that sense. Quarterbacks don't have to be as precise throwing to him because of his fluid athleticism and impressive ball skills.

Against the Saints, he showed that off with two 20-yard receptions.

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With his size, Green-Beckham will obviously be able to repel anything that your average NFL cornerback can do to him from a pure physical standpoint. Brandon Browner may not be a good cornerback, but he is one of the biggest, strongest cornerbacks in the NFL. He is far from average in that sense.

Therefore, when the Titans rookie receiver was able to easily withstand his attention on Sunday, it was notable.

For his first 20-yard reception, Green-Beckham releases from the line against press coverage. Browner doesn't look to engage him initially but does use one hand to try and push him towards the sideline within five yards of the line of scrimmage.

Browner tried to time his hand usage here to knock Green-Beckham off balance. The receiver wasn't impacted at all by the contact. After advancing further in his route, Green-Beckham looked back for the football.

Green-Beckham appeared to be looking for a backshoulder throw, but Mariota's pass went infield instead. Even with Brandon Browner grabbing his shoulder and trying to push him towards the sideline, Green-Beckham was able to focus on the ball and follow its trajectory.

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He leaned back through Browner's arms and held his ground so that he could position himself beneath the arriving ball. Green-Beckham didn't extend away from his body to pull the ball in or high-point it while tapping his toes inbounds, he never had the opportunity to do either of those things.

Browner was called for defensive holding as he had grabbed Green-Beckham's jersey at this point.

He had been trying to pull the receiver away from the ball before it arrived, but could only serve to act as an easily-ignored distraction while Green-Beckham completed the play. Browner will be beaten by many receivers this year, he already has been, but you can count on one hand how many can fend off his sheer strength in a situation such as this one.

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Delvin Breaux is a better cornerback than Brandon Browner at this stage of their respective careers. He is significantly smaller than his veteran teammate though. Green-Beckham beat Browner by working against his strengths. He had the same mindset with Breaux.

Like with his first reception, the receiver ran a slant route infield before catching an imperfect pass.

Green-Beckham created separation against Breaux that would have given him an opportunity to catch an accurate pass cleanly in stride. Mariota's pass floated a little bit, arriving too high for Green-Beckham to pull it in on the move.

Instead, the receiver was forced to adjust and leave his feet. Against most receivers, this would have given Breaux an opportunity to recover but Green-Beckham's size prevented the cornerback from getting around him.

Not only did his size and strength let him secure the catch, but it also allowed Green-Beckham to drag Breaux 10 yards downfield.

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Breaux isn't Browner, but it would be a massive stretch to call him a small player. He's 6'1" and 196 pounds. Green-Beckham's strength and balance to drag him forward so far may not have looked like a supernatural showing of athleticism because it wasn't a spectacular catch, but it most certainly was.

Finding a receiver of this kind is very difficult. There are lots of big receivers available, but the A.J. Green and Julio Jones of the world still stand out because of their overall talent.

Green-Beckham and Bryant can be linked together because of how they both began their rookie seasons, but both should also be linked because of their talent. Bryant is a few steps ahead of Green-Beckham in his development, though his opportunities to have an impact in his second season have been limited.

He also arrived in a better situation than Green-Beckham, but the Titans do have the pieces in place to build a similar type of offense to the Steelers. Adding a more refined Green-Beckham to Delanie Walker, Kendall Wright to support Mariota would give the Titans a base to build their offense around.

There are still major questions to be answered on the offensive line and in terms of the coaching staff moving forward, but the talent is there at the skill positions.

It's a journey in the NFL that is only beginning. Green-Beckham has unquestioned talent and has shown signs of his ability. He only needs to show consistency over the coming weeks to have a major impact on the Titans offense. His presence should help Mariota overcome his often ineffective pass protection.

There are many reasons why a career can fail, and in this case there are documented concerns off the field that overshadow any that could emerge on the field, but even without exploding in a shower of production, Green-Beckham has already given the Titans plenty of reasons to be optimistic.