Tennessee Titans See Bright Future at Wide Receiver

When Kenny Britt was lost for the season due to injury early on this season, many thought that his loss would mean that the Tennessee Titans would turn into a one-dimensional team.

However, with the emergence of Damian Williams and Lavelle Hawkins, the Titans have kept their passing numbers up and are now 3-3 without Britt.

Not only have Williams and Hawkins risen to the challenge of filling Britt's shoes, but you have to think that eventually Marc Mariani will become a more reliable threat in the slot.

Further, Matt Hasselbeck deserves a lot of the credit for keeping the Titans' passing offense ranked the middle of the pack in the NFL without having any major weapons.

Nate Washington also hasn't missed a beat as the team's No. 1 receiver.

Even though he's not a wide receiver, Jared Cook is also starting to become a consistent threat whom Hasselbeck can depend on.

Five different players have stepped up and led the team in receiving over the six games that Britt has missed so far, with one of those being a dud when Chris Johnson led the team with just 27 yards in a loss to the Houston Texans.

The truth is that the Titans have a very bright future at this position, thanks to all of the young talent that is only going to get better through the valuable game experience that they're going to continue to get this season.

It wouldn't be crazy to think that this Titans passing offense could be one of the better ones in the NFL next season, when Britt returns and hopefully plays a full season.

The Titans currently rank 14th in passing offense, with only one receiver having more than four years of experience.

You also would think that the Titans might draft a wide receiver in the next draft, which is loaded with a lot of great prospects at the position.

It is important to realize that there will still be plenty of growing pains in the form of dropped balls, missed routes and turnovers this season with these receivers.

Unfortunately, those things are unavoidable when dealing with receivers who are basically getting their first meaningful game experience as a pro.

We saw a few examples of that last week at the most inopportune times against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Former head coach Jeff Fisher simply didn't get the best out of these guys like current head coach Mike Munchak is now, and sadly, it could've cost him his job last season.

With recent news of Matt Schaub probably being out for the season for the Texans at quarterback, the AFC South is very much up for the taking for the Titans right now.

How fast these receivers grow into veteran receivers will directly effect how far the Titans can go this season, but as of now, all seems to be going according to plan for the Titans' passing game.