Walker: 'Second-Best' Among Titans TEs

The three-time Pro Bowler and the team's four-time leader in receptions sees Frank Wycheck as the franchise's best at the position.

NASHVILLE – Delanie Walker was not the first great Tennessee Titans tight end.

The franchise has had a steady string of high-quality performers at that position, particularly in the years since it relocated from Houston. Guys like Bo Scaife, Erron Kinney, Craig Stevens, Jonnu Smith and Jared Cook were important contributors in their own ways.

Only one of the others caught more passes for the Titans/Oilers than Walker, though. And if he’s being honest – and Delanie Walker readily admits that he is always honest – that makes him second-best.

“Frank Wycheck – I watched Frank and some of the stuff Frank did,” Walker said Tuesday when he formally announced his retirement from the NFL. “We’re two different tight ends. I can’t say that I am the best because what Frank has done for this organization is great too.

“So, I always put Frank in front of me. I would say I’m the second-best.”

Walker caught 381 passes for 4,423 yards and 28 touchdowns over seven seasons with the Titans (2013-19). Wycheck is the only tight end in franchise history with more receptions (482) and receiving yards (4,958).

In comparison, Walker averaged more than one yard per reception better than Wycheck (11.6 to 10.3) and had one more touchdown catch. Wycheck, who joined the Houston Oilers in 1995, played in 53 more games.

During the Titans era (1999-present), however, Walker’s numbers are unrivaled.

A rundown of the Tennessee Titans’ leaders in receptions by tight ends (1999-present):

Player	Years	Rec.	Yds.	Avg.	TD
Delanie Walker	2013-19	381	4,423	11.6	28
Frank Wycheck	1999-03	256	2,460	9.6	14
Bo Scaife	2005-10	251	2,383	9.5	12
Erron Kinney	2000-05	178	1,750	9.8	10
Jared Cook	2009-12	131	1,717	13.1	8
Jonnu Smith	2017-20	114	1,302	11.4	16
Ben Troupe	2004-07	106	1,056	10.0	7

Walker and Wycheck were similarly miscast early in their careers as hybrid fullback/tight ends recognized more for their ability and willingness as blockers than they were as pass catchers.

A sixth-round pick by San Francisco in 2006, Walker caught 123 passes in 99 games over his first seven NFL seasons. Wycheck was a sixth-round selection by Washington in 2003, and in 18 games over two seasons with that tea he notched 23 receptions.

Walker signed as a free agent with Tennessee in 2013 and set career-highs in receptions in each of his first three seasons, 60 in 2013, 63 in 2014 and 94 in 2015. From 2013-17, no tight end in the NFL had more receptions than Walker’s 356.

He made his first Pro Bowl in 2015, when the Titans tied for the league’s worst record at 3-13 and his last in 2017 when the franchise snapped a decade-long playoff drought.

Walker led the Titans or tied for the team lead in receptions for four straight seasons (2014-17). The only player during the Titans era with a longer streak was Wycheck, a three-time Pro Bowler in his ow right who did it five years running (1996-00).

“My goal was to show them, show the city of (Nashville) that they didn’t make a bad free agency pick-up,” Walker said. “I was going to be that guy. I was going to be accountable, and I was going to be tough, and I was going to play my heart out every game. No matter if we were losing or winning, I was going to go until the fourth quarter, until the last whistle.

“And I did that. (Coming to Tennessee) fulfilled everything that I thought it would.”

Never mind if it didn’t make him the best – at least not in his own mind. Others might disagree.