How about a warm round of applause for Nick Westbrook-Ikhine? The Titans didn’t even want him on the field earlier in the season; now he’s caught touchdowns in four straight games.
Westbrook-Ikhine is a larger receiver (6-2, 211) and he’s able to use that size in traffic around the end zone. All 4 of his touchdowns have come on plays inside 10 yards. In that regard, he’s similar to Andrei Isovias of the Bengals.
Not bad for a player who was an afterthought earlier in the season, when the Titans seem to consider him to be their 5th-best receiver. That was before Treylon Burks landed on IR and before DeAndre Hopkins was shipped to Kansas City. Also before the Titans realized he was better than free agent addition Tyler Boyd.
Westbrook-Ikhine is doubly impressive in that he wasn’t even drafted coming out of Indiana in 2020. In the last 10 years, only nine other undrafted wide receivers have caught touchdowns in four straight games.
| TOUCHDOWN STREAKS BY UNDRAFTED PLAYERS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active | Player | Games | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2015 | Allen Hurns, Jac. | 7 | 32 | 569 | 17.8 | 7 |
| 2018 | Adam Thielen, Min. | 6 | 46 | 609 | 13.2 | 6 |
| 2015 | Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 5 | 29 | 484 | 16.7 | 11 |
| 2017 | Robbie Anderson, NYJ | 5 | 23 | 418 | 18.2 | 6 |
| 2019 | Tyrell Williams, Oak. | 5 | 20 | 307 | 15.4 | 5 |
| 2021-22 | Allen Lazard, G.B. | 5 | 19 | 250 | 13.2 | 6 |
| 2020 | Robert Tonyan, G.B. | 5 | 22 | 204 | 9.3 | 5 |
| 2016 | Tyrell Williams, S.D. | 4 | 21 | 307 | 14.6 | 4 |
| 2017 | Chris Hogan, N.E. | 4 | 22 | 280 | 12.7 | 5 |
| 2020 | Adam Thielen, Min. | 4 | 23 | 274 | 11.9 | 5 |
| 2017 | Cameron Brate, T.B. | 4 | 19 | 257 | 13.5 | 4 |
| 2022-23 | Jakobi Meyers, N.E.-L.V. | 4 | 24 | 245 | 10.2 | 5 |
| 2014 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | 4 | 15 | 202 | 13.5 | 6 |
| 2014 | Arian Foster, Hou. | 4 | 15 | 124 | 8.3 | 4 |
| 2024 | • Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Ten. | 4 | 10 | 108 | 10.8 | 4 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
I’m not promising this will last for long. Westbrook-Ikhine has caught only 6 non-scoring passes this year, making him by far the most lightly used the receivers listed above. He’s a slower guy (which is why the Titans are always looking to replace him).
But he’s shown he can be an effective pass catcher in those situations around the goal line. The Titans have thrown only 5 TDs in their last four games, and he’s caught all but 1 of them.
—Ian Allan