After Nick Westbrook-Ikhine’s free agency departure, the Titans’ future at the wide receiver position seems hazy at best. Outside of Calvin Ridley, Tennessee has a glaring lack of talent in the receiver room. In steps, Bryce Oliver.
While they are sure to add at least one receiver in the draft, Tennessee is also looking at young developmental players to take a leap into a starting role. The most promising of these players is Oliver. A 2024 undrafted free agent out of Youngstown State, Oliver exceeded expectations in his rookie season.
Earning reps as a special teams ace and quality blocker, he has carved out a pivotal role. He only played 67 snaps in 2024 and didn’t see the field on offense until late in the season. Despite only putting up six receptions for 95 yards, his impact was much more significant than the box score indicates.
After starting at the University of Kentucky (from 2018-2020), Oliver transferred to Youngstown State, where he played three more seasons. In his final season in 2023, he put up 64 receptions for 978 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Oliver’s combination of size, athleticism, and production made him an enticing prospect, but the lack of refinement in his game caused him to go undrafted.
Taking a flyer on his athletic traits, the Titans added him as an undrafted free agent before the 2024 season. Only one year into his career, Oliver has started climbing towards his ceiling as a receiver.
While he didn’t play a significant role on the offense until week 18, Oliver flashed promising traits on film. Sitting at 6-foot-1 and 214 pounds, he provides a big frame on the boundary. In addition to his size, he also showed impressive burst and long speed on his vertical routes.
Although it’s a minimal sample size, he also flashed the ability to win against press-man at the line of scrimmage (notably against Texans DB Kamari Lassiter) and the ability to separate downfield. Despite still being a developmental project, Oliver has also shown impressive nuance and tempo as a route runner.
On a rebuilding team with a glaring lack of receiving talent, he should be a lock for wide receiver four and has a clear path to a wide receiver three role. In the wake of Westbrook-Ikhine’s absence, Oliver has the potential to fill his role with additional athletic and separation abilities.
As the Titans look to overhaul their receiver room, a potential starting-caliber piece in Oliver may be developing before their eyes.
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