Why Anthony Firkser is a 2021 Breakout Candidate

By Jared Smola | Updated on Tue, 23 May 2023 . 1:27 PM EDT

This is a free preview of a 2021 player profile. Draft Sharks Insiders will have access to over 300 player profiles in mid-June.

Anthony Firkser, TE, Titans

What You Need to Know:

A 2018 undrafted free-agent out of Harvard, Firkser totaled just 33 catches and 2 TDs across his first 2 NFL seasons.
He easily set new career highs across the board last year, hauling in 39 of 53 targets for 387 yards and a score.
Firkser played behind lead TE Jonnu Smith for most of the season. But with Smith out vs. the Browns in Week 13, Firkser turned 7 targets into 5 catches and 51 yards. And after Smith exited early in a Week 6 meeting with the Texans, Firkser exploded for an 8-113-1 line.
Among 34 TEs with 40+ targets last year, Firkser ranked 5th in yards per route run and 10th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade. (Jonnu Smith ranked 14th and 7th.)
Smith signed with the Patriots in free agency, leaving behind 65 targets from a year ago. The Titans lost another 127 targets with the departures of WRs Corey Davis and Adam Humphries.
The only semi-significant additions made at WR were free-agent Josh Reynolds and 4th-round rookie Dez Fitzpatrick. Geoff Swaim sits behind Firkser on the TE depth chart.
So Firkser should be right in the mix to finish 2nd on the Titans in targets behind WR A.J. Brown.
Under OC Arthur Smith the past 2 years, Titans TEs combined for 23.9% and then 28.5% of the team’s targets. (League-wide TE target share over that span was 20.0%.)
Smith left to become Falcons HC but will be replaced by Todd Downing, who spent the past 2 seasons as Tennessee’s TE coach. So there should be continuity in scheme and a continued emphasis on the TEs in the passing game.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

Only 12 TEs reached 80 targets last season. Firkser has a clear path to get there in 2021. The Titans lost a combined 192 targets from last year with the departures of WR Corey Davis, WR Adam Humphries and TE Jonnu Smith. Smith accounted for 65 of those -- while Firkser saw 53 targets of his own.

With a weak depth chart at WR behind A.J. Brown and what should be a similar offensive scheme under former TEs coach and new OC Todd Downing, Firkser might just emerge as the #2 option in Tennessee’s passing game this year. He’s a nice later-round target in fantasy drafts with the potential to finish as a TE1.

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.