Player
Elic Ayomanor
WR · Titans
Consistent target volume from Game 1 is the most reliable predictor of Year 2 breakout for a rookie WR. Ayomanor never lost the job.
16 regular-season games, 41 catches, 515 yards, 4 TDs — Titans rookie who carved out a real role on a punishing offense.
TrendAyomanor 2025 game log (regular season)
| Wk | Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DEN | 7 | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| 2 | LA | 6 | 4 | 56 | 1 |
| 3 | IND | 5 | 4 | 38 | 1 |
| 4 | HOU | 7 | 2 | 44 | 0 |
| 5 | ARI | 4 | 2 | 18 | 0 |
| 6 | LV | 5 | 3 | 27 | 0 |
| 7 | NE | 5 | 2 | 29 | 0 |
| 8 | IND | 8 | 4 | 52 | 0 |
| 9 | LAC | 6 | 3 | 46 | 0 |
| 11 | HOU | 6 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| 13 | JAX | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 14 | CLE | 3 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 15 | SF | 1 | 1 | 17 | 0 |
| 16 | KC | 4 | 3 | 58 | 0 |
| 17 | NO | 7 | 4 | 37 | 1 |
| 18 | JAX | 10 | 3 | 50 | 0 |
Ayomanor opened his career with a 7-target NFL debut and never disappeared from the offense the rest of the way. He logged 5+ targets in 12 of 16 games, with a season-high 10 targets in the Week 18 finale against Jacksonville.
Four TDs spread across Weeks 2, 3, 14, and 17 — the Titans went back to him in the red zone all year long. The catch rate (46.1%) is the rookie weakness; the volume is the rookie strength.
Targets by week
| Week | Targets |
|---|---|
| W1 | 7 |
| W2 | 6 |
| W3 | 5 |
| W4 | 7 |
| W5 | 4 |
| W6 | 5 |
| W7 | 5 |
| W8 | 8 |
| W9 | 6 |
| W11 | 6 |
| W13 | 5 |
| W14 | 3 |
| W15 | 1 |
| W16 | 4 |
| W17 | 7 |
| W18 | 10 |
Why it matters. Consistent target volume from Game 1 is the most reliable predictor of Year 2 breakout for a rookie WR. Ayomanor never lost the job.
5th among 2025 rookie WRs in receiving yards (515) on the highest target volume outside the top 2.
Comparison2025 rookie WR leaders
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tetairoa McMillan | 122 | 70 | 1014 | 7 |
| Emeka Egbuka | 127 | 63 | 938 | 6 |
| Luther Burden III | 60 | 47 | 652 | 2 |
| Jayden Higgins | 68 | 41 | 525 | 6 |
| Elic Ayomanor | 89 | 41 | 515 | 4 |
89 targets is more than Burden (60) and Higgins (68) — meaning Ayomanor saw the third-most rookie WR volume in the league. But the conversion rate (46.1% catch rate, 5.8 Y/T) lagged the top two.
The context matters: the Titans had the lowest-graded passing offense of the top-5 rookie WR teams. Volume on a struggling offense is harder to convert; the fact that he kept earning the targets is the bigger story.
Why it matters. Context among peers defines how impressive 515 yards actually is — 5th place with the 3rd-most targets tells a usage-vs-efficiency story that pure yardage totals miss.
5+ targets in 12 of 16 games — no rookie WR who played 16 or fewer games had more 5+-target outings in 2025.
Rare2025 rookie WR: weeks with 5+ targets
| Player | Games | 5+-tgt wks | Total tgt |
|---|---|---|---|
| McMillan | 17 | 14 | 122 |
| Egbuka | 17 | 14 | 127 |
| Ayomanor | 16 | 12 | 89 |
| Chimere Dike | 17 | 8 | 74 |
| Jayden Higgins | 17 | 7 | 68 |
McMillan and Egbuka each hit 14 five-target games — but they played 17 games. Ayomanor's 12 in 16 games (75%) matches their rate and leads every rookie WR who finished the season in 16 or fewer appearances.
The consistency matters as much as the total: five 7+-target outings, never going more than two straight games under 5 looks. That kind of floor is what separates a target hog from a volume mirage.
Why it matters. Target-share floor is the Year 2 predictor that matters most. A rookie who disappears for stretches rarely becomes a reliable WR2; one who posts 5+ looks in 75% of games already has the chemistry.
Week 18 vs Jacksonville: 10 targets, 96.1% of the team's air yards — highest air-yards share in any 2025 game with 10+ targets.
SplitIn Week 18 against Jacksonville, Ayomanor carried 96.1% of the Titans' air-yards share — the highest figure recorded by any receiver in a 2025 game with 10 or more targets. Among the 10+-target club, the next closest was Jaxon Smith-Njigba at 90.4%.
Final line: 10 targets, 3 catches, 50 yards. The catch rate was poor (30%), but the role was unmistakable: by season's end, he was the only receiver Cam Ward was throwing the ball downfield to.
Why it matters. Air-yards share in a 10+-target game captures true WR1 usage. A 96.1% figure — 5+ percentage points above the next-closest 10+-target game — quantifies the degree to which Ayomanor was the Titans' entire aerial attack.
4 TDs as a rookie, all in games the Titans had a lead at some point — the red-zone trust card got redeemed.
MilestoneAyomanor TD games
| Wk | Opp | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | LA | 4 | 56 | 1 |
| 3 | IND | 4 | 38 | 1 |
| 14 | CLE | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 17 | NO | 4 | 37 | 1 |
The 4 TDs came spread across the year — 2 in his first 3 games, 2 in his last 4 games. That distribution (rather than a single hot streak) is the more durable signal.
For reference: McMillan had 7 TDs in 17 games. Ayomanor's pace (4 TDs in 16 games) is close to half that — respectable from the WR3 role on a low-scoring offense.
Why it matters. Four TDs as a Titans WR3 on a low-scoring offense, distributed across four separate games, signals legitimate red-zone trust rather than a statistical fluke from one hot game.
His best receiving yardage games came on 3 or 4 catches — he's a yards-per-catch profile, not a possession receiver.
AnomalyAyomanor highest-yardage games
| Wk | Opp | Rec | Yds | Y/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | KC | 3 | 58 | 19.3 |
| 2 | LA | 4 | 56 | 14.0 |
| 8 | IND | 4 | 52 | 13.0 |
| 18 | JAX | 3 | 50 | 16.7 |
| 9 | LAC | 3 | 46 | 15.3 |
All five of his highest-yardage games came on fewer than 5 catches. He had a 19.3 Y/R Week 16 against KC and a 16.7 Y/R Week 18 vs Jacksonville — meaning when he caught it, he was averaging WR1-quality yards per reception.
The shape of his rookie year: a downfield, possession-secondary, big-target-share receiver who needs the catch rate to come up. The route tree and target volume are both already there.
Why it matters. Y/R profile — not catch rate — is the signature of a future WR2. Consistently 13+ Y/R when the ball arrives means the route tree is already there; the ceiling rises the moment catch rate improves by 8–10 points.
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