You can't fix stupid. If he was thrown to more he would have more yardage. He was asked to block more, especially during the second half of the season, instead of going out to catch passes, so he didn't put up many yards.
Here is some math for you. 30 catches at 10 yards per catch is 300 yards, 20 catches at 13 yards per catch is 260 yards. See how yards per catch doesn't over come the number of catches you make in this example?
So DropKick asked a legitimate question, and the answer, from another thread and by looking at his numbers, was Yes he was asked to block more so he didn't put up that many yards.
Yup. In the first four games, Jonnu Smith was targeted 27 times resulting in 18 catches, 221 yards, and 5 touchdowns. He was on pace for a 72/884/20 season (the TD rate not sustainable of course but the other stats were).
But then in their fifth game the Titans lost their Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan to a torn ACL in the second quarter. That’s when Smith was asked to block more and his targets suffered as a result. He also may have been slowed down by ankle injuries he suffered in Week 6 and 11.
Also worth noting he’s leaving an offense that was heavily run based thanks to Derrick Henry, and where he was the third choice in the passing game behind A.J. Brown and Corey Davis. Health permitting Smith should be heavily relied on in the Pats offense both as a blocker and receiver and I expect a career high in targets for him. He also flashed his speed out of the backfield with a 57 yard carry in 2019 so they could try using him in many ways.
Two things that brings me pause: one is this may be the old fantasy football brain in me, but I remember back in the 2006 offseason when Benjamin Watson was a popular sleeper. He had the draft pedigree, the athleticism, and the opportunity to be a big part of the Pats passing attack with David Givens gone in free agency and Deion Branch holding out. Thought the logical outcome was more targets for Watson and a breakout season. His best season as a Patriot statistically was that 2006 season, but it wasn’t the breakout that was hoped for despite having the second most targets (49/643/3). We’d be thrilled at that type of production at TE compared to what we’ve seen the last two years but not so much at the salary.
Also the last time I was intrigued by an athletic Titans tight end was Jared Cook, and while Cook has made a solid career for himself, Smith’s numbers are going to need to be much better than that for the elite TE money he’s getting. We’ll have to wait and see.
EDIT-
And now that Hunter Henry is signed you can forget what I just said. Wow.
