Gunnar Helm — Week 1: Twelve Yards on Third and Twenty-Five
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Helm caught four of five targets for twenty-eight yards, and the strangest of them was third and twenty-five at the Tennessee one with twelve fifty-four left in the fourth, one play after Cam Ward was sacked for eleven: short right, twelve yards to the thirteen, and a punt. Both of his third-down catches came up short of the line to gain, and Titans tight ends were thrown to six times in all, in a 23–10 loss to the Jets.
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Gunnar Helm's longest catch Sunday came from the worst spot on the field. Third and 25 at the Tennessee one, 12 54 left in the fourth quarter, Titans down 20 to three, one play after Will McDonald had sacked Cam Ward for 11 yards: Ward short right to Helm, and he carried it to the 13 for 12. It was worth +0.1 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — because a 12-yard gain on third and 25 from your own one is worth about as much as the punt that followed it.
His other third-down catch was the same story in the first quarter: third and nine at the Tennessee 38, two 38 left, Titans down seven to three, short left, one yard, punt. −1.3. The line: five targets, four catches, 28 yards, no touchdowns, longest 12, −0.9 expected points on the targets. Two third-down targets, both caught, neither converted. The two catches that were positive plays came on the last two drives — five yards on first and 10 from the 13 with eight 44 left, and 10 yards on second and six from the New York 39 with three 48 left, pushed out at the 29 for a first down. The one incompletion was second and 10 at the New York 11 with two 49 left, short middle, one play before Elic Ayomanor's touchdown.
Tennessee's tight ends were thrown to six times on 35 pass plays: five to Helm, one to Daniel Bellinger for seven yards on third and 11 in the first quarter. Helm's five was third on the team behind Carnell Tate and Wan'Dale Robinson at six each. One of his targets came before halftime, when the Titans threw 10 times, and four after, when they threw 25 and trailed by 17 for most of it.
Back in June the preview's read on Helm was a 30-third-ranked tight end at 4.4 a game, the incumbent, a player whose case was role and opportunity rather than efficiency. Sunday the role was five targets, third on the team, and the opportunity was mostly third-and-long and a fourth quarter played down 17 or 20. One game does not settle whether five targets is the floor or the ceiling. Tennessee is home to the Eagles on Sunday the twentieth. The number to watch is targets before the fourth quarter.
_Data via nflverse._
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