He’s both the highest-drafted wide receiver since 2015 and a player who, not long before that, wasn’t supposed to get anywhere near the NFL.

If you want to say the Titans’ Corey Davis has underachieved, back up a bit.

Davis was once a two-star recruit – carrying one scholarship offer – coming out of high school. In four stunning seasons at Western Michigan, Davis caught 331 passes for an FBS-record 5,278 yards and 52 touchdowns. Suddenly, that no-name receiver who’d worked to prove everyone wrong in college was the No. 5 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, ahead of Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Marshon Lattimore, carrying all the pressure that entails.

“You get used to it,” Davis said. “Even in college, I expected a lot out of myself. I still do.”

To the public, Davis remains an enigma of tantalizing, eye-popping talent combined with a sense that we're not seeing all of it just yet. Outside opinions of his play – and what he was supposed to be as a player – have fluctuated widely for years.

Davis says being overlooked as a college recruit “no doubt” helped him get to this point.

“I wouldn’t change anything,” he said Thursday, continuing to grind away quietly at an NFL career that might be going better than you’d think – or at least better than a fantasy football scoresheet would suggest.

If you want to say Davis’ production isn’t matching his potential, don’t say it at the Titans’ facility.

There might not be a wide receiver in the NFL with a greater gap in esteem he has earned inside his own building versus how little he has in fantasy circles.

That’s not an accident. It’s because most No. 1 wide receivers aren’t like Davis. He’s refreshingly eager to do the little things that go unnoticed. He doesn’t complain or pout when he doesn’t get the football, for example. Instead, he finds defensive backs to hit.

He’s good at blocking, says that even sometimes he likes doing it.

“A great teammate,” offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said.

“I mean, I definitely want the ball,” Davis said. “But as far as me being a diva and starting a commotion, I'm not going to do that.”

Davis' talent might be flashy, but the ego is not.

His stats, however, aren't either. He has only five regular-season touchdown catches. He didn’t catch a pass in this season’s first game.

It’s probably best if you haven’t had him on your fantasy roster. His average fantasy draft position in 2019 was as the No. 37 wide receiver. His consensus ranking after Week 4 games, according to Fantasypros.com, had dropped to No. 54.

That contrasts with the fact that in the past 10 years, only three wide receivers (A.J. Green in 2011, Sammy Watkins in 2014 and Amari Cooper in 2015) were drafted higher than Davis was by the Titans.

Davis has 110 receptions for 1,439 yards in 31 regular-season games. That’s not chump change, but when the bar is set so high from the start, so much goes back to that draft spot. Premature verdicts tend to be boom or bust, no middle ground.

Not that there isn't something there, though. It doesn’t take long to see why Davis was drafted so high. Asked whether the skill-set compares to some of the best receivers he has been around, Titans coach Mike Vrabel doesn’t hesitate: “Sure. He runs great routes. He's got strong hands. He can make contested catches.”

“A complete receiver,” cornerback Logan Ryan said.

“Some amazing hands,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “There were some plays in training camp where he's going up and making one-handed catches across the middle in traffic. ... He definitely has all the tools you look for in the elite receivers.”

Davis was cast as a star for a Titans offense that needed playmakers. Now with Davis in his third year, that offense still appears to need playmakers, which causes many to overlook contributions that coaches and teammates are so eager to point out.

“That is one guy if you talk about snap count, there's a reason Corey is out there all the time,” Smith said. “You trust him. You trust him in the pass game. You trust him in the run game. Corey is consistent and he strives to get better every week. … The ball found him early (this past Sunday in Atlanta), and he got more touches. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying in our other weeks.”

Ryan called Davis the best blocking receiver on the Titans. Running back Derrick Henry took it a step further.

“Corey is one of the best in the league at doing that stuff,” Henry said. “That's just who he is – gritty. He's just a grinder.”

Those grinders don’t often get selected fifth in the NFL Draft. They can, however, turn a lack of interest as high school prospects into a solid NFL career.

And you want them on your team and in your locker room. Especially if they are both.

“People are worried about fantasy football nowadays,” Ryan said. “We're worried about winning games. He's helping us win games, and we've got to win some more.”

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.