NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans took an untraditional, for them, approach to wide receiver in 2016.

The results were better than they have been in a while, and dependability was a new trait in the group after the team tossed Justin Hunter and Dorial Green-Beckham aside and emphasized precision and reliability with Rishard Matthews and Tajae Sharpe as the starters.

Still, Mike Mularkey fired his good friend Bob Bratkowski as receivers coach after just one year. The Titans expect more than what they got. A second year in the system will help, as will some new people.

Kendall Wright won’t be back. Beyond Matthews and Sharpe the Titans have Harry Douglas and Tre McBride.

One scout told me he doesn’t think there is much for the Titans to court in the free agent group.

"The receivers all have warts," he said. "Too much to hassle with."

What are the Titans missing?

"They need the dimension of some explosiveness on the perimeter, of an X receiver to win," Greg Cosell of NFL Films said. "Everything can’t be by design. They did some great things be design, I love what Mike Mularkey did with his offense. At some point you need that dimension."

Let’s run through some of the key names who could become free agents on March 9, and try to put them in some Titans context with the help of Cosell.

Alshon Jeffery, Bears

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Draft: Second-round pick by Chicago out of South Carolina in 2012

Listed size: 6-foot-3, 218 pounds.

Career: 63 games, 304 catches, 4,549 yards, 15.0 yards per catch, 26 TDs.

2016: 12 games, 52 catches for 821 yards, 15.8 yards per catch, 2 touchdowns. Served a four-game suspension for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Cosell: "He’s an X who I think fits that mold. I don’t view him as as purely explosive as, let’s say draft prospect Corey Davis. But Jeffrey can line up and win as an X, and that’s what they need. He’s good good size. He’s not as big as everybody talked about when he was a South Carolina, you would have thought he was seven feet when he was at South Carolina, he’s about 6-2 ½, physical, has good hands, he could fit what they do."

Terrelle Pryor, Browns

AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

Draft: Third-round pick by Oakland out of Ohio State in 2011.

Listed size: 6-4, 223

Career: Played in 10 games over three years for the Raiders as a quarterback. 79 catches for 1,071 yards, 13.6 yards per catch and four touchdowns.

2016: 77 catches for 1,007 yards, 13.1 yards per catch and four touchdowns.

Cosell: "I just don’t know. If you’re talking about a big contract, I just don’t know. For many reasons. I’d be a little leery, because there is a total lack of experience there. I might not spend my money on him."

Kenny Stills, Dolphins

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Draft: Fifth-round pick by New Orleans out of Oklahoma in 2013.

Listed size: 6-0, 195.

Career: 63 games, 164 catches, 2,738 yards, 16.7 yards per catch, 20 touchdowns.

2016: 16 games, 42 catches, 726 yards, 17.3 yards per catch, nine touchdowns.

Cosell: "He’s a complement. He’s got some verticality to him. He’s not your X."

Robert Woods, Bills

Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports

Draft: Second-round pick by Buffalo out of USC in 2013.

Listed size: 6-0, 190.

Career: 57 catches for 2,451 yards, 12.1 yards per catch, 12 touchdowns.

2016: 13 games, 51 catches, 613 yards, 12.0 yards per catch, one touchdown.

Cosell: "A quote-unquote No. 2. The Titans have those guys. He’s Rishard Matthews. He’s Tajae Sharpe in my view."

Terrance Williams, Cowboys

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Draft: Third-round pick by Dallas out of Baylor in 2013.

Listed size: 6-2, 210.

Career: 64 games, 177 catches, 2,791 yards, 15.8 yards per catch, 20 touchdowns.

2016: 44 catches, 594 yards, 13.5 yards per catch, four touchdowns.

Cosell: "A No. 2 as well, has some vertical ability, he’s long. He’s a vertical receiver who plays opposite a big-time No. 1 (in Dez Bryant) which the Titans don’t have."

Ted Ginn Jr., Panthers

Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Draft: First-round pick by Miami out of Ohio State in 2007.

Listed size: 5-11, 180.

Career: 151 games, 309 catches, 4,285 yards, 13.9 yards per catch, 25 touchdowns.

2016: 16 games, 54 catches for 752 yards, 13.9 yards per catch, four touchdowns.

Cosell: "He’s fast. He fits, in a sense, what they do. When you line up in run personnel and run formations, you get one-on-one on the outside. That’s why he’s been successful in Carolina, because they are a run-first offense. He can still run by people."