NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Xavier Restrepo isn't quite a classic underdog.
Even though he grinded out a career at Miami that vaulted him past the speedy Santana Moss and two guys with giant NFL careers, Reggie Wayne and Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, to the No. 1 spot in school annals with 200 catches for 2,844 yards, he doesn't look the part.
His bond with Cam Ward there prompted the Titans to grab him as an undrafted free agent, despite what I’ve heard was a poor performance at the combine.
With many of their draft picks beyond Ward, the Titans valued traits over production. In Restrepo, the hope is that production trumps traits, because he lacks the sort of speed a team wants in a slot receiver, and his build with super thick legs is unconventional for the position.
Tuesday at minicamp, Ward and Restrepo had their biggest chance to connect so far in the third practice the media has seen which included seven-on-seven and team work with offense against defense.
But when I asked him about that, he parried it right away.
“I don’t really pay attention to that, you know,” he said. “I’m just super blessed for my opportunities, every time I step on the field I treat it like it’s my last and whatever is thrown at me, whoever is the quarterback back there, whoever is snapping the ball, whoever is running routes next to me (doesn’t matter). Everyone that’s here right now deserves to be here and I’ve got really good guys around me.”
In all, he made six catches, four of them from Ward. It was an impressive number on a day when I counted 35 passes completed by the four Titans quarterbacks with eight incompletions, one of which was a Ward interception intended for Van Jefferson that Cody Barton picked.
Restrepo is a good football player, but that he’s good at a limited thing may not be enough for him to find a spot on the roster.
He’s a slot only, unlikely to win the returner job with Chimere Dike, James Proche and Mason Kinsey working ahead of him. He needs a special teams’ niche and while his 4.83 40 at Miami’s pro day was affected by a bad hamstring – one personnel man told me he’d be more in the 4.6s – he still rates him as too slow to be a receiver working in special teams coverage.
Restrepo is listed at 5-foot-10 and 202 pounds. In college,e he was tough, caught everything and was highly productive.
#Titans WRs at first practice of minicamp. pic.twitter.com/gq0vWhdgJg
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) June 10, 2025
How much of that can translate in the NFL with Ward?
The Titans look at Tyler Lockett as primarily a slot guy. In 10 years with the Seahawks, he had an early and late stretch where he played all over, but in the middle of his time, he played a lot inside. I think the Titans like fourth-rounder Chimere Dike inside too, and then in some matchups, they may want to roll others through.
Barring injuries, it could be hard for Restrepo to find snaps. Lockett and Dike would need to be bad while Restrepo is great for a slot-only receiver with no special-teams role to make the 53 or be on the game-day 48.
I think his most likely scenario is to bump Mason Kinsey, whose ceiling is known, off the practice squad – or perhaps join him there – as an upside guy. Maybe from there, he could get called up depending on injuries or just develop while waiting on the 2026 roster.
“(Restrepo) was a productive college player,” Brian Callahan said early during offseason work. “He might not necessarily be the biggest or the fastest player that's ever come out of Miami, but he’s been incredibly productive and he's found ways to play football the right way.”
Callahan also said Restrepo’s got a lot to prove.
Ward didn’t hesitate to share that he campaigned for the Titans to sign Restrepo, who got a $254,000 guarantee.
"I was real excited when we signed X," Ward said. "He's somebody who was deserving of it. He's worked hard every day. He is one of the most underrated players that was in the draft 
this year. I think every time he steps on the field, he remembers everything, and he is going to continue to prove it.
"He was one of the best route runners in college football last year, he is first team All -Conference, he is All-American, he never lost in man coverage. He is a back-to-back 1,000-yard receiver, so why wouldn't you push for him?"
Will Restrepo be a breakthrough guy who joins Drew Bennett as a big find? Or will he be next on an extensive list of Titans’ late-round or undrafted hopefuls fans got too excited about, joining the likes of Biren Ealy, Tre McBride, Deontay Burnett, Cam Batson, Reggie Roberson and Kinsey?
All indications are it's going to be one of the most followed stories of camp.