In a blockbuster trade that vaults the Los Angeles Rams to the top overall pick, Tennessee acquired the 15th, 43rd, 45th and 76th picks in the 2016 draft along with a first and third rounder in 2017 in exchange for the number one overall pick and two Day 3 selections in 2016.
The Rams, who will be drafting a quarterback at first overall and hopefully find their replacement to Sam Bradford, sacrificed the rest of their 2016 and most of their 2017 draft. But if Carson Wentz or Jared Goff (whomever they take) ends up being a franchise quarterback, it’ll be worth it for the Rams.
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But will it be worth it for new Titans general manager Jon Robinson?
Titans didn’t “need” top pick
The Titans were awarded the top overall pick as the worst team in the NFL in 2015. But the Titans aren’t desperate for help or devoid of talent. They’re one of the better-off drafting-first-overall teams in recent history.
Marcus Mariota is one of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks. Taylor Lewan has provided a capable and still-young left tackle to sculp their offensive line around. Recent acquisitions Demarco Murray, Brian Orakpo and Wesley Woodyard give this team veteran support and highly capable starters for 2016 and beyond. And the roster offers scattered talent at receiver, tight end and defensive front-seven.
From what I’ve been told, the Titans were likely to take Tunsil with the top overall pick despite Jalen Ramsey’s connection to Tennessee and the team having Taylor Lewan in the fold. But I’ve also been told that Tennesse valued at least three other offensive tackles in this class similarly to Tunsil. While Tunsil trumped the rest of the blockers in the class, the relative closeness of their grades made a trade-down feisable and understandable.
And even if they had considered Jalen Ramsey, he would have added an awesome chess piece but not solved their cornerback woes. The Titans need an influx of multiple secondary players to restore this unit, not one high-end talent. While Ramsey would have accelerated their rebuild, moving down and adding three top-100 picks to this draft gives them the opporutnity to add one or, more likely, two secondary players early in this draft.
More picks don’t equal more value
That all said, the Titans sacrificed the ability to add one of the 2016 draft’s best talents. In this draft, six talents stood out as truly special players: Tunsil, Ramsey, Oregon DE DeForest Buckner, Ohio State DE Joey Bosa, UCLA LB Myles Jack and Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott. While some of those players didn’t fit the Titans needs or scheme, they’re unique upside and tremendous impact potential is highly unlikely to be found later in the draft.
While the NFL draft can unearth stars in any round and football is a team sport, elite players shape an offense or a defense enough to put teammates in position to exceed their own talent. For example, without JJ Watt, the Texans likely aren’t able to generate as much pressure, their secondary can’t lock down receivers as well and the entire Houston defense likely regresses to the middle or bottom of the league.
The Titans weren’t drafting JJ Watt with their first overall pick, but any one of those six elite talents may have offered a similar, team-altering prospect that could allow for role players to thrive and their offensive/defensive unit to improve by leaps and bounds. Tunsil would make the rest of their offensive line better thanks to the confidence in him for blindside protection. Ramsey would make the secondary better because he takes away an entire third of the field in coverage. Buckner may have give their expereinced pass-rushers added room to work.
MORE: Will Rams-Titans trade be one of worst ever?
Now, at 15 and the rest of their top-100 picks, they’ll likely looking for high-level role players who, optimistically, could reach the top-10 at their respective positions in the NFL in the future. Depth and number of quality starters can only go so far in a rebuilding effort. Great teams have star players that make game-changing plays that define a team’s season or playoff push. The Titans passed on one of those players in favor of accumulating more opportunities to add high-level yet ceiling-capped role players.
What the Titans may do
As stated earlier, the Titans valued at least three other 2016 offensive tackles similarly to Tunsil. While Tunsil’s perceived upside warranted the first-overall pick, prospects like Ronnie Stanley of Notre Dame, Taylor Decker of Indiana and Jack Conklin of Michigan may, in Tennessee’s mind, be just a notch below Tunsil in their scouting system. If they wanted to draft an offensive tackle, they should certainly expect at least one of those three to be there.
But with Taylor Lewan proving to be a highly capable and promising left tackle, does Tennessee need to invest a first-rounder in a right tackle? Tennessee considered Leonard Williams with the second-overall pick last year before opting for Mariota, and really need five-technique help. And in the best defensive tackle draft class in recent history, they would be wise to capitalize on that talent early and often.
The Titans also have needs at defensive back, where they are relying on Marqueston Huff to play a key role and they let long-time starter Michael Griffin depart in free agency. The safety class isn’t tremendously deep, but there are a few second-rounders worth considering as plug and play starters.
For fun, here’s two options of possible sceniors for the Titans at 15, 33, 43, 45 and 64:
— OT Taylor Decker, DT Jarran Reed, SAF Keanu Neal, CB Tavon Young and DT/DE Willie Henry
— DT/DE A’Shawn Robinson, SAF Darian Thompson, OT Joe Haeg, DT Austin Johnson and CB Maurice Canady
While acquiring four top-100 picks in 2016 and two more in 2017 may have been too much for any general manager to pass on, it’s still a bold decision for GM Jon Robinson. It’s his first draft at the helm of the Titans, and although he’ll get so many more opportunities to land a star, he passed on a franchise left tackle, the most athletic defensive back in recent history and other elite talents to accumulate more picks.
Luckily for Robinson, he has his franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota.
MORE: Does trade end Rams' never-ending search for QB?
His job now is to build around that quarterback, support him with a strong defense and pave the way for whomever his long-term coach is to win the AFC South and hope playoff wins follow.
The infamous Rams-Redskins trade that saw Washington draft Robert Griffin III didn’t turn into a resounding win for either sides. The Rams, now on the other side of that bold quarterback move up, will hope this trade turns out better than Griffin in Washington did. The Titans will hope this draft gives Marcus Mariota and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau the starter-talent they need to lay the foundation for long-term success.
Tennessee sacrificed the top pick in favor of more shots at the 2016 class. On paper and in theory, it’s a move that should be exciting for the Titans. But in practice, Tennessee has a lot of pressure to turn these picks into impact players.