2013 NFL Draft: Tennessee Titans Dream Draft “With Trades”
By Josh Gunnels
Oct 13, 2012; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive end Bjoern Werner (95) during the second half of the game against the Boston College Eagles at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Last Thursday, I put up an article about my wishes for the Titans and how my perfect 2013 NFL Draft would unfold. As I lay awake at night pondering all of the Titans possibilities, I realized that I was shorting myself in my previous “dream draft”. Still trying to keep things within the realm of possibility, there are so many more exciting possibilities when you include trades. There are two or three scenarios that could make the Titans first few rounds epic as far as I’m concerned. Let’s look at what can happen:
Courtesy of Draft Countdown.
Part I: The Guards Fall
Chance Warmack and Johnathan Cooper have slowly and steadily pushed their way higher than any Guard could ever hope to go. I’m not sure if it’s a result of over-analyzation, media hype, or just how dang scared everyone is of J.J. Watt, but Guards don’t go in the top 10, and certainly not 2 of them. Let’s just say in my dream draft, both Guards are still sitting there as I think they are likely to be when the Titans pick. This is the perfect spot to move back.
The St. Louis Rams have the 16th and the 22nd pick in the first round. They are in an incredibly tough division and need play-makers bad, especially with the loss of Amendola. The Rams could give the Titans a 3rd and move up to get a play-maker like Patterson or Austin. The Titans fall back to 16 and wait for their Guard to fall in their lap. Even if he’s gone, Vaccarro could still be there, which was the teams post season #1 position need.
Part II: Move Back Up
So now the Titans have Warmack/Cooper and are set at their number one need. Now the Titans need to move back up and snag a guy they have high on their boards that’s fallen into the late first/early second. We all know the Patriots love to move back and stockpile picks. As Joshua Huffman mentioned in an earlier article, the Packers are also well known for wanting to trade one way or the other.
I’m a big fan of BjoernWerner and personally think he’ll go higher than the current mock drafts show. Mike Mayock currently has him rated as the #1 4-3 Defensive End, even though it seems the two of us are in the minority. Let’s say he falls into the late 20’s. The Titans could package their newly gotten third round pick with their second and move back into the first. Picking up Warmack and Werner is almost more than my heart could handle.
The other option from this scenario is to just move back into the late second round. If the Titans are worried about a certain DE, WR, or CB that they are in love with making it to them in the 3rd, they could easily add their 4th round pick and slide back into the 2nd round.
*The Titans could trade their 10th and 40th straight up for the Rams 16th and 22nd as a possibility.
Part III: The Rest Is Gravy
You still have the 8th or the 14th selection in the third round, not to mention the compensatory pick at the end of the round.
Jordan Poyer, Quinton Patton, Darius Slay, D.J. Swearinger, and many others will still be sitting there for Ruston Webster and his analytical minions to snag. Taking a CB or a WR with a lot of upside at this point is just icing on the cake.
How about his for a “dream draft” scenario? In all seriousness, this is one draft that’s shaping up for the Titans to move around a bit. I don’t want them to move back and stockpile later round picks for this year, it’s not what this young team needs right now, but I don’t mind a slide back in the first if they then use those picks to target players Webster and Munchak are in love with. Picking up extra high round picks for next year aren’t a bad thing either.
So what’s your dream draft with trades? Any potentially good moves you’ve thought of?
You can find me on Twitter @gunnelsj