2015 NFL Draft dream trade: Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills
By Will Lomas
The Tennessee Titans own the second pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and there are a lot of ways they could use that pick. While most people know the second pick will ultimately come down to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota or USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams, the question is: are the Tennessee Titans going to be the team drafting there?
With nearly every team dreaming of grabbing their quarterback or an elite defensive player, this post is to explain what it would cost that team to move up and land one of those players at the top of the 2015 NFL Draft. This post is about how the Buffalo Bills can finally get their quarterback, all while making the Tennessee Titans the defensive powerhouse they want to become.
(For those that don’t want to read the whole thing, there is a summary at the bottom)
The Trade
The Buffalo Bills receive:
-2nd overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft (worth 2,600 points according to the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart) which they will use for Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston.
The Tennessee Titans receive:
-50th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft (worth 400 points)
-81st overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft (worth 150 points)
-2016 2nd round pick
-NT Marcell Dareus
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Why the Buffalo Bills should make the trade
It is easy to look at this picture and think that the Buffalo Bills are giving up way too much for the second overall pick in the draft but look again. On a team that is solid at offensive line, wide receiver, running back, tight end, and on the entire defense top-to-bottom, what better time could there possibly be to make this move.
Sure this trade would be a lot easier if they had their first round pick, but they got one of the best receivers in the 2014 NFL Draft instead and he could be worth it if they got him the right quarterback.
Greg Roman is a very good offensive coordinator and for the first time in his NFL career he has a team loaded with offensive talent, except at the most important position in the game. Greg Roman is very talented, but he can’t overcome E.J. Manuel as his starting quarterback. If the Buffalo Bills make this trade, they instantly become the most talented offense in the division (yes even better than the Patriots top-to-bottom) without giving up a key player on their dominant defense.
I know what you are going to say, “Marcell Dareus is a key part of the defense!”, but hear me out. The only defensive linemen that were on both of Rex Ryan’s AFC Championship run in 2009 and 2010 were Mike DeVito, Shaun Ellis and Sione Pouha. Which of those player are going to make the Hall of Fame?
Just like with Kiko Alonso, while Marcell Dareus is a great player he doesn’t have huge positional value for a Rex Ryan defense. Even with some of the best offensive linemen in the game the past few years, Rex Ryan’s teams have struggled because of bad quarterback play.
This move give the Buffalo Bills the chance to be relevant for an entire offseason for the right reasons. This combined with a winning season in Rex Ryan’s first year not only give the Buffalo Bills fans what they deserve, but it finally get the Buffalo Bills out of the team-most-likely-to-end-up-in-L.A. talks.
Why the Tennessee Titans should make this trade
At this point, it looks like the Titans are leaning on drafting defensive lineman Leonard Williams anyway, so why not end up with a sure fire player who is one of the five best defensive linemen in the league, rather than risking drafting a great prospect.
Dick LeBeau took players like Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel in the later rounds of the draft and made them into All-Pro caliber players in the past, so if the Tennessee Titans really want a five-technique they can get that later in the draft and let Dick Lebeau build him into something.
In this trade the Tennessee Titans front seven now consists of Derrick Morgan, Jurrell Casey, Marcell Dareus, Ropati Pitoitua, Avery Williamson, Zach Brown, and Brian Orakpo. That defense coached by Dick LeBeau would be an exceptional group considering how well the linebackers fit his prototypical “blitzing linebacker” mold that has worked for him on championship teams in the past.
While the Tennessee Titans don’t get a franchise quarterback, they do have a player with a lot of potential in Zach Mettenberger. If the Tennessee Titans are going to trust the second year player out of LSU (which it looks like they are) then why not give him all the support they can?
With their two second round and third round picks, the Tennessee Titans can retool that offensive line and skill positions by adding the following players:
-33rd overall pick T.J. Clemmings (RT Pittsburgh)
-50th overall pick Devin Smith (WR Ohio State)
-66th overall pick Dorial Green-Beckham (WR Mizzou)
-81st overall pick Laken Tomlinson (OG Duke)
With a much improved offensive line and two very good deep threats to go along with intermediate receivers Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker, the Titans offense suddenly looks like a 24 point per game unit rather than the pitiful 15.9 they put up in 2014.
Summary (TLDR version)
The abridged version is this, the Buffalo Bills get their quarterback for the future and trade some picks and a great player that isn’t very important to the Rex Ryan defense (like they did with Kiko Alonso). The Tennessee Titans get one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL to bolster an upgraded defensive front coached by one of the best in the league, Dick LeBeau. Also, the Titans rebuild their offensive line and wide receiver position (through a deep draft class) to mesh with Ken Whisenhunt’s ideal game plan and Zach Mettenberger’s cannon arm.