Top 2016 prospects Tennessee Titans fans should watch
By Will Lomas
A few days ago I posted an article on where I believed the Tennessee Titans greatest needs heading into the 2016 season were. With a young team that is on the edge of having all the right young tools, 2016 will be a crucial year.
For those that don’t remember, the biggest areas of need were: NT, EDGE, ILB, RT, C in no particular order.
Well, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report has his big board up, so let’s look at some of the names that make sense for the Tennessee Titans.
Right Tackle
Let’s go ahead and eliminate the big names like Laremy Tunsil and Ronnie Stanly. I am going to do that because both of those players should be off the board by the time the Tennessee Titans pick in the first round and even if they aren’t I don’t expect the Titans to be looking towards this position early after investing a high pick in Jeremiah Poutasi.
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The names that make the most sense to me are Spencer Drango from Baylor and Jack Conklin from Michigan State. Both are mauling run blockers who will probably do much better as a right tackle in the NFL based on disposition.
Center
Max Tuerk is Matt Miller’s top center and rightfully so. He may be the most complete pure-center that we have seen in a long time. I wasn’t high on Cameron Erving last year and there was no top guy the year before.
That means that Tuerk will likely be the top center since Travis Fredrick, a player you might now as the anchor of the Dallas Cowboys offensive line.
If the Tennessee Titans do attempt to copy that formula, an offensive line with one of the tackles I mentioned above (taken in round two) and Tuerk at the end of the first round (either though a trade up or down, or just a good season) this line would be one of the premier lines in the league.
Edge
Joey Bosa will probably be the top pick in the draft and this will hopefully be the year that people actually watch Robert Nkemdiche play and realize he is not as good as people want him to be. So hopefully the Tennessee Titans look at other players in this draft, although I genuinely don’t know who stands out most in this class.
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Emmanuel Ogbuh is a big name, but isn’t someone that jumps off the screen. Maybe the best fit for this system is Leonard Floyd from Georgia. Floyd is a good speed rusher and can play inside some too. That versatility could make him appealing to Dick LeBeau and Ray Horton, and it could give them a player who can see more snaps through sub packages.
Nose Tackle
This is a position of very little value, but it is one of the more important pieces on the field in this defense. That being said, I don’t expect the Tennessee Titans do jump on any player in the first two rounds.
The top players after that are likely going to be Adolphus Washington of Ohio State and one of my favorite underrated players, Chris Jones a do-it-all type from Mississippi State.
Inside Linebacker
The final position is (luckily) also one with little positional value, so the Titans will probably address it somewhere in the middle rounds.
However, it is a pretty stacked group so if Scooby Wright, Reggie Ragland or Myles Jack fall to round two, then this team has to pounce on them.
The one top name I left off of that list is Jaylon Smith and I did that because he is a monster. Don’t be surprised if he is one of the rare inside linebacker to go in the top-10 (the last one was Luke Kuechly in 2012).