Are the Tennessee Titans looking at offensive tackles?
By Will Lomas
I said this earlier in the season, but let me repeat it. I think it is too early to start talking about who the Tennessee Titans will take in the 2016 NFL Draft. While I don’t have any issue looking at mock drafts (actually I think it is really interesting) I think that guessing who is going to pick where and what they will want eight months from now is very hard.
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However, looking at where the Tennessee Titans are sending scouts may tip their hands. For example, last year the Tennessee Titans sent a plethora of scouts and even Ruston Webster to the Florida State vs Oregon matchup, and ultimately the team took Marcus Mariota with the top pick.
Granted that was later in the year, but either way it is important to look at not only the best players available where the team is scouting, but also which positions they are continuously looking at. So here is what we know.
Week 1
This first week of college football action the Tennessee Titans sent scouts to the Ohio State game at Virginia Tech. According to Matt Miller that game showcased four players that he considers first round possibilities in his latest mock draft. Those players are (in order): Joey Bosa (EDGE), Taylor Decker (OT), Adolphus Washington (DL), Ezekiel Elliott (RB), all from Ohio State.
While you could argue that they are looking at all of those players, look at where they sent scouts in Week 2.
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Week 2
Last week the Tennessee Titans sent scouts to the Georgia Tech game at Notre Dame. The top prospects in that group were: Ronnie Stanley (OT), Jaylon Smith (LB) and Sheldon Day (DL).
Now you could argue that the Tennessee Titans looked at DL and OTs in both cases, but it is important to remember where they DIDN’T scout. The Tennessee Titans didn’t send scouts to the Ole Miss game at Alabama. That game would have featured Robert Nkemdiche and A’Shawn Robinson both extremely talented defensive linemen.
So in the last two weeks, the Tennessee Titans have scouted Ronnie Stanley and Taylor Decker, the first and twelfth picks respectively in Matt Miller’s latest mock draft linked above.
If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. The Tennessee Titans took Jeremiah Poutasi, but he was an over sized left tackle in college and always looked like an interesting projection to left guard. I have to imagine that they took him with the idea of one day soon having him replace Andy Levitre.
Enter Byron Bell. While Bell was supposed to start off the season at right tackle, he showed and affinity for left guard and the Titans needed someone other than Levitre there. So, they decided that Bell was better inside than Poutasi or that Poutasi gave them a better run blocking option at right tackle. Either way, these two are both miscast on the offensive line right now. Bringing in a high-quality right tackle, would let the Titans push Poutasi in to left guard and would leave them with a good backup/swing tackle.
That would give them an upgrade at two positions and protection for Marcus Mariota, which may be the biggest point of emphasis this offseason. I like this decision a lot, and I for one love the idea of the Titans following the Dallas Cowboys method of building a dominant line so that your quarterback can work without fear.