Tennessee Titans could draft a sliding Laremy Tunsil

The Tennessee Titans and the 31 other NFL teams are just five days away from the 2016 NFL Draft. It wouldn’t be an NFL Draft if there were crazy rumors flying around about players falling down draft boards, and one player that fits bill that is Laremy Tunsil.

More from Titans Draft

Now, I want to say that I don’t necessarily think that any of this is true and I believe that Tunsil is a top-3 prospect in this draft at worst. However there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle that could make for a crazy story.

Again, I am not making any accusations, but I have no idea how this could possibly be happening to Tunsil (who has come off as nothing but great everywhere I have seen him) unless there is a red flag we don’t know about. It could be that Laremy Tunsil is the mystery prospect that failed the drug test at the 2016 NFL Combine which is leading to talk of his “falling down draft boards”.

Let me explain.

First, there were rumors that a “likely 1st round player” has failed a drug test. This was speculated to be Vernon Hargreaves for a long time, however reports are coming out today from multiple sources that say that it wasn’t Hargreaves that failed the test.

This is a pretty big shock because he was almost assumed to be the player in question for nearly a week now for whatever reason and it is evidenced in his fall from most mock drafts. Alright, so if it wasn’t him then who?

Live Feed

Titans re-signing Jeffery Simmons leaves a Hulk-sized footprint in AFC South /

FanSided

Bergkamp FIFA 23 Challenges: How to Complete the Trophy Titans Icon ObjectiveDBLTAP

Other teams should get in on Aaron Rodgers sweepstakesWith the First Pick

3 NFL teams that need to swoop in, steal Aaron Rodgers from the JetsNFL Spin Zone

Will the Tennessee Titans trade up for a quarterback?With the First Pick

Titans could select local product for latest quarterback projectFanSided

I can say for a fact that I have no idea. However, I can say that Laremy Tunsil is a player that could pop up to a lot of General Managers thanks to comments made by his teammate Robert Nkemdiche at the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine.

Look at the way it appeared to everyone when it happened in real time, it looks as if Nkemdiche is trying to say that it was Tunsil’s drugs involved in the incident where he fell out of a window,

“There was no specific implication that the marijuana belonged to Tunsil, but when asked about the inconsistency — he said he was drinking before the marijuana was found in the room — he replied that there were “more people” in his room.

” ‘The hotel was under my name,’ Nkemdiche said. ‘Nobody wanted to take the fall. It had to go under my name. It just happened to play out like that.'”

When you phrase it like he did in real time, it looked as if he was trying to push this on toe Laremy Tunsil’s plate which ended up resulting in an even bigger backlash than if he had just admitted that it was his drugs.

So, now that team’s have questions about his involvement with drugs when a “likely 1st round player” fails a drug test, the name that comes to mind is unfortunately Tunsil’s. It also weirdly corresponds with how some people are just now deciding that maybe he isn’t the top tackle in this draft to everyone.

Last night on an ESPN Mock Draft special, Adam Schefter said that there are some teams that have Ronnie Stanley as the top offensive tackle on their board. That was the first time I had seen someone as big as Schefter come out and say that Tunsil wasn’t the consensus top offensive tackle in this draft after it was a given for so long.

Not only that, but in today’s “Ask Jim” (Jim Wyatt of the Tennessee Titans mailbag column) Wyatt actually addresses the inconsistencies of Tunsil’s grade in an answer:

“Hey Glenn. It’s hard to say. I believe the offensive tackles are in play, from Ronnie Stanley to Jack Conklin to Taylor Decker. How long will Laremy Tunsil be on the board? It’s hard to say which guys will be there for sure, though. In a mock draft I saw the other day, Stanley and Conklin went before Tunsil.“

That is such a crazy thought to me, that Laremy Tunsil would not only fall out of the top-6, but that he would be the THIRD offensive tackle taken when just two weeks ago he was a lock to be drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the 1st overall pick?

I know this is pulling at threads and I don’t think it ultimately says anything bad about Laremy Tunsil’s character if it is true, but there is just so much coincidence and timing going on with all these rumors that I believe if Tunsil falls to 8 and the Cleveland Browns still want to trade down then the Titans should make a big offer to move up those 7 spots to take probably the best player in this draft.

More from Titan Sized

Now, this could all be a smoke screen to put out to the media for someone hoping they can cause a drop, but if Tunsil’s fall keeps getting talked about and we don’t find out who the failed drug test belonged to then there is no other logical option.

Again, I hope I am wrong and that he didn’t do anything wrong and he is still a completely clean prospect on and off the field. If he does fall for whatever reason, the Titans need to make a big play for him because even if they offer the 33rd overall pick (which is more than fair) they could end up landing their guy plus two second round picks, an extra third round pick, and the first and third round picks in 2017. That would be an amazing start to the 2016 NFL Draft.

Home/Titans Draft