Tennessee Titans 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Free Agency update

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: Shaquem Griffin
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: Shaquem Griffin /
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What could the 2018 NFL Draft look like today for the Tennessee Titans?

The Tennessee Titans made some really good moves in free agency at two big positions of need.

Arguably, the Titans have filled two of their top four needs at running back at cornerback with the additions of Dion Lewis and Malcolm Butler respectively.

So now with Tennessee fielding an even more complete roster, the draft becomes murkier. While needs at EDGE and LB stand out like a sore thumb, Jon Robinson has put himself in position to really go with best player available consistently.

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Of course, Robinson believes in filling holes before anything else. So it is challenging to mock exactly what I think he will do. This is what makes sense to me at this point.

Round 1, pick 25: Leighton Vander Esch LB, Boise State

The Tennessee Titans need a young linebacker who plays with enough sand to make tackles vs the run. However, in today’s NFL fielding a slow plodding LB is a great way to get your defense gashed.

So the Titans find a talented linebacker at the end of the first round in large part to the two bigger names at LB allowing him to slide down the board.

Now the Titans base defense has LVE/Woodyard in on base downs with Jayon Brown being the nickel LB.

Round 2, pick 57: Hercules Mata’afa EDGE, Washington State

I was very high on Mata’afa before the combine, and I am still very high on him now. However, since he didn’t blow away the athletic testing, teams are going to be even more afraid of dealing with his position switch in exchange for a first round pick.

With other fringe first round players like Sam Hubbard, Lorenzon Carter and Arden Key filling out the top-50 the Titans could get a steal in Mata’afa here.

Round 3, pick 89: Shaquem Griffin LB/EDGE/ST, UCF

I am not a sucker for a sappy story, but man I want to root for Griffin going forward. Luckily, his film and athletic numbers make his success more of a likelihood than a random chance.

The Titans need bodies at LB and youth at EDGE, there is no reason why double dipping at both positions with a versatile player like Griffin is anything but a win/win. With his attitude, ability,  effort, and production the Titans would be lucky to land Griffin here.

Round 4, pick 125: Mike White QB, WKU

Since transferring to WKU, White has been very productive putting up over 60 TDs in that time without ever topping single digit INTs in a year.

While the system he plays in, the school he plays at, and his ANY/A will make him hard to draft on the first two days, he is a great Day 3 prospect.

White should be a nice QB2 behind Marcus Mariota in this offense and he should be able to thrive in a QB friendly system like LaFleur’s. The Titans not only end up with a competent backup, but they could actually have someone to use as trade bait or to land a comp pick down the road depending on how he pans out.

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Round 5, pick 162: Braxton Berrios WR, Miami

While he doesn’t have the college production of someone like Cole Beasley, I can’t help but see a lot of that same role in him. It seems like every time I watched a Miami game this year it was Berrios making an important catch or a touchdown.

Now the Tennessee Titans would have five wide receivers that can bring different things to the offense and both Taywan Taylor and Berrios should have the athleticism to play on special teams and stay active on the game day roster.

Round 6, pick 199: Christian Sam LB, AZST

There weren’t a lot of players left on the board, so I couldn’t find much talent at some other positions like safety.

However, Sam is worth taking a flier on and if you consider Griffin an EDGE player then this would give the Titans 6 LBs and 6 EDGE players with Kevin Dodd still on the roster.