Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson proves you wrong…again.
So, two weeks ago there were a lot of people ready to burn Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson in the streets for not going out and trading a Day 1/2 draft pick for a wide receiver.
While the Titans definitely need another receiver to step up long term, everyone that was ready to bash Jon Robinson needs to take two steps WAY back.
Since then (and really even before that for people who were paying attention) the Titans are 2-0 with wins over the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys on the road.
During that stretch, the receiver that Robinson trusted to step up (Corey Davis) has shown that he is a talented wide receiver who can be a WR1, all he needs is time for his QB and targets.
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This dominance from Davis has allowed other receivers to get open in make play. Guys like Cameron Batson and Darius Jennings are making all the plays they need to make to keep this offense going.
It wasn’t 10 days ago when fans were saying that Robinson made a huge mistake taking Davis in the draft and listing off other players the Titans could have gotten instead. People were throwing Jon Robinson under the bus like these nice folks:
Fire Jon Robinson
— parker (@pndrsn) November 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/PoppinEmpire/status/1059949059362959361
Those are just some of the cleaner ones I could fine, but the point is people have really short memories and while there have been some miscues, Jon Robinson has shown that he is going to make great decisions come draft time and he rarely allows a position to stay bad for long.
I am here to tell you exactly why Jon Robinson was much smarter than most gave him credit for.
Firstly, let’s talk about the last big move at receiver that Jon Robinson did make. The Titans took Corey Davis 5th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, over fellow top-10 wide receivers John Ross and Mike Williams. And here is why he did that:
-Receiver was a big need.
-Davis is younger than both.
-He was the most productive WR in NCAA history.
-The Titans needed someone who could win in multiple ways and from multiple positions which is exactly what they got.
-Everyone who watched them without bias agreed that Davis was the top WR prospect in that draft.
That pick made all the sense in the world and it makes even more sense now when you look at how much better he has been than the other two receivers:
Just a reminder that Corey Davis has more yards this year than John Ross and Mike Williams do combined for their entire careers. #Titans
— Ran GMC(arthon) (@jlomas72) November 14, 2018
At the time and even into this past offseason, the pick was criticized because the thought process was that the Titans should have taken Ohio State CB Marshon Lattimore over Corey Davis and just wait until later to find a receiver.
Instead, Jon Robinson took Davis high and waited for Adoree Jackson later in the draft.
I will be honest, I didn’t think Jackson was a 1st round talent coming out. I thought he was a guy that was going to take a few years to really develop and even then I wasn’t sure he could ever be a CB1.
Fast forward to last week and Jackson nearly single handedly dismantled the Patriots offensive gameplan by shadowing Josh Gordon and refusing to give up anything meaningful despite seeing plenty of targets.
In fact, if you look at Adoree Jackson and Marshon Lattimore’s careers side by side I am not so sure that the Titans didn’t end up with the better cornerback:
Over their careers these the numbers for each player:
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Adoree Jackson:
-96 receptions allowed on 165 targets (58%)
-80.2 (passer rating when targeted)
-5:25 (TDs allowed compared to interceptions and passes deflected)
Marshon Lattimore:
-64 receptions allowed on 108 targets (59%)
-83.5 (passer rating when targeted)
-2:28 (TDs allowed compared to interceptions and passes deflected)
So Jackson is better in terms of completions allowed and passer rating allowed, while Lattimore has made done a better job tipping passes and coming up with interceptions.
Even if Jackson isn’t better than Lattimore he is definitely very close. Not only that, but Jackson is trending in the right direction while Lattimore is regressing in all of the stats mentioned above.
The best way to probably think about it is this, knowing what we know now would you rather have:
-Corey Davis and Adoree Jackson
Or
-Marshon Lattimore and Zay Jones (the next receiver drafted)
So before we criticize Jon Robinson for going against group think, remember this. He trusted his evaluation in the 2017 NFL Draft and it served him well despite the backlash it got for nearly a full year.
This year he was most heavily criticized for not trading a 3rd round pick for Golden Tate. Since Robinson decided not to make that move, the Titans are averaging 31 points per game and Corey Davis has 180 yards and a TD while Tate only has 2 receptions for 19 yards in that span.
To me it is clear, and it just serves as a good reminder as Rashaan Evans and Harold Landry keep developing that Jon Robinson has a really good eye for talent. You can pick out things you don’t like from every GM in the NFL because no one is perfect.
However, the Titans have a great GM in Jon Robinson and everyone needs to stop having panic attacks every time he doesn’t make the exact move we want because more often than not he is smarter than we are.