Tennessee Titans: Senior Bowl draft trends

What to watch for from the Tennessee Titans at the Senior Bowl.

Jon Robinson, Mike Vrabel, Arthur Smith and a full contingent of Tennessee Titans staff and position coaches are at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. The big question is, what are they looking for?

Obviously every NFL team is represented well at the Senior Bowl and the big reason for that is that this is the only time you get all these players in a free-for-all setting. There are no set number of interviews or defined rules on what an interview means like there is at the NFL Combine.

If the Titans want to talk to Montez Sweat they don’t have to cram all of their questions in a 15 minute session and they don’t have to meet in a room with a chalk board. They can grab him in the lobby and just chat for as long as they want to really get a feel for the person as well as the player.

Ultimately, how important those meetings are end up being different for every team. While those things aren’t quantifiable, you can figure out how many players from the Senior Bowl a team draft.

With that in mind, let’s look at some draft trends from this year’s Senior Bowl and make some guesses.

More from Titans Draft

• Tennessee Titans suspiciously quiet about major draft need
• 3 needs that are being overblown by Tennessee Titans fans
• Tennessee Titans must be careful trading down in the 2023 NFL Draft
• Tennessee Titans should only spend their premium draft picks on offense
• Tennessee Titans connections may be crucial for a draft day trade

Forget the top talent (well kinda)

While Corey Davis was invited to the Senior Bowl, he couldn’t make it for injury reasons. So with that, it should be noted that none of Jon Robinson’s four 1st round draft picks were players at the Senior Bowl.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the Titans have a bias against seniors or anything like that. However, it is important to note that no matter how good interviews have been at the Senior Bowl the Titans have gone in another direction.

I am not eliminating anyone from Tennessee’s draft board for this, but it is something to think about as we go forward with the process. Even if the Titans do get linked with one of the Senior Bowl’s top prospects, it isn’t as telling as you may think.

Day 3 is a small gold mine for the Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans had no 3rd round pick in 2018, but they have had three in the last three years thanks to some moving around by Robinson. It is surprising to note that all three of those picks have been former Senior Bowl player.

The biggest of these names is Kevin Byard who has been nothing short of spectacular for the Tennessee Titans in his three years here.

Taywan Taylor and Jonnu Smith are the other names that round out the trio, and Taylor was a player the Titans actively moved up to get. So what does it mean?

Well, I would guess that the Titans liked what they heard and saw from these smaller school guys. That combination of small school upside and the competitions they won against guys from bigger schools likely made them noteworthy on the Titans big board.

This is the most interesting development I found.

More from Titan Sized

• Tennessee Titans suspiciously quiet about major draft need
• Tennessee Titans agree to new deal with star Jeffery Simmons
• Caesars Promo Code Expires Soon – Claim $1,250 Today
• 3 needs that are being overblown by Tennessee Titans fans
• Tennessee Titans have potential dilemmas in 2023 NFL Draft

Don’t assume a position

I thought one thing I might find is that the Titans identified big positions of need and sought to fill them in the later rounds with some guys they saw in Mobile. A deeper dive revealed opposite.

In 2016, the Titans drafted Senior Bowlers Austin Johnson, Kevin Byard and Sebastian Tretola. DT wasn’t a huge need at that point and safety wasn’t big on anyone’s list even though it needed to be completely retooled.

Tretola was the only one who made a lot of sense as the Titans needed some help on the inside of the offensive line.

In 2017, WR was a big need but the Titans had already solved that with Corey Davis in the first round. The move for Taywan Taylor felt aggressive and made sense at the time, but it was definitely a move they made because of the value that they had on Taylor in the war room, not out of a sense of panic.

After that the Titans went back to the well and drafted Jonnu Smith which again wasn’t a need. The Titans had Pro Bowl TE Delanie Walker primed for another big season, so the Titans felt strongly enough about Smith’s long term upside that they were comfortable passing on inside linebacker which was a huge need (though to be fair they absolutely nailed Jayon Brown in the fifth round).

Quick Conclusion

The Titans seem to see the Senior Bowl as a way to find mid-round talent (specifically round 3) that isn’t necessarily filling a need, but is more about finding the player they think will be best down the road.