Titan Sized
FanSided

Tennessee Titans 14th best option in the 2019 NFL Draft: D.K. Metcalf

By Will Lomas

OXFORD, MS - SEPTEMBER 8: D.K. Metcalf #14 of the Mississippi Rebels catches a pass for a touchdown during a game against the Southern Illinois Salukis at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Rebels defeated the Salukis 76-41. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS - SEPTEMBER 8: D.K. Metcalf #14 of the Mississippi Rebels catches a pass for a touchdown during a game against the Southern Illinois Salukis at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Oxford, Mississippi. The Rebels defeated the Salukis 76-41. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Tennessee Titans could end up with the biggest question mark in the 2019 NFL Draft.

With five prospects down, the names that the Tennessee Titans could end up with are starting to get bigger and bigger.

I already connected the Titans with a wide receiver, so this pick shouldn’t come out of nowhere but this is one of the most divisive prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Let’s go ahead and get into it. Before that, here is a reminder of the rules for this list:

-Nick Bosa, Quinnen Williams and Josh Allen will be gone barring a huge 1st round trade that is nearly impossible to imagine. They can’t be included in this list.

-Which of the players available specifically make the Tennessee Titans better.

-Don’t treat this as a big board, some positions won’t be brought up because there is no one talented enough that can come in and be an instant improvement over what the Titans already have.

-While long term help is important, consider what this player does for Tennessee short term and if they will help reduce the hit of free agent departures in the future.

Which player is the 14th best option for the Tennessee Titans in the 1st round?

More from Titans Draft

D.K. Metcalf WR, Ole Miss

Remember after the combine, how everyone thought that Metcalf was going to go in the top-5 to the Oakland Raiders.

Then after people took a hard look at the agility portion of the combine he fell to the Buffalo Bills, but was still in the top-10?

Well now it is anyone’s guess on where he is going to go. Many people are quick to point out that the reason for that is the defensive talent, saying that he is the WR1 in this draft but I just don’t think NFL teams think that.

Metcalf is entering the NFL with some big red flags. No matter how well he would have projected if he played a full season, he never had a dominant year of college football and he only had more than 600 yards once in his college career.

On top of that, a reason why he didn’t top that number twice was because he had a season ending neck injury last year. I don’t know the lingering effects of that, but the same thing happened to Clemson’s Mike Williams in his penultimate season and he has never lived up to the “upside” he was supposed to have.

With the negatives out of the way, let’s focus on what he can do really well in the NFL.

More from Titan Sized

Metcalf has all the makings of a dominant deep threat. While his numbers don’t show it, he routinely beat DBs with speed and size but his QB could rarely make the most of it.

Through that bad QB play we did get to see his ability to make some amazing catches including catching deep balls that he had to stretch his 6’3 frame all the way out to catch on his fingertips.

That is what Metcalf is, a deep threat. Nothing more and nothing less, at least for now.

If that doesn’t sound worth a 1st round pick then…you are right. For most teams spending a first round pick on a WR who will only really help you on deep passes is a bad idea.

However, for the Tennessee Titans it is the one element they are really missing from their offense.

Corey Davis is the WR1 on that roster and Adam Humphries is a top-end slot receiver. Throw in Delanie Walker and either running back for the Titans and you have four players who all have carved out roles.

The one thing they don’t have is something to keep defenders from blitzing and loading the box to stop the run. If you add Metcalf to the equation, suddenly everything opens up for the offense.

If the Titans understand his limitations and the fact that he would probably need to come off the field a lot while he was refining his game, then he would make sense as the missing link in this offense.

In a year where the offense really has to preform better, the Titans need to be firing on all cylinders. If not then they are putting themselves in a really difficult situation in the 2020 offseason as they try to figure out what to do at quarterback going forward.

Home/Titans Draft