Why this is the most important grader for the Tennessee Titans
By Will Lomas
There are a lot of draft grades, but this is the one that should count for the Tennessee Titans.
The Tennessee Titans had a great draft and it really doesn’t matter a ton what anyone else has to say about it.
Part of this is because (if we are being honest) there is a bias towards bigger markets in these sorts of posts and when the national media does it they usually gloss over what the Titans did giving them an average grade. This is very similar to how you will read people in the national media giving Titans TEs, LBs, CB, and QBs in the 1st rounds of their mock drafts when they are very rarely even taken inside the top three rounds.
The other part is because a grading system only works on balance. If one guy gives out A+/A grades for more than half the teams and doesn’t give anyone an “F” then isn’t a “B” the new “D” grade?
So, the question is how do you find someone without clear biases and who also uses the full grade sheet? Well, thanks to this great tweet we do have a candidate:
https://twitter.com/RNBWCV/status/1123953137897832448
The great Thor Nystrom of Rotoworld (who is a must follow on Twitter) turns out to be the right combination of a grader who uses the full spectrum and as far as I know he is pretty fair even though I think he is partial to the Minnesota Vikings.
So, what did he give the Tennessee Titans? Well, as many of you know he was a big fan of what GM Jon Robinson did and the Titans were one of two teams to get an “A+”.
"“This is how you do it. Simmons was an inspired pick — he likely would have gone in the top-10 if not for the ACL tear — and Brown, Hooker and Walker were all mega-steals. There’s like a 22% chance that A.J. Brown will end up as this class’ best receiver when we look back in 20 years. And his floor is as a volume-reception Leonard Fournette-sized athletic big slot. A.J. Brown is worth this slot even if he never develops even 1% better. What he is right now will play in the NFL. And he’s probably going to keep improving.”"
I tend to agree with everything he says. Many of you know that I didn’t like the Jeffery Simmons pick at first because the Titans will probably have to redshirt him in 2019, but the first round isn’t the only round of the draft.
Robinson went on to find starting caliber players at positions of need like receiver and right guard while also finding a potential steal in D’Andre Walker.
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While the Titans may not have found an elite EDGE like I think they should have, they added talented guys who should play when healthy in the first three rounds and backed that up with drafting for depth and getting special teams players on Day 3.
Don’t forget that Sharif Finch played special teams for much of his entire rookie season before earning more reps with the defense. He then went on to have 1.5 sacks for the season which tied Brian Orakpo, but the difference was that Finch got to that number in 206 snaps compared to Orakpo’s 572.
This path from special teams to subpackage snaps could be the way that any of the Day 3 guys get on the field in 2019, so it is important to note that they all fit the criteria as players who will be active on gameday.
Many people graded the Titans 2019 NFL Draft highly, but because of how evenly he graded the draft it seems to mean a little more when he says it. So fans should be excited that Nashville was one of the best NFL Draft host cities on the same weekend that Jon Robinson nailed the actual draft.