Tennessee Titans best move of the offseason: Honorable mentions
By Will Lomas
Using the 2019 NFL Draft as a way to inject long term talent into the roster, not just adding band-aids.
It isn’t hard to look back over Jon Robinson’s career and predict which players or positions he likes the most. If you have a certain level of production, were a long time starter and fit a position of need you then make it on to the short list of potential Tennessee Titans selections on Days 1 and 2 of the NFL Draft.
However, this year was a little bit different. Jeffery Simmons was the team’s first round selection despite the fact that he will miss at least half of the 2019 campaign due to an ACL injury suffered in February.
Defensive tackle was a major need going forward, but it isn’t like there weren’t other options for the Titans at 19. Instead of looking elsewhere, Robinson saw one name left that stood in a tier of talent separate from the rest of the available players.
In the past, Robinson may have moved up or down to try to find a way to increase assets or to get a player who can play immediately. Instead, he understood exactly how the draft could fall and maximized his value adding a potential Pro Bowl DT in Simmons.
He followed that up with developmental/value players in every single round.
-I ranked A.J. Brown as the 2nd best offseason addition already
-Nate Davis could compete in year 1 for a spot at RG
-Amani Hooker will see the field now but potentially could take over the starting nickel role for Logan Ryan if he leaves in free agency
-D’Andre Walker is a great option as the EDGE3 going forward and will compete for snaps early in his career.
-David Long could be a special teams player from day one and potentially fight for the 3rd LB job in 2020.
It is hard to really solidify this into a specific “move” that really stood out, but it was more like a series of moves that sets up the Titans roster to be deep at key positions while also adding top-end talent.