Is this the Tennessee Titans biggest offseason regret?
By Will Lomas
Is drafting a player that many believed was a top-5 talent in the 2019 NFL Draft the Tennessee Titans biggest regret of the offseason?
Bleacher Report published an article today where they broke down the biggest offseason regret for every NFL team, which obviously includes the Tennessee Titans.
Kristopher Knox’s said that the Titans biggest regret was (or should be) taking Mississippi State DT, Jeffery Simmons with the 19th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The basis of his argument was this:
"“The reason the Titans could come to regret their gamble on Simmons is that they passed on premier receiving prospects like Noah Fant, Marquise Brown and N’Keal Harry to get him. Tennessee did add A.J. Brown in Round 2, but it could have added, say, Fant and A.J. or Marquise and A.J. at the top of the draft instead.”"
Well, no. I mean, sure the Tennessee Titans could have drafted either Noah Fant (TE, Iowa), Marquise Brown (WR, Oklahoma) or N’Keal Harry, but why would they?
The Titans skill positions look like this post draft:
WR: Corey Davis, A.J. Brown, Adam Humphries, Taywan Taylor, Tajae Sharpe
TE: Delanie Walker, Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt, Anthony Firkser
If they selected Hollywood or Harry they would just be competing with A.J. Brown for the 2nd receiver position on the boundary. At best you are wasting the $9 million per year that you JUST spent on Humphries, and at worst you are wasting your 1st or 2nd round pick.
Then you look at Noah Fant, but what would his role have been? Tight ends are historically one of the worst preforming positions in their rookie years with very few making any notable impact at all even when they get volume.
Not only would a rookie TE not make an immediate impact as a starter, but Fant wouldn’t even see meaningful snaps on offense unless there is an injury at TE before the season starts.
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In the “ideal scenario” that Knox proposes, the Titans end up with someone buried on the depth chart with a smaller chance to make an impact in 2019 than Jeffery Simmons.
However, in his own words Knox says that, “Simmons does have the potential to be an elite NFL talent—assuming he can get back to pre-injury form.”
In his scenario someone gets buried on the depth chart for the next four years behind the winner of that camp battle or you take a tight end that may never start for you.
If you look at reality, the Titans ended up with a potentially elite talent that they may get for the last six games of the season at a major position of need without really passing up on any starter that would have provided immediate impact.
I guess if that is the Titans biggest concern then they absolutely nailed this offseason. Something Knox actually backs up when he says that the L.A. Rams letting Rodger Saffold go was their biggest regret of the offseason.