Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson’s 5 best draft picks: Defense

How has Jon Robinson transformed the Tennessee Titans from a liability to the strength of the team?

Yesterday I covered the five best picks that  Jon Robinson has made on the offensive side of the ball. Let’s check the other side of that coin and see which five picks the Tennessee Titans GM has made on defense that stand out.

Robinson has been pretty balanced in how he has used his draft picks, spending 10 on offense and 12 on defense in his first three years. However, he has been much more successful on the defensive side of the ball which bears out when you look at the improvement since he has been in charge.

Here is where the Tennessee Titans ranked in points per game allowed (the lower number is better) and sacks:

2016: T-16th (22.3 ppg), T-24th (28 sacks)

2017: 17th (22.3 ppg), T-18th (35 sacks)

2018: 3rd (18.9 ppf), T-10th (47 sacks)

Despite staying level from 2016 to 2017, the Titans made a huge jump in points per game last year despite injuries forcing key players to miss games frequently and the return of Andrew Luck.

On the other hand, total sacks has seen a stead increase in production despite different people thriving. I give a lot of credit for last year’s production to DC Dean Pees who was just amazing, finding ways to get that kind of production when the starting EDGEs only accounted for 1 sack combined.

However, like every team it is about the “Jimmys and Joes not the Xs and Os” so which new players contributed the most to this success?