Now that the Tennessee Titans’ season is over, it’s time to reflect on the teams’ best and worst decisions of the NFL Draft over the last couple of years.
We are a little less than two months away from the start of the new league year, an exciting time for NFL franchises and their fans because their team has a chance to make the necessary moves to possibly go on an eventual Super Bowl run.
As cliche as it is, every NFL team truly is a couple of great offseasons away from becoming a legitimate contender, or possibly even a champion.
The current NFC champions out of San Francisco are a living testament to that. From 2015-2018, the 49ers won a combined 17 games. Following a 4-12 season in 2018, they received the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft in which they selected Nick Bosa out of Ohio State, among other immediate contributors that were selected later on that weekend.
The 2019 49ers went on to become the last unbeaten team in the league and eventually finished 13-3, which was good enough to secure home-field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs.
With a Super Bowl victory on Sunday, they will have won 16 games during the 2019 season alone, one short of their total from the previous four years combined. And, not to mention, a Super Bowl title after picking in the top two last year.
The NFL Draft in particular is where you’re going to set your foundation and eventually make your breakthrough.
The Titans hired General Manager Jon Robinson back in 2016 and have been blessed with one of the best drafting general managers ever since.
Robinson has a knack for drafting well due to his experience as a former scout. Those years helped him develop a real eye for talent and his draft classes since his arrival are extremely evident of that.
His tenure as general manager hasn’t been perfect. He has missed on some picks in the past. However, the man known as J-Rob doesn’t need to bat a thousand to prove that he’s one of the best general managers in the league — his resume does that for him.
He took over a team that was 5-27 over a two-year span and turned them into a winning team the very next year, a playoff team the year after that, and then an AFC finalist two years after that.
This article is going to discuss some of the draft decisions the Titans made in order to make that drastic turnaround in such a short time. I will also cover some of the biggest draft blunders that the team had to overcome along the way.
With all that being said, in no particular order, lets go ahead and start discussing some of the key draft moves that eventually paved the way for a successful 2019 and beyond.
King’s ransom trade of 2016
Arguably Jon Robinson’s best move of his young general manager career thus far came in his first year as the team’s GM. Robinson decided to swap the No. 1 overall pick for a plethora of picks from the Rams back in 2016.
The Rams, desperate for a franchise quarterback, traded six picks in total to the Titans, including two first-round picks, two second-rounders, and two third-round selections.
The Titans essentially swapped the rights to quarterback Jared Goff for running back Derrick Henry, offensive tackle Jack Conklin, tight end Jonnu Smith, wide receiver Corey Davis, and defensive tackle Austin Johnson.
Of all those players the Titans selected with those picks, four of them eventually became full-time starters, meanwhile Johnson became a key rotational player.
The real cream of the crop here is Henry. Tennessee selected the former Heisman Trophy-winning running back with the 45th overall pick. Every year Henry has consistently taken a step towards becoming a true workhorse back, and he finally achieved that goal in 2019.
The Titans’ running back won the NFL rushing title after running for 1,540 yards during the regular season. He then went bananas in January by rushing for 446 yards in his team’s three playoff games.
Henry finished his 2019 season/postseason with an absurd 1,986 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns (18 rushing, two receiving, and one passing).
Prior to making the trade that ultimately landed Henry among others, there were plenty of rumors out there at the time that the Titans were heavily considering cornerback Jalen Ramsey, EDGE Joey Bosa or offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil had they stuck with their original pick.
All of them are fantastic players and would have helped improve the team no doubt. However, Robinson found a way to turn a roster that was extremely deficient of talent into a competitive team in his first offseason — and had the team in the playoffs by year two, while also finding their face of the franchise in the process.
That’s something that probably doesn’t happen if the Titans don’t receive the “King’s ransom” that Jon Robinson was undoubtedly looking for and received.
Game-changing top picks
It’s not a secret that championship teams are often built through the draft. In order to set the foundation for your team for years to come, you must be spot on with your draft picks, especially in the earlier rounds where the likelihood of finding a game-changing talent is a lot higher than the later rounds.
Titans general manager Jon Robinson has been fantastic at selecting early on in the draft, and in particular over the last two years when he has gotten not only four starters, but four game-changing talents as well.
Since 2018, the Titans have selected linebackers Rashaan Evans and Harold Landry, as well as defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and wide receiver A.J. Brown with their last four picks in the first two rounds of the draft.
The Titans traded up to select both Evans and Landry back in 2018 and the fact that Tennessee found a way to get both was mind boggling to Robinson and Titans fans everywhere.
There were multiple rumors that the Titans were going to select Landry with their original first-round pick. Instead, they decided to be aggressive and go and get the guy they really coveted in Evans. The Titans knew this meant they likely let their chance at Landry slip away but they were content with the decision anyways.
However, as the draft played itself out, Landry kept sliding and once he got to the No. 41 pick, Robinson decided to pounce and get the guy he truly coveted once again. Both players have been fantastic for the Titans thus far and both took a giant leap from year one to year two.
Evans is a madman who goes sideline to sideline and wreaked havoc during the team’s latest playoff run. Evans finished the 2019 season with 129 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, and one defensive touchdown.
Meanwhile, Landry has a ‘Gumby’ like bend that often allows him to get around even the best offensive tackles in the league. Landry continues to develop counter moves and is likely going to continue getting better with experience.
Landry led the team in 2019 in sacks and reached double digits for the first time in his career (including playoffs). The talented pass-rusher finished with 75 tackles, 10 sacks, one interception, and 13 tackles for loss.
What the Titans have gotten from Evans and Landry is clearly the type of production you’d hope to get from your top-two picks.
The very next year Robinson once again landed two game-changing talents with the top-two selections in the 2019 NFL draft.
In fact, a very strong argument can be made that last years top-two selections were even better than 2018’s top two, and that’s saying something.
With The Titans’ top-two picks in 2019, they selected Simmons and Brown. Prior to a pre-draft knee injury, Simmons was graded as the second-best overall player in the draft, according to NFL.com.
The former Mississippi State star was considered by many as a slam dunk pick, but many failed to take the chance on him due to the risk of him possibly being red shirted his rookie year.
Robinson felt that the reward far outweighed the risk, therefore he decided to select Simmons with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2019 draft. The rookie defensive tackle missed the entire offseason training program due to his rehab, but it wasn’t exactly a secret that he was way ahead of schedule.
Then, Christmas came in October when Simmons was finally ready to hit the field for the team’s Week 7 game against the Chargers.
In his debut, the monstrous defensive lineman recorded four tackles, two tackles for loss, and a quarterback sack in the team’s 23-20 win over the Chargers. He also made plenty of plays that won’t show up on the stat sheet, which is something that was consistent the rest of the year.
Simmons was a force on defense, as he often used his massive size and brute strength to plug opposing running lanes. The more productive he was, the more he took on double teams, which may have limited his stat line; however his mere presence alone would often allow his teammates to excel on defense.
Although it’s early in his career, Simmons has displayed the potential to possibly develop into one of the game’s more dominant defensive lineman. The thought of how good Simmons can be with a full offseason of actually preparing and practicing with his teammates as opposed to rehabbing should have Titans fans counting down the days until the start of the season.
The Titans’ first-round pick finished his strong rookie year with 35 total tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery.
And then there’s the team’s second-round selection (No. 51 overall): Brown.
Brown was phenomenal during his rookie campaign in Tennessee. From his very first game he let the league know that he belonged. Brown reached the 100-yard threshold five times on the year and averaged an explosive 20.2 yards per reception.
What makes Brown so special is he has the heart and determination to be great to combine with his God-given talents. He never settles and always wants to get better at something.
Titans fans have no reason to doubt that with that type of mindset combined with the natural talent he already possesses, he can be one of the best receivers in the league one day. He’s already one of the best receivers at creating separation at the line of scrimmage at such a young age. The sky seemingly is the limit for the Titans’ rookie receiver.
Brown eventually became everything the team hoped their former No. 5 overall pick would be. The Titans rookie was the unquestioned No.1 receiver by the end of the year and ended the season on a tear by going over 110 receiving yards in four of the team’s final six games, and he had six total touchdowns in as many games .
The former Ole Miss star receiver finished his rookie year with 52 catches for 1,051 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns on the year, numbers that have earned Brown a potential nod for Offensive Rookie of the Year later this week at the ‘NFL Honors’ show.
Ability to find hidden gems
As great as Robinson is at picking early in the draft, you could make a very strong argument that he’s even better on days two and three than he is on the first day. And in case you skipped the previous slide for whatever reason, he’s pretty decent in the earlier rounds as well.
Since Robinson took over in 2016, the Titans have selected safety Kevin Byard, tight end Jonnu Smith and right guard Nate Davis in the third round, linebacker Jayon Brown and wide receiver Tajae Sharpe in the fifth round, and linebackier David Long in the sixth round.
In the previous slide, I mentioned how impressive it was that the Titans found four key starters with their top-four picks over the last two years. It may be even more impressive that the team has found four key starters in the last four years in rounds three through seven, while also finding contributing role players such as Sharpe and Long, among others.
In fact, Byard and Brown are more than just key starters. Those two are full-blown stars on this defense and are both in the conversation for the best in the league at their respective positions.
Byard in particular became the highest-paid safety in NFL history, and every cent was rightfully earned. Byard has a mind-blowing 18 interceptions since taking over as a full time starter in 2017, by far the most interceptions in that span.
The Titans’ superstar safety is more than just a ball hawk, also.
Byard missed two tackles on 55 attempts (3.6 percent) this season. The second lowest percentage out of the 66 defensive backs that qualified.
For perspective, the league average on missed tackles for a defensive back is approximately 15 percent. Not bad for someone who was passed on 63 times in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Robinson’s ability to draft well, especially in the later rounds, is arguably the main reason why this franchise went from a team that won five out of their previous 32 games, to a team that was one win away from the Super Bowl just a few years later.
Every single year Robinson has helped this team take a step forward towards becoming a contender, and last year they finally had the breakthrough. Titans fans should have all the confidence in the world that Robinson will now help the team take the next step from contender to champion sooner rather than later.
Now that we have went over J-Rob’s best draft moves, let’s take a look at the rare but occasional poor draft decisions that Robinson has made during his tenure as Titans GM.
Kevin Dodd Debacle
There is no denying that Titans general manager is not perfect. He too has shown he is human by having his fair share of draft blunders since taking over in 2016. However, his hit rate far outweighs his miss rate, therefore you can live with the occasional whiff.
There has been no bigger swing and miss during Robinson’s tenure than when he selected Kevin Dodd with the No. 33 pick in the 2016 draft. The former college standout was perceived by many as a player on the rise after his fantastic final year at Clemson where he finished with 12.5 sacks.
That was never the case in Tennessee, unfortunately, as he became someone who failed to really do anything impactful during his tenure as a Titan. Dodd even went AWOL on the team by failing to report to training camp prior to the 2018 season, which ultimately led to his release from the team. He finished his career with just 12 tackles and one sack.
To add salt to the wound, some of the players that were selected after Dodd included wide receiver Michael Thomas, linebacker Jaylon Smith, defensive tackle Chris Jones, cornerback Xavien Howard, tight end Hunter Henry, defensive end Myles Jack, and linebacker Deion Jones, to name a few.
Those are all players who could have impacted Tennessee in one way or another. However, every general manager is going to miss on picks. The key is to be right more often than not and that is something that we can all comfortably say Robinson has done.
The game-changing miss of 2017
Another one of the Titans’ biggest draft blunders occurred in 2017 when the team selected a talented wide receiver out of the university of Western Michigan. Corey Davis has no doubt been a productive receiver on this Titans team, but when you invest a top-five selection on someone — a wide receiver nonetheless — you expect game-changing results.
Since being drafted, Davis has failed to total over 900 yards and more than four touchdowns in a single season. Davis also lost his spot as the team’s No. 1 receiver to rookie phenomenon A.J. Brown as the year played out.
Now, let me set the record straight: I’m in no way indicating that Davis is a bust or the team should move on from him. Davis is a fantastic blocking receiver and does a lot of the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
He is a selfless player that is sometimes forgotten about in this offense. There is no denying that he has the talent to breakout at any moment if given the proper opportunity, especially now that he has a consistent passing attack, something he did not have until Week 7 of this year when the team decided to make the switch to Ryan Tannehill at quarterback.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that he has failed to truly break out thus far and was chosen over eventual superstars such as Jamal Adams, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Christian McCaffrey and Marshon Lattimore, he has earned a spot as one of Robinson’s misses.
Turned 3rd-round investment into 7th-round payoff
The Titans selected speedy wide receiver Taywan Taylor out of the university of Western Kentucky in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Taylor was expected to be the explosive receiver that the team could count on for an occasional big play.
Unfortunately for both Taylor and the Titans, that never came to fruition, as the former Western Kentucky Hilltopper seemed to be in over his head more often than not. He often seemed to help the defense make a big play just as much as he would occasionally help the offense.
When he wasn’t dropping balls he often seemed to be in the wrong place, leading to incomplete passes, and even turnovers occasionally.
The inconsistency became overwhelming to the point that Robinson decided to take the “L” on this one by trading Taylor to the Browns prior to the start of the 2019 regular season.
The Titans received a seventh-round pick for a third-round investment, not exactly the type of payout you want for someone you expected to be in your plans for years to come.
Taylor might not have panned out the way the Titans had hoped, but considering everything I covered earlier in the article, I think you can live with the occasional Kevin Dodd or Taywan Taylor selection.