2020 NFL Draft: Favorite prospects for the Tennessee Titans in first five rounds
By Brady Akins
A quick list of draft prospects who pass my eye test and would be fantastic roster fits for the Titans
You know that feeling you get deep down in your gut when you’ve watched the tape on a college player who you just know is going to be an NFL star? The feeling that you’ve found the next “can’t-miss” prospect? That’s a draft crush, and if you follow football, it’s unavoidable.
Draft crushes form in all of us, and I’m no exception. In the 2016 NFL Draft, in dire need of some offensive line help, the Tennessee Titans had one of the best offensive tackle prospects in college fall into their laps at the eighth pick with Laremy Tunsil. The Titans were projected by many to take Tunsil with the first overall pick before they traded down, and there he was, still on the board at eight. It felt like I was walking on air, I couldn’t be happier.
I had fallen in football-love with Tunsil. I had watched Ole Miss games just to see him play, I read up on any scouting report I could find and watched way more offensive line tape than any normal human ever should. But football-love only ever leads to football-heartbreak, as the Titans passed on Tunsil for Jack Conklin.
Of course, that Conklin pick paid off well. Tunsil is a solid player in the NFL, but Conklin helped establish one of the league’s best rushing teams over the last four years. Even if he’s gone now, that was a worthwhile pick.
Despite Tunsil not panning out the way I thought he would, that doesn’t change how I felt about his potential out of college. And he isn’t a one time deal either. Draft crushes form every season, the players that you just know are destined to be the future faces of the league. And you could have them on YOUR team, playing important minutes early at positions of need.
2020 is no different. From top to bottom, there are players throughout this class that I’ve talked myself into as future Titans stars. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to make the case for each of them.