NFL: Tennessee Titans nailed 2016 NFL Draft with 3 of the top-25 players

The 2016 NFL Draft class was when Jon Robinson flexed his muscles and got Titans fans ready for years of success.

If you are a Tennessee Titans fan you are familiar with the phrase “In JRob we trust” which originated in the 2016 NFL Draft.

That was Robinson’s first year in charge and despite still needing to clean house of some of the previous regime’s scouts and front office members, he was still able to nail this draft class.

When you see that the Titans had the top pick in the draft, you might think that this was an easy task for a first-year GM. Let me remind you of some of the big questions that Robinson had to deal with in year one.

-How do you fix the running back position? Was DeMarco Murray enough after a year of looking like a bust in Philadelphia?

-Can Taylor Lewan really be your starting left tackle or should you draft Laremy Tunsil and move him over to right tackle.

-Should the Titans take BPA and just go with Joey Bosa and roll the dice on Byron Bell at right tackle?

Despite all of that, Robinson made the best choice as evidenced by the results. Sure, it would have been nice to have Joey Bosa but after wheeling and dealing he ended up with 3 of the 25 best players from that draft according to NFL.com. Or at least, 3 of the 25 most important players.

Those players ended up being:

Jack Conklin, OT: 13th (Drafted 8th overall)

Derrick Henry, RB: 16 (Drafted 45th overall)

Kevin Byard, S: 24 (Drafted 64th overall)

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That is some great value at each of those picks, especially when you remember that being able to land Conklin at all was a steal considering he is the only first round tackle in that class that has played right tackle and he did it at a high enough level to become one of the highest-paid at his position this last offseason.

Also, that doesn’t even include the future picks that Robinson landed in the move.

As the 2020 NFL Draft approaches, it is good to remind everyone of where Robinson’s stretch of great picks started and I would challenge you to go back and find a class where he didn’t land significant contributors and/or Pro Bowl talent.

Being able to find contributors on each day of the draft is the sign of a good GM, but a great GM can consistently find talented players while also consistently filling the depth chart out with above-average backups. That is what Jon Robinson has done in Tennessee.

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