Tennessee Titans: Shaun Calderon’s ideal 7-round NFL Mock Draft

Round 2 Pick 61:

Justin Madubuike – DT, Texas A&M

Justin Madubuike (pronounced MAD-aye-boo-kay) is an explosive defensive lineman who is tough to stop when he is on his game. His explosive first step is tough for offensive lineman to react to and his unique athleticism is evident in the way he moves fluidly while maintaining tremendous pad level in order to gain leverage on the opposition.

He has a multitude of moves to get off blocks due to his ability to use his hands effectively which often disrupts rushing attacks in their place. Although he is a tremendous athlete for someone his size, he doesn’t possess the power you’d ideally like for a defensive tackle.

The Texas A&M product introduced himself to the country as a sophomore after earning the team’s Defensive Most Valuable Player award after starting 12 of 13 games and leading the squad with three forced fumbles and 6.5 sacks among his 40 tackles, and 10.5 TFL’s.

He then led his team with 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in 12 games (11 starts) as a junior; he also intercepted a pass, broke up two others and blocked a kick in another dominating season. At the NFL level, Madubuike will likely be an undersized athletic defensive lineman who lacks NFL mass, but gets wins with leverage, strength and quickness.

Madubuike played in front of blockers in college due to being able to win athletically more often than not, however, he is more likely to be schemed as a moving target where teams can use his quickness and athletic ability to their benefit.

Unfortunately for Madubuike, he will likely be limited at the NFL level due to his size and scheme limitations which could prove to be a blessing in disguise should he in fact fall to the 61st pick. Tennessee could be the perfect place for him because he won’t be forced to come in and save the group with Jeffery Simmons and Daquan Jones already on the roster.

Despite Madubuike physical limitations, he displayed significant progress over the past two seasons and will be productive at the next level if placed into the right situation.

The Titans have been among the teams to show the most interest in the talented defensive lineman. They’ve met in person prior to the cut-off in early march, and have met virtually through video conference calls since then as well.

If the former Aggie does fall to the 61st pick, I can definitely see a team like Tennessee who often values tape over percentile projections, taking a chance on one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the 2020 NFL draft class.