The Titans added Isaiah Wilson to the team last night with the 29th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, so I broke down his strengths, weaknesses, and day one projection with the team.
Welcome to the show, Isaiah Wilson!
Jon Robinson, Mike Vrabel, and the Tennessee Titans brought Georgia’s redshirt sophomore right tackle into the NFL last night with the 29th overall pick.
After rumors that the Titans were looking to trade down from their first-round began to spread hours before the draft began, Tennessee held firm and got their guy, and maybe we should have seen that coming from a mile away.
Not only does Wilson play a position of need on the Titans roster, but he also fills the role of “quintessential Jon Robinson draft pick.” A massive, physical tackle standing tall at 6’6” and weighing in at 350 pounds, Wilson has the brute strength to knock smaller defenders into the ground and clear the running lanes that Tennessee will need in order to pull off another playoff run.
Robinson’s Titans rosters have prided themselves over the years of being physical football teams. Hard-nosed, hand in the dirt, tough players playing a downhill-running brand of football that the rest of the league seems to be straying away from. The Titans look like they are continuing to build on that identity with the Wilson pick, and why wouldn’t they? It’s been working, now all that’s left to do is run it back with Derrick Henry and now Isaiah Wilson creating space on the right side.
But is Wilson the right type of player to plug and play from Day One? Or will he be fighting tooth and nail with the veteran Dennis Kelly for that starting job at right tackle? With a new player on the team, it’s worth learning as much about him as we can. So let’s talk a little about the newest Tennessee Titan, Isaiah Wilson.
Isaiah Wilson’s Weaknesses:
Wilson has been described as a “traits-based” prospect by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, which makes sense for a couple of reasons. For one, the right tackle only played two seasons of football with the Georgia Bulldogs and doesn’t have a ton of active football experience to learn from.
Not that Wilson can’t make the jump into the NFL after only two seasons of college football, but not having more game-action might make the transition to the next level a bit more overwhelming than it would have been if he had stayed in college for at least another year.
Adding to his lack of experience, Wilson never truly got to perfect his technique at the college level. For as much as Wilson’s size helped him to win battles against defenders, he would lose more often than you would like to see due to some deficiencies in the technical side of his game.
Wilson is a developmental prospect for sure, and has a lot he’ll have to learn on the fly in the NFL. If he can put the pieces together though, his strengths give him one of the best ceilings of any offensive line prospect from this draft.
Now let’s get to the good stuff.
Isaiah Wilson’s Strengths:
If nothing else, Isaiah Wilson passes the eye test at the top of his class.
At just 21 years old, Wilson measures in with a massive frame and some of the longest arms of any of the top-ranked offensive tackles with a wingspan of 84 ⅜ inches (!!). With that enormous size comes an incredible level of strength that Wilson used to help earn him a starting spot with the Georgia Bulldogs in his redshirt freshman season.
As far as measurables are concerned, Wilson checks all the boxes. He used his superior strength and size to his advantage often in his short time at Georgia, and if he were to improve the technical parts of his game, he has the natural talent to develop into one of the best tackles in the NFL.
While not the fastest guy in the world (he is 350 pounds, after all) he’s a surprisingly versatile athlete who actually played a little wildcat quarterback in high school. That athletic ability, coupled with his overwhelming size and strength, helped Wilson to become a bully along the right side of the line, regularly pushing defenders into the ground.
He might not be able to do that consistency against NFL players, but we should get at least a couple of solid highlights from Wilson’s play.
Day One Projection:
It’s difficult to get a read on what the Titans will want to do with Wilson by the start of the regular season.
On one hand, they have a presumed starter lined up and ready to go at right tackle in Dennis Kelly. The Titans brought back their pass-catching veteran swing tackle on a new contract for a reason– to play football, something Kelly has done well during his Titans tenure.
He’s never been a permanent starter at any position along the offensive line, but Kelly’s work in emergency situations has been consistent at the very least. Starting Kelly at right tackle from week one would give Tennessee a solid player at the position.
But Kelly’s ceiling is nowhere near the height of Wilson’s. With Kelly now at 30 years old, we have a strong feel for the player that he is and will be in 2020, and it’s nowhere near the potential that Isaiah Wilson brings to the table.
So will the Titans want to roll the dice on their shiny new first-round draft pick, subject him to a baptism by fire and hope that he’s able to improve his footwork and hand placement with live-game experience? Or will they want to sit Wilson for a bit, and let Kelly show the rookie the ropes for a bit?
It’s hard to say for certain, but I lean towards Wilson being the opening day starter. The Titans could have traded down from their 29th pick, but stayed and took Wilson in the first round for a reason. The team clearly sees something in him, and I tend to think they’ll want to check on what they got as soon as they can.
Remaining Draft Needs:
The Titans tacking a tackle at some point during the draft process was essentially a guarantee. And now that it’s happened, we can start to look at some of the other areas the team will probably look to improve in the remaining rounds.
Cornerback:
The jury is still out on where veteran cornerback Logan Ryan will end up playing next year. But even if he does come back, the Titans could use some youth in the secondary with Ryan approaching 30 years old and Malcolm Butler already there.
Defensive Tackle:
The Titans just drafted Jeffrey Simmons in the first round of last years draft, but could still use some help on the interior defensive line after losing Jurrell Casey in a trade that still breaks my heart.
Wide Receiver:
Not one of the team’s more pressing needs, but one that they should take care of at some point in Day Two or Three. The Titans lost their go-to WR4 in Tajae Sharpe this offseason, and could use a sure-handed late-round prospect to fill that void.
Running Back:
I don’t know if Derrick Henry can’t catch passes, but he certainly doesn’t catch passes as much as you would like from a running back. Tennessee could stand to add a situational pass-catching back to their running back group in the later rounds of this draft.
Parting Thoughts:
The reviews among the Titans fanbase on the Isaiah Wilson pick seem… mixed, at best (looking at you, Will). [Editor’s note: Please respect my anger and disappointment at this time.]
I absolutely understand the concern. Wilson has problems with his technique for sure. He got beat by SEC defenders a worrying handful of times in college and wasn’t even the best tackle on the Georgia roster. I get all of that. But try to remember a few things going into the offseason.
Isaiah Wilson is only 21 years old. He played just two seasons at Georgia, limiting his opportunities to grow as a player. But technique can be taught. Footwork and hand placement can be improved, and Wilson will be getting the advantage of joining one of the strongest offensive line groups in the NFL to help ease his transition and make his job easier.
But the physical tools that Wilson has, the raw strength he possesses, it all comes together to give Wilson a potential that can’t be taught. There are reasons to worry about his floor, but he’ll be coming into the NFL with an upside that most prospects simply do not have.
Remember that Wilson still has growing to do, and if he develops well, he could turn into a great Titans tackle for the next decade.