Let’s talk about the newest members of the Tennessee Titans.
Sometimes it is hard to see the forest for the trees, and sure, we all know that Tennessee Titans fans had plans for the 2021 NFL Draft that didn’t match up with what the team did.
When that happens, fans get down on the draft class and can miss the areas where the team adds real talent to the roster. These people who come away from the draft with an ax to grind are often the same people who howl about why it is important to prioritize ‘value over need’ or ‘BPA’ (best player available) in the draft every day that isn’t draft day.
Titan Sized graded individual picks live as the draft was going on, but there is a difference in grading when the bullets are flying versus grading when you have a chance to step back and look at the entire offseason.
This article is to grade the class as a whole and explain why this is a great class for the Tennessee Titans.
Here’s a minor spoiler alert. This draft class won’t be given a grade of A-plus because the 2019 NFL Draft was the gold standard of draft classes for the Tennessee Titans franchise. While there are some similarities between the 2021 and 2019 draft classes, the needs and value fell perfectly for the Titans that year.
That doesn’t mean that this isn’t a great class, it just isn’t a perfect class.
The Tennessee Titans identified their main goal and conquered it.
The Tennessee Titans spent half of their top-100 picks on making massive improvements to the secondary. In the first round, they took a page straight out of their 2019 draft playbook by drafting an incredibly talented player with medical concerns in Caleb Farley.
Before you judge this pick, remember that the Titans were right about the Jeffery Simmons pick (even though some of our staff wasn’t high on the pick at the time) and that was in large part due to Jon Robinson trusting his medical staff. In the medical checks in Indianapolis this year Tennessee’s medical team got to work on Farley first hand.
Additionally, Paul Kuharsky says that he reached out to three different teams and they all told that PK that Farley was medically cleared for them as well.
Execs/coaches with three other teams told me their franchises medically cleared Caleb Farley. Small sample but doesn’t appear #Titans were some sort of outliers in considering the CB’s back to be OK.
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) April 30, 2021
Who knows if he will be ready from day one, but there shouldn’t be any serious long-term concerns about his health at this point.
Aside from Farley, the Titans added Elijah Molden who projects to be one of the best (if not the best) slot cornerbacks in this draft. At Washington, he was used a lot like current Titans defensive back Amani Hooker where he moved around the formation from slot corner to dime linebacker, to safety against fronts that used two inline tight ends (think Stanford).
What about the rest of the Tennessee Titans draft?
If it wasn’t enough for you that the Tennessee Titans completely transformed the defensive backs into a unit that might not give up the worst third-down conversion rate in NFL history, let’s look at the rest of the draft.
Kendall Lamm was penciled in as the starter at right tackle, but Jon Robinson refuses to hand people jobs they haven’t earned. Lamm will have to compete against Ty Sambrailo and second-round pick Dillon Radunz in 2021.
Beyond this season, it looks like Radunz is destined to be the starter at right tackle which should give them three years of cheap, quality tackle play opposite Taylor Lewan.
Initially, the Monty Rice pick was a head-scratcher, but the more you look and listen, the easier it is to understand.
Next year the Titans are probably going to lose one if not both of their starting linebackers (Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown). While David Long is capable of being the replacement for Brown, the replacement for Evans is harder to see. Enter Monty Rice.
Dane Brugler describes Rice like this:
"Overall, Rice has limitations in coverage and must become more measured in his attack, but he is a downhill banger with the killer mentality desired by NFL coaches."
That is exactly what the Titans want from their linebackers and it is almost a perfect hybrid of what Rashaan Evans and David Long were when they entered the NFL.
What will the Tennessee Titans do at wide receiver?
The big question coming out of the Tennessee Titans draft class is, what happens at wide receiver and tight end?
We’ll talk about tight ends in a second, but the receiver position is the big concern for everyone, so let’s start there.
First of all, remember that the Tennessee Titans probably have some level of confidence in their passing attack already. A.J. Brown is the best young receiver in the NFL and he is on a Hall of Fame pace in his young career, that is just a fact.
On the other side, the Titans added Josh Reynolds who is one of the most consistent receivers in the NFL and the perfect example of this is that he has averaged exactly 7.6 yards per target in each of the last three seasons.
If you look at players that had 150-plus targets and 7.6 yards per target over the last three years Reynolds lands right in the middle of Jarvis Landry, Antonio Brown, Danny Amendola, and Juju Smith-Schuester. So don’t write off Reynolds as a solid WR2 in this offense even if he isn’t quite as efficient as Corey Daivs.
As for depth, the TItans added special teams ace and height/weight/speed receiver Racey McMath as well as trading up for Dez Fitzpatrick who projects to be a bigger, faster version of Tajae Sharpe. Think about it like this:
WR1: A.J. Brown -> A.J. Brown (same)
WR2: Corey Davis -> Josh Reynolds (slight decline)
WR3: Adam Humphries -> Dez Fitzpatrick (upgrade on availability alone)
WR4: Kalif Raymond -> Racey McMath (both ran a 4.34, but McMath is five inches taller and 20 pounds heavier, so upgrade)
WR5: Cam Batson -> Cam Batson (same)
There are still trade possibilities on the table for the Titans, but even if they don’t make a move I’m not sure that the WR room isn’t better in Tennessee top-to-bottom than it was last year when you remember that Humphries basically didn’t play.
Let’s give a final grade for the Tennessee Titans draft.
After trying to go through Jon Robinson’s thought process at every pick, let’s go back to the two goals of this offseason.
As soon as the Jacksonville Jaguars officially had the first pick in the draft, there were two things the Titans had to accomplish this offseason.
First, do anything possible to make this defense a grizzly bear instead of a teddy bear. The Titans could not afford for Trevor Lawrence to be allowed to comfortably grow into the quarterback that everyone projects him to be.
This draft helped accomplish that goal. The additions of Caleb Farley, Elijah Molden, and Rashad Weaver perfectly complement the free-agent signings of Bud Dupree, Denico Autry, and Jackrabbit Jenkins to add serious teeth to this Titans defense.
The second goal of the offseason was to find a way to sustain the elite offense that the Titans had in 2020.
That is still up for debate. Wide receiver is still a projection based on what was previously talked about in the section, and the tight end position is going to require good coaching. Despite not spending a pick on a tight end, the Titans have signed two UDFA tight ends with draftable grades according to Dane Brugler.
Briley Moore of Kansas State (late 6th round) and Tory Karter of LSU (7th round) both were deemed valuable enough for a draft pick. Those two will compete with Jared Pinkney who was once believed to be worthy of a 6th round draft pick in 2020 and Miller Forristall to make the Titans roster.
If (and these are big ifs) the Titans can manufacture production from the tight end position and if the wide receivers perform like I believe they can, then this offense can sustain that production thanks to their Pro Bowl quarterback, pro bowl wide receiver, Hall of Fame running back, and one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.
The final grade for the Tennessee Titans 2021 NFL Draft class: B+