Before anyone goes any further or another statement is made, this will need to be the first statement of this story. Tennessee Titans General Manager Jon Robinson is one of the best in the NFL at his position. The fans agree (or they should). The experts echo that sentiment. The fact of the matter is this, however. Fans of the two-tone blue should thank their lucky stars every day that he’s here.
No man is perfect though, and Robinson’s tenure is also evidence of that. Whether fair or unfair and despite the fact that their job descriptions consist of more than two responsibilities, most grade NFL G.M.s on three things: how they manage the cap, how well they fill the holes on the roster with free agents, and how their draft picks contribute.
If we all just stuck with recent history, it would be easy to get frustrated. The Titans had to part ways with key contributors because they couldn’t afford to keep them. Their last two draft classes leave much to be desired. Recently, the stat gurus over at Pro Football Focus regarded each team’s draft class from 2020, and if you’re a fan, you’ll want to know how the Tennessee Titans came out.
The Tennessee Titans receive low marks in 2020 regrade, but that’s a fair number.
Here’s a list of the six guys the Titans took over the three days of 2020’s virtual selection meeting: Isaiah Wilson, Kristian Fulton, Darrynton Evans, Larrell Murchison, Cole McDonald, and Chris Jackson. You can kind of see where this is headed right?
PFF’s original grade for the class was a C+. One year later, they score a C-. Now, it’s been a long time since many of us were in school, but if memory serves, the A range meant you were outstanding. Bs meant you were still above average, but Cs were signs of an average showing. Then, you had your D students who were below average, and you had everyone who was in that F range. They had failed.
Only six other teams scored a C+ or lower in the regrade: Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, Seattle Seahawks. Here’s what Michael Renner, the writer of this one, had to say on the subject.
"You can’t draft the single biggest bust of the first round and expect a good grade. As much as we liked Kristian Fulton coming out, he struggled to crack the lineup, seeing only 209 snaps as a rookie and may struggle again after the Titans added Janoris Jenkins, Caleb Farley, and Elijah Molden this offseason."
The C- given to the Tennessee Titans is about as fair a grade as this team can be given unless, of course, we score them with a grade of incomplete. Isaiah Wilson is arguably the biggest bust in Titans history. Kristian Fulton got hurt. Darrynton Evans and Larrell Murchison haven’t done much. Cole McDonald plays for the Arizona Cardinals now, and Chris Jackson has his issues.
Keep your fingers crossed if you’re a Tennessee Titans fan.
Fulton, Evans, Murchinson, and Jackson all still have a chance of making Titans fans proud, Another group of young Tennessee Titans rookies has joined the fray though, and this isn’t a perfect group either. They too contain question marks.
One may have been drafted too high (Monty Rice). One has legal trouble, Rashad Weaver. Another has been thrown into the category of being injury-prone, Caleb Farley.
Fans are nervous. You can understand why, but here’s what we can all say with certainty about the last two draft classes. Fingers are crossed that these 12 young guns can help lead this team to glory. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.