Smart fans know that Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson is one of the best draft minds in the entire NFL, full stop.
There have been nine drafts since Robinson left the New England Patriots and the team hasn’t drafted a single Pro Bowl player. One of the biggest feathers in his cap during his time in New England was convincing Bill Belichick to draft a cartoon-loving tight end with back problems in the second round.
You probably know him better as Rob Gronkowski. That was one of five Pro Bowl or All-Pro players drafted while Jon Robinson was an assistant GM in New England for five seasons.
In his two years in Tampa Bay, he was part of the front office that drafted Mike Evans, Ali Marpet, Kwon Alexander, and Jameis Winston who have combined for five Pro Bowl seasons (even though Marpet has somehow been snubbed).
Since leaving, the Buccaneers have drafted one Pro Bowl player in five draft classes.
With the Tennessee Titans, Robinson gets a lot of criticism for his misses, but no one seems to credit him for drafting four All-Pro or Pro Bowl players in his five seasons with the team after a four-year stretch when the Titans only managed to draft one player with a Pro Bowl season in Tennessee.
Long story short, Robinson knows what he is doing and everyone should pay attention to where he is looking. Last night reports came out that the Tennessee Titans sent two draft scouts to the Ohio State/Minnesota matchup and one scout to the Tennessee/Bowling Green game.
Who were the Tennessee Titans watching?
Other than Tennessee guard Jerome Carvin, no one had a great night in the Tennessee/Bowling Green matchup. Carvin is projected to be a late-round guard and he has the physicality that the Titans like, but there is a long season of ups and downs ahead for him as he goes through the SEC schedule.
The other matchup was filled with talented players across the board so let’s just look at the players who earned the spotlight on Thursday night.
While the wide receiver duo for Ohio State (Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson) are likely to be the top players drafted from this game, keep an eye on defensive linemen Haskell Garrett and Zach Harrison.
Both are intriguing, but Harrison specifically needs to be monitored. He was a five-star EDGE coming out of high school and he is coming from a program that has routinely signed and develop elite EDGEs including Chase Young, Nick Bosa, and Joey Bosa who were all top-3 picks in three of the last five draft classes.