The only 7 players that the Tennessee Titans can draft in the first round
By Will Lomas
Realistic and big upgrades
These are players who are available when the Tennessee Titans draft in about half of the mock drafts out there. Even though that is an unreliable metric, it is all we have to go on without being able to see the draft boards of all 32 teams.
4. Treylon Burks WR, Arkansas
The one knock on Burks is that he doesn’t have the same athleticism as A.J. Brown (the pro that he is frequently compared to), but people are quick to forget that Brown didn’t test like the elite talent that he is.
Burks: 6’2, 225 lb., 4.55 40-yard dash, 35.5 vertical jump, 10-foot-2-inch broad jump
Brown: 6’0, 226 lb., 4.49 40-yard dash, 36.5 vertical jump, 10-foot broad jump
He also gets knocked for playing in the slot a lot, but do you know who else played in the slot a lot in college? A.J. Brown.
Sure, he can work on his route running a little more, but when he has the ball in his hands he runs like a Titan. Like Derrick Henry or A.J. Brown, his size and strength make it hard for smaller DBs to tackle him and he very rarely loses a foot race because DBs don’t want to get embarrassed when they bounce off of him like he is made out of Teflon.
5. Zion Johnson iOL, Boston College
Never take a guard, safety, tight end, or an off-ball linebacker in the first round…alright, maybe just this once.
Look, Zion Johnson will play guard in the NFL, but he was a starter at left tackle in 2020 and he snapped at the Senior Bowl, so he is more than just a guard. Having said that, he is one heck of a guard.
Whether he is burying linemen and linebackers as a run-blocker or neutralizing pass rushers with his size and technique, he is a flawless example of how a dominant run-blocker can deal with finesse players in the passing game.
6. Chris Olave WR, Ohio State
Olave is the ultimate WR2, and that isn’t a bad thing. He is a really good route runner and he has the speed to threaten every area of the field, and he probably won’t be there at 26 because a lot of teams out there will value that.
However, he is low on this list for a reason. The Tennessee Titans aren’t going to love what he does as a blocker and after the catch. He gets bullied when he tries to help in the running game and he really doesn’t offer much wiggle in space, so it is going to be a hard sell to convince the Titans that he is a top-5 receiver in this class.
Still, he has the tools to help in the passing game and in three-receiver sets, it is better to have Olave on the field than Nick Westbrook-Ikhine because if a team guesses wrong and assumes a run is coming, Olave will blow past the defensive back and rip off a chunk play.