The Tennessee Titans made a blockbuster trade on Thursday night to get Treylon Burks, but that isn’t the only move they made on Thursday. They also traded back with the New York Jets to enter Day 2 with one pick in the second round and two more in the third round.
This has been Jon Robinson’s best area of the draft, and he used his second-round pick on Roger McCreary CB, Auburn.
Here’s what that means if you’re a Tennessee Titans fan
McCreary is exactly what the Titans have looked for in defensive back prospects in the past, specifically he is a highly productive defensive back who is effective vs the run and who disrupts passes.
According to Dane Brugler McCreary led his team in PBUs in 2019 (his first year as a starter), led the team in interceptions in 2020, and then led the SEC in PBUs in 2021.
He is a corner who can line up inside or on the boundary, which means that he is going to be active every game and he will give the Titans depth behind Caleb Farley, Kristian Fulton, and Elijah Molden.
Given the versatility, he and Molden both have, this may be a move that allows one of those two to replace Dane Cruikshank’s role as a hybrid CB/S type in certain situations. It also adds an insurance policy behind Caleb Farley if his injuries continue to be an issue (though all signs have been positive on that front).
What did the Tennessee Titans miss out on?
The Titans aren’t going to have to wait too long until their next pick thanks to their trade back yesterday and with the Green Bay Packers trading up to draft Christian Watson, they may have decided that they don’t have a receiver they really like with that pick.
One important thing to note, if the Titans were going to draft an offensive tackle with the hopes of starting him, they would have done it here. That means that Dillon Radunz is going to be the starter at the right tackle position, which is the correct decision and he is the best man for the job.
The offense will likely be addressed throughout the draft and the Titans clearly think that there was a bigger dropoff in cornerback than any other position on the board. Still, if they were going to reach (McCreary is the 47th player on my composite big board) you would rather them reach just a little bit further and take someone like Trey McBride (the 57th player on my composite board) who has a clear path to a starting job.
Grade: C+