Tennessee Titans fans have spent the first two days of the 2023 NFL Draft trying to figure out which quarterback rumors were true and which ones were fake. After learning the painful truth in the second round, fans held their breath hoping for a third-round pick to redeem this draft class.
One of the popular theories floating around before the draft was that the Tennessee Titans would try to recreate the 2020 Arthur Smith offense which is the only successful offense that the team has had under Mike Vrabel.
Whether Peter Skoronski turns out to be Roger Saffold or Jack Conklin, you can see how he would fit what Mike Vrabel is looking for on the offensive line.
Carson Wentz has been the popular comparison for Will Levis, but he has also gotten some Ryan Tannehill comparisons as well. So, alright let's cross our fingers and hope that he will turn out to be one of the most successful quarterbacks for the franchise like Tannehill has been (don't @ me, check the stats).
Did the Tennessee Titans 3rd round pick follow the same formula? Kinda?
What does this pick do for the Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans traded up to draft Will Levis earlier on Day 2 and one of the moves involved in that trade was swapping pick 72 for pick 81 with the Arizona Cardinals.
In that span, Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman, Tucker Kraft, and Josh Downs were all drafted. We will never know whether the Tennessee Titans would have drafted one of those pass catchers, but it is certainly possible and it would have filled an actual need.
This is tough because unless the Tennessee Titans trade away Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry, what are they doing? This team is going to be too talented to completely tank with those two on the roster and with this defense, but if they are going to trot out Trevon Wesco and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine as their TE2 and WR2, how well can that possibly go?
Not only does Spears not fill one of the Titans' two crucial needs, he wasn't close to the best player available and there is no clear path to him getting on the field on offense while Derrick Henry is eating up the majority of the carries.
The only positive thing that I can say about this pick is that Spears is exciting with the ball in his hands and he is a guy who can be a three-down back after Derrick Henry is gone. Maybe the Titans will feel comfortable letting Spears truly share the touches with Henry before he is on his way out, but even then is it that worth a top-100 pick?
Grade: D+