Ranking Titans biggest NFL draft gems of the last decade

The Tennessee Titans have found some draft gems over the last decade but who has been the best? Before we dive into that, the golden question might be what exactly is a draft gem? A draft gem can follow a few different criteria but for this post we'll be looking at players who exceeded expectations even if they were an early-round pick.

Just because a player is taken early in the draft doesn't mean that they can't be a draft gem. What were the expectations for that player when taken where they were drafted? If they accomplished more than what those expectations were when initially drafted, that could make them a draft gem.

With that explanation out of the way, let's take a look at six of the Titans' biggest draft gems over the last decade.

6. Jonnu Smith

With a third-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Titans selected Jonnu Smith out of Florida International. The tight end took a few years to become a solid weapon for Tennessee but some of that could be blamed on quarterbacking issues. When Ryan Tannehill became the full-time starter, that's when Smith started to blossom as a pass-catching threat. He had 439 receiving yards in 2019 and 448 receiving yards with eight touchdowns in 2020.

Smith signed with the Patriots in the 2021 offseason and wasn't able to become the same threat he was in Nashville. He had a bounce-back season in Atlanta in 2023 with a career-high 582 yards. While Smith isn't one of the best tight ends in the league, he has put together several quality seasons and that's impressive for a third-round tight end.