Tennessee Titans: Analyzing Mel Kiper's 'Grade A' Draft

Earlier this week, ESPN NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. posited what the first three rounds of next week's draft would look like if he were the general manager of every team in the league.

Kiper's draft is openly stated as a draft on what he sees as top needs for each team according to himself, "At each spot, I'm making the pick best for that team at that spot. I won't pass on an ideal pick for the Bills at No. 10 just because that player would be a great fit at No. 11."

For your beloved Tennessee Titans, Kiper selected cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, defensive end Vinny Curry and center Ben Jones.

Honestly, there's not much any Titans fan could complain about here if things broke this way. While many fans may not see the departure of Finnegan as a huge gaffe, the league is skewing toward the pass these days.

That means being able to field three quality cornerbacks in the nickle package is becoming increasingly important. Finnegan's ability to excel in both coverage and run support were key to the Titans being an above-average run defense and a top-10 pass defense (despite an atrocious pass rush).

Kirkpatrick is rated by most prognosticators as the second- or third-best corner in this year's draft.

However, judging by the poll in my article last week, many of you wouldn't mind seeing a wide receiver taken in the first round.

The way things look now, Justin Blackmon and Michael Floyd will likely be gone by the time the Titans pick, leaving Kendall Wright or Stephen Hill as the best remaining options. 

Getting Curry in the second round would be a veritable triumph of filling a need and getting a quality player in the process.

Waiting on drafting a defensive end is something I'm all for. Defensive ends have been over-drafted in recent years with very little success. There have been a lot more misses than hits on defensive ends selected in the first round.

Ben Jones is considered by most to be the second-best center prospect in the draft. There is a talent level disparity between him and Peter Konz, but Jones has enough talent that he should be able to push Eugene Amano out of the starting lineup.

While Jones offers pretty much the same size as Amano, he plays with a bit more nastiness which is something the team seems to be looking for as it recalibrates its offensive line.

As I said earlier, there's not much to complain about in this mock draft scenario.