Tennessee Titans Draft Picks: Results, Analysis and Grades
The Tennessee Titans had a rough year in 2014. The team was bogged down by injury, had some growing pains transitioning to a new offense and defense and just didn't pull through when it needed to.
After all, you don't get the second overall pick in the draft by winning a lot of games.
They started the franchise rebuild with the selection of Marcus Mariota, second overall. They've kept it mostly on offense since then, focusing on making Mariota's transition to the NFL be as easy as possible.
Green-Beckham could easily become Mariota's go-to guy if he can stay out of trouble.
The Titans then helped their offensive line by taking tackle/guard tweener Jeremiah Poutasi out of Utah. They need help at both positions, so wherever he ends up, he'll be needed.
The draft's third day will likely see the focus shift to defense, but if good offensive players are there, I can't see the Titans ignoring them.
Whatever those picks may end up being, stick around for live results, analysis and grades for the Titans' picks as they come in.
Round 1, Pick 2: Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
1 of 9Not surprisingly, the Titans took Marcus Mariota with their first overall pick. The staff has been all over Mariota since the college season, per Peter King of SI.com's MMQB, and I have a feeling that they’ve liked him as their pick for a long time and were just trying to drum up trade value for the pick.
I have to say I like the pick more than most others probably will, and I say that while admitting that Mariota is a very difficult player to project in the NFL. Despite not knowing whether or not Mariota can fit passes into tight windows, deal with a pass rush or make anticipatory throws, what we have seen from Mariota is good.
Mariota threw for 4,454 yards and 42 touchdowns in 2014, while completing 68.3 percent of his throws, averaging 10 yards per attempt and rushing for an additional 15 touchdowns. He only threw four interceptions.
Some credit goes to the Oregon offensive scheme, but Mariota is definitely a good player. And as much as some may like Zach Mettenberger, he was winless in six starts and ended both his college career and his rookie season with an injury.
Simply put, you cannot win in the NFL without a quarterback, and a chance to draft a top quarterback doesn’t come around often. Mariota almost had to be the Titans’ pick.
All of that said, if the boatload of picks and players that the Eagles were offering is for real, per NFL.com's Ian Rappaport, I have to say I would have taken their offer in a heartbeat. I'm not certain that they really offered that much, so I'm grading the pick without considering that.
If they really turned down such a trade, the grade would be much lower.
Grade: A-
Round 2, Pick 40: Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Oklahoma
2 of 9The Titans decided to trade down with the New York Giants, per Jimmy Morris of MusicCityMiracles.com, and picked up a fourth-rounder and seventh-rounder for the move.
After the trade, they ended up selecting Dorial Green-Beckham, and in my estimation, it's a bad pick.
Although the Titans could use help at receiver, other options didn't come with so many red flags.
The Titans could have upgraded the right tackle position with Mariota's teammate, Jake Fisher. They could have also taken a stud inside linebacker in Eric Kendricks or a solid wideout in Jaelen Strong, if they were set on grabbing a receiver.
That said, Green-Beckham is without a doubt one of the most talented receivers in the draft. Going on pure talent, he'd probably be third in the class behind Kevin White and Amari Cooper.
Green-Beckham is huge; at 6'5" and 237 pounds, he's built like a tight end with the route running and speed of a receiver. He also had a monster career early on in college.
But despite all of that talent, he was dismissed from Missouri after a couple of marijuana-related arrests and allegations that he pushed a woman down a flight of stairs.
This is a feast-or-famine pick. If Green-Beckham keeps his nose clean, he could turn into the Titans' best receiver. If not, he could blow up in their faces.
Right now, the latter appears more likely than the former.
Grade: D+
Round 3, Pick 66: Jeremiah Poutasi, OT/OG, Utah
3 of 9
The Titans went with a bit of a surprise by selecting guard/tackle tweener Jeremiah Poutasi out of Utah.
This is a tough pick to grade because I'm not sure where the Titans plan on putting him. He projects as a guard, but the Titans have a bigger need at right tackle, so they may be intending to play him there.
On the other hand, the Titans recently signed Byron Bell, and Andy Levitre has been a big disappointment so far, so they may have selected Poutasi as a backup plan.
Either way, I have to think there were better picks on the board.
Poutasi played left tackle for Utah for the last two years, and right tackle before that, so he knows the tackle position. However, nearly every scout projected him as a guard, so I have to assume that's where the Titans intend to play him.
Of course, one thing the Titans probably selected him for is his ability to play tackle in a pinch. That's a good thing if you plan on playing him at guard, but it's not necessarily a good thing if you're hoping he steps into the tackle role.
This is one of those picks that makes sense on paper, but it just isn't good. Reaching for needs is almost never a good idea.
Grade: C-
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Round 4, Pick 100: Angelo Blackson, DE/DT, Auburn
4 of 9
The Titans surprised yet again and drafted Angelo Blackson, the nose tackle out of Auburn. I didn't really think nose tackle was a position the Titans were looking for at this point, with Sammie Hill, Al Woods and DaQuan Jones on the roster.
Woods and Jones are both capable of also playing 5-technique as well, so it may be that the Titans plan on moving one or both to that position and therefore need more depth at nose.
Blackson isn't much as a pass-rusher. He's not very strong for a nose tackle (20 reps on the bench at the combine), but he has the size to be a gap-eater and take up double-teams.
With so many better players available, this looks like a huge reach. I can't help but think Blackson would have been available a full round later. At least he's fast for his size and a good scheme fit.
Grade: C-
Round 4, Pick 108: Jalston Fowler, FB, Alabama
5 of 9
The Titans again are going against the grain by taking a fullback in the fourth round, which is normally way too high.
That said, I don't hate this pick. Jalston Fowler is a great player, and he's the consensus best fullback in the draft.
Furthermore, the Titans have needed a fullback for a few years. In the last couple of years they band-aided the position with Jackie Battle and some other big backs, but they haven't had a legitimate fullback on the roster.
Fowler is hefty, weighing in at 254 pounds, despite not being very tall (5'11"). He has good vision and can find his blocks easily, but his biggest asset is his ability to catch out of the backfield.
He wasn't thrown to often, but when you share a team with Amari Cooper and a stable of running backs, that's just going to happen.
When he did catch, he was productive. His 11 catches in 2014 added up to 129 yards and two touchdowns. In 2013, he was an even bigger red-zone target, with five of his seven receptions getting into the end zone.
It's a little high, but with risky picks like Dorial Green-Beckham and head-scratchers like Blackson, it's nice to see that the Titans got a good player that they'll almost certainly be able to utilize.
But it's still a little early to be grabbing fullbacks.
Grade: B-
Round 5, Pick 138: David Cobb, RB, Minnesota
6 of 9
This is a great pick. David Cobb is the exact kind of running back the Titans need.
With Shonn Greene missing a lot of time with injury and coming into the last year of his contract, the Titans need a second power back to get the short yardage.
Cobb can certainly do that. At 5'11" and 229 pounds, he's large. He's not that slow for his size either, running a respectable 4.81-second 40-yard dash.
He's also tough to bring down: 54 percent of his yardage in 2014 came after the initial contact, and that's an area where the Titans have gotten little recently.
Speaking of yardage, Cobb rushed for 1,626 yards and 13 touchdowns for Minnesota in 2014. In 2013, he wasn't much worse, running for 1,202.
However, it's not all good. Cobb has average hands, at best, and doesn't have the speed to jump around. He will get the yardage he's given every time and is probably good for a few more after contact, but he's not a home run hitter.
Still, this late in, he's a great fit for need and great value.
Grade: A-
Round 6, Pick 177: Deiontrez Mount, OLB, Louisville
7 of 9
The Titans addressed pass-rusher in the offseason, but they're still thin at the position, so it's good they addressed that finally with Deiontrez Mount out of Louisville.
Mount is far from a starter, but with Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan locked in as the starters, the Titans aren't looking for starters; they're looking for depth.
Mount will provide that and has a little upside to him. He played end at Louisville, but he'll be slotted as a rush linebacker in the Titans' 3-4 scheme.
Mount managed six sacks and four hurries in his senior season, so he has some pass-rushing ability, and at 6'5" tall, he's got the frame to add a little more weight. Right now, he sits at 243 pounds, which is a little on the light side to be playing rush linebacker.
Overall, Mount is a player who was slotted at this range and fits a definite need.
Grade: B
Round 6, Pick 208: Andy Gallik, C, Boston College
8 of 9
This is the pick that the Titans obtained from the Patriots in exchange for their seventh-round selection and Akeem Ayers. They used it to nab second-team All-ACC and Remington Trophy finalist Andy Gallik.
Current center Brian Schwenke was playing well, but he did end his season prematurely with an injury, so having some insurance is nice.
Gallik is kind of similar to Schwenke as a player. He's a strong power blocker with a bit of a mean streak, but he lacks the athleticism to be effective pulling or blocking at the second level.
Still, he's a quality center prospect who they picked in the right range. The Titans are thin on the interior anyway, which really showed in 2014 when so many players were lost to injury.
Grade: B
Round 7, Pick 245: Tre McBride, WR, William & Mary
9 of 9
On value alone, this is an easy A+ selection. That said, I have a few reservations.
Tre McBride was graded out at around the fourth round or so. He had no medical issues and no off-the-field incidents that have been reported, but he slipped past a lot of other receivers into the late seventh round.
It makes me wonder if there's something that the teams know that we don't about McBride.
That wouldn't have a big effect on the grade, but the fit does. The Titans already spent a second-round selection on Dorial Green-Beckham, which gave them a pretty complete group of receivers.
Right now, the Titans have Kendall Wright, Justin Hunter, Hakeem Nicks, Harry Douglas, Green-Beckham and Tre McBride on their roster. There are other receivers, but given the list of players here, their jobs are all probably over.
That means the Titans either keep six receivers or cut one of those players. I don't know if they'll be able to keep that many receivers, so they may have just taken a player only to end up losing him to another team when he doesn't make the final roster.
Or perhaps they plan on trading one of those receivers. It's difficult to say, but this is one too many receivers.
The value is phenomenal, though, so the grade is still high.
Grade: A-
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