Tennessee Titans: Complete 2015 Draft Wrap-Up and Analysis

After all the buildup from the end of the NFL season on, the draft is finally over.

The Tennessee Titans will end up being one of the most talked-about teams for once, after they used the second overall selection on Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota.

But that wasn't all the Titans did to make a splash. They surrounded Mariota with weapons from that point on, going all offense until the fourth round.

In the end, they only spent two picks on the defensive side of the ball. The name of the game was clearly to make sure Mariota has the tools he needs to succeed.

It made for some interesting picks.

So, without further ado, here's a full breakdown of the Titans' 2015 draft.

The Selections

Of course, the big selection was the Titans' first: quarterback Marcus Mariota. He'll likely be the Day 1 starter and may finally be the franchise quarterback the Titans have been looking for since Steve McNair left the team.

Dorial Green-Beckham was another splash move. He has top-10 talent but comes with a ton of red flags. This is the definition of a boom-or-bust pick, but the Titans mitigated the risk by trading down first.

Jeremiah Poutasi can fill a hole at either guard or tackle but is much more likely to play tackle opposite Taylor Lewan.

In the fourth round, the Titans took Angelo Blackson and Jalston Fowler. Blackson will likely be a depth end, while Fowler was the draft's consensus top fullback.

The fifth round gave the Titans another running back to complement Bishop Sankey: Minnesota's David Cobb.

The sixth saw the only other defender, Deiontrez Mount, selected. He'll fill a depth spot as a pass-rusher. The sixth-rounder that the Titans obtained from the Akeem Ayers trade was used to grab Andy Gallik, a center who should be a reliable backup.

The Titans' seventh-rounder, and last selection, was used to steal fourth-round talent Tre McBride, giving Mariota another weapon.

Best Pick: Marcus Mariota

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The best pick in the draft for the Titans is a no-brainer. Mariota is going to be the deciding factor in this draft one way or another.

If he pans out, he'll be the face of the franchise for years to come. If not, then there's almost no way this draft class won't be considered a bust.

In today's NFL, it's unrealistic to expect to compete if you don't have a franchise quarterback. The Titans did not have one before this draft, and so even if they'd taken the best player in the draft (Leonard Williams by many estimations), the team would be better but still not good enough to compete for playoff spots.

No fanbase's goal is to reach 8-8. Fans want their teams to win...and win big.

The Titans took the only player available to them that might get them there: Mariota.

He isn't a safe pick; there's no such thing. And he isn't an Andrew Luck-caliber prospect; those only come around once a decade or so.

However, Mariota is still a great player. Jon Gruden even thought he should be the first overall pick.

I tend to agree with the consensus that Jameis Winston is the better prospect, but Mariota is nothing to sneeze at. He has all the physical tools to be an NFL quarterback and is capable of doing a lot of things that NFL quarterbacks have to do.

He comes with question marks, of course, but there's hardly a prospect out there who doesn't.

Worst Pick: Dorial Green-Beckham

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Dorial Green-Beckham is one of the most talented receivers in the class. Under different circumstances, he could have been a top-10 pick. Some people are probably going to absolutely love this pick.

I'm in the other camp.

I don't think the Titans got a horrible value here. After all, Green-Beckham offers an incredible combination of size, speed and control.

I also agree that he fits a big need. Teams often target receivers in the second round when they selected a quarterback in the first.

However, as talented as he is, he could pose the risk of ending up like Josh Gordon: a talented receiver who hasn't be able to stay out of trouble.

Green-Beckham was kicked off his Missouri team after an incident where he allegedly forced his way into a woman's apartment and pushed her down a flight of stairs.

That wasn't his first tangle with police either. He had run afoul of the law for marijuana possession twice before, though the second time the charge didn't stick, and the first time he plead guilty to a reduced charge of trespassing.

Green-Beckham stayed out of trouble for his year at Oklahoma, but repeated problems off the field involving marijuana and an alleged violent altercation with a woman soon after the second marijuana arrest show me he may not learn from his mistakes.

I hope I'm wrong, but Green-Beckham's past issues make me distrust his judgment, especially now that he's going to have a longer leash and a ton of money to kick around.

What the Experts Are Saying

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Overall, experts seem to like what the Titans did in the draft. The team has gotten high marks almost universally.

Walter Cherepinsky, WalterFootball.com

Cherepinsky gave the Titans an A-minus for their draft. He praised them for landing the quarterback they preferred and surrounding him with talent, along with finding value in the later part of the draft.

He also chided the Titans for spending a fourth-round pick on a fullback and neglecting their defense almost entirely.

I agree for the most part, but several picks were either poorly though out or as good as several other picks they could have made.

Bryan Fischer, NFL.com

Fischer was also impressed by the Titans' draft, giving them a B-plus for Day 1, an A for Day 2 and an A-minus for Day 3. He praised the Titans for selecting Mariota and for moving down before taking Green-Beckham.

His sole criticism was that Mariota isn't a fit with Ken Whisenhunt's offensive scheme, which is a fair point.

Of course, I would disagree with his assessment of the Green-Beckham pick, but I do think the Titans were wise to mitigate that risk by trading down first.

Pete Prisco, CBSSports.com

Prisco was not as big a fan of the Titans' draft as the others were. He gave the Titans a C for drafting Mariota, wondering if Mariota will even win the job over Zach Mettenberger.

I like Mettenberger and think he could possibly develop into a low-end starting quality quarterback if coached up correctly, but thinking that Mariota isn't better is borderline preposterous.

What's Left to Address?

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The Titans' biggest weakness was on offense, and they took a lot of measures to address that. In fact, of the nine picks they made in the draft, seven were on offense, including all picks in the first two days.

However, the Titans had some problems on defense as well, and those went almost entirely ignored.

Cornerback and safety are still issues, despite the addition of Da'Norris Searcy and Perrish Cox. Michael Griffin has been declining and needs to be replaced soon.

At corner, Jason McCourty is still solid, but after him, the drop-off in talent is severe.

The Titans are also thin at pass-rusher. In fact, depth is so poor that Deiontrez Mount, a sixth-round pick, is likely to be fourth on the depth chart right away.

The Titans also could have picked up a kicker. Ryan Succop is serviceable, but that's about it.

Tennessee had too many problems to address in one draft, but it made some big strides. If the team hits on most of its picks from this year, it could compete for a deep playoff run as early as 2016.

Final Grade

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The Titans did some good and some bad in this year's draft. Let's start with the good.

I loved the selection of Marcus Mariota. He's a potential franchise quarterback, and the Titans needed that desperately.

I also liked a lot of the late-round picks, such as Jalston Fowler, David Cobb, Deiontrez Mount, Andy Gallik and especially Tre McBride.

I didn't like the Dorial Green-Beckham pick. It's too high-risk for me.

I also didn't like Angelo Blackson. I thought he was a reach and question his ability to play end.

Jeremiah Poutasi was somewhere in the middle. He's a good player who fits a need, but there were better prospects available at the time. The Titans could also have picked up Fowler a little later than they did.

All of that said, the Titans did more good than bad, and if the only player from this class to pan out is Mariota, then the draft would still be a resounding success.

Grade: B+