Potential Landing Spots for NFL Draft's Top OT, Laremy Tunsil

At this point in the draft process, it's hard to get away from the name Laremy Tunsil. He joined the University of Mississippi as an offensive tackle super recruit and somehow managed to surpass the high expectations set for him.

In a three-year career, he allowed only two sacks while playing in college football's murderers' row, the Southeastern Conference. He was suspended for the first half of his junior season due to NCAA violations, a non-factor in his draft perception, which forced him to go head-to-head with two of the top pass-rushers in college football while still being rusty.

How did he respond? By completely shutting down Texas A&M's Myles Garrett and Auburn's Carl Lawson. Tunsil has received a lot of praise, but the assumption that he'll come off the board with the first overall pick has underplayed the storyline of other cities where he might fit well.

As of this moment, Play the Draft, a site that creates a big board from a user-based stock market function, ranks Tunsil as the top player in the 2015 NFL draft. To figure out where this elite prospect might land, we'll analyze the personnel of those franchises drafting with a top-five pick in this draft, as well as trade-up candidates.

Tennessee Titans

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The Tennessee Titans hold the first overall pick in the draft, so they should take who they perceive is the top player on the board, right? Marcus Mariota's fatal flaw, even when he was at the University of Oregon, has been his fumbling issues. If new general manager Jon Robinson, who comes via the New England Patriots, wants to build the Tennessee franchise around his the sophomore quarterback, who was drafted second overall last year, then he better protect him.

The team has taken steps toward that goal this offseason by signing Ben Jones of the Houston Texans, presumably to play center for the squad. The in-division move for Jones comes at the tune of $17.5 million over four years, starting-caliber money at the position, per Albert Breer of the NFL Network.

With the center position locked up, that means four of the five offensive line spots on the 2016 Titans depth chart appear to be solidified. Along with Jones on the interior offensive line should be Chance Warmack, the 10th overall pick of the 2013 NFL draft, and Jeremiah Poutasi, a third-round selection from last year's class.

Warmack has only missed two starts in three seasons with Tennessee, while Poutasi, who was projected as a 20-year-old guard when drafted out of Utah, was forced to play right tackle for the squad for portions of his rookie year, with poor results. According to Pro Football Focus, he had a pass-blocking grade of minus-13.1, including a minus-5.2 effort against the Houston Texans in Week 8, the last game he saw significant playing time.

It was obvious early on that the Titans needed to upgrade at right tackle. Byron Bell, who was added to the roster on August 22, started 16 games in 2015. The season wasn't pretty. There's a reason why the team holds the top pick.

At left tackle, the Titans should be more than fine with Taylor Lewan, the 11th overall pick in 2014, starting as their premier bookend. With that being said, if they were able to convince either him or Tunsil to play right tackle, they could have the best duo in the league in a couple of years, if it even takes that long.

Money is an issue, though. Lewan is more than capable of starting at left tackle in the NFL. The highest-paid right tackle in the league is Lane Johnson, who averages a salary of $11.3 million over the lifetime of his contract, but his long-term fate will be as a left tackle as Jason Peters' replacement in Philadelphia.

Next on the right tackle list are Bryan Bulaga, Mitchell Schwartz and Jermey Parnell. Those three have all signed with their respective teams over the past 12 months or so, averaging between $6 million and $7 million per year during the lifespan of their contracts, per Spotrac. Seventeen left tackles are slated to average more than $7 million per year over their contacts.

Tunsil's fit with the Titans will depend on whether the team is willing to break the bank on a right tackle beyond the current market, whether they are fine with one of the two tackles being a rookie contract rental or whether one is willing to play on the right side of the offensive line in the first place.

Cleveland Browns

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

The Cleveland Browns haven't given national viewers much of a reason to tune into their games since at least the Derek Anderson Era, but if you don't know who Joe Thomas is by now, offensive line play probably isn't your wheelhouse. Thomas, drafted third overall in 2007, has made a Pro Bowl in every one of his nine NFL seasons, including six first-team All-Pro nods and two second-team mentions.

Last year, around the trade deadline, there were rumors that the Browns, effectively out of the playoff race with a sitting-duck head coach and general manager, were going to trade the left tackle to the Denver Broncos, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. The move never happened, Cleveland cleaned house, and now Paul DePodesta, whose title is "chief strategy officer," is the de facto general manager for the franchise.

DePodesta's baseball background may as well have rubber-stamped "Moneyball guy" on his forehead. If Tunsil makes it to the second slot in the draft, there's an opportunity that the Browns pull the trigger.

Thomas is already 31 years old, and his tradable contract ends after the 2018 season, which would be Tunsil's third year in the league. There's the possibility of two more seasons before the Mississippi tackle would have to re-sign a major contract, as first-round picks have a fifth-year option that organizations can pick up.

If the Browns want to make a move like the Philadelphia Eagles did when they took Lane Johnson as a short-term right tackle and long-term left tackle when they drafted him fourth overall in the 2013 draft, then it's plausible that Cleveland could be Tunsil's landing spot. The Browns' former right tackle, Mitchell Schwartz, signed a five-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs for $33 million.

That deal makes Schwartz the third-highest-paid right tackle in the league, behind Johnson and Green Bay's Bryan Bulaga. According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer, the Browns initially offered Schwartz about $7.5 million per year.

The team obviously has a hole at the right tackle position. The Browns tried to fill the hole but pulled the offer and moved on. With the rumor that Jalen Ramsey, the cornerback from Florida State, is the leader to come off the board with the first pick, per Charlie Campbell of Walter Football, is it possible the Browns have their eyes on Tunsil at No. 2 overall?

Jacksonville Jaguars

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Two teams sit between when the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars on the board, at least on paper. They are the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. 

The Chargers are set at guard, with D.J. Fluker and Orlando Franklin. Fluker was the 11th overall pick in 2013, and Franklin has been a longtime starter in the NFL. It's doubtful either would move to the bench, and San Diego has given out two major contracts to its bookends recently.

King Dunlap, the left tackle, signed a four-year, $28 million contract 13 months ago. Joe Barksdale, the right tackle, signed a four-year, $23.5 million contract this past week, per Spotrac. It's hard to imagine that the team will bring on a high-end bookend.

If it's hard to find a role for Tunsil in San Diego, then it's impossible in Dallas. The Cowboys have All-Pro Tyron Smith at left tackle, consistent starter Doug Free at right tackle, sophomore La'El Collins (who was a left tackle at LSU) as a guard, Zach Martin (another young Pro Bowl lineman who also was a college left tackle) and Travis Frederick, an All-Pro center.

The Jaguars have their right tackle, Jermey Parnell. He came via free agency last season from Dallas, so there's no chance the franchise moves on this quickly. Their left tackle, Luke Joeckel, has struggled throughout his NFL career. As the second overall pick in the 2013 draft, he hasn't met expectations in his three seasons with the team.

If nothing else, Jacksonville is at least entertaining the idea of adding competition for the former Texas A&M Aggie. According to Mike Kaye of WTLV, the team is bringing in Kelvin Beachum, the former Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle, for a visit. If they aren't able to nab a bookend in free agency and Tunsil falls, the selection of the Mississippi lineman could be the organization's best option in a must-win season, considering their current staff is 12-36 over the course of their first three seasons together.

Oakland Raiders

Associated Press

Is Tunsil going to slip to the 14th overall pick? It's highly doubtful, unless some unknown injury or off-field concern emerges. With that being said, the Oakland Raiders could be in a position to trade up for the offensive tackle.

With the team's addition of Kelechi Osemele, Bruce Irvin and Sean Smith, the only obvious hole they have on the depth chart is left tackle. Their 2015 blindside protector, Donald Penn, is currently on the free-agent market.

Mike Tice is the team's offensive line coach, and he is one of the better developers of the position in the NFL. In just a few years, with some calibrated resources, the team has gone from having a below-average offensive line to competing with the best in the league, with the difference between the Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys being a left tackle.

Rodney Hudson is the third-highest-paid center in the league in terms of the yearly average of his contract. Osemele is the highest-paid guard in the league, by nearly $4 million per year more over the next guard, Mike Iupati. It shouldn't be out of the question that the team could sell out on a generational talent to protect Derek Carr's back. The Raiders have proved that they value offensive linemen more than just about anyone in the league.

Detroit Lions

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Like the Oakland Raiders, the Detroit Lions have a big need at left tackle. Riley Reiff is a functional left tackle, but he's best suited as a right tackle, a slot that is open for the franchise. Assuming he gets kicked over, similar to another former first-round pick, Bryan Bulaga, years ago, then there's a vacancy at left tackle. That move of Bulaga worked for the Lions' in-division rival, the Green Bay Packers, as he's now the second-highest-paid right bookend in the NFL.

With offensive tackles like Russell Okung visiting the team, it's hard to make the case that the Lions don't want to play for a new bookend, be it in free agency or the draft. Okung has been the Seattle Seahawks' starting left tackle, when healthy, since he was drafted sixth overall in the 2010 draft. Like the Raiders, the Lions would have to trade up from the middle of the first round into the top five, but it's not an impossible task.

In the 2013 draft, the Miami Dolphins turned their 13th and 42nd overall picks into the third overall pick. A middle-of-the-first-round selection, paired with a second-rounder, is enough to push into the top five, especially in a class that is weak at the top like this one.

Other dark-horse franchises in the running for an offensive tackle trade up are the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos, the two teams who faced each other in Super Bowl 50. Picking 30th and 31st overall, respectively, though, they would have a tougher time trading up.