NFL Draft: Tennessee Titans Team Draft Retrospective

This article is part of a series that looks at each NFL team’s recent draft history with the hope of extracting information about the way they think and the players they value.

The analysis is limited to the past five drafts in the interest of relevance, and the first three rounds because that’s where most impact players are taken.

This entry will focus on the Tennessee Titans.

Draft History

In the past five years, the Titans have taken the following players in the early rounds. Their positions and the rounds in which they were drafted are listed next to their names.

2006:   Vince Young, QB (1)

            LenDale White, RB (2)

2007:   Michael Griffin, S (1)

            Chris Henry, RB (2)

            Paul Williams, WR (3)

2008:   Chris Johnson, RB (1)

            Jason Jones, DT (2)

            Craig Stevens, TE (3)

2009:   Kenny Britt, WR (1)

            Sen’Derrick Marks (2)

            Jared Cook, TE (3)

            Ryan Mouton, CB (3)

2010:   Derrick Morgan, DE (1)

            Damian Williams, WR (3)

            Rennie Curran, LB (3)

Breakdown by Position

Here is the number of players the Titans have drafted for each position:

Running back: 3

Wide receiver: 3

Defensive tackle: 2

Tight end: 2

Cornerback: 1

Defensive end: 1

Linebacker: 1

Quarterback: 1

Safety: 1

Impact

Vince Young showed flashes of the talent that made him one of the top picks in the 2006 draft; however, he was ultimately too inconsistent and won’t be back with the team in 2011.

LenDale White was an effective power back for a few years, but tailed off. Michael Griffin is one of the better safeties in the league, and can play cornerback to boot.

Chris Johnson is the true gem of this team’s recent drafts, quickly becoming one of the league’s top backs and passing the 2,000 yard barrier in 2009.

Jason Jones is an excellent, disruptive force in the middle of the defensive line. Kenny Britt shows flashes of the ability to be an elite receiver, but risks squandering it with a combination of injuries and off field issues.

Trends

The Titans are known as more of a defensive squad, but their draft history shows an emphasis on the offensive skill positions.

They spent a very high draft pick on what they perceived to be their QB of the future, and they’ve stocked up on RBs and WRs early in every draft since.

The returns weren’t good in 2006 and 2007, but over the next two years, they came away with two elite playmakers in Chris Johnson and Kenny Britt.

Conversely, the Titans have taken no offensive linemen over this span. Part of that is due to the fact that they’d already assembled a good line through previous drafts and free agency, and part of it was the ability of offensive line coach Mike Munchak to get the most out of his players, thereby eliminating the necessity of assembling top notch talent at the position.

2011 Outlook

Munchak is now the head coach of the Titans, replacing longtime skipper Jeff Fisher.

Now that he is in charge, it’ll be curious to see if he continues to try to coach up his offensive linemen, or if he places a greater emphasis on finding quality players at the position.

What’s not up for debate is the fact that Tennessee’s run blocking suffered greatly with the retirement of center Kevin Mawae. The interior line will need to be addressed, but not with the eighth overall pick.

Rather, Tennessee would love to pick up Stefen Wisniewski (Penn State), who can play both guard and center, in the second. They can also pick up a decent second guard in the later rounds.

The Vince Young era is over in Tennessee, and the Titans don’t have a viable replacement in the wings. They almost certainly need to draft a successor for Young. Blaine Gabbert (Missouri) sliding to them would be ideal, but unlikely.

Ryan Mallett (Arkansas) could be an intriguing option for them, as he has the arm strength and accuracy to develop a good rapport with Kenny Britt. The knocks about Mallett are his lack of maturity and mobility.

The Titans are known for ignoring the former (though they may be wary after the Vince Young experience), and they have good enough offensive tackles to cover up the latter. The Titans might even consider moving up into the late first round to secure Mallett.

With Jason Babin headed for free agency and Derrick Morgan coming off a major injury, the Titans could use help at defensive end. Robert Quinn (North Carolina) is one of the top players in this draft, and would be well worth the eighth overall pick. You can never have too many pass rushers when facing Peyton Manning twice a year.

One more consideration is wide receiver. Kenny Britt has tremendous talent, but he is currently mired in legal problems. Tennessee doesn’t have much else at the position, and has historically emphasized it. Greg Little (North Carolina) could be a steal in the third round.