My Draft with reasonable trades...

I like to sit down with my draft board and redo the draft twice...once to see how I would have drafted with reasonable trades (and taking into account who was trading and for what price) and secondly, just to pick either where the Titans chose (with our original picks without the seattle trade) or with the actual seattle trade. Here's what I came up with for the first one.

1st - Morgan DE
3rd - Burnett S (after trade up)
3rd - Curran OLB (comp)
4th - Jacoby Ford WR/KR/PR (after trade up)
5th - Tennant OC/OG (after trade up)
6th - Whitten DE (comp)
7th - Thompson CB
7th - Coleman S/ST (comp)

Picks explained...
1st round - Derrick Morgan DE - With Graham suddenly off the board along with Earl Thomas and JPP...chose Morgan over Wilson due to scheme.

3rd round - Morgan Burnett S - A few players are there with 2nd rnd grades. My CB value is low and I don't need a WR. I trade my 3rd and 5th to move up for Burnett who is Earl Thomas-lite. May include Vickerson in deal.

3rd round (comp) - Rennie Curran OLB - A tough choice between Jacoby Ford - who could solve my return problems, develop into a devastating slot guy and bring another serious sped weapon to the offense - or Curran. Curran reminds me of Tulloch but on the outside. Smaller than ideal, but he's a serious player, team leader, and tackle machine. With KB not signed and my defense needing more help, I narrowly choose Curran envisioning a starting trio of Curran, Tulloch, McRath in the near future.

4th round - Jacoby Ford - WR/KR/PR - With Ford still available early in rnd 4, I have a tough decision. Take a Cb like Ansah or Verner, a LB like Gibson or Edds, a free falling Ricky Sapp (DE/OLB), an OC prospect I really like in Tennant, or move up for Ford. Problem is, Oakland loves these super fast guys and with 2 picks, I think they will take him with one of their picks. After he's not selected with their first pick, I send my pick and Kevin Vickerson to the Bills and select him. Clemson had an explosive offense with 2 players - Spiller at RB and Ford at WR. I now have Chris Johnson and Ford with MORE weapons and have probably solved my return game.

5th - Matt Tennant - Was hoping Mesko P would fall out of rnd 5 and then I'd move up to take him but after, Lane (DE), and Mesko were taken, I trade my 6th, a 6th in 2011, and LenDale White (may include Vickerson and not next year's 6th) to grab the OC I wanted. Tennant can compete for the starting OC job from day 1 and at worst give me good depth at OG and OC this year.

6th (comp) - Lindsey Whitten DE - Very athletic with size (though not weight) and has only scratched the surface. A guy Washburn can work on for a late round gem. Should be a solid special teamer and at least develop into DE depth.

7th - Syd'Quan Thompson CB - I'm shocked he's still here. He's a 2nd round talent who ran a 4.70 40 and he's free falled to here. He's small, feisty, diminutive but has excellent, read/react/ hips, ball skills and supports the run. His lack of top end speed is less of a concern in our zone heavy scheme. May no longer be an option to start outside, but could compete right away for a nickel or dime spot!

7th (comp) - Kurt Coleman SS - Was strongly considering Zac Robinson or Jarrett Brown at QB or a developmental DT/OL but Coleman has too much value here. Reminds me a bit of Blaine Bishop. High character, high motor, high toughness guy who is a strong hitter and tackler. Will be a special teams ace and a tempo setter from day 1 and could knock Nickey off the roster. Could develop into a solid S or become Fuller's replacement in the nickel in a few years.

Overall, I got guys who could start immediately in Morgan DE, Burnett S (watchout Hope), Curran LB (could push McRath), Ford (start as KR/PR or more), Tennant OC (will push Amano and Harris for a starting spot), and Coleman on special teams. I got high value picks in Burnett (2nd rnd grade), Jacoby Ford (3rd rnd grade), Tennant (4th rnd grade), Whitten (5th rnd grade), Thompson (4th rnd grade), and Coleman (5th rnd grade). I have immediately improved our defense by boosting our DL with Morgan, our LB corp with Curran and our S spot with Burnett. I have immediately upgraded our special teams with a breakaway KR/PR in Ford and our coverage unit with a special teams ace in Coleman. I have upgraded the quality and depth of our interior OL with Tennant and at DE with Whitten and at CB with Thompson. I spent a 4th next year and lost White and Vickerson (or a 6th next year), but I will grab a big back in free agency and have good DT depth already.

Gut

 

Well...

I don't know about you, but I had Burnett with a 2nd rnd grade and thought he was a much better prospect than Robert Johnson or Rolle. So I essentially traded up a few spots using the pick the Titans spent on Johnson....so I got the better S IMO. So if you're comparing, which combo would you rather have...Burnett at S and Ford at KR/PR/WR or Robert Johnson at S with Damian Williams at WR/PR? I had 2nd rnd grades on Burnett and Williams, but I gave Ford a 3rd rnd grade and Johnson a late 4th/early 5th.

I think Burnett could have replaced Hope as early as this coming season and Ford would give us an explosive KR/PR while also seeing action as a 4th slot WR doing what he does best...catching the ball in space and using his speed. Williams may not see the field as a WR this year because he's not to different from our other WR's though he'll likely be our #1 option at PR. But him not being a kick returner hurts his value for me. He's clearly Gage's replacement. The other thing is, how soon could Johnson replace Hope...IF at all. I like what Johnson brings, but he's got work to do in terms of the run support. I love his aggressiveness (like Burnett's) in attacking the pass, but he'll need a pass rush because he's a big gambler.

Gut

 

Well...

How do you think we DON'T need a S over a WR?

We have Gage, Britt, Wash, and Hawkins (who played pretty nicely when given the chance), and Cook (who I think is more of a big WR than a real TE). We are 3 deep at WR and don't even need to play more than one considering we have a good starting FB and a few TE's.

At S we have 2 starters...period. Nickey is a special teams guy and Fuller is our starting Nickel back (and last year they played Kaesviharn at S and kept Fuller at Nickel). So at best we're 2 deep but if you count Fuller, we lose 2 starters...

And Hope played SO poorly last year he looks like he's done....hence the need for a new starter and one that can cover, tackle, be good at run support, and hit. The Titans seem to agree with me considering they took 2 S's in the draft.

I gave both Williams and Burnett 2nd rnd grades...but Burnett fills a bigger need AND has more upside IMO. And frankly, if our D doesn't get fixed, you could have drafted Dez bryant and it wouldn't matter. We're not a pass happy high explosive offense and we'll never be one like the Colts/Texans/Pats/Chargers so we had better have a D that allows our offense to use it's advantage...the running game!

Thank goodness we now have some CB depth because maybe we can stick another CB at nickel with Fuller moving to S if a S goes down or Hope stinks again and Johnson/Rolle aren't ready. I mean, look at what the Jets did with their secondary!

Gut

 

Um...

I think Williams WILL be a steal...I just hope our defense isn't still ranked between 20-30 with a slightly improved offense so we don't get obliterated by the better teams, but we still can't challenge them consistently and we 'waste' another year.

Gut

 

Um...

That's not a basis for debate. Did you notice the gazillion trades? Teams moved up and got the players they wanted. Either the Titans didn't think he was rated high enough to go get or they just hoped he'd fall to them. Mistake IMO.

In rounds 1 and 2 you draft starters...and a punt returner is not a starter. Hope could very well be done and then what...hope our 5th or 6th rnd prospect can start right away? We need no such help at WR and WR wasn't the 'problem' area for the Titans last year...DL and defensive secondary were.

I actually like Williams a lot and he could get on the field this year. Most transfer students in college don't do much their first year back with eligibility. Williams excelled! He's also one of the more polished WR's in the draft and could start soon. He doesn't have speed like Wash, but he does have great hands...which I'm all about. Still, he's not a homerun hitter at WR or as a PR and who's returning kicks? Williams could have a solid rookie year but if the D doesn't improve drastically, we'll waste another season! With Burnett, we could potentially have a much better Robert Johnson! A guy who could really help the D, be a good pass coverage and run support player and potentially be a Pro Bowl S.

A stretch? Isn't that there JOB?

Gut