TCMD 2024: Tennessee Titans

[Daniel]

Once again, the Total Control Mock Draft is underway, so here's an update on what the Titans end up with as we go.  Normally, free agency is part of it, but this year, that didn't happen.  Still, good to see what happens when there are a bunch of people picking for their teams, trading, and whatnot.

The Titans' trade partners disappeared after JJ McCarthy went 6th overall to the Broncos.  So, with the 7th pick, the Titans selected Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame:

 

[Daniel]

At the 38th pick, the Titans traded down with the Giants, sending picks 38 and 106 for 47 and 76.

With the 47th pick, the Titans selected Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina. He’ll be expected to be the third receiver in the rotation for now, but hopefully will blossom into a true No. 1 in 25.

Edited March 24 by Daniel

[TitanRedd]

2 hours ago, Daniel said:

At the 38th pick, the Titans traded down with the Giants, sending picks 38 and 106 for 47 and 76.

With the 47th pick, the Titans selected Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina. He’ll be expected to be the third receiver in the rotation for now, but hopefully will blossom into a true No. 1 in 25.

 

Give me Javon baker, I get why people love legette; he’s an athletic freak but he’s stiff in the hips & moving lateral, he’s like an undersized version of DK Metcalf. I love route runners guys that can stack DB’s & separate. 

[Daniel]

I’m a lot lower on Baker. I have him as WR 15, so the only way he would have been drafted is if we waited longer for a receiver. He’s 103rd on the consensus board, and isn’t very fast or explosive. He’s also not a super clean route runner, so I don’t know that his ceiling is more than a slot.

Legette is a little raw, but big, extremely athletic, and spent all season as South Carolina’s go-to guy. Being behind a big bodied all time 50/50 ball receiver like Hopkins and a quick, clean route runner like Ridley ought to be good for his development imo.

Also on the list was Roman Wilson, but we both had Legette higher.

Edited March 24 by Daniel

[Justin615$]

Love Legette. Would be so happy with these first 2 picks. Now I'd start going defense, defense, defense.

[Andrei01]

Yeah, Baker is definitely much more nuanced and more polished, but way less than I originally thought having watched only selected clips and cutups of him. I'm not as big on Legette as I originally was, either, but his ceiling is definitely bigger than Baker's. I don't think either will be anytime soon valid #1 options in the NFL, but I could at least envision a role for Legette in which he could take advantage of that open-field explosiveness and find success. With Baker, it takes a much bigger projection to think he could win against NFL CBs the way he did in college.

I wouldn't personally take Legette at 38 IRL in most scenarios, but if this is a trade down, depending on what's still on the board, then sure, I could see it happening and be a value pick.

Edited March 24 by Andrei01

[SARGO127]

19 hours ago, Daniel said:

At the 38th pick, the Titans traded down with the Giants, sending picks 38 and 106 for 47 and 76.

With the 47th pick, the Titans selected Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina. He’ll be expected to be the third receiver in the rotation for now, but hopefully will blossom into a true No. 1 in 25.

Think I’d prefer 38 for 47, 108 and a future 6 and not target WR in R2. Would be happy going defense here and targeting WR in R4.

[Daniel]

Yeah, we would have preferred to add picks, but people just weren’t offering that.

[-Hope-]

i'm not totally sold on legette, but as a guy who can now begin as a WR3 or even WR4 if burks proves more effective in the slot, and has potential to develop into a starting outside WR, i dig it. would be perfectly happy if the first two rounds shook out this way.

[Daniel]

With the 76th pick, we went to maybe the weakest unit in the defense, the interior DL, and took Mekhi Wingo:

Bit of a reach on the consensus board, but no one was interested in moving up, so  we pulled the trigger on literally my favorite player in this class.  No more picks til 146.

[Daniel]

With the 146th pick, the Titans selected Jaylan Ford, LB, Texas:

We knew LB was a big need, but didn't have the capital to trade up for our top target, Cedric Gray.  After that, we didn't think there was a long term starter in the class, so we focused on fit.  Ford was our collective choice.  I am personally higher on one LB that was still available, but the Titans really need a ILB that can cover, and Ford has that ability right out the gate, and the other LB I was interested in does not have the same coverage ability.

Ford had a great season, with really good tape in 22, but he's available this late because he doesn't have the sideline to sideline speed to really fully use that natural coverage ability.  He's no less athletic than Gray, so his athleticism isn't a red flag, it's just not a plus.  He's also not a particularly aggressive tackler, and those are the reasons he's available at 146.

That said, we really like his developmental potential.  With his size (6'2" and 240 lbs), he's big enough to develop into a better tackler and run defender pretty easily.  Until then, he'll be a good band-aid complement opposite of Murray, and even if the Titans were to sign or draft a higher end LB in 25 to take his starting spot, his coverage ability will make him a valuable contributor in passing packages going forward.

[Daniel]

With pick 182, the Titans selected:

Trevor Keegan, OG, Michigan

Keegan gives the interior a little better depth to the interior and potentially gives the Titans a replacement for Brunskill down the road.

He was part of an excellent unit for two years at Michigan, and comes into the pros with a polished skill set and good movement.

Edited March 31 by Daniel

[Daniel]

With pick 221, the Titans selected:

Tanner McLachlan, TE, Arizona

Big, athletic TE.  Not an excellent blocker, but with his frame (6'5" 244 lbs) and athleticism (4.61 in the 40), he can easily be pushed into that role, if he doesn't emerge as a weapon.  He'll start in the TE3 role, but will be playing Hback as well.

And with pick 227, the Titans selected:

Jha'Quan Jackson, WR, Tulane

With the size of the receivers now on the Titans' roster, a small, speedy deep threat is actually a good complement.  Jackson had particularly impressive tape against Ole Miss, and showed out at the combine with a 4.42 in the 40, while also looking good in the drills.  His addition gives the Titans a pretty complete offense.

[Daniel]

With pick 242, the Tennessee Titans select:

Edefuan Ulofoshio, LB, Washington

One of the best testers at the combine (4.56 40, 39.5" vert, 10'8" broad), he ranked fifth among all LB prospects in pure athleticism.  He's stiff in coverage, and his ability to read and react to plays isn't quite there, and he tends to wait for contact rather than initiate it, but he has true sideline to sideline speed, and hits hard.  If he doesn't outright beat out our other LBs to get a rotational role, he'll likely be valuable as a gunner on special teams.

We like the combination of Ford and Ulofoshio, and feel like they each are strong where the other is weak.  Hopefully they learn a bit of each other's game, and at least one becomes a viable starting LB.

[Daniel]

Review: Titans gave the offense a lot of help.  Plugged the biggest hole in the roster with the best player at that position, added speed in the form of a big athletic receiver and a smaller deep threat.  Also gave an athletic TE that can hopefully develop into a better blocker, and a backup guard with potential to become a starter.  Growing pains would be expected, but Levis comes away with a lot more to work with than the Titans had last year.  If he's the guy, he has what he needs to show it.

Special teams got help as well, with Jackson immediately in the mix for kick and punt returner, and Ulofoshio looking like a perfect gunner.

Defense, less so.  And if we'd been able to add picks via the second round trade down, it might have been a little better, but this team's defense is still going to be lagging behind.  Wingo should give an instant impact as an interior pass rusher, and between Ford and Ulofoshio, the LB corps is in better shape, but Wingo is likely the only true blue starter that we got on the defensive side.  DL and Edge are still going to be below average units, LB went from liability to not good, and the DBs are no better than they were pre-draft, which is actually alright.

 

For the comparison on trading down in the first vs. taking Alt, there's another forum mock going on now, and the Titans had to trade down in that one, taking Troy Fautanu at 12.  So we'll see what comparative impacts we get from the two situations.