The Titans may decide to draft another offensive tackle early in 2021. It’s a fact that most of this fanbase probably doesn’t want to accept, but it doesn’t change the possibility.
Ask yourself this: If general manager Jon Robinson saw the offensive tackle position as one worth investing a first-round pick in a year ago, has anything happened to change that opinion? Has Isaiah Wilson filled that need? Never mind. Don’t answer that.
The latest in the Wilson saga saw him tweet and then quickly delete something about being “done as a Titan.”
Sigh. According to our own John Glennon, the Titans are going to give Wilson every chance to right his wrongs, and they unfortuately have a bunch of reasons (money/value) to do so, but it’s tough to see this getting a storybook ending:
On the flipside, Ian Rapoport is claiming that the Titans are shopping Wilson around:
It’s tough to imagine the Titans getting anything of real value back for Wilson, but anything is better than nothing.
The real question here is how Dennis Kelly’s play in 2020 may have impacted Robinson’s opinion of the need at offensive tackle. It’s possible that Robinson is now comfortable with kicking the can down the road another year, but we shouldn’t rule out the possibility that the Titans could look to draft an offensive tackle this April.
Looking beyond the Wilson situation, the Titans could use a couple of more young offensive linemen on the roster. Ty Sambrailo is set to hit free agency and there’s no telling if he’ll be back. David Quessenberry is a veteran depth piece at best. Taylor Lewan and Kelly aren’t getting younger. This team needs to start filling up the cupboard with young, promising offensive linemen, and there’s no time like the present.
As you can see, there are some questions here and this is a scenario worth looking at.
Every team should draft at least one offensive linemen every year. The Titans will likely add at least one of them by the end of the 2021 NFL Draft.
With that in mind, here’s a mock draft looking at potential offensive tackle target in every round.
Round 1 | Teven Jenkins | Oklahoma State
If the Titans decide to draft an offensive tackle in the first round, Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins would likely be on their shortlist of potential picks. At 22nd overall, they’re probably picking too late to have a chance at one of the consensus top three offensive tackles (Penei Sewell, Rashawn Slater and Christian Darrisaw).
After those players come off the board, there’s no telling who the fourth tackle selected will be, but I think Jenkins has as good of a chance as any of them do.
Robinson likes his O-linemen to play with a nasty demanor and that’s exactly what Jenkins does on tape. He is mean, he is tough, he is physical. Jenkins, like Wilson did at Georgia, has spent most of his time at right tackle. That also happens to be the position where the Titans currently lack a long term solution.
Jenkins needs to work on correcting some of the technical aspects of his pass set, but he has all the physical and mental tools necessary to develop into a starter at the next level.
Round 2 | Dillon Radunz | North Dakota State
Radunz played just one game in 2020 due to the impact COVID-19 had on his season, but it did nothing to change the NFL’s thinking on him as a player.
An experienced left tackle who has manned the blindside for a number of big-time collegiate quarterbacks (Easton Stick and Trey Lance), Radunz may not have played at the biggest program in the nation, but he’s a big-time player and prospect.
The first thing that jumps off the screen when analyzing Radunz’s tape is how good of an athlete he is for the position. A fluid mover that is always in control, there weren’t many defensive linemen that got the better of Radunz over the course of a game in college.
Similar to the compliments I paid Jenkins above, Radunz is a tough competitior that plays through the whistle. He has the type of mean streak that I can see attracting the Titans’ interest.
Radunz possesses a well-balanced skillset that serves him just as well in pass protection as it does as a run blocker.
He would be a great fit in Tennessee.
Round 3 | Spencer Brown | Northern Iowa
Spencer Brown is the ultimate football guy. He grew up in a town of 1,300 people (Lenox, Iowa). His family lived on a farm where they raised beans and corn. He spent his time helping his family on the farm. He enjoys fishing and hunting with his friends. He went to the local high school.
You can’t make this stuff up. I don’t think Brown had another choice in life but to become an NFL O-linemen. Seriously, he sounds like every offensive linemen ever.
All kidding aside, he’s a damn good prospect. Brown didn’t play in 2020 after Northern Iowa’s season was impacted by the pandemic, but he’s put more than enough good things on tape to warrant a top-100 selection. He also went down to the Senior Bowl in January and looked dominant against better competition than he often saw in college.
Brown played right tackle in college. He’s a mean, nasty SOB that’s one of the toughest players in this draft class.
Brown has rare size for the position. Here goes a quote that I received on Brown from somebody who’s been training with him every single day: “He’s one of the biggest offensive lineman I’ve ever seen. He literally blocks out the sun. If you drew up what a starting NFL offensive tackle looks like, he fits the bill.”
Yeah, I like that.
Brown has been preparing with Joe Staley in California during the predraft process, and the reviews on him have been overwhelmingly positive.
He’s going to be a steal on Day 2.
Round 3 | D’Ante Smith | ECU
Just like I’ve been doing in all of these position-focused mocks, I’m offering an alternative option here in the third round since the Titans currently own two picks in this round.
Repeat after me: Length. For. Days. Eastern Carolina’s D’Ante Smith was one of the Senior Bowl’s first big winners before he even strapped the pads on when he measured in with an astounding 85.2-inch wingspan and 35.3-inch arms.
It’s not just about the measureables with Smith. When he hit the field in Mobile for practice, he displayed a high level of understanding of how to use his immense physical tools to his advantage:
In addition to his length, Smith is a great athlete with good footspeed on tape.
If there’s a knock on Smith, he clocks in at 294 pounds and may struggle against powerful rushers at the next level. He needs to pack on some weight while showing the capability to maintain the athleticism that makes him such an intriguing prospect.
It’ll also be interesting to see how Smith handles a step up in competition at the next level, but he has all the tools to warrant a late Day 2 selection.
Round 4 | Brady Christensen | BYU
Brady Christensen played under the biggest spotlight he could have realistically wished for in 2020: He manned the blindside for a big-time QB prospect in BYU’s Zach Wilson.
So while NFL scouts flocked to Provo, Utah, to get a closer look at Wilson, Christensen certainly caught some NFL decision-makers by surprise with his play this past season.
Christensen’s selling points are easy to spot on tape. Coming in at 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, he has the size and strength to survive at the next level. He’s a tough player that is used to blocking for a quarterback that loves to navigate the pocket and escape pressure while keeping his eyes downfield.
There’s no denying that Wilson’s play style is popular in today’s NFL as every team searching for a new signal caller seems to be enamored with a QB that can make something happen off-script. That experience will serve Christensen well at the next level.
Although he’s spent most of his time at left tackle, there’s a decent chance that his below-average athleticism will kick him over to right tackle or even inside at the next level.
Regardless of where he ends up playing, Christensen is an NFL prospect worth spending a top-150 pick on.
Round 5 | Robert Hainsey | Notre Dame
What Hainsey lacks in dynamic or even modest athletic tools and measurements (6-4, 302, 79-inch wingspan), he makes up for with football smarts, experience, technique and versatility.
Hainsey was at the Senior Bowl and practiced at both tackle and guard. He had a terrific week in Mobile where he flawlessly switched from position to position. Hainsey enters the draft as a three-year starter (mostly at right tackle) at a prestious program.
Hainsey is going to be the type of pick that doesn’t receive a lot of excitement from a fanbase when the card is turned in, but goes on to play 10 years in the NFL as a high level backup at the very least.
Round 6 | Adrian Ealy | Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s Adrian Ealy is an experienced offensive tackle that played at a big-time program and it shows up on film. Ealy also happens to be an incredibly large human being at 6-foot-6 while tipping the scales at 326 pounds.
Ealy is a big-time “traits” prospect. His frame features an 82.7-inch wingspan and 32.6-inch arms. He leans on his length and size on tape.
Ealy was at the Senior Bowl in January. He struggled on the first day of practice, but bounced back nicely on the second day:
Ealy has some things to clean up with his technique, such as pad level and playing with better control on a snap-by-snap basis, but he has the tools and experience to warrant a pick in this range of the draft.
Round 7 | Jaylon Moore | Western Michigan
As it stands now, the Titans don’t have a seventh round pick in April’s draft, but we’re looking at an offensive tackle in every round here, so let’s pretend pick 192 — the Titans’ second sixth-rounder and the final pick of the sixth round — comes one round later.
Let me preface this by saying I’m not sure Jaylon Moore lasts this long, but I do think he’s a Day 3 pick, and I wanted to write about him here because he’s one of my favorite small-school offensive line prospects in this draft class.
Moore is yet another player included in this scenario that had a great Senior Bowl. Moore has terrific length and held his own against better competition in Mobile.
I first noticed Moore while watching his teammate, WR D’Wayne Eskridge, on tape (another one of my favorites). It’s tough to find a distraction while watching Eskridge’s electric ability on film, but Moore kept catching my eye nonetheless.
An experienced player with 32 career starts to his name, Moore has the ability to outperform his draft slot at the next level.
I love the Moore-to-Tennessee fit. Moore is an exciting and aggressive run blocker that has played (and had success) in a zone-blocking scheme.
Teams often look for scheme and culture fits on Day 3, and Moore would fit the bill here.
