NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Titans find themselves in a position this franchise hasn’t been in for a long time.
Thanks to an unexpected run to their first AFC championship game in 17 years, the Titans hold the No. 29 overall pick in next week’s NFL draft. It’s the latest they’ve selected since 2008, when they last won the AFC South title.
The Titans already have signed quarterback Ryan Tannehill to a new four-year deal. NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry also signed his franchise tag for 2020, meaning Tennessee returns nine offensive starters from the team that ended the 2019 season with a 35-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to win the Super Bowl.
So general manager Jon Robinson, hired in January 2016 to rebuild a team that won five games combined the previous two seasons, finds himself needing only to retool the roster for coach Mike Vrabel during the virtual draft set for April 23-25.
“We have to add pieces to the team,” Robinson said. “We have a lot of good football players on this football team that have bought into the philosophy of how we want to play the game, to the culture that we have here in Nashville, and we’ve got to continue to add pieces to this core.”
While Henry’s outstanding stretch of ground games helped run the Titans to the AFC title game, it wasn’t a complete fluke. The Titans have four straight 9-7 seasons during Robinson’s tenure, behind only the New England Patriots (19), Seattle Seahawks (eight) and the Chiefs (seven) for the NFL’s longest active streaks of winning seasons.
That only increases the pressure to use the seven draft picks to help the Titans earn the right to host a playoff game for the first time since January 2009. The Titans have three selections in the top 93 and added their seventh overall by trading five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey to the Denver Broncos last month for a seventh-round pick.
For the first time in years, quarterback is not an issue for Tennessee. Tannehill earned a four-year, $118 million deal after going 9-4 as a midseason replacement for former starting quarterback Marcus Mariota, including 7-3 in the final 10 games of the regular season to turn around a 2-4 start. Depth still is needed behind the man who led the NFL last season with a franchise-best 117.5 passer rating.
Logan Woodside, who played eight games in the Alliance of American Football for the San Antonio Commanders in 2019, is the only other quarterback on the roster. He spent last season on Tennessee’s practice squad with an injury.
The Titans waived veteran Dion Lewis just before the start of free agency, so they need someone to back up Henry, the man who led the NFL with 1,540 rushing yards last season. Someone with good hands would help, too, because Henry had his best NFL season catching the ball in 2019 but still had only 18 receptions. That makes a dual-threat running back an attractive option.
The Titans signed veteran offensive lineman Dennis Kelly to a three-year deal to replace right tackle Jack Conklin, who left for the Cleveland Browns. Wide receiver Tajae Sharpe was the other starter from the AFC title game lost when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings. The Titans need depth up front and made Nate Davis, a third-round pick out of Charlotte a year ago, the starter at right guard midway through the season.
A.J. Brown led all rookies with 1,051 receiving yards, and Tennessee also has Corey Davis and veteran Adam Humphries as targets in the passing game. Kalif Raymond is back after a big touchdown catch in the playoff win against the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens, but Tennessee could use more speed.
On the other side of the ball, the Titans signed former Atlanta Falcons pass rusher Vic Beasley Jr. in free agency, taking a chance the linebacker will look more like the man who led the NFL with 15.5 sacks in 2016 by getting the chance to work with Vrabel and outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen. Beasley’s eight sacks last year would have ranked second only to Harold Landry Jr. among the Titans.
Tennessee also brought back outside linebacker Kamalei Correa, who tied for second on the team with five sacks last season. D’Andre Walker spent his rookie season on injured reserve after being a fifth-round pick out of Georgia. The AFC championship game exposed the Titans’ need for more speed on the outside, though.
The Titans already have former Mississippi State defensive end Jeffery Simmons, the 19th pick overall a year ago, to fill the gap left by trading Casey. Logan Ryan is a free agent and not expected back after the cornerback started every game he played the past three seasons. Malcolm Butler is back after finishing the season on injured reserve, and Adoree’ Jackson is going into his fourth season.
Three starting cornerbacks, not two, are a must these days in the NFL.