NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Titans used their third-round draft pick Friday night on Appalachian State running back Darrynton Evans, providing a potential backup for Derrick Henry, who led the NFL in rushing last season.
The Titans now have used two of their first three draft selections on offense, adding Evans with the No. 93 overall pick after taking offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson at No. 29 in the first round Thursday and cornerback Kristian Fulton of LSU at No. 61 overall in the second round Friday.
General manager Jon Robinson said the Titans were tempted to trade up Friday night but wound up with players they liked in positions they wanted.
"We were fortunate to get Isaiah last night, and then to get these two guys tonight with the gap that we had from beginning to end of each round, we were just super-stoked about where we're sitting right now," Robinson said.
Fulton sat out the 2017 season and served about 18 months of an NCAA suspension for tampering with his drug test. He returned for the 2018 season, and the 6-foot, 197-pound cornerback started all 15 games and broke up a team-high 14 passes as LSU won the national championship this past season.
The Titans met with Fulton at the NFL combine and are very familiar with what LSU asked of the cornerback. They wound up patiently waiting for a player considered a potential first-round pick. He was among the prospects the NFL sent equipment to their homes to be featured during draft coverage.
That made the wait Thursday and most of the second round extremely tough on Fulton.
"Had to keep reminding myself that the right team, the perfect fit will come for me ...," Fulton said. "I didn't want to go to a team that wasn't 100% confident in me. It was definitely worth the wait when I got this call. I'm excited to be a Tennessee Titan."
Evans (5-10, 203) was the Sun Belt Conference's offensive player of the year for 2019, averaging 5.8 yards per carry while rushing for 1,480 yards and 18 touchdowns. Evans also is a kick returner, having averaged 25.7 yards per return in three seasons, scoring a touchdown in each season.
The Florida native watched Henry play in high school at Yulee, Florida, and in college at Alabama and now in the NFL.
"He does a lot of great things, and I can't wait to learn and talk to him and pick his brain and just try and compete and do the best that we can for the Titans," Evans said of the former Alabama star.
The Titans also have the No. 93 selection in the third round and four more picks on Saturday, though none in the fourth or sixth rounds. They still need more depth at cornerback, wide receiver, quarterback and kicker.
Tennessee has defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, the No. 19 pick overall a year ago, ready to replace five-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey, who was traded to the Denver Broncos last month for a seventh-round pick.
Fulton will have a chance to replace cornerback Logan Ryan, who started every game he played the past three seasons and led the NFL in tackles this past postseason. He became a free agent in March but has yet to sign with a team.
"Let's Geaux!!! Excited to join the Squad Titans! More motivated than ever and ready to work!" Fulton wrote on social media.
Fulton was timed at 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and he also had one interception for the national champs as a senior. He has allowed quarterbacks to complete about 40% of passes against him since 2018.
The Titans went 9-7 for a fourth straight regular season last year but made a deep run in the playoffs to reach the AFC title game. But they have room for improvement on a defense that last season finished 21st in the league giving up 359.5 yards per game and 24th against the pass (255 yards per game). Tennessee ranked 12th by allowing 20.7 points a game but was next to last allowing touchdowns inside the 20.
Tennessee signed outside linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. to a one-year deal in March, hoping coach Mike Vrabel and linebackers coach Shane Bowen can help him return to the All-Pro form he showed in 2016, when he led the NFL with 15.5 sacks. The Titans also brought back linebacker Kamalei Correa and signed defensive lineman Jack Crawford, with both receiving one-year deals.
Coming off the 35-24 loss in the AFC championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to win the Super Bowl, Robinson already made sure to keep the core of the offense together of a team that made a postseason run on the road through New England, the reigning NFL champion at the time, and Baltimore, the AFC No. 1 seed.
He signed Ryan Tannehill, the comeback player of the year after finishing last season as the highest-rated passer in the league, to a four-year deal before free agency started. Robinson also tagged Henry as the Titans' franchise player coming off his history-making run as the first running back to rush for at least 180 yards in three straight games.