Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Mock Draft Monday: Wide Receiver or Offensive Line & Defensive on Doomsday

Episode Date: April 3, 2022

The Tennessee Titans will be picking in the NFL Draft later this month and now that we are so close it is time to take an updated run through some NFL mock drafts! First, two mock drafts have the Titans going wide receiver despite some good offensive linemen being available. Would that be smart for the Titans or would other options be more appealing? Tyler breaks down the crossroads. Next, what if the Titans went the other way and decided on offensive line? What prospects make sense? Tyler gives his personal rankings as they stand now. Finally, what about going a different direction. What if all the logical needs were impossible to fill, would the Titans go defense? Tyler outlines why it makes sense.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NFLNETWORK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. It is a mock draft Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. On today's show, we're going to go over six mock drafts and take a look at what these national outlets have the Titans doing at number 26, their first pick in the draft. Quarterback, offensive line, wide receiver, maybe even defense. We'll see what some of the national pundits have to say on this mock draft Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast

Network, your team every day. Your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Titans fans, it is a mock draft Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, and it is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts. We're going to dive into six mock drafts today from some national outlets, see what they have to say about the Tennessee Titans and what they will do with their first round pick.

We are in draft month now. It is April, so some updated mock drafts from some outside outlets. Feels like a good place to start the month. Before we get into that, do got to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily Monday through Friday,

Tennessee Titans content, not only during the season, but all year round. You can find the Locked on Titans podcast free and available on all platforms. And that includes the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching on YouTube right now. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans, and follow me on Facebook at LockedOnTitansPod.

But time to dive into these mock drafts, and we are going to start with a friend of the program, the host of Locked on Bills, and also a co-founder over at the Draft Network, Joe Marino. Done Locked on Crossover Thursdays with Joe. With his coverage of the Bills, he does great work in the draft, his specialty there.

So excited to dive into what he has for the Titans. And with pick number 26, he has the Tennessee Titans going with what I think internally is what the Titans would consider their best fit at wide receiver, and that is Trey Lon Burks from Arkansas. And here is what Marino has to say about his selection. Quote, after failing to provide weapons in the passing game for Ryan Tannehill in 2021, the Titans have landed a few reinforcements so far this offseason in Robert Woods and

Austin Hooper. The work should not stop there, especially given the talented pass-catching options in the draft. Traylon Burks fits the Titans' mold. He's big, physical, and excels after the catch while offering versatility. End quote. There it is. I got to agree with Joe completely.

He is everything that the Tennessee Titans would be looking for in a wide receiver. I think he's the perfect fit. Now, I would like a more speed-based guy like a Chris Olave or like a Garrett Wilson, but I would still prefer Burks over Jahan Dotson, Christian Watson, George Pickens, kind of the second tier of wide receivers in my opinion. So again, I've said this throughout the draft process. I am perfectly fine with Traylon Burks. He's getting comparisons to maybe a little bit of a less explosive A.J. Brown.

I mean, obviously that fits perfectly. So I would be incredibly happy to walk away from the first day of the draft with Traylon Burks added to the Tennessee Titans wide receiver core. Now here's the real question. Would you rather have Traylon Burks over Zion Johnson? Over Tyler Lindenbaum? Over Kenyon Green? Because all three of them were available in this draft at that spot.

So would the Titans go with wide receiver? Or do you think at this time because of the trade of Robert Woods and the signing of Austin Hooper, that offensive line is a much bigger need? So let me know down in the comments. Would you take Traylon Burks? Or would you rather have Zion Johnson, Tyler Lindelbaum, Kenyon Green? Me personally, I'd rather have Traylon Burks. Go with the playmaker.

You can get offensive line in the mid-rounds of the draft. And the Titans have shown they can get some really good offensive linemen from the mid-round. So I would go Burks. Go with the playmaker. You can get offensive line in the mid rounds of the draft and the Titans have shown they can get some really good offensive linemen from the mid round. So I would go Burks. He's the last wide receiver of the top tier in my opinion. So that's, that's where my pick would be. As for the second mock drafts that we are going to take a look at comes from Mike Tannenbaum from ESPN. He's looking at it from a GM perspective and at pick 26 for the Titans, he also has them going with Trelon Burks, the wide receiver out of Alabama, and here's what Tannenbaum had to say about the pick. Quote, the Titans released Julio Jones. They traded for Robert Woods, but he is returning from a knee injury. A.J. Brown

is entering a contract year. You get the point. The team has a lot of questions at the receiver position. Burks is 6'2", 225 pounds, and he plays a physical style. Ryan Tannehill would love to have somebody like him in the red zone, and I think he's a perfect fit for the Titans. And I put this Tenenbaum mock draft right here at the end of the first part of our conversation, the first part of our episode, because I wanted to drill home the fact that Burks is just the ideal fit for the Titans.

Now, in this draft, Zion Johnson was there. Jamison Williams, who a lot of people are high on out of Alabama, was there. Jahan Dodson went higher than Trelon Burks, which I think is pretty crazy. Matt Corral goes at 32. No Desmond Ritter is picked in this draft. So, would you rather have Ritter or Corral?

Would you rather have Zion Johnson at offensive line? Do you value Jamison Williams over Traylon Burks? For me at this spot, I'm sticking with Traylon Burks here. I've talked about offensive line. Jamison Williams, very impactful player. And I think he's a very going to be a very good player, but obviously he's not going to be ready right I think he's going to be a very good player, but obviously he's not going to be ready right away. He's going to be recovering from the ACL injury. So I would stick with Traylon Burks, and once again, he is a perfect fit for the Tennessee Titans, and I think that that cannot be stated enough.

I think if he's there, the Titans would happily scoop him up and fit him in with the physical run after catch wide receivers. And now, yeah, Robert Woods may be an older player at 30 years old coming off an ACL, but now he doesn't have to be that number two option. You can have Burks be that. Let Woods get back up to shape, and that's kind of like with Jamison Williams. You can't have him and Robert Woods both coming back from ACL injuries. That puts you in a tough position.

But we're going to move forward into some more mock drafts here. We got one from the NFL. We got one from Pro Football Focus. So excited to dive into those. We'll look at some other options for the Titans outside of Traylon Burks. Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you guys about Athletic Greens product AG1. So basically, you take a scoop of the A-G-1,

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Titans fans, let's continue our Mock Draft Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast, breaking down six different mock drafts. We got into the first two. Both of them picked Traylon Burks for the Titans wide receiver out of Arkansas at pick number 26. We got some differing opinions here with our next two mock drafts that we're going to get into. Both of them focusing on different prospects at the same position.

Before we get into that, I do want to tell you guys about the Locked On NFL podcast. Your national news under 30 minutes, Monday through Friday. You get your Titans news here with me. Get your national NFL news with the Locked On NFL podcast. It's free and available on all platforms. Make sure you check out the Locked On NFL YouTube channel for constant content over there. But before we get into this third mock draft, really, first one of our second segment here, but I just want to say this.

So I do want to do a fan-based Mock Draft Monday where I go over your guys' mock drafts. But I'm just going to be honest with you all. Hair going crazy on me. A lot of the mock drafts I've gotten just aren't super realistic. I mean, one of them had the Titans taking 12 people, trading back like three

times. Some of you guys have the Titans trading away their first round pick just to get a second round pick and look, it is my charge as the runner of the show to make sure that all the people who listen to the show are getting something out of it. We're having a legitimate discussion that is realistic and informative.

Some of these mock drafts you guys send me, I don't mean to be rude or crass, but they're just not realistic at all. And they're not going to bring any value to the show. So I haven't, I've got like two mock drafts out of like the six or eight that I've been sent that I would really honestly go over on the show with you guys because I think it could maybe happen.

But a lot of the mock drafts you guys send me, you're, you know, trading back three times in the second round, drafting 10 to 12 people. I'm not going to single anybody out, but it's a bunch of you guys. It's just not realistic. And I can't spend my time and spend everybody else's time going over it

when it's just never going to happen. The Titans aren't drafting 12 people. They're not trading back three times. They're not giving up a first round pick to get back in the second round. It's just not happening. So, anyways, that's why I want to kick off April, go

with some outside mock drafts, and give you guys some time to send in some better mocks for us to go over. So, that's my challenge to you all. Do some realistic mock drafting, okay? So we're going to get into this next mock draft, though, and it comes from Bucky Brooks at NFL.com. And with the 26th pick, the Titans' first pick in the NFL draft,

he has them going with Kenyon Green, the offensive lineman out of Texas A&M, interior offensive lineman. And here's what Bucky had to say. Quote, Green is a bully ball specialist with the movement skills and road grading ability to clear the path for Derrick Henry between the tackles. And I love the pick of Kenyon Green here.

No Jamison Williams available. No Traylon Burke. No Desmond Ritter. No Zion Johnson who went at number 25. Tyler Linderbaum would have been available in that mock draft, but I think I'd rather go with Kenyon Green. I think Green offers more versatility. There's less concern about Green with the short arms

that Linderbaum's bringing to the table. So if Kenyon Green or Tyler Linderbaum were the question because the top five wide receivers were going, the two quarterbacks that I think make sense for the Titans are going. What would I do there? And in this mock draft, I mean, we saw offensive tackle go way high. I mean, Rainman went number 22 to the Packers. So, offensive tackles off the board, wide receivers off the board.

The quarterback that the Titans like off the board, for me, that's easy. It's an easy call. I'm going with Kenyon Green. Nasty, physical, like Bucky said, he's a road grader. Fits perfect in the Titans scheme. Has some versatility as well. Played a little bit of tackle at times in his career,

so if things get really disastrous for the Titans there, they have Kenyon Green as an option to at least compete. Although I do think that he could be the starting left guard from day one for the Titans. So you'd have LeJuan, you'd have Green, you'd have Ben Jones, you'd have Nate Davis, you'd have Dylan Radins at right tackle. I mean, I think that would be a solid starting opening day offensive line for the Titans.

So I like the pick there. The next mock draft we're going to get into comes from Pro Football Focus. It's from Austin Gale. And with the 26th pick, he has the Titans going with the other option that we just discussed, Tyler Linderbaum, the center out of Iowa. Here's what Gale has to say about the pick. Quote, Linderbaum finished the 2021 season as Pro Football Focus's highest-graded interior offensive lineman and football focuses highest graded interior offensive lineman

and the top ranked interior offensive lineman expected to enter the 2022 NFL draft. He'll likely slip in the first round due to positional value, but I doubt he gets past Tennessee at pick 26. So the other reason why Linderbaum is sliding and some people even have him out of the first round, a lot of these mock drafts that we're talking about have him out of the first round or after the Titans pick because he has incredibly short arms. And when you start doing historical comparisons, there just aren't a lot of good NFL players with arms as short as Linderbaum. So are you

expecting, basically it's more risky of a pick because this guy has to break the mold. He has to literally be rare. He has to literally be rare. He has to literally be an extreme. So, it's less safe to take Linderbaum. But I think Ben Jones is probably only going to be around for another season, two at max. Linderbaum can play some guard and then switch over and be the Titans' decade-long center.

So, my concern is, I don't know if Linderbaum will be as successful at guard as he's going to be at center, which means he maybe won't have the impact in year one for the Titans that maybe some of the other interior offensive linemen like Zion or like Kenyon Green would have, and that's why I lean Zion and Kenyon Green when I'm ranking the interior offensive linemen.

But Linderbaum would be a pick I would be okay with, especially when you consider that Zion was off the board. But at the same time, Trelon Burks, George Pickens. Pickens went in front of Burks in this mock draft. I don't know if I agree with that. Trelon Burks, Pickens, Kenyon Green were still on the board here. So I would have gone Kenyon Green if you want offensive line, but I would have gone Trelon Burks, Pickens, Kenyon Green were still on the board here. So I would have gone Kenyon Green if you want offensive line, but I would have gone Trelon Burks overall anyway.

And if Kenyon Green hasn't been taken, and Tyler Linderbaum hasn't been taken when the Titans come up, that means that interior offensive linemen are being pushed down the board, which gives you a better chance of getting one later in the draft. So for me at that point, I would definitely be taking wide receiver. I would take Trelon Burks, but I guess if Burks is gone, if Zion's gone,

if Green is gone, I wouldn't be upset with taking Tyler Linderbaum there. It wouldn't be bad. It just depends on who else is available. But two offensive linemen in these two mock drafts, two different ones. I don't think it's absolutely insane that the Titans end up with either of them,

but we're going to continue our mock draft Monday. Look at some other options for the Titans with our last two mock drafts before we get into them. Do want to tell you guys about Bilt Bar, the best tasting protein bar in the galaxy. Bilt Bars aren't like other protein bars that are chalky and waxy and hard to choke down. They're 100% delicious with 100% real chocolate. They have a ton of different fantastic flavors. Some of my favorites are the peanut butter brownie, the salted caramel,

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The craziest pick that we're going to see in this entire mock draft Monday comes from our fifth mock draft of the day. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first of the day. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, make sure you check out the Locked On NFL Draft podcast.

It is draft season after all. Hosted by Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker. They're bringing you the draft from two different perspectives. Of course, they're breaking down all the prospects, doing mock drafts, big boards, all of that, player profiles.

But they're also looking at it from a front office perspective. So you get the best of both worlds with the Locked On NFL Draft Podcast. Make sure you check that out free and available on all platforms. But as for our fifth mock draft to get into, it comes from Danny Kelly at The Ringer. And I talked about this mock draft earlier in, um, or not earlier in this week, but last week when we talked about, you know, differing opinions on mock drafts, but he has the Titans going a direction that I haven't seen anybody else mock them. And it's an interior defensive lineman, Logan Hall from Houston, six foot six, 280 pounds, got a lot of Rashad Weaver to his game,

and here is what Kelly had to say about the pick. Quote, the Titans addressed a big need over the weekend in trading for receiver Robert Woods, so now they build with a strength-on-strength strategy. Hall is a long, twitched-up pass rusher who can line up at multiple spots on Tennessee's already formidable defensive line. You know, if all five of the top wide receivers are gone, all three of the anterior offensive linemen are gone,

all four of the top offensive tackles are gone. So that's five, three, four. That is 12. That's 12 players. The top, you know, three quarterbacks are gone. Let's say Ritter, Willis, and Kenny Pickett. So that right there, three and three, six, four, ten, five, fifteen.

That's fifteen picks right there. The Titans have twenty-six. So it is entirely possible that all of the guys that we've talked about, Ritter, Corral, Zion Johnson, Tyler Linderbaum, Kenyon Green, Trevor Penning, Trelon Burks, Chris Alave, Garrett Wilson, London Drake, Jameson Williams. I mean, it's possible that all of those players are gone.

What would you do then if you were the Titans? Everybody's saying trade down, trade down. But what if you don't have a dance partner? Then what do you do? I think that taking defensive line, whether it be edge rusher, because that means that some edge rushers probably dropped. I don't think that's nuts. And Logan Hall kind of got some Rashad Weaver to him,

but a more talented player, which is why he would go in the first round instead of the fourth. Also, you have to think Danico Autry is in his 30s. You need a player who can be that 4-3 defensive end, kick down at the three technique to rush on pass downs, basically play Danico Autry's role. And if the board drops this way, yeah, you'd want an instant impact player, but at some point, you gotta think ahead.

That's part of the draft strategy as well. That would be the strategy in taking quarterback, right? So if you can't trade down, none of the logical options are there that we've talked about all draft season. I don't see why Logan Hall would be a bad fit. Devontae Wyatt is another guy that makes some sense there. Again, what you're

doing is, you are just replenishing a specific role before the player in that role is less talented than what we've seen. So, I don't think that would be nuts, but it would only be if a lot of players weren't there. And in this draft,

Zion Johnson, Tyler Linderbaum, Kenyon Green, Desmond Ritter were all available. So, there's no way that I could sign off on the pick when all three of the good interior offensive linemen are off the board. But I'm just saying, if the board were to drop in a doomsday scenario for the Titans, I don't think that it would be insane to go that way, basically, is all I'm saying. So, also a big shout out to Danny Kelly, like I said last week on the show.

Very communicative you know wasn't you know being hateful to Titans fans who didn't like the pick came you know and talked with me about what I think that they would do so I appreciate him being open minded and receptive even if we disagreed with his selection shout out Danny Kelly

from the ringer the last one comes from Eric Edholm from Yahoo and he has the Titans going with Kenyon Green, a name that we've seen a lot in this mock draft Monday, and this is what he had to say, quote, the Titans have needs at guard and tackle, so why not get a player that has played both spots? Green is a decleater who can bring some power to the party,

which just feels like a good fit for a Mike Vrabel team. We like Green best inside, but he's perfectly solid at tackle. A wide receiver makes sense too, but Green is a good value here, and I agree with them. And the only wide receivers that were available were like Jahan Dotson, Christian Watson was available as well, George Pickens. And I don't want to take any of those guys at that pick. I don't think those are first-round talents.

So for me, I like to pick a Kenyon Green. I don't want to take any of those guys at that pick. I don't think those are first-round talents. So for me, I like the pick of Kenyon Green. Like you said, personality-wise, fits what the Titans need, fills a need, has versatility, everything the Titans could ask for. So I'm okay with the Kenyon Green pick. I like it, depending on how the board falls and the way the board fell there. You could take Ritter, you could take Linderbaum, but I like Kenyon Green. But that's going to do it for a Mock Draft Monday.

Remember, you guys have homework. Do some better Mock Drafts, guys. I need more realistic Mock Drafts that are actually informative to go over on the show. So please send those in and maybe next Monday we'll get our fan-made Mock Draft Monday

off the rails. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. We are diving into our scouting portion of the offseason this week. We're going to talk quarterbacks, running backs, probably wide receivers, tight ends at some point, depending on how much news comes up.

So make sure you stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.