Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Draft Review: 2016 Class Overall, Individual Player Grades & Biggest 'What Ifs"

Episode Date: May 25, 2020

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, today's episode is brought to you by Built Bar. Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to BuiltBar.com, use promo code LOCKEDON, and you'll get $10 off your first order. Happy Monday to you all. It is a holiday Monday here on the Locked on Titans podcast. I hope everybody had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend, but I am ready to kick off
Starting point is 00:00:31 a brand new series, a little bit of a draft class review. John Robinson has been the general manager for the Tennessee Titans for four and a half off seasons now, but we have had four years that have passed since his first draft class with the Tennessee Titans in 2016. So what I want to do this week is spend some time going back and looking at some of those early draft classes now that we have a little bit of time to review things accurately. And of course, we are going to start with that 2016 class. I want to break everything down to start. Just do a general review of the draft in totality.
Starting point is 00:01:11 Talk the selections, talk the trades, talk about how these players performed in the last four seasons. And then I want to go into our next conversation, which will be about a grade for each individual player so I'm going to grade what they have given to the Titans in the last four years and basically how that pick looks now pick by pick and the Titans had 10 picks in 2016 so a lot of different players to talk about and then I'm going to wrap up the show with a little bit of a what if segment so I know that hindsight is 2020 and it's not necessarily fair to go back and say
Starting point is 00:01:47 if we would have picked this guy here instead of this guy and do all that but it's only fair now that we've had time to review things that we go back and look how John Robinson could have done things a little bit differently in his first draft on the job so very excited to kick off this series with you and very excited to dig into the 2016 class. Let's just say I have a lot of takes to give that I've been waiting to talk about for quite some time. So with that in mind, let's get it. Upon review, John Robinson's first draft as general manager for the Titans has its ups and downs, but it's fair to grade his draft on a curve because, in fact, it was his first draft as a general manager. And not only was it his first draft as a GM, Not only was it his first draft as a GM, but he also had a ton of work to do on a Titans roster that had combined for five wins in the last two seasons.
Starting point is 00:02:50 The Titans had the number one overall pick in 2016. Robinson used that number one overall pick, traded back to 15 to collect more assets before jumping back into the top 10 using some of those assets that he collected. Those two trades were a part of five total trades that Robinson made in the 2016 draft that included teams like the Rams, the Browns, the Eagles, the Broncos, and the Falcons. Not only did those trades result in 10 total selections in 2016, but they also resulted in two additional picks in 2016 for Robinson. but they also resulted in two additional picks in 2016 for Robinson.
Starting point is 00:03:30 Speaking of those 10 selections, the Titans used their first pick in the first round, the eighth overall selection, on tackle Jack Conklin. And of course, Conklin played 57 games for the Titans, including an all-pro rookie season in 2016. Now, Conklin did deal with some injuries, some knee injuries throughout his career, limiting two of his seasons, but Conklin did have two very good seasons in his first and his last with the Titans, resulting in a big free agent deal from the Browns this all season. Now Conklin's value, the value of his pick, obviously drops a tad bit considering that he only spent four seasons with the Titans, but a very good four seasons where he contributed to two solid playoff runs. The second round is much murkier for general
Starting point is 00:04:11 manager John Robinson, and it may be his lowest point as the Titans GM. He used the first pick in the second round, 33rd overall on defensive end Kevin Dodd. Dodd is clearly Robinson's biggest draft bust of them all. He only played in 18 games starting one. He had one sack, 12 tackles, and only 271 snaps. Dodd never lived up to his potential and didn't even get another opportunity after he was cut from the Titans after two seasons. The other two picks that Robinson had in the second round, that's a total of three, he used on defensive tackle Austin Johnson at pick 43, played four seasons with the Titans, 58 games, 13 starts, 83 tackles, four of them for loss. He played in 17% of the snaps his rookie season, 29 in his second season, 38 in his third and 29 last season.
Starting point is 00:05:06 Austin Johnson was a solid role player, but not necessarily the type of value you would hope from the 43rd overall pick. With the 45th overall pick, the third final pick in the second round for Robinson in 2016, he got Derrick Henry, 3,800 plus rushing yards, 38 rushing touchdowns. Henry has been fantastic throughout his career and really blossomed into one of the best players in the NFL over the last two seasons, including a phenomenal playoff run. What may be Robinson's best pick of all time, though, followed in the first selection in the third round, pick 64, was Kevin Byard.
Starting point is 00:05:44 Byard has been All pro once has made one pro bowl played in 64 games for the Titans 55 starts starting eventually after nine games in his rookie year he's had three sacks 17 interceptions 37 passes defended 320 tackles in his career and in the last three seasons which he's been a full-time starter, he played in 100, 100, and then 99% of the snaps. The back half of the draft saw John Robinson get some solid role players, and Tajay Sharp in the fifth round, and LaShawn Sims in the fifth round as well. Both of those players are no longer on the Titans, so of course, like Austin Johnson and Jack Conklin, it hurts their value. And then the three last picks that Robinson made all were late round picks that were swings for the fences.
Starting point is 00:06:30 Sebastian Tretola, a guard, Aaron Wallace, edge rusher, and then Kalen Reed. None of those players played more than three seasons with the Titans and were mostly out of the league after that opportunity. It was a good start to building his roster. They got three foundation players with Jack Conklin, Derrick Henry, and Kevin Byard, and then three solid role players as well with Austin Johnson, Tajay Sharp, and LaShawn Sims. The miss on Kevin Dodd is absolutely horrendous, but considering they got Derrick Henry in the second round and an all-pro safety in Kevin Byard in the third round, it is fair to say that this draft class was a good start for John
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Starting point is 00:09:50 That John Robinson made in the 2016 draft. Before we move into that conversation. I want to remind you guys to subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast. On whatever platform that you stream. Remember I am going to be doing draft class breakdowns throughout the week for the draft classes at the beginning of John Robinson's tenure as GM with the Titans. So make sure that you're locked into the Locked on Titans podcast to enjoy this week of content with me. Titans fans get out your red markers it is time to assign some grades and I'm going to go through
Starting point is 00:10:37 all 10 selections from the 2016 draft class assign a grade to each of them and then assign an overall grade to John Robinson's first class on the job for the Titans so one thing that I am keeping in mind when I do my overall draft grade is the fact that John Robinson brought in two additional selections in 2017 so we will obviously discuss that when we total up the damage at the end of the segment. But let's dive right in with the first pick for John Robinson, and that was Jack Conklin. So of course, Robinson famously moved down from number one to 15 and then back up to eight. And then another incredibly famous moment from that draft.
Starting point is 00:11:21 So Laramie Tunzel was the presumed number one tackle in that class and obviously that proved to be for good reason but he had the famous or infamous rather Gaskmas incident that pushed him down the board so a lot of people thought that the Titans could be coming up to stop his slide because ultimately as most people expected that incident in that video didn't really affect his ability to be a fantastic player. So a lot of people thought the Titans may be coming up for Laramie Tunsil, but instead they took the mauler out of Michigan State, Jack Conklin.
Starting point is 00:11:54 And Conklin played in 57 games, as I mentioned, had that incredible rookie season where he made All-Pro, but he did have two lackluster middle seasons for the Titans, dealing with knee injury, recovering from that, tearing his ACL in a playoff game against the Patriots, so you have to consider that out of his four seasons, he really had two good ones, the first and the last, and the middle were kind of mediocre for a lot of that time, so gotta keep that in mind, and another thing to keep in mind for Conklin is he was only on the Titans for four seasons. So it has to hurt the value, as I mentioned in the first segment, it has to hurt the value realistically of the pick if the player is not
Starting point is 00:12:35 on your team after four seasons and leaves in free agency after his rookie deal. So that means something that he wasn't valuable enough for Robinson to keep. That hurts the value. If Robinson would have taken Laramie Tunsil, I guarantee that he would have been extended by now with the type of player that he's become. So we have to keep that in mind. I'm going to give the pick a B+. I think Conklin was a key player for the Titans in their two playoff runs, so have to give him some credit there.
Starting point is 00:13:02 He turned into a pretty good player when he walked out the door, but since he did leave after four seasons and had those two subpar seasons in the middle, I have to give it a B-plus overall for Conklin. Moving into the second pick, and quite frankly, I don't have enough minuses for this pick. I slightly touched on my disdain for this pick in the first segment, but I'm really going to dive in here. So the Titans had the first overall pick that season, which means they had the first overall pick in each round. And that was the case in the second round where they had the most selections, three overall selections in that 2016 second round. And with that first one they took Kevin Dodd and I mean 18 games only one sack 16 percent of snaps played nine percent in the second year Dodd was cut and never got another opportunity I mean how bad is that that not only did this guy not make it for the Titans he didn't
Starting point is 00:14:02 even get a look as a second round, as the 33rd overall pick. A lot of people say that, you know, the first 10 or 8 picks in the second round are basically first round picks because of the talent there. Well, I mean, to swing and miss that bad on a pick for John Robinson, I mean, quite frankly, Harold Landry had a pretty good start to the season, first half of the season last year, but it's fair to question John Robinson's ability to evaluate edge rushers. At this time, Brian Arakbo and Derek Morgan were not John Robinson picks. He didn't have anything to do with that. So to me, it is fair to question Robinson
Starting point is 00:14:38 at this time rolling through all the young guys, some of the draft picks that he's wasted on edge players and pass rushers. It's fair to have concern about his ability to evaluate that position at this moment in time. And Dodd was the first sign. And it has gotten better, of course. I haven't seen any misses quite as bad as Dodd. But, you know, having that type of pick and starting your tenure as a general manager with that second round pick when you
Starting point is 00:15:06 have three of them, just incredibly disappointing. And with that in mind, I gave it an F-. I mean, Christian Hackenberg was taken in that second round as well. And that 2016 draft, if you look back at the first round, it's not a lot of really good players, quite frankly. at the first round. It's not a lot of really good players, quite frankly. Not a great draft, but to pick Kevin Dodd there with the other players that were on the board at the time, which we'll talk about more next segment, just absolutely horrendous from John Robinson. An F minus, minus, minus, minus. Now, we move to the second second round pick for Robinson that year,
Starting point is 00:15:44 and it was Austin Johnson. And Johnson was only a role player for his time with the Titans his four seasons. Rookie season, 17% of snaps on defense. Second year, 29. Third year, 38. Fourth year, 29%. He never played more than 38% of snaps on defense. He was a rotational run stuffer.
Starting point is 00:16:04 Never really offered anything as a pass rusher. So to take a guy like that, although he played four seasons for the Titans before leaving this offseason, to have a player never play over 38% of snaps and be the 43rd pick in the draft, I mean, it's just not good enough. That's just really not good enough, quite frankly. And Austin Johnson with that pick, I'm going to give it a C minus. He played on the team for four years. He was a role player. He wasn't a complete waste, which would have put him in the D range, but he was about as ineffective of a high second round pick as you could really get other than Kevin Dodd for somebody who was on the team for four
Starting point is 00:16:42 seasons. So I'm not saying Austin Johnson was terrible, but he definitely never even got close to living up to the 43rd overall pick in a draft. So it's a C minus for me. The next pick, 45th overall, the third second round pick, thank God John Robinson saved himself here. And honestly, two and a half years through this player's tenure, you would say this is maybe the worst second round of all time. I mean, it's up there. Like I said, Christian Hackenberg got taken in this draft. And outside of him, I mean, Kevin Dodd could be the worst second round pick of all time. I mean, he's got to be in the top five, top three.
Starting point is 00:17:20 Just absolutely terrible. Austin Johnson, C-. Right on the fringe of being terrible, but just serviceable enough to get a decent grade there, not a bad one. But Derrick Henry's an A-minus at this moment in time. Right now, he's on a franchise tag, so is he going to play more than five seasons with the Titans? Are they going to extend him? Are they going to let him walk and have to rebuild the power running back position. This offense is completely built around. Is that going to be the case? So, Derrick Henry's grade is kind of to be
Starting point is 00:17:51 determined, seeing how things work out with his contract, but at this moment in time, the Titans have got one and a half really good seasons from Derrick Henry, and I mean, the last season with 1,500 yards and what he did in the playoffs, you got to give Derrick Henry an A-. He's the heart and soul of this team right now. And it'll be an A-pick if they extend him long term and things work out in this upcoming season. The next pick is an A-pick no matter what.
Starting point is 00:18:21 And where there were a ton of minuses for Kevin Dodds F there are a ton of pluses for this A and that is Kevin Byard and obviously I can't hide my Kevin Byard bias I absolutely love the guy I think he's a phenomenal leader and player but what he's done as a third round pick out of a small school like Middle Tennessee just absolutely phenomenal he's been an all pro he's been a pro bowler. Might be the best overall player on the Titans team other than Derrick Henry at this time. So got to give Kevin Byard all the love in the world. He's been incredibly productive. 17 interceptions. It's crazy that the only games that he didn't start in his four seasons with the Titans were
Starting point is 00:19:02 the first nine games of his rookie season when he sat behind Rashad Johnson. So at this moment in time, I am willing to say that Kevin Byard is an A+++, plus the Titans were able to extend him early because of how great he is. So just an easy A+, and where Kevin Dodd may be John Robinson's worst pick of all time, Kevin Bayard is definitely his best pick of all time. So quite a Jekyll and Hyde situation with this 2016 draft class. Moving on, the Titans didn't have a fourth round pick, but with the first pick in the fifth round, they got Tajay Sharp. And Sharp has had a decent career in Tennessee. Moving on to the Vikings this offseason.
Starting point is 00:19:45 Played in 47 games. a decent career in Tennessee moving on to the Vikings this offseason. Played in 47 games. He did miss the entire 2017 season with an injury. While he was on the field, he was relatively reliable late in his career. Had an issue with drops early in his career at least, but ended up with 92 catches, 1,167 yards, and eight touchdowns in his career with the Titans. He was a fourth wide receiver, third wide receiver at best, and early on was forced into a role where he performed okay in that rookie year,
Starting point is 00:20:13 considering the circumstances. But I'm going to give Tajay Sharp a C+. He was a valuable role player to that wide receiver unit, but of course leaving after four seasons and not being worth an extension diminishes the value quite a bit similar idea with the next player LaShawn Sims who was taken in the fifth round as well and originally I had this as a c plus with Tajay Sharp but then I started thinking about it more and I just can't give LaShawn Sims a C+, because if he had to play, it was typically not a good thing for the Titans,
Starting point is 00:20:47 and when he was forced into more consistent action, it basically showed the Titans that it was okay to let him walk, and he went to Cincinnati this offseason. So another player that didn't stay after his rookie year wasn't worth an extension, and just gave okay contributions out on the field. And another guy I feel similar, like Austin Johnson, all right, you know, he was good enough to be on the roster all four years and be a role player, but not really good
Starting point is 00:21:16 enough to actually play a lot. So I gave LaShawn Sims just a flat C. I think he was a little bit better than Austin Johnson, I guess. You know, on the fly, I'm just going to make it a C- as well. I can't give him a higher grade than Austin Johnson, so C- for LaShawn Sims. And then to quickly wrap things up at the back end of the draft, John Robinson took Sebastian Tretola in the sixth round. He played in one game. He was cut after one year, so I know that it's a sixth round pick, but to have a guy get cut after one season and never have another opportunity again in the NFL, I mean, that's just a really bad pick, so I'm going to give Trey Tola
Starting point is 00:21:58 a D-. Aaron Wallace is an edge rusher, only played in 13 games, had 17 tackles, had one sack, which came in his rookie year. A seventh round pick, so I'm just going to give it a D+, because I get John Robinson is throwing darts at that point. I can't really kill him too much. And then the final pick was Kalen Reed. He played seven games, had three tackles. It's a seventh round pick.
Starting point is 00:22:23 He was the last pick of the draft, Mr. Irrelevant, as a matter of fact. So I'm just going to give that a C because who expects that player to make a difference whatsoever anyways. So three back-end players there, but like I said in the first segment, none of those players played more than three seasons in the NFL. Trey Tola only had the one, Kaelin Reed only had the two, and Aaron Wallace had three, and that's probably just because he was an edge rusher and had a lot of athletic talent. So I think it's fair to say that Robinson completely wasted those dart throws. Not only were those players not good enough to make the team, but they weren't even good enough to be in the NFL
Starting point is 00:22:59 after the Titans got done with them, and that I think is kind of disappointing so I'm gonna sum up the draft for John Robinson 2016 in total you got Conklin you know this I mentioned it at the end of last segment you got Conklin you got Derek Henry you got Kevin Byard all were critical players in the Titans playoff runs of the last four years but you had an insane miss in Kevin Dodd then you had three decent role players in Austin Johnson, Tajay Sharp, and LaShawn Sims but you also had a complete whiff an all-time whiff in Kevin Dodd and his most memorable moment in Tennessee might be when Paul Kaharski assaulted him as he was walking off the field in an interview not literally but absolutely took him to task trying to get him
Starting point is 00:23:45 to answer questions, and he refused, and that might be the most memorable moment of Kevin Dodd's career in Tennessee, and then you have three complete waste picks at the end with Trey Tola, Wallace, and Kalen Reed, so overall, I'm going to give this a B- draft. John Robinson had some foundation players for the last four years, but wasn't able to keep a lot of these guys more than four years, even the role players, because they weren't necessarily worth the extension. So with that in mind, I'm going to give it a B minus. Keep in mind, like I mentioned earlier, Robinson did add the fifth overall pick from the Rams and another third round pick in 2017 to go along with this draft class, which is
Starting point is 00:24:25 added to the value, which is why I gave it a B minus. Honestly, one of my hottest, hottest takes as a Titans follower whatsoever has always been that Robinson cost the Titans a Super Bowl because of how lackluster that second round is. Kevin Dodd and Austin Johnson and Derrick Henry. Henry turned out to be a good player, but taking those first two players ahead of Derrick Henry shows that Robinson wasn't that high on Henry in the first place. He took him with his third luxury second round pick, and he thought Austin Johnson and Kevin Dodd were better players than some of the people who got picked in that same second round. So I think that second round cost the Titans a Super Bowl either last year or this season.
Starting point is 00:25:10 Probably fair to say this season, maybe that 2016 year, if this draft class is good enough, it buoys the Titans into making a Super Bowl run. We know that a strong rookie draft class can do that for a team. And if you mash that up with Marcus's best season as the Titans, who knows how far the Titans could have gone. But wasting two second round picks, in my opinion, two top 45 picks on Dodd and Austin Johnson is Robinson's biggest miss in his entire career as the general manager of the Titans.
Starting point is 00:25:42 So a B- overall for that draft class. We are going to move into a what-if segment to round off the show. Quickly, I don't want to do the whole hindsight thing. I know that that's not necessarily fair to do when talking about you should have picked this guy instead because we know what we know now about those players, but I think the criticisms that I have in these what-if situations are fair considering, you know, what the evaluations of the players were at that time. So, I wasn't happy with the picks at the time, so I don't feel
Starting point is 00:26:12 guilty for criticizing them and suggesting other players now. So, we'll get to that next. you all know how the saying goes if if was a fifth then we'd all be drunk but i can't help after taking a look at this draft class and really digging deep into the 2016 draft. I can't help but have a few what ifs if John Robinson had done a couple of things just a little bit different. So of course, it is no secret that I am a little up and down with this draft class. As I mentioned in the last segment, I gave it a B minus overall. Robinson did set the team up for success the next four seasons with a lot of players who contributed, but man, there was an opportunity there for Robinson to really strike gold and turn this team into a clear Super Bowl contender, and I think a couple of those misses really set back the team. So if Robinson didn't have those misses, where might the Titans have gone?
Starting point is 00:27:25 So I want to talk about that a little bit. And we are going to start in the first round. And this is the least fair. I am going to admit it. This is the least fair what if of all of the what ifs, all the player names that I wrote down. This is the least fair. The Titans absolutely made the right decision to not take this player at the time. I'm not saying that they should. I understand. No matter how I feel about the player who would
Starting point is 00:27:52 have been replaced, none of that matters. The Titans made the right decision to not take this position in this player, but what if the Titans had Carson Wentz? What if they just stuck at number one or even traded back to number two and took Carson Wentz? I know that Carson Wentz is actually a very divisive figure. I know that there's some people listening right now that are like, Carson Wentz? Who cares about Carson Wentz? He's not that good.
Starting point is 00:28:16 He's hurt. I understand that he has his warts and has his flaws, but I have to be honest, in my evaluation, I think Carson Wentz is a difference maker at the quarterback position when healthy. I think he's top notch. I wouldn't quite say elite top five, but I can't help but be honest here. I do think that Wentz, when healthy, is a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. I'm a big fan. I just think he plays the position the right way that I want my quarterback to play and
Starting point is 00:28:41 has all the talents that you need to be a great quarterback. So it's all that health issue, of course, with Wentz. But man, it would have been awesome to see Carson Wentz as the Titans quarterback. I just think he's clearly better than Marcus. And with his age and upside, I think he could have been better than Tannehill, of course. But that is, like I said, it's the least fair what-if of all of the what-ifs I'm going to talk about. The Titans were completely in the right and did the right thing to not draft another quarterback directly after they took Marcus with the number two pick the year before. So, understandable, but there's an alternate universe where Carson Wentz is a Titan, and I would just like to see it. That's all I'm saying.
Starting point is 00:29:23 So, getting into some of the more fair criticisms and more fair what ifs looking at Jack Conklin so I know it's John Robinson's first draft and his relationship with Amy Adams Strunk is brand new and he probably can't get a player like Jeffrey Simmons with the the background that he had just the small incidents he probably can't get a player like Jeffrey Simmons drafted with Amy Adams-Strunk in his first year. You have to build trust to be able to pull off a move like that when that's kind of against what the Titans typically would want in the locker room. So, with that in mind, I understand why it didn't happen, but Laramie Tunsil was clearly
Starting point is 00:30:03 a better player than Jack Conklin, and Laramie Tunsil might be the best tackle in the NFL right now. So you take that into consideration, and you think that Robinson could have had Laramie Tunsil, who probably would have slotted in at right tackle. It's a possibility he could have competed with Taylor and moved Taylor over to right tackle, and then Laramie Tunsil could have been the left tackle I just think that Laramie Tunsil was a far better player than Jack Conklin he was in the pre-draft evaluation some people even had him as the number one overall player in the draft he is better than Jack Conklin now and John Robinson I think if that draft took place with him with four years of experience and relationship building with the ownership I think that Laramie Tunsil might have been the pick there
Starting point is 00:30:53 rather than Jack Conklin so that is a what if for you but that's the last ones I have for the first round I think Conklin was a pretty solid pick and I can't really fault John Robinson at this moment in time for going with an offensive lineman to try to shore up the line and protect Marcus, although it didn't necessarily work out. He continued to take a beating and get injured and take a lot of sacks, and Conklin was up and down. Ultimately, I think it was the right pick, and when it mattered most in the playoffs, Conklin was a good player for the Titans and helped them get some of the best success that they've had in over a decade. Looking at the second round, obviously the what-ifs are going to pour in for the Kevin Dodd pick. I've done everything I can to slander the Kevin Dodd pick, so I won't spend any more time
Starting point is 00:31:36 languishing over that selection. So let's just talk about some of the players that got drafted in the 10 picks between Kevin Dodd and Austin Johnson. If you are easily queasy, you might want to cover your ears for this, folks. It hurt my soul. So just some of the players that were picked in between those two players. Jalen Smith, Pro Bowl linebacker for the Cowboys. Hunter Henry, Pro Bowl tight end for the Chargers. Miles Jack, good linebacker for the Jaguars. And the last two really, really make me hurt. It's Chris Jones, one of the top three interior defensive linemen, interior penetrators in the NFL, a huge part of how the Chiefs were able to
Starting point is 00:32:28 win the Super Bowl. So Chris Jones and then Zavian Howard, who I think is a tad overpaid for the Dolphins, but a very solid corner. And here's why the Zavian Howard thing really hurts and the Chris Jones thing really hurts, because the Titans took Austin Johnson next so they clearly had a need John Robinson felt it was a big need along the defensive line he took a top 45 pick on a defensive lineman so the fact that rather than taking Chris Jones and then looking edge a little bit later and not going after Austin Johnson turned into Kevin Dodd and Austin Johnson I mean it just kills me it kills me. And there's no guarantee that Chris Jones would have turned into the player that he is now playing for the Titans. Circumstance and environment is so important. And I respect that and acknowledge that. But man, the difference in talent, take Chris Jones instead of Kevin Dodd, J-Rob, God.
Starting point is 00:33:20 And then Xavier and Howard, the Titans took LaShawn Sims later in that draft in the fifth round. So there was a need at corner. The Titans started Parrish Cox at cornerback in 2016. Bryce McCain was in there. Jason McCourty was on, you know, his last year in Tennessee. Next year, the Titans took a Dory and signed Logan Ryan. So they did what they could to fix that issue
Starting point is 00:33:45 but oh man god the Kevin Dodd pick just kills me could have had any of these different players Jalen Smith, Hunter, Henry, Miles Jack, Chris Jones, Xavier Howard all of them you know really solid contributors at the NFL level so those are my big whats. I don't like to get into what ifs any further down. We're talking about fifth round picks, sixth round picks, seventh round picks. And this draft wasn't a great draft anyway, so I'm not really going to do the what if and assign any blame whatsoever to J-Rob for missing some of the players in the later rounds. Like a Matthew Judon went in the fifth round after Tajay Sharp before LaShawn Sims, Quentin Jefferson, defensive tackle. So there were some good players in that fifth round that went after Tajay Sharp that are better players than Tajay, but we're talking about the
Starting point is 00:34:37 fifth round. Obviously, the rest of the NFL spent five rounds, four rounds passing on Matthew Judon and Quentin Jefferson as well. I'm not going to blame J-Rob for that, but those are my big what-ifs. Just to recap that, Carson Wentz, Laramie Tunsell for Jack Conklin, Jalen Smith, Hunter Henry, Miles Jack, Chris Jones, Xavier Howard for the Kevin Dodd pick. But anyway, that is going to wrap up our 2016 draft class review. I had an absolute blast reviewing that draft class. I have been sitting. So obviously, as most of you know, I took over doing this show in September of 2019
Starting point is 00:35:13 before last season. I never really got an opportunity to sit down and talk about this 2016 draft class. So I'm happy to actually get my thoughts on wax. Talk to you guys about that. Let me know how you guys feel about that 2016 draft class, what your overall grade would be for how J-Rob performed in his first draft as Titans General Manager. Make sure you send me how you feel on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast as well so you get the rest of the draft class
Starting point is 00:35:43 breakdowns that I'm going to be doing throughout the rest of the week. Check out builtbar.com. Use promo code LOCKEDON for $10 off and now that you are done with this episode of the Locked On Titans podcast, make sure you check out the national show, the Locked On NFL show for all your national news coming out of the weekend. Sports fans, it's a very optimistic time right now. I feel like we are getting back in the swing of things. We're getting a little bit of golf. We're getting some NASCAR. Could be getting some NBA soon. Football looks like it is moving ahead and could just be on schedule by the time training camp rolls around. So a lot of optimism. But with all that
Starting point is 00:36:18 said, I hope you guys are still being safe and ultimately hopefully you enjoyed your holiday weekend and this holiday memorial day the rest of your day today. But that is enough for me. I will be back with you guys tomorrow for the 2017 Draft Class Review. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

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