Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Mock Draft Monday - Most Accurate Mocks: Titans Go Quarterback at Pick 26

Episode Date: April 24, 2022

The Tennessee Titans have entered draft week and then means it is time for the last Mock Draft Monday before the NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday. Not all Mock Drafts are worth the same weight, so today we look at three of the most accurate mock drafters in the world and see what they have to say about the Titans' first round pick! Spoiler Alert: They all pick the same exact position! The question is what position is it and who would make sense. Tyler goes through all three mock drafts and analyzes who was picked, who was gone and who else was available.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport 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.Shady RaysEXCLUSIVELY FOR OUR LISTENERS, HEAD TO SHADYRAYS.COM AND USE CODE LOCKEDON TO GET FIFTY PERCENT OFF TWO OR MORE PAIRS OF POLARIZED SUNGLASSES.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.Blue NileThis Mother’s Day give mom something she’ll treasure forever with fine jewelry from Bluenile.com, and LOCKEDON SPORTS listeners get $50 off $500. Use code LOCKEDON at checkout. 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 our final mock draft Monday before the 2022 NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday. And that's why this mock draft Monday is going to have a special twist. We've looked at a ton of different mock drafts, but now what I want to do is look at some mock drafts from some of the most accurate mock drafters in the business

and see what they have to say about the Titans pick in the first round with just a few short days until the NFL draft starts. So we're looking at some of the most accurate mock drafts 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. Let's get it. Titans fans, it is an NFL Draft Week 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, you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts. We are going to dive into three mock drafts today from some of the most accurate mock drafters in the business. Before we get into our first one, I do want 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. It's going to be 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 the content goes live. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching on YouTube right now and you definitely want to subscribe right now

so that you don't miss my interview with ESPN's draft guru, Matt Miller. We're talking everything NFL draft, breaking down what the Titans should be looking for, what their draft strategy should be in terms of what value they want to pinpoint in certain rounds. That is going to be going out live on the YouTube channel at 6 p.m. Eastern on Monday night. If you're somebody who just listens to the audio version of the show, you'll be getting that in your podcast feed on Monday night, ready for Tuesday morning, however you choose to listen to that. But I would encourage everybody to check out the Locked on Titans YouTube channel.

Subscribe over there and get ready for that Matt Miller, Tennessee Titans draft conversation. It was absolutely fantastic. And I know you guys will enjoy it. I'm going to be talking draft all week long. And after the draft, I'm going to be breaking down everything for you guys in terms of what prospects the Titans select.

Got live draft coverage coming up on the Locked On NFL Draft YouTube channel throughout the entire weekend. I'm going to be on there breaking down the Titans selections on my Twitter account at TicTacTitans. I'm going to have instant reaction, one minute to minute and a half videos for you guys. I'm going to have a draft recap episode every single day after the draft. So tons of draft content, all for free, all available on all platforms. I know this is a lot of promo to start the show, but just some great stuff coming up that you guys have to be aware of. But let's dive into this first mock draft.

And again, guys, we're talking about some of the most accurate mock drafters in the business on today's show. There is a website called The Huddle Report. They keep track of everybody's results in these mock drafts. Everybody says, who keeps track of the mock drafts? Well, it's the huddle report. They're breaking down five-year averages of how good these guys have been on their mock drafts. You can look at last year's standings,

go back each year and look at mock drafts to look at the top 10, the top 20, all of that. And the point system for that is if you get a player in the first round that is selected in the first round, it's one point. If you get an exact match player to team, that's two points. So a potential of three points for every single selection. So that would give you a top score of 96 possible points.

In 2021, Josh Norris of Underdog Sports broke the record and got 59 points on his mock draft. So we're not looking at Josh, but we're looking at his understudy, Hayden Winks from underdog sports, who is also a top 10 mock drafter. We're going to look at Brandon Donahue from sharp sports, who was number one five-year rolling average mock draft. We're going to look at Evan Silva, who's been top five for the last few years and his top five and five-year average. So literally some of the best mock drafts, some of the most predictive mock drafts we could find. And we're going to start with Hayden Winks from Underdog Sports. And this is quite the pick. And the closer we get to

the NFL draft, the more realistic a pick like this actually becomes. And it kind of blows your mind, but just to set the stage for you guys, Trevor Penning went off the board at 19 to the Seattle Seahawks in a projected trade. Zion Johnson goes off the board at 20. Kenyon Green goes off the board at 21. So the Titans' top three offensive line targets, all gone. The top wide receivers,

the top four for sure, all off the board here. So, it gets to pick 26 with the Titans. And Hayden Winks has the Titans going with Malik Willis, quarterback, out of liberty. And this is what Winks had to say about the pick. Quote, the Titans must know they can't win a Super Bowl with Ryan Tannehill. Insert. They know.

They have to know. And they can save $17.8 million Ryan Tannehill. Insert. They know. They have to know. And they can save $17.8 million if they trade or release him next offseason. The timing would make sense to do exactly that, as they currently rank 26th in 2023 cap space, despite not currently having A.J. Brown on the books. If Willis falls down the draft board, the Titans are a sneaky team who can build towards the future. This coaching staff and GM have earned a long leash

to take a developmental upside quarterback like Willis, who would assuredly sit behind Tannehill for all of 2022 in this scenario. At this point, guys, people who were available, George Pickens, Traylon Burks, both were available, not takenens, Traylon Burks, both were available, not taken in the next four picks. So you could say, hey, they should have went with wide receiver.

But I got to be honest with you. If you're not Pickens, that's kind of high for Pickens at 28. Burks at 30. I like Burks. I would like to see him added to the Titans, but there have been some major concerns recently with Burks that have come out

where he's struggling in meetings. He doesn't have a good grasp of how to play boundary and outside receiver. He really was just a gadget guy that was spoon-fed simple situations when he was at Arkansas. So there's been a consensus opinion in the draft that Burks has kind of fallen and that Pickens probably will even go over him. And if Pickens didn't blow out his ACL, he would have been a top pick in the draft anyways. So maybe you want Pickens. Maybe you stick and you really want Burks. But

I didn't expect Malik Willis to be on the board. And I have to tell you that the salary cap reasons we did the pros and cons of quarterback in a recent episode. When I'm talking about quarterback at 26, I'm thinking Ritter, Corral, Howe. If Malik Willis is available at 26, barring Zion Johnson or Trevor Penning, I think I'm going with that. And guys, I know he's smaller and it's different,

but it is hard to not think about Steve McNair when you see Malik Willis. And you see him run around and shrug guys off of him and throw the ball down the field. And a perfect situation for Malik with a really good supporting cast, really good coaching. Could sit for a whole year and learn

in a system that will utilize his athleticism. I mean, he is the type of upside elite talent that you take chances on in the first round. And with all the pros of taking quarterback when I was okay with taking Corral or Ritter or such, to get Willis, I mean, that would be a slam dunk. I would be incredibly happy about the Titans getting Malik Willis.

Now, again, this comes down to, you got to reach on Tyler Smith, on Tyler Linderbaum, who's not going to be able to play this year because he's a center. Do you want Burks? Even though he may not be a true outside receiver and he may be more of a gadget player who needs to play in the slot? I'm still okay with it.

But, again, if it were Corral or Ritter or how I was deciding between with Burks and Pickens, I'd probably go Burks, then Pickens, then the quarterback. But with Willis, I think I'm taking Willis. So if the board falls that way and the quarterback seemed to be dropping down the board every single day, I think I'm taking Willis. So if the board falls that way and the quarterbacks seem to be dropping down the board every single day, I think I would be perfectly fine with the Titans picking up Steve McNair 2.0.

That would be fantastic. But we're going to move forward to the next mock draft and it's actually from 2021's or from the last five years, the number one mock drafter in the entire world. So I'm excited to get into that. Before we do, I want to tell you guys about a fantastic product from our friends over at Athletic Greens, the AG1.

Basically, you take a scoop of the AG1 in the morning, throw it in a glass of water. You mix it up. You drink it down. It tastes great. It's going to give you better gut health. It's going to give you more energy. It's going to optimize your immune system.

I personally hate taking pills. I don't want to take a bunch of different pills in the morning, a bunch of vitamins, a bunch of supplements, a bunch of different things. When I could get all of that in one package with AG1 from Athletic Greens. Again, daily, in the morning, quick scoop into some water. Really easy to use. It's tasty.

You're not going to absolutely hate yourself when you're drinking the AG1. So you get a decent taste there. You get good value and you get nutritional insurance, essentially just boosting you up. And there's no time like right now to do that. We're coming out of the winter and the flu season. It's allergy season as well. So anytime you can make yourself feel better. And I've been dieting lately, been doing some more exercising.

And the AG1 to my process has just totally kick-started me with more energy. Just feeling better overall. And right now, it's time for you to reclaim your health and arm your immune system with convenient daily nutrition. Again, just one scoop and a cup of water every day. That's it. No need for a million different pills and supplements to look out for your health. To make it easy, Athletic Greens has given you a free one-year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com slash NFL Network. Again, that's athleticgreens.com slash NFL Network

to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. Titans fans, let's continue this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. It's our last mock draft Monday before the draft kicks off. Does make me a little bit sad, can't lie. But I'm ready for the draft to be here. No lie about it. Speaking of the NFL draft, of course, I thank you guys

for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day, but I talked about it earlier. We're going to have some awesome coverage of the NFL draft here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Subscribe to the Locked On NFL Draft YouTube channel. We're going to have live draft coverage

the entire time, all three days of the NFL draft. Why would you get national coverage with a bunch of guys talking about your team when they don't know what they're talking about? Get locked on local experts, breaking down the selection of every single team. It's going to be the most informative draft reaction show you can find. Again, subscribe to the Locked On NFL Draft YouTube channel for live draft coverage.

But remember, today, the most accurate mock drafters in the world, we're looking at their mock drafts before the draft comes around. We just looked at Hayden Winks from Underdog Sports, who does a great job and is a top mock drafter. But now, I want to look at the top mock drafter in the business.

And it is Brendan Donahue from Sharp Football. It's, um... Why can't I think of his first name? Killing me. Sharp W. Oh, it's going to kill me. I'll get to it. I'll remember it.

But anyways, one of the best NFL minds, period, is Sharp. And it's his website. And this is his mock draft guy. He's one of the best NFL minds, period, is Sharp, and it's his website, and this is his mock draft guy. He's one of the best in the business. Like I said, the number one guy, the last fight, Warren Sharp. I knew it was with a W, Warren Sharp. So anyway, this is Warren Sharp's website. Brandon Donahue writing for him, the most accurate mock drafter over the last five years.

So to set the stage, Zion Johnson comes over the last five years. So to set the stage, Zion Johnson comes off the board at 17. Traylon Burks comes off the board at 22. Kenyon Green comes off the board at 24. Penning long gone. He has the Titans selecting a name that I have not seen mocked to the Titans yet. Can he pick it? Can he pick it? A name that I have not seen mocked to the Titans yet. Kenny Pickett. Kenny Pickett.

You know, I'm not super high on Pickett. I don't think he's got a very high ceiling. But, here's what I will acknowledge. Everybody says Kenny Pickett is the most NFL-ready quarterback in the draft. Now, if the Titans did want to move on from Ryan Tannehill, they would probably want a quarterback who's ready to go because they feel like they have a win-now roster, right?

The Titans just got the number one seed. They have a Super Bowl-ready roster, just need maybe a slight upgrade at quarterback. So, from that perspective, Kenny Pickett is going to be ready to play as soon as you're ready to play him in 2023. He's going to be ready to go. Whereas these other guys that are projects like Corral or Willis or Howell, they may not be ready to go in 2023.

And then that's a disaster. But you know Pickett will beat. Now, I don't think that there's high-end traits. I don't think that there's high-end upside. I don't think there's superstar upside. I think you're looking at a Kirk Cousins. You're looking at a Ryan Tannehill. But maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe. I mean, some people compare Kenny Pickett to like a Tony Romo. I don't see that level of mobility and athleticism. I think more Teddy Bridgewater is what I see in terms of athleticism. But, I mean, a lot of people consider Pickett the number one quarterback in the draft. So, if Pickett fell to 26, I guess I couldn't. It's not what I'm expecting. And I think I would be I don't want to say underwhelmed, but I'd be lukewarm.

I'd be, eh, okay, alright, we'll see. Because to me, if I'm taking quarterback in the first round, I want high end traits. I want the potential that this guy could be a superstar, top-10 elite quarterback. That's why I'm taking quarterback in first round. The chance that there might be some eliteness there. I don't see any eliteness with Kenny Pickett. So, I can't say I'd like to pick.

You know, you got guys like George Pickens, Jahan Dotson, Tyler Linderbaum. I gotta be honest. I'd take Desmond Ritter and Matt Corral over Kenny Pickett there. And if you guys listen to the ultimate mock draft, the 2022 ultimate mock draft that we did as the Locked On Network,

I picked Matt Corral at 26 over Kenny Pickett. And Matt Williamson, he's a former NFL scout. Who am I? You know what I mean? But, like, he was crushing the pick. Said he didn't like it. How could you take Corral over Pickett? But, like, again, I need superstar potential here.

At least Corral has high-level playmaking and high-level pocket movement and athleticism and dual-thread ability and a strong arm. Ritter, same thing. Strong arm, good processing. I just don't get any high-level traits with Kenny Pickett. He's accurate, especially on the move, but just can't justify taking Kenny Pickett.

I would rather have in that spot, again, Desmond Ritter or Corral if they wanted to go quarterback. But give me George Pickens at that pick, I guess. Go defense, even at that pick, I guess. Go defense. Even at that point. Take a cornerback like Andrew Booth or Trent McDuffie if he's available. I just, I'll be okay. I won't call it a disaster pick, but I can't tell you that I'd be very happy

if the Titans were to select Kenny Pickett, even if he's on the board. Because if he is on the board, well, there's a reason. It's like in basketball. You're open for a reason. So that would be concerning to me. But we're going to move forward to another one of the most accurate mock drafters in the landscape.

It's Evan Silva from Establish the Run. He's a top five mock drafter average over the last few years. So very excited to dive into that. But before we do, I do want to tell you guys about the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy from our friends over at Built Bar. You get the best of both worlds with Built Bars. They're as healthy as you need a protein bar to be with low calories,

low sugar, high protein, high fiber. But you also just get fantastic flavor. I mean, all the bars are covered in 100% real chocolate. They're not chalky and waxy, hard to choke down like normal protein bars. They have some great flavors, the peanut butter brownie, the salted caramel, the white chocolate cheesecake, some of my absolute favorites. I would recommend going on built.com and getting a variety pack, a variety box, because there's going to be a flavor in there for everyone in your household. And you may like multiple of them.

It's just good to get that variety to see how many delicious flavors there really are at Built.com. So go to Built.com. Use the promo code LOCKED15. You're going to get 15% off your order. Once again, that's promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off at Built.com. 15 for 15% off at built.com. Titans fans, let's cap off this Mock Draft Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We went over two mock drafts already,

both of them drafting a quarterback for the Titans, Malik Willis first, Kenny Pickett second. Those are the two top quarterbacks on the board for most people. They would be available for the Titans. It would be a little bit of a surprise, but it would make sense for the Titans to take them. Now I want to look at a different mock draft that has the Titans going quarterback again, but it seems like, at least in my opinion, a more realistic name, and we'll talk about

that before we get into it. I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, it's draft week. Check out the Locked on NFL Draft podcast hosted by analytics guru Ryan Tracy, former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker. Again,

great time to subscribe to the Locked on NFL Draft podcast. It's draft week. Get all your draft info leading up to the draft on Thursday. Draft, draft, draft. And all your draft info leading up to the draft on Thursday. Draft, draft, draft. And live NFL draft coverage is going to be on the Locked On NFL Draft YouTube channel. So make sure that you guys subscribe over there right now. But our third and final mock draft. Evan Silva established the run. Number five in five-year average in mock drafts. He's one of the best in the biz. Really has good intel. Evan Silva established the run number 5 in 5 year average

in mock drafts he's one of the best in the biz really has good intel really logical really smart he has the titans going with at pick 26 Matt Corral

from Ole Miss the pick that I made in the mock draft that we did last year or in the ultimate mock draft with the Locked On Podcast Network. I mean, so Zion goes at 24. Burks goes at 22. Let me see here.

Kenyon Green went early as well in this mock draft. You got a guy like Tyler Smith at 27. Jahan Dotson at 29. Desmond Ritter at 32. Maybe all those guys make some sense for you. But, again, I understand the logic of taking quarterback. So you have to start there, first and foremost. You have to be there.

But Kenyon Green is on the board. And I think it would be tough to pass on Kenyon Green to go quarterback at this moment in time. I really do. I really do. But, again, if the Titans do go quarterback

at 26, I think the most realistic scenario is a Desmond Ritter or a Matt Corral, not a Willis or a Pickett. I think that Pickett is going to end up with the Saints or the Steelers and then Malik Willis with the other one. That's how I see it.

Now, as for Corral, again, I like Corral better than Pickett. He's got an incredibly quick release. I love that. Get the ball out of his hands quick. Really good at navigating the pocket. He's got dual threat mobility. That's important at the next level, that playmaking ability.

He's got a strong enough arm to throw the ball all over the field. Now, there are issues there. RPO heavy system. Didn't really get asked to go through progressions a ton. I thought he does good to maximize yards after catchability with his ball placement, but his ball placement's not perfect. So there are things to clean up. But again, he would sit for an entire year.

An entire year. So I like the upside of Matt Corral. With the way that the board fell, I think the Titans would go Kenyon Green at that moment in time. But if the pick was Matt Corral, I got to tell you guys, I'd be pretty happy and I'd be excited about the development and what they could do letting Corral sit for a year. So again, three of the most accurate mock drafts in the landscape. Hayden Winks, Brendan Donahue, Evan Silva. That's the word on the street, folks. That's what these people are projecting. Now, I'm going to continue to pay attention to all the different rumors.

As more rumors and more buzz comes out as we get closer to the draft, we're going to have draft-centric content all week long. Tomorrow, tomorrow on Tuesday's show, we should be going over the defensive back class in the NFL draft and rounding out and closing out our NFL draft preview series, position by position. If you missed any position, go back and check those out. And then again, tonight, 6 o'clock on YouTube, Matt Miller.

Or if you're watching on YouTube now, tomorrow, 6 o'clock on YouTube, Matt Miller talking Titans draft with me on the Locked on Titans podcast. Can't wait for that to drop. Make sure you guys run that up. I would greatly appreciate it, but that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was

Locked on Titans. Thanks for watching!