The 2019 NFL Draft takes place April 25-27 this year, emanating LIVE from right here in Nashville, Tennessee. As it stands, the Tennessee Titans have one first round draft pick. General manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel currently hold the 19th overall selection. Over the next few weeks, your boy “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley will be taking a look at some of the prospects who are either rumored to be tied to or who make sense for the Titans.
I’m not hopping off the pass rush bandwagon just yet. I know I’m getting a pretty late start bringing this series back for 2019, given that just last week, I was like, “hey, have y’all heard of this Montez Sweat guy?” But, nonetheless, I’m not automatically jumping to ‘RG’ as the biggest need for the Titans just yet. I have my list of guys and I’m going to work through it.
Titans Twitter is on one about Garrett Bradbury right now, and for good reason – he may be the best interior offensive lineman in the draft if you buy the hype. I haven’t watched him yet, though. So, I’m going to rewind a bit and talk about a hoss who was, at one point during draft season, considered to be the top interior o-line prospect in the draft: Cody Ford.
The former Oklahoma Sooner is a HOSS at 6’4″ 338 pounds. He started 21 of 29 games in his three seasons. In 2018, the Sooners won the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation’s best offensive line. Given that unit’s going to send multiple big ‘ens to the NFL, it might’ve been the best Oklahoma offensive line in program history.
And, Ford played multiple positions along that vaunted offensive line, starting at left guard in 2016 before moving to right tackle in 2018. When you watch the highlights and read the scouting reports, Ford’s “initial punch” is something that routinely comes up. In addition to being a big thicc boi and the ‘old-fashioned mauler’ type, Ford is a ridiculous athlete and NFL teams are falling in love with that.
As for Ford’s weaknesses – well…where’s he going to play? A lot of teams view him as a guard. Ford had a bit of trouble with Alabama and their stable of pass rushers – is he going to struggle with NFL talent? That may be a good reason to slot him at guard and keep him off the edge. If a team needs a Week 1 starter at tackle, that might not be the ideal situation for Ford to land in.
All in all, I like the idea of a Lewan-Saffold-Jones/Unnamed draft pick-Ford-Conklin/Kelly offensive line for the Titans. I like Ford’s athleticism in a zone blocking scheme. I’ve seen him mocked as high as the top 10 and as low as the late 20s. It’s entirely possible he’s there for the Titans at #19.
Further reading: A nice piece from Tulsa World about Ford’s development as an offensive lineman and what led him to the NFL Draft.
2019 TENNESSEE TITANS FIRST ROUND OPTIONS
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
Check out the SoBros Shop. Subscribe to our Patreon. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube.
