Welcome to the weekly Tennessee Titans draft roundup for the 2023 NFL Draft. Over the course of the next several weeks, I’ll be releasing this column once a week with my very professional journalism opinions. You’ll find everything from rumors to wild speculation to actual analysis (sometimes). Titan up!
*Vontae Mack no matter what, motherfuckers, it’s draft day! I know there was a little mystery surrounding last year’s draft – “are the Jags actually going to take Travon Walker or not?” There have been a few drafts throughout the years that have had a couple of quarterbacks near the top and maybe you didn’t know exactly which one the team with the top pick was going to take, but you knew it was going to be one of the two. This year, that isn’t the case. This feels like the widest open the top of the draft has been in a long, long time. I’m not going to be surprised if the pick is Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, CJ Stroud, OR Will Levis. At some point throughout this draft season, each guy has been rumored to go to the Carolina Panthers. Gun to my head, I’m saying Young is the pick, but I really don’t feel good about it. I absolutely love it, though. This draft feels so unpredictable that I can’t wait to get to the action. This day only comes once a year, so draft nuts like me, I hope you’re able to take in the moment and soak it in a bit.
*This is going to sound crazy, but I still think there’s a miracle scenario in which the Titans end up with Bryce Young. I talked about it on the most recent episode of The Unofficial Titans Podcast. But, we know two things – one, the Panthers were heavily linked to Stroud early on in the draft process, and they were recently heavily linked to Levis. Two, the Titans have been making phone calls to get out of pick #11, be it trading up or trading down. If the Panthers take Stroud, Levis, or even Richardson, do the Titans make that call to Houston? *strokes chin*
*Zach Lyons released his big board for the Titans yesterday. I highly recommend subscribing to Stacking The Inbox and checking it out. It’s one of the coolest big boards I’ve ever seen. The way he did it is the way that Ran Carthon sets up his big board. Folks, I don’t know if you know this or not, but Ran Carthon is the general manager for the Titans.
*Furthermore, if you can ignore the Grant DuBose slander, Easton Freeze and JT Ruhnke put together their big board for The Hot Read Podcast on Broadway Sports.
*Hell, why not? Get your big board fill and check out another of my favorite draft analysts’ big board – James Foster’s for AtoZ Sports.
*Daniel Jeremiah blew up Titans Twitter last night by mocking Zay Flowers to the Titans at #11. My take on Flowers is “I don’t care if you take him at #11 or if you trade back and take him in the 20s, it’s only a good pick if you still get a big, outside receiver like Jonathan Mingo, Cedric Tillman, or AT Perry later in the draft.” It’s going to be a “wait and see” no matter what if Flowers is the pick for me. As an overall prospect, I love Flowers. He’s WR2 on my big board.
*Last week, I wrote about how Jaelyn Duncan appears poised to be a Titan. There are three other players I would put in that conversation of guys I’d be willing to bet will be Titans by weekend’s end – Marte Mapu, Tyler Scott, and Joey Fisher. They’ve spent time with all four of these guys, but they’ve spent the most (to our knowledge) with Duncan and Scott. Scott presents a skill set to the offense that is exactly what the Titans are lacking, so that makes sense. Mapu is the poster child for versatility in this draft class, and that’s something that I know Carthon and Vrabel are keying in on from everything they’ve told us this draft season. Mapu could be a linebacker, a safety, an edge rusher, or a special teamer. Fisher just strikes me as a big time attitude guy that dominated his level of competition and will be too good of a value to pass up.
*Guys I got around to watching since we last spoke: I’m out on Felix Anudike-Uzomah. I loved watching AT Perry and Marvin Mims Jr. to round out the wide receiver class. I see why y’all like Jack Campbell so much. I think Cam Smith is NFL-ready and his trajectory reminds me of Roger McCreary‘s a year ago. You can read my thoughts on each guy on my big board over on the SoBros Patreon.
*Guys you should watch because the Titans have shown an interest in them: Steve Avila, Rashee Rice, Tucker Kraft, Kelee Ringo, Darnell Wright, Josh Downs, Anthony Richardson, Jaelyn Duncan, O’Cyrus Torrence, Emmanuel Forbes, Tyler Scott, Jonathan Mingo, Hendon Hooker, Jacob Copeland, Mark Evans II, Braeden Daniels, DJ Johnson, McClendon Curtis, Quan Martin, Devonnsha Maxwell, Xavier Smith, Ventrell Miller, Trenton Simpson, Trevor Reid, Quentin Johnston, Julius Brents, Will Levis, Tyler Beach, Keion White, Keondre Coburn, Mohamoud Diabate, Cam Smith, Zay Flowers, Ivan Pace Jr., Gervon Dexter, Carter Warren, Anthony Bradford, Joey Fisher, John Michael Schmitz
*My current rooting interest – in other words, what I hope the Titans do TONIGHT:
- Anthony Richardson
- Trade back
- Paris Johnson Jr.
- Christian Gonzalez
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
*As it stands, the Titans currently have six picks in the 2023 NFL Draft:
- 1st round, 11th overall
- 2nd round, 41st overall
- 3rd round, 72nd overall
- 5th round, 147th overall
- 6th round, 186th overall
- 7th round, 228th overall
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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