Tennessee Titans Draft Recap (2023)

Stoney Keeley offers up his thoughts on this year's draft haul for the Tennessee Titans.

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Welp. The 2023 NFL Draft is officially in the books. I’ll be writing more about what this draft means for the future of the Tennessee Titans later this week (aiming for Wednesday morning), but for now, I just wanted to get my quick thoughts together on each pick the team made last weekend. I can certainly understand the frustration with this team for not drafting a difference-making wide receiver earlier than the 7th round, but after seeing how all of the dominos fell, it’s hard for me not to be excited about this draft class.

It was all about value and the big board with Ran Carthon and Mike Vrabel. While you can reasonably question not going receiver until Round 7, I’d point out a few things. One, how much better would the offense have looked in 2022 with a better offensive line out front of Ryan Tannehill? Two, did we forget that Kyle Philips looked pretty good before he was hurt in 2022? Three, is it possible that running backs and tight ends can contribute to the health of the passing game? And finally, how much better is this offense going to be just by virtue of players getting healthy and the young guys getting another year of experience?

I tend to think that the upgrades to the offensive line this offseason are going to have an exponentially positive impact on this offense. While that might not be the most popular idea in Nashville, on paper, it looks like a winning strategy to me. Enough of this – let’s get on to my quick thoughts on each draft selection from over the weekend.

Round 1: OL Peter Skoronski – I understand the gripe with this pick. It’s not the most exciting, and if you’re in the camp that believes Skoronski will be a guard in the NFL, it’s certainly not the best value to suck bad enough to get the 11th overall pick and spend it on a not-so-premium position. But, think of how much better we’d feel about the overall state of the Titans had they had a Skoronski at either left tackle or left guard last season. He’s a polished, technical, and fundamentally sound lineman (whether he does actually get a shot at left tackle remains to be seen) that has the makeup of a 10-year starter in this league.

Round 2: QB Will Levis – I wasn’t the biggest of Levis fans, and that’s probably putting it mildly. I had him as a second rounder on my big board, so the value fits. You have a potential franchise quarterback in Levis – he has a big arm, maneuverability, and he shows some flashes of manufacturing some big time splash plays. I have questions about his consistent feel for the game, but look – I’m just a guy typing on the internet. The Titans clearly weren’t concerned, found him to be a good value on Day 2, and traded up to get him. They must feel confident in what they saw, and if they’re right, the ramifications of this pick will be massive. There’s some franchise-changing potential with this pick.

Round 3: RB Tyjae Spears – I’ve been pounding the table for Spears for three months now. He offers explosiveness and versatility to this offense, and yes, I think he does help out in the passing game too. I’m not worried about the ACL (or lack thereof) issue – just watch the tape. WATCH. THE. TAPE. Get back to me if you think that knee is a problem. Maybe it limits his longevity with this team, but even if you only have him for his rookie contract, he’s going to be a spark plug for this offense.

Round 5: TE Josh Whyle – I scouted Whyle at the Senior Bowl, and I couldn’t help but notice him a few times when I was doing Tyler Scott and Tre Tucker film studies. He’s a pretty safe prospect to me – a guy that is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades tight end, which is exactly what the Titans needed in that group.

Round 6: OL Jaelyn Duncan – Highway robbery. Duncan was OT8 and 53rd overall on my big board – he’s a traits-y guy – explosive, athletic, long, he plays with a nice natural glide and he fits that mold of the athletic pass protector that the Titans were looking at all offseason. This guy has the athletic profile to be the team’s starting left tackle one day.

Round 7: WR Colton Dowell – Dowell is a ‘TBD’ for me because I didn’t watch any tape on him. I’ll be honest – I wasn’t even privy to the UT-Martin prospect. But, I know he’s an elite athlete based on that Relative Athletic Score, and I know he’s 6’3″ 215lbs. On the surface, he looks like he’s exactly what the Titans were missing in a potential WR2 candidate opposite Treylon Burks. Plus, he went to Wilson Central High, which we all know is the greatest high school in middle Tennessee.

What did you think of the Titans draft? Let me know in those comments.

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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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