The 2017 NFL Draft takes place April 27-29 this year, and as it stands, the Tennessee Titans have two first round draft picks. General manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Mularkey currently hold the 5th overall selection and the 18th overall selection. Over the next few weeks, your boy Big Natural will be taking a look at some of the prospects rumored to be tied to or make sense for the Titans.
Outside of the Dallas Cowboys, the Titans fielded the best offensive line in the NFL last season. It was the unquestioned strength of the offense. Taylor Lewan is a top-three left tackle in the NFL (and that’s a hill I’ve chosen to die on). Jack Conklin may have been the best right tackle in all of football last season, earning All-Pro honors in his rookie season.
Ben Jones, Quinton Spain, and Josh Kline all played extremely well, and once this unit gelled, they made beautiful sweet music together. No one is denying that. Spain had to fight tooth and nail to solidify his spot at left guard. Kline was initially brought in to provide depth.
Outside of that group, the team has project guard Sebastian Tretola on the roster. He hasn’t had much of a chance to prove himself. Also, my goodness, how could I nearly forget? The Titans also have the best lesbian in the NFL, Dennis Kelly, providing depth at tackle.
So, yeah – none of these guys are probably your 10-year cornerstones along the offensive line. This group is going to be formidable, no doubt, but if you’re the Titans, and you have the chance to add another of those cornerstone type pieces, should you pull the trigger?
Western Kentucky guard Forrest Lamp just may be that type of cornerstone piece.
The biggest criticism of Lamp is his size. He’s been graded as “too small” to play tackle in the NFL, and “not strong enough” to push in run-blocking. I don’t know that I necessarily buy that. You don’t always have to steamroll defensive linemen to spring holes if you have the technique to throw guys off balance and out of position, which Lamp does possess. He can be a quality starter on the interior of the offensive line, and could hold his own at tackle in a pinch.
His pass protection skills are well-honed because he was basically pass-protecting on every play in that wide open Hilltopper offense. He has NFL caliber athleticism and agility and is polished in technique.
He’s played tackle, seems destined to play guard in the NFL, and has even had some pundits claiming he could be a star center in the NFL. His skill and versatility lines up with the Titans run-heavy, ‘exotic smashmouth’ offense.
This kid’s a future blue-chipper.
If you’ve got 25 minutes to sit down and watch tape on an offensive lineman, you gotta check out Voch Lombardi’s breakdown:
Catch up on previous first round option reports:
Jamal Adams
Jonathan Allen
Derek Barnett
Corey Davis
Reuben Foster
OJ Howard
Marshon Lattimore
John Ross
Mike Williams
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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