Draft breakdown: 10 takeaways from the Titans’ 2020 class

Hurry up and wait?

It was just the opposite for the Titans on Saturday. First wait, then hurry up.

The Titans made just one of the first 118 picks on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, sitting out both the fourth and sixth rounds due to trades made last season. But then there was hustle and bustle in the seventh round, the opportunity to make three selections — 224, 237 and 243 — within a 20-pick span.

In the end, the Titans traded away pick No. 237 to Kansas City in exchange for a sixth-rounder next year.

So when the dust settled Saturday evening, the Titans were left with a six-man draft class for the second straight year. The 2020 class was evenly split, with three players on offense (tackle, running back and quarterback) and three on defense (cornerback, defensive lineman and safety).

In a normal year, we’d soon be seeing the draft picks in person, some flown in for press conferences, and each of them — in most cases — arriving for rookie camp in early May. But with so many travel restrictions still in place for the NFL, who knows when we’ll actually see this bunch for the first time?

Until then, learn more about the players and where things stand for the Titans in my 10 takeaways from Tennessee’s 2020 draft.

Holding steady

A total of 37 wide receivers were picked in a draft considered very deep at the position.

The fact the Titans chose not to draft one probably disappointed some fans who wanted to add another piece to the team’s offensive arsenal. But the Titans’ strategy didn’t really surprise me all that much.

First of all, I thought the team had more urgent needs to fill and proceeded to fill them by taking a tackle, cornerback, back-up running back and defensive lineman with its first four selections. Only seventh-round selections remained at that point, so there was no guarantee a player chosen there would even make the team, let alone improve it. Second, the Titans are bringing back their three top receivers in A.J. Brown (52 catches for 1,051 yards), Corey Davis (43 for 601) and Adam Humphries (47 for 374). So it’s not as though they were desperate for help. And if Davis moves on after 2020, the Titans can address the position next year in the draft.

The Titans must replace Tajae Sharpe, who signed with Minnesota, but Cody Hollister could be a candidate for that job. In addition, the team has already (unofficially) added some undrafted free agents to compete for depth spots. Those players include Southeast Missouri State’s Kristian Wilkerson, a 6-foot-1, 214-pound Memphis native who caught 71 passes for 1,350 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Another is Mason Kinsey, who caught 65 passes for 1,221 yards and 16 touchdowns for Division III Berry College last season, earning an invitation to the East-West Shrine Bowl. A third is Arizona State’s Kyle Williams, who caught 45 passes for 482 yards and two touchdowns last season.

“There were some receivers we looked at (in the later rounds),” Titans general manager Jon Robinson said. “But we were ecstatic with the picks we were able to add in Rounds 1 through 3.

“We’re working through this post-draft. There were some good players that didn’t get drafted. We’ll see kind of how they fit into our football team, if we can get them here. But yeah, I think we’ve got confidence in our (current) receiver group, the guys we got coming back, that they can line up and make plays for us.”

Clowney-watch clues?

Most of the speculation on where unrestricted free agent Jadeveon Clowney will end up has centered on the Titans and Seahawks.

Can we glean any clues as to where Clowney will sign based on what those teams did in the draft? Maybe. Maybe not.

It was interesting to see Seattle move up 11 spots in the second round to take Tennessee edge rusher Darrell Taylor with the 48th pick. The 6-foot-4, 267-pound Taylor, who racked up a combined 16.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss over the past two years, is expected to play the “Leo” position for Seattle. That’s a cross between linebacker and defensive end, and it just happens to be the position Clowney lined up in most often last year for the Seahawks — 264 snaps, Per Pro Football Focus.

So were the Seahawks basically throwing in the towel on Clowney and replacing him with Taylor? It’s possible. But keep in mind Seattle struggled to get after the passer last year, finishing 31st in the league with just 28 sacks. So the Seahawks may have drafted an edge rusher high even if they still felt confident about Clowney returning.

It was interesting, though, to see the Seahawks double down at the edge position on Saturday, as the team selected Syracuse’s Alton Robinson in the fifth round. So Seattle is certainly better protected against a Clowney departure now than it was before the draft.

The Titans, meanwhile, didn’t use any of their six picks on a true edge rusher. Larrell Murchison, the team’s fifth-round selection, spent some time on the edge at NC State but is likely to push inside in the NFL.

So does that mean the Titans are confident they’ll sign Clowney? Possibly. But remember, too, that they have already addressed the position, to a degree, during free agency, adding Vic Beasley (eight sacks last year) and re-signing Kamalei Correa (five sacks). In addition, the Titans have some wild card possibilities on the edge in Derick Roberson and D’Andre Walker.

Bottom line: The wait goes on for both teams, with the very real possibility that nothing will be decided until team doctors can take a look at Clowney and check on his health following offseason hernia surgery.

Cole McDonald (Ron Chenoy / USA Today)

McDonald comes to town

The Titans have spoken highly of the potential of quarterback Logan Woodside, who has been with the team for parts of two seasons. But he’ll have some competition when it comes to the spot as the “developmental quarterback” following Robinson’s decision to draft Cole McDonald out of Hawaii in the seventh round.

McDonald has some intriguing assets, one of which is his excellent athleticism. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder opened some eyes at the NFL Scouting Combine when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds, recorded a 36-inch vertical jump and posted a broad jump of 10 feet, 1 inch. Those are in addition to the traditional numbers used to measure a quarterback — over the past two seasons, McDonald threw 69 touchdowns (with only 24 interceptions) and had more than 8,000 passing yards. He also ran for 300-plus yards in each of his final two years at Hawaii.

“He’s a guy that’s got really good size, really good athleticism,” Robinson said. “He ran fast, moves around, he has good arm strength. We spent quite a bit of time with him in here in the process, just getting to know him a little bit, (offensive coordinator Arthur Smith) and (quarterbacks coach) Pat O’Hara did, and developed a good relationship with him. From a tools standpoint, he was a guy that we’d like to work with.”

One concern regarding McDonald involves his wind-up — The Athletic’s Dane Brugler noted McDonald used an “elongated delivery with the football dipping near his hip.”

Those extra split seconds in the delivery will hurt McDonald on the NFL level, which is why he’s been trying to improve his motion.

“He’s sent us some videos of some things he’s been doing with his technique and training to kind of tighten that thing up, no pun intended,” Robinson said. “But we like the athletic skill set, like the arm, and coach O’Hara and (Smith), they do a great job with those quarterbacks and feel confident we’ll be able to hopefully mold his tools.”

Added McDonald: “I have a long windup so in terms of (improving) this offseason, just limiting that long winding loop and being more proficient in terms of my throwing mechanics, delivery and being a better quarterback.”

I would still expect the Titans to add a veteran quarterback to compete for the right to back-up Ryan Tannehill. As Robinson said Saturday night, “We’re not going to set the roster to 55 today on the third day of the draft.”

Here’s Vrabel’s analysis of McDonald: “I think we like the athlete. We like the energy, the leadership, somebody that stood out for us at the combine and through our evaluations and conversations. Our coaches were certainly intrigued by the player. We feel like there are some skills to develop.”

Aloha forever

McDonald’s arrival means there will still be a Hawaiian influence in the Titans’ quarterback room — at least in training camp. It looked as though “the Aloha Spirit” might be gone with the departure of former starter Marcus Mariota to Las Vegas. McDonald is actually a native of California, not Hawaii, but he has clearly been influenced by Mariota — as well as the years he’s spent in the Aloha State.

“When I say (Mariota) is the man, he is the man,” McDonald said. “Even before I knew I was going to play for Hawaii, I idolized Marcus and his style of play and how he approached the game and what he brought to it.

“In terms of knowing Marcus, I have met him a couple of times, watching film with him here and there. He’s a great person to be around. He’s authentic. He’s real, always willing to help regardless of who it is. … Hopefully I get some love from Hawaii even though Marcus was there before me. I take over and fill those big shoes that he left behind.”

Kicker competition

The Titans had an opportunity to draft a kicker on Saturday, but unlike the Patriots, Bills and Rams, they opted against using one of their late-round selections to bring a new leg to town. Tennessee does have a veteran kicker under contract in Greg Joseph, who was added late last season after a carousel of kickers — including Ryan Succop — failed at the position. But there wasn’t much opportunity to evaluate Joseph, as he didn’t kick any field goals in two regular-season games for the Titans. He was 1 of 1, connecting from 30 yards, in the playoff loss to Kansas City.

“We have a ton of confidence in Greg,” Robinson said. “He did a great job for us. We’ll keep looking, and we want to try to infuse competition at every position.”

We do know Joseph will face some competition in training camp, though, as Robinson confirmed Saturday the Titans had signed kicker Tucker McCann, an undrafted free agent from Missouri.

McCann was 16 of 22 last year for the Tigers, posting a 72.2 percent success rate. Breaking down his attempts a little further, McCann went 4 of 4 from 20-29 yards, 6 of 8 from 30-39 yards, 5 of 7 from 40-49 yards and 1 of 3 from 50-plus yards.

The stat that really might have caught Robinson’s eye was McCann’s kick-off numbers, as he averaged 64.6 yards — tops in the country. He recorded 58 touchbacks in 2019 and allowed returns on only six kick-offs.

“He’s got a strong leg, kicked in the SEC, so we’re excited to add him in here,” Robinson said. “(He’ll) compete with Greg and see what he’s got.”

Finding a way

When you’re the 243rd player chosen in a 255-person draft — as was the case for Marshall safety Chris Jackson — it’s almost certain you’ll have to excel on special teams. Jackson sounds more than ready to rise to that challenge in order to carve out a roster spot for himself. He played on special teams every year for the Thundering Herd despite the fact he was a four-year starter on defense.

“Being on special teams, I played kickoff, I played punt, I played punt block, I played kickoff return. I pretty much played it all on special teams,” said Jackson, the second of the Titans’ two picks in the seventh round. “It is just a part of the game. What I learned early in high school and college is you can’t get on the field at your position — if you play corner or whatever it may be — unless you play special teams. That’s just how I am.”

Jackson does have some intrigue beyond special teams, of course. He played both cornerback and safety at Marshall, has run a 4.46 40-yard dash and knocked away a combined 25 passes over the past two seasons. Jackson also has the reputation of having a feisty, high-energy style of play — a reputation he says is accurate.

“Those definitely are ways of how to describe me, in the game of football, just my whole life, fighting to the end every rep,” he said. “That’s just how you have to play the game, with a certain amount of intensity, and not just being kind of lackadaisical or anything like that. High energy, intensity all game, every play. That’s how I carry myself. Just a fighter and a tough player. That’s kind of just me.”

Kristian Fulton (Chuck Cook / USA Today)

Slot CB potential

With the return of free-agent cornerback Logan Ryan looking highly unlikely, one of the questions for the top three Titans cornerbacks — Malcolm Butler, Adoree’ Jackson and second-round pick Kristian Fulton — is which player is most likely to take over Ryan’s role against opposing slot receivers.

Jackson has some experience at the position. He hasn’t played in the slot much the last couple of years, but Robinson said prior to the draft that Jackson still had the capability of moving inside.

Fulton, the 61st overall pick in the draft, is also an option. Like Jackson, Fulton was not often used as the nickel cornerback last year (at LSU) per Pro Football Focus, lining up in the slot just 42 times — compared to 798 snaps on the outside.

But Fulton played inside much more often in his first year in college, and it sounds as though he might spend time there for the Titans.

“That was one of the first questions (the Titans) asked me, if I was comfortable playing inside and how I would feel playing inside, and I told them I was comfortable doing it,” Fulton said. “My whole freshman year at LSU, that was my main position. … I’m definitely excited to play inside if that’s where they want to put me at.”

Said Robinson: “Depending upon the formation you could see him play in there a little bit this year. He’s got good quickness. He’s got good awareness and instincts in there. He’s got some patience to match routes and knows when to trigger and get his hands on the ball, and when to just kind of sit there and let the route develop a little bit more.

“He’s got some toughness to him. I think he’ll tackle. He’s a good tackler, which is important for that position when you’re playing in there close to the core of the formation.”

Inside information

Murchison, the Titans’ fifth-round pick, already has hands-on experience with one member of the Vrabel family — and it didn’t go too well.

Vrabel’s son, Tyler, is the starting left tackle for Boston College, and the Eagles steamrolled Murchison and NC State last season. Boston College ran 60 times for 429 yards (7.2-yard average) and five touchdowns a 45-24 win over the Wolfpack. Vrabel told his son on Saturday morning the Titans were considering taking Murchison in the draft.

“Tyler told me that that was his best game of the season,” Vrabel said. “So, I don’t know if that was good for Tyler or bad for Larrell. … BC had a good game that day, but (Tyler) said that they played hard and they competed, but there wasn’t anything that was dirty or malicious. He said it was just a good, hard-fought football game.”

It didn’t strike Murchison until Saturday that the Vrabel he played against in the Boston College game was related to his new coach.

“I think I remember them saying ‘Vrabel,’” Murchison said. “I didn’t know that was his son. I’m just now realizing that.”

Versatile big man

Ever since taking over as the head coach in Tennessee, one of the defensive tenets Vrabel has stressed is “front multiplicity,” meaning the ability to shift and move into different set-ups along the defensive line.

That’s one of the reasons the Titans put such an emphasis on versatility among their defensive linemen, and it was a big reason they were interested in Murchison. The 6-foot-3, 297-pound Murchison moved all over the Wolfpack line in 2019. Per Pro Football Focus, he lined up over tackle 349 times, outside the tackle 117 times, in the “A” gap (between center and guard) 72 times and in the “B” gap (between guard and tackle) 64 times.

“The more positions they can play, the more opportunities they have to make the team,” Robinson said. “Murchison kind of will play all along the line there. … We thought he was a guy that has size. He has length. He has strength. He’s got some power in the run game. And he’s got some quickness and ability to flip his hips in the pass rush.”

Murchison’s strength is likely clogging up running lanes, but he put up some solid all-round numbers last year: He led NC State’s defensive linemen with 48 tackles and led the team in both tackles for loss (12) and sacks (seven).

“I feel like rushing the passer I can cause penetration, and I feel like stopping the run I can be an anchor down there if they need me to take on double teams,” Murchison said. “Anything you need me to do, I feel like I can do it. That’s what makes me versatile — anywhere among the defensive front where you need me to play, I feel like I can play it.”

Undrafted additions

The Titans don’t officially announce their undrafted free-agent signings — or rookie-camp invites — for several days after the draft. But unofficial signings fill social media within hours of the draft coming to an end.

Some players have already been referenced — McCann, a kicker, and wide receivers Wilkerson, Kinsey and Williams.

Here are several more names that have reached agreements with the Titans, according to reputable reports from agents, schools or the players themselves: Stanford running back Cameron Scarlett; South Carolina defensive tackle Kobe Smith; Missouri linebacker Cale Garrett; Florida International defensive lineman Teair Tart; Arizona State wide receiver Kyle Williams; Arizona State tight end Tommy Hudson; Arizona State linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas; Indiana wide receiver Nick Westbrook; TCU offensive lineman Anthony McKinney; Texas State center Aaron Brewer; and Valdosta State offensive lineman Brandon Kemp.

(Photo of Larrell Murchison: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)