Jason Wolf

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

For months, anticipation built.

Most experts agreed the Titans would select Ole Miss left tackle Laremy Tunsil with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft and bump struggling left tackle Taylor Lewan, the 11th overall pick in 2014, to the right side of the line, bolstering a unit that just allowed the most sacks in the league.

The proposition seemed more than reasonable. Lewan led the team in penalties last season. He missed the finale with nerve damage in his neck and shoulder. The Titans removed his giant promotional banner from the side of Nissan Stadium. And he heard Mike Mularkey, the coach who’d stripped his captaincy, and Jon Robinson, the team’s new general manager, repeatedly tell reporters he had the ability to move to right tackle, ostensibly to make room for an incoming rookie.

Tennessee traded twice, winding up with the eighth pick in the first round Thursday night.

Tunsil was still on the board. Lewan was paying attention.

But he insists he wasn’t worried.

“To me, honestly, I never thought anything of it because I know I’m not a right tackle,” Lewan said Saturday at the 118th Wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard, appearing at the team’s first stop on their promotional tour, Titans Caravan. “I’m a left tackle. I knew I was the left tackle for this team and I knew once I had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Robinson and Coach Mularkey that they would hear my piece and where I was from.

“And I respect them to the Nth degree. They’re unbelievable,” he said. “An unbelievable GM, an unbelievable coach, and I would do a lot for this team. But I know I came in here, I know my worth as a player, and I know that I’m a left tackle. So I think it’s my job now to prove that I can be more consistent this year and do those things. But as far as worrying about it and stuff like that, I never did, because I know the kind of player that I am.”

Rexrode: Titans' pick Jack Conklin more than a 'mauler'

The Titans used their first-round pick to draft Michigan State’s Jack Conklin, who should open the season as the team’s starting right tackle.

The 6-foot-6, 325-pound Conklin walked onto the Spartans football team as a freshman, and this season, as a redshirt junior, was named a first-team All-American by Sporting News and USA TODAY.

Conklin has started 38 of 39 career games, 35 at left tackle and three at right tackle.

His selection allows Lewan, a Michigan product, to continue working on the left side.

“I thought it was awesome,” Lewan said. “Obviously I played against him before in college, and he’s exactly what Mularkey wants. He’s a tough guy, he’s going to play through the whistle and he’s just going to be a hard-working guy who’s there for the team. That’s what it seems like, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”

Mularkey and Robinson raved about Conklin’s abilities and attitude, just as they did when signing former Texans center Ben Jones and trading for former Cowboys and Eagles running back DeMarco Murray earlier this offseason, just as they had after drafting Heisman Trophy-winning Alabama running back Derrick Henry on Friday.

Titans say Derrick Henry, DeMarco Murray can both thrive

The Titans are committed to protecting quarterback Marcus Mariota — who was injured twice last season and missed four games with sprained knees — running the ball and playing with a nasty streak.

“My foremost job is to … put the guy on the ground,” Conklin said. “I want people to remember they played me.”

Lewan also spoke highly of Jones, who he’s worked alongside during the last two weeks of voluntary drills.

“He’s a great guy, a real team player. Really, really smart,” Lewan said. “He and I sit next to each other during meetings and I’m sitting here kind of still figuring out the offense and he seems like he’s got it down pat. He’s been there helping me out with that.”

Lewan said he’s healthy after struggling through the end of last season with nerve damage.

“It’s fine. All good. I don’t have any pain at all,” he said. “No neck injury or nothing. It was nerve damage in my neck. Before we played Houston, I couldn’t lift a 25-pound dumbbell over my head. It was brutal. There are injuries and stuff like that, but it’s still not an excuse. When I’m out there I’ve got to play well.”

Titans draft Alabama's Derrick Henry, three defenders

His thoughts on run-blocking for Murray, the 2014 NFL rushing champ, and the rookie Henry, the latest Heisman winner?

“I enjoy winning games,” Lewan said. “I don’t care what we do or how they want us to do it. I enjoy hurting other people. I enjoy making other people hurt. And if that’s running the ball, that’s what it’s going to be. But people are going to know when they play us. We’re going to make sure that’s a thing this year.”

And as far as any excitement surrounding the team as Mularkey and Robinson reshape the roster?

“I refuse to feel any of that stuff,” Lewan said. “That buzz will go away if we don’t do our jobs, if I don’t do my job. I just have to be the best left tackle I can possibly be for this team, play hard and work hard and just do what I’m supposed to do, and then I can enjoy the buzz 10 years from now when I’m sipping margaritas on the beach.”

Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram at TitansBeat.