December 31, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes safety Malik Hooker (24) intercepts a pass intended for Clemson Tigers wide receiver Hunter Renfrow (13) during the first half of the the 2016 CFP semifinal at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee Titans Should Pass on Wide Receiver in the First Round by Jacob Lehnowsky

How the Tennessee Titans should draft to replace snaps they lost last year.

We all know that teams “shouldn’t draft for need” they should just grab the best guy and go right? Well, the Tennessee Titans fans may find out that it isn’t that simple.

Something we talk about often is finding “full time starters”. Well, outside of offensive linemen and quarterbacks there aren’t a lot of full time starters to be found.

Players rotate in sub packages and get taken out for role players all the time. So, something that needs to be taken into account is snaps lost.

If the Tennessee Titans lost 1,000 snaps at quarterback last year because they let a free agent go and they only lost 10 snaps at wide receiver, that would indicate that it is probably more important to go after a quarterback than a wide receiver right?

This isn’t always true and it can lead you down the road of need based drafting. So to fix that, I am going to try to do a mock draft where I try to hit 4 of the Tennessee Titans 5 positions where they need snaps the most in the first three rounds.

Now, I did completely ignore free agency for this exercise so you have to excuse that for the purposes of this mock draft.

According to that metric, here are the 5 positions that need the most snaps replaced:

Safety: 1196 snaps (Rashad Johnson/Daimion Stafford)

Cornerback: 993 snaps (Perrish Cox/Antwon Blake)

Tight End: 533 snaps (Anthony Fasano)

Wide Receiver: 531 snaps (Andre Johnson/Kendall Wright/Marc Mariani)

Inside linebacker: 504 (Sean Spence)

So, with no trades here is what a Fanspeak 2017 NFL Mock Draft would look like for the Tennessee Titans based off of missing snaps.

1st round, 5th overall pick: Malik Hooker S, Ohio State

Malik Hooker may leave this class as one of the two or three best players when it is all said and done. He is the rare safety that really has that elite range to cover from sideline to sideline in single high. That is something that (no matter what any tries to lie about) Jamal Adams does not have.

You know what else Hooker has? Turnovers. In one starting season (which is an issue) he had 7 interceptions and looked smooth and controlled the whole season.

Not only that, but Hooker is 6’2 and not afraid to come into the box and strike running backs. He can get up to top speed quick, square his shoulders and deliver a blow anywhere on the field.

Between he and unaccounted for Jonathan Cyprien, the Tennessee Titans could easily fill those 1,200 snaps missing from the safety position.

1st round, 18th overall pick: Gareon Conley CB, Ohio State

I am a big Conley fan. The more I watch him the more I understand just how good he is.

I don’t like that he isn’t going to help much in run support, but this team didn’t need a cornerback who was better in run support last year, they needed one who could cover top-end wide receivers and makes plays on the ball.

Gareon Conley can be the CB1 on this team moving Logan Ryan to CB2 and allowing him to easily bump inside to the slot position to let someone like Jason McCourty or Leshaun Sims play the other boundary CB.

3rd round, 83rd overall pick: Taywan Taylor WR, Western Kentucky

Over the last 3 years Taylor has averaged at least 17 yards per catch (wow) and ended up with 229 catches and nearly 4,000 yards. That is tremendous production for a wide receiver with NFL size.

I believe that Taylor makes a lot of sense for the Tennessee Titans, and if Jon Robinson still believes in production being predictive for WRs to find NFL success then Taylor should be high on his board in the 3rd round.

3rd round, 100th overall pick: George Kittle TE, Iowa

Kirk Ferentz used to work with Bill Belichick during their Cleveland Browns days as an offensive line coach. It wouldn’t surprise me to see either the Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots or any other team with BB connections to draft Kittle.

Kittle is a nasty, mean, angry, whatever you want to call it, blocker at tight end and he can be used all over the field. He can be your H-back, your fullback, your tight end, or as a jumbo slot if you want that look on the goal line.

While he won’t steal receptions away from Delanie Walker thanks to being an unrefined receiver, he could possibly replace and outshine Anthony Fasano as a blocker which is very hard to do.

He is a gritty player that Jon Robinson and Mike Mularkey will love. The only question is will he be there in the late third?