NASHVILLE – The NFL Draft is one week away from today in Nashville, and as I type this, General Manager Jon Robinson and his scouts are huddled up in the War Room at Saint Thomas Sports Park.
So this morning, I asked a pair of former NFL evaluators their idea of what an ideal draft day scenario might look like for the Titans at pick No.19.
SIRIUSXM Radio analysts Gil Brandt and Mark Dominik answered the question on a conference call.
Brandt said he likes the thought of a receiver, especially Ole Miss receiver D.K. Metcalf, while Dominik leaned toward the defensive side of the football.
"If I were them, I think the defense is pretty good, and I think maybe I would think about wide receiver, and there's about four of them that look pretty good," said Brandt, who was the Vice President of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960-1989. "My highest receiver is (Metcalf), who I think is a home run threat and a big strong guy, which everyone seems to be looking for in today's game."
Dominik, who worked in a NFL front office role for 20 seasons, 19 of them with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said he didn't completely disagree with Brandt.
But he circled back to the potential of the Titans looking to address needs on defense.
"They need continue to add (at receiver)," Dominik said of the Titans. "But adding Adam Humphries this offseason, and you are still hoping that Corey Davis (keeps improving), and (they) have a couple of higher picks invested in (Tajae) Sharpe and (Taywan) Taylor. I think this is going back to a pass rusher, and certainly like a big plugger.
"So I look at a couple of different people I think would make a lot of sense for them. No.1, at pass rusher, a lot of people think (Tennessee) is where (Brian) Burns from Florida State could go, and I think he could bring a lot of electric energy to that defense, another guy off the edge and a great high character guy."
Dominik also mentioned Clemson defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence. Brandt chimed in and said the thought of the 342-pound Lawrence running a 5.05 in the 40 is scary.
"The big, hulking nose tackle," Dominik said of Lawrence. "There's hard to find big men like that, and again, high character, smart player. That might not get the fans all riled up because he's not going to sack the quarterback a lot of times. But he's going to be a guy who is much needed in (Mike) Vrabel's defense, to start slowing down the run game. He plays with real power, too.
"So those are the two players – I think defense is going to rule for them, and I think they're going to take one of those two spots. You are hitting high character, too, which I'm sure is something (GM) Jon Robinson is thinking about as well."
