NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Near the end of an hour-long interview session on Saturday at Nissan Stadium, one Titans fan tried to put General Manager Jon Robinson on the spot.
"Here in Tennessee, for the Titans, we are a circle of trust. So everybody in this room is part of the circle of trust,'' the fan said when addressing Robinson. "So in that circle, my question is: What number will Laremy Tunsil wear when he comes here?"
Robinson laughed it off and told the fan: "I like what you did there." In other words: Nice try.
Earlier in the event, he smiled when telling another inquiring draft inquisitor, "I see you're trying to peek behind my cards that I'm holding closely."
The Titans are scheduled to make the first overall pick in next month's NFL Draft. Ole Miss tackle Laremy Tunsil, Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey and Ohio State defensive lineman Joey Bosa have all been popular picks for the Titans in mock drafts. Other players have been linked to the Titans via trade.
Robinson said earlier at the event it would take a "king's ransom" for the Titans to deal out of the No. 1 pick. He said they'd expect a load of picks in exchange for doing so.
Robinson and coach Mike Mularkey spoke in the club level of Nissan Stadium at 104.5 The Zone's annual Sportsfest on Saturday. They addressed a number of topics with play-by-play man Mike Keith, and they also took questions from fans.
The draft was a popular topic.
Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk interacts with fans at the 2016 SportsFest Saturday at Nissan Stadium. (Photos: Gary Glenn)
"The draft, you have to be careful. You have to have targeted guys,'' Robinson said. "There is a group of players that are at the top of the draft, that, you don't want to move back too far cause you can miss out on one of those guys, and if you do move back that far you want to make sure that you have a king's ransom, for lack of a better term, to move that far.
"So I would say that for us to move out of that pick, it's going to take a substantial amount of picks to do that."
Mularkey reiterated Taylor Lewan is the team's starting left tackle "right now." Robinson echoed Mularkey's stance on the subject. Lewan, the team's first round pick in 2014, was the starting left tackle in 2015.
"And that's the plan until something changes … whatever year that is,'' Mularkey said of Lewan. "Jon and I both believe he could play other positions because of his athletic ability. We'll just see where it goes from there. But Taylor has gotten better and better and he is going to play a long time. But he could play either side if we had to use him."
The Tennessee Titans take part in the 2016 SportsFest at Nissan Stadium. (Photos: Gary Glenn)
