One thing about them Titans, they know how to give the fans a heart attack. The latest two-tone blue heart attack came by way of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Titans went into the draft with multiple needs. While they did address some needs, their draft class as whole left many people feeling uncertain when it comes to the future of the teams.
Going into the 1st round of the draft Thursday night, there was a belief that the Titans were going to trade for the 3rd overall pick. The Texans killed that idea when they not only took CJ Stroud with their 2nd overall pick but traded with Arizona to move up to #3 and took Will Anderson. It was at that moment when everybody knew the Titans were sticking and picking.
The Titans ended up drafting Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern with the 11th overall pick. He started all 33 of his games. He also earned All-Big Ten honors twice. Skoronski recorded the highest PFF pass block grade in the FBS last season (93.0). He allowed one sack and six pressures in 457 pass block snaps. Many believe he will be a guard in the NFL but former Titans OT Taylor Lewan thinks otherwise.
Not everyone is going to agree with every draft pick, but everyone understood why the Titans went with Skoronski in the first round. Day 2 is where all of the fun and heart palpitations started. The Titans wasted no time striking a deal with Arizona to move up to pick #33. With the 33rd overall pick, the Titans selected:
If you follow me on social media and watch the Titans Colosseum Podcast every Thursday at 8:30pm CT, you know I felt about Levis going into the draft. I was inside my vehicle when the pick was made. My initial reaction had me punching my steering wheel and cursing to the sky. If I had to guess, 95% of the fan base had a similar reaction.
In 2021, Will Levis threw for 2,827 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also ran for 9 touchdowns. His 2022 season wasn’t as productive as he threw for 2,406, 19 touchdowns, and 10 intercepts in 11 games. Some believe that his decline in 2022 was due to his toe injury that kept him out of 2 games, poor offensive line play, and a lack of weapons. While those are legitimate reason for his decline in play, he has a tendency to throw some head scratching interceptions.
The Titans were not done sending the fans to the ICU. They took Peter Skoronski in the 1st round, they took Will Levis in the 2nd round, and everyone just knew the Titans were going to draft a pass catcher in round 3. They proceeded to do the most Titans thing ever and drafted Tulane RB Tajae Spears. Spears was a productive player in 2022. Coming off of an ACL injury in 2021, Spears played in 14 games. He had 229 rushing attempts for 1,581 yards (6.9 AVG) and 19 touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes for 256 YDS and 2 touchdowns.
To draft a running back over a WR/TE is so Tennessee Titans, it’s not funny. Literally, it wasn’t funny. Spears is a good player. I don’t want to take anything away from him but, the need at WR stood out like a sore thumb. On top of that, we all know the struggle when it comes to the Titans and injuries over the last 2 years. Tajae Spears comes to Tennessee with many injury concerns.
I will say this before I move on. Ramon Foster of Ramon, Kayla, and Will on 104.5 The Zone mentioned this morning that Hines Ward played his whole football career without an ACL. We all know the career Ward had with the Steelers. Here is a short video I found of Hines Ward talking about the situation.
We finally got a pass catcher in the 5th round when they took TE Josh Whyle out of Cincinatti. Whyle at 6-6, 248 pounds could be a nice redzone target. In his final season at Cincinnati, he received All-AAC honors, catching 32 passes for 326 yards. Whyle caught 3 touchdowns, averaging over ten yards per catch. It is also worth mentioning that Whyle started his football career as a WR but made the transition to TE halfway through high school.
Although I liked the pick, the Titans had yet to draft a WR. I was very confused along with everyone else. Honestly, I had to ask myself “Do the Titans really hate WRs”? It really felt like they were trolling at this point.
The Titans decided to add more depth to the offensive line in round 6 when they drafted Jaelyn Duncan out of Maryland. Duncan was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Conference selection. He started all 12 games at left tackle in 2022. Duncan played in 42 games for the Terrapins in his college career with 39 starts. NFL.COM gave him a draft prospect grade of 6.0, which is traits or talent to be above-average backup. Jaelyn trained with Peter Skoronski leading up to the draft. He spoke about this during his Zoom call with Titans media after being drafted.
AFTER 6 ROUNDS AND COUNTLESS BOTTLES OF ALCOHOL, THE TITANS FINALLY DRAFTED A DAMN WR. I swear, the love/hate relationship with this team is real. They took Colton Dowell in the 7th round out of UT Martin. Dowell is from Lebanon, TN. He played high school football at Wilson Central High. He grew up a Titans fan, and it was a dream come true for them to draft him.
The 6’3 212-pound WR was a 2 time All OVC First Team Performer at UT-Martin. In his final season, he caught 67 passes for 1,036 yards and 6 touchdowns. He had 6 100-yard games as well including 7 catches for 112 yards against Tennessee.
It took me a while to process this draft. Overall, I’m cool with. I still hate the fact that they waited until the very last round to draft a WR. People have to keep in mind that the roster isn’t final. There are moves that can still be made. You’re totally entitled to feel how you feel but let’s give these guys that got drafted a legit chance. You never know what these guys will be 2-3 years from now.
