Titans take OT, WR in Draft Wire’s two-round mock
The two biggest positions of need for the Tennessee Titans going into the 2023 offseason are at left tackle and wide receiver, two areas the team struggled at mightily in 2022.
In his most recent mock, Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling has the Titans addressing both of those needs with their first two picks.
Easterling has the Titans drafting Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. at No. 11 overall. Here’s what he had to say about the pick.
With Johnston off the board, the Titans shift their focus to the offensive line, which desperately needs help both inside and out. In this scenario, they take the first blocker off the board, landing a battle-tested prospect who has played both tackle spots as well as guard, all with a track record of success against top competition.
As Easterling notes, Johnson can play either tackle spot, or at guard, but the Titans will no doubt hope he can fill their massive void at left tackle, where Dennis Daley was the worst in the NFL last season.
For more on 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman’s strengths and weaknesses, we turn to The Draft Network’s Joe Marino:
Top Reasons to Buy In:
Size and athleticism
Coordination, recoverability, and controlled aggression
High ceiling with an excellent baseline
Top Reasons For Concern:
Need for improved functional strength
Developing hand technique
Only one season at left tackle
In the second round, Easterling tabs Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers to Tennessee. Here’s more on 5-foot-10, 172-pound prospect, courtesy of Sports Illustrated’s The NFL Draft Bible.
X, Z, Y alignment. Lots of usage in jet, fast, and return motion. Smooth releases off the line, variety of skips, head movements, and fluidity. Easy speed to separate on overs, posts, and fades. Also points to his route running variety, with a tree that works through the vertical plane, intermediate areas, and underneath. Electric with the ball in his hands. Obvious burst to get up the field, with functional agility and quickness to allocate yards after the catch. Smaller frame, shorter, and slighter than your traditional boundary X or flanker. Shows up in his catch radius and when facing bigger corners. Questionable ability to elevate and highpoint the ball. Rounds off too many in-breaking routes. Not always sharp on his slants or in-breakers. Flowers may not be prototypical in terms of size, but neither is his athleticism. A rare blend of make-you-miss, with the speed to win vertically, Flowers carries an athletic profile that is noteworthy. Pairing this with an unlimited route tree and utility as a gadget guy, and we have a well-rounded skillset. The size element affects multiple portions of his game, but he can continue to elevate his draft stock come the All-star circuit and pre-draft testing.
While the Johnson pick is a home run, I’d prefer the Titans go with a bigger, more prototypical outside receiver, but Flowers no doubt has the potential to make a big impact on an offense that knows how to use him.
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