The 2020 NFL Draft is right around the corner and months of speculation about which teams will do what — including the Tennessee Titans — will finally come to an end.
Thanks to countless mock drafts that we’ve done and others from different outlets that we’ve shared with you, there are about 10 billion predictions out there for what the Titans will do.
But we’re going to move away from mocks in this article and just make some general predictions for how we think the Titans will approach this year’s draft.
Prediction No. 1
Round 1 trade
Titans general manager Jon Robinson made it clear he’s open to trading the team’s No. 29 overall pick and isn’t afraid to not have a first-round selection.
The opportunity will present itself for him to do just that on Thursday, and he’s going to pull the trigger with a team trying to be aggressive for a specific position, like quarterback.
Tennessee doesn’t have picks in the fourth or sixth rounds, so I’d expect Robinson to, at the very least, nab an extra selection in one of those rounds.
When it’s all said and done, Robinson will have two second-round picks and a grand total of eight picks in the draft.
Prediction No. 2
Titans go CB with first pick
Whether they stay put at No. 29 or trade down and get an early second-round pick, the Titans are going to draft a cornerback with their first selection in this year’s draft.
The Titans will add a corner who can be a depth piece for 2020 and a starter on the outside in 2021 to replace Malcolm Butler, who might get cut next offseason.
If they pick at No. 29, it’ll be TCU’s Jeff Gladney. If they trade down to the beginning of the second round, the pick will be Mississippi State’s Cameron Dantzler.
Prediction No. 3
Titans will take two CBs in the draft
We already know I have the Titans taking a cornerback with their first pick, but that won’t be their only addition to the position in the draft.
Somewhere in the middle to late rounds, the Titans are going to take a second cornerback to not only add more depth, but to also give them another option at slot corner for both this season, and in the future.
In this scenario, the Titans could deploy either Amani Hooker, the newly drafted player or Adoree’ Jackson, who the Titans GM named as a possibility in the slot for 2020.
Prediction No. 4
Titans will take a WR earlier than expected
Despite being well-liked by the team and fan base, it would be surprising to see the Titans pick up Corey Davis’ fifth-year option for 2021 after he took a step back in terms of production in 2019.
With that in mind, the Titans will have to anticipate having a hole in the receiving corps. next season. The good news is that this year’s draft is the perfect time to start planning for the future.
The 2020 NFL Draft features one of the deepest wide receiver classes in history and the Titans could end up with a real impact player in any of the first three rounds.
Robinson is going to dive into this class head first and select a wide receiver who can contribute as a deep threat in 2020 and be Davis’ replacement in 2021.
Prediction No. 5
Titans will draft a kicker
The last time the franchise drafted a kicker was in 1992 when the Houston Oilers took Joe Wood in the 12th round. That didn’t exactly work out.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, though, and the Titans are coming off a historically bad season for their kicking team after having converted just 8-of-18 field goal attempts, the worst in the NFL.
Tennessee is going to add competition for Greg Joseph, who attempted just one field goal in his brief stint with the team in 2019. Adding an elite prospect at kicker in the seventh round seems like a good way to do that.
Prediction No. 6
Titans will sign a UDFA QB
The Titans won’t use one of their picks on a quarterback, but instead will sign an undrafted free agent once the draft is said and done.
This way, the Titans can provide light competition for Logan Woodside as the backup, but also have a quarterback to replace him on the practice squad should he get the nod as the No. 2 behind Ryan Tannehill.
Here are some names to keep an eye out for that could be available after the draft. The Titans have met with each of these prospects.
- Anthony Gordon, Washington State
- Tommy Stevens, Mississippi State
- Riley Neal, Vanderbilt
Prediction No. 7
Every position the Titans will address
Since we already have the Titans making a trade in the first round that will nab them an eighth pick, here are the full list of positions the team will address in the 2020 NFL Draft, in no particular order.
- Cornerback (two)
- Right tackle
- Defensive line
- Running back
- Wide Receiver
- EDGE
- Kicker
If the Titans end up with a player at each of these positions (or two, in the case of cornerback), they will have had a successful draft in terms of addressing areas of need ahead of the 2020 season.
Whether or not the players taken at these positions actually pan out is another thing entirely.
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