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Around SBN: Spencer Hall's College Football Week 12 Alphabetical

My random not so random draft thoughts

K... So I was fuming yesterday. Had a few drinks and didn't want to say much after I saw our first pick. Really glad I didn't.

After sleeping on it and giving it some more thought today, I like the Chris Johnson pick.  I had said over and over I didn't want to take a RB having picked Chris Henry and Lendale in the 2nd rd over the last 2 drafts.  If the Titans had him rated as their top player available in the skill position/playmaking threat category and they don't think Chris Henry is the guy for the job, there is no reason to waste any more time on him in which case I have no problem with the pick. Its becoming pretty clear Johnson was one of a few guys they had targeted for the pick and it wasn't just a shot in the dark. I think we have historically drafted well as an organization, so I trust us if that makes any sense.

This pick MIGHT represent the Front office telling us they F'd up with the C.Henry pick,  and I can respect that. It happens to the best of us. I emphasize MIGHT because realistically we could also make the assumption that the Titans love Chris Henry and think he and Johnson are the future backs for this franchise not Lendale. I know, it looks ridiculous to me as I type it.  Henry to me showed in his small sample of playing time that he has the size and speed to make plays, big plays. Lendale has not. Maybe we are looking at a future tandem of Henry/Johnson, just a thought.

Obviously a lot of us were way off projecting the WR talent in this draft.  When the 1st WR to go is Donnie Avery and its in the 2nd rd I can now look at it and say it would have been a mistake to take one. Thats coming from someone that wanted a WR(Devin Thomas) more than anyone.

The only player I'm really baffled we passed on is Merling.  I thought he was a great fit for our defense. I don't claim to know as much as Fish or M.R. so I can't question the move, especially seeing as 2 D-lineman went before Merling after we picked.

I don't know enough about the dude J.Jones we picked in the 2nd rd to even comment on it. I will just say I really hope our front office did some great scouting and got a steal. Fish says a few teams called directly afterwards and said they were ready to pick him with their next pick. I would say that also if I was in his position. Who knows?

Craig Stevens- Hmmmmmm A TE? Disagree with the pick.

We have Crumpler, Scaife, and we just signed Blakley. Why Why Why? I would rather have spent the money on Hartstock than spend a 3rd on a blocking TE. Hartstock was very good in this role.  They are saying they can develop him into a downfield threat due to his speed, what about the ability to run routes and hold onto passes?

William Hayes- Who? What? Whatever. Again I hope Fisher and M.R. are as smart as I think they are.

Latrell Hawkins- Great pick. Dude was tearing DBs to shreds the whole Senior Bowl week. He seems to play much faster and more athletic than the combine and pro day numbers. Looks to me like a natural. I think we are going to be really happy with this pick down the road. I'm counting on Paul Williams, Roydell, and Gage to be the Wrs that give th biggest contributions this season. Maybe we get something out of Hawkins, that would be a great bonus. As for Paul Williams I'm just going on a hunch. Brandon Jones sucks! And he's done nothing to prove otherwise.

Keglar- Key letters Keg. Sounds like a good prospect.

Cary Williams- Hopefully we get lucky and get another Finnegan.

0 recs  |  Comment 9 comments

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well said
this year draft just shows we(all fans and MEDIA) have very limited knowledge and inside information about prospects and drafts.
If i proposed the actual draft as mock draft last week people would've pointed me toward a hospital

by LastSd on Apr 27, 2008 11:40 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

could have been a dream draft
1st round merling
2nd round earl bennett
3rd round jamaal charles/steve slaton/someone else fast

anyways, well said on everything. i love the hawkins pick too. hes essentially west coast earl bennett.

i watch alot of football (college and pro) and followed the pre draft stuff a ton.  with that said, i had never heard of william hayes or cary williams before today. did they win a contest or something to be drafted by an nfl team?

by rolypoly32 on Apr 28, 2008 12:11 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

weird
stumbled across another Titans blog today, that actually picked J. Jones in the 2nd round of their mock draft.  lesse, digging through bookmaks...

http://mvn.com/nfl-titans

They were freaking out about the Chris Johnson pick too, and a couple of NC college fans posted after awhile telling them to calm down, the world had not ended.

by numbertenox on Apr 28, 2008 12:25 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Ah
I guess we should all pay more attention to who the Titans have come in to visit them before the draft...

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=59487

by numbertenox on Apr 28, 2008 12:42 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Sorry
meant to add - they drafted two of the four or five guys that article reported them meeting with:  Johnson and Jones.

by numbertenox on Apr 28, 2008 12:44 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

my assessment
Some observations on the Draft.

·    Recent experience has soured all teams on going WR very early - it's simply proven to be too volatile of an investment.  Titans were certainly not going to be the first ones to draft a wideout.

·    In reviewing how the Draft played out, I see that the elite running backs all went pretty early.  I thought we might have gotten Chris Johnson under an alias, Jamaal Charles, though we would have missed him in the 3rd round if we had waited that long (he went 73rd to the Chiefs).  Ray Rice is the only RB to have gone in the second round, demarcating the talent divide between the 1st rounders and the rest.  In order to get the RB we needed as a complement to Lendale in the Draft, picking one in the 1st Round made sense.  I just hope that Chris Johnson truly belongs in that elite group.  All I have seen is some Youtube footage; he looks great, tough, aggressive, with great balance and ridiculous speed.  Only problem is he was playing against slower, weaker opponents.  I still think that we should have paid Michael Turner the big bucks and avoided the need to draft another RB.

·    The second round is where we could have gotten a top receiver.  Jason Jones looks like a solid prospect, but based on what draft scouts wrote, this was a reach to the tune of at least one round.  

·    Mike Reinfeldt and his scouting team seem to think that the gems are found in the small schools.  I guess seeing Cortland Finnegan look good on Sundays has made them believe in magic.

·    TE in the 3rd?  I hate this pick.  Scaife, Blakley, and Crumpler are fine for now, thank you very much.  But why the hell did they let Hartsock go in the first place?

·    Willy Hayes...  Seems like a freak with some upside potential.  Interesting pick though, I thought they replaced Odom with the Jones pick. I am surprised that Fish/Reinfeldt thought they had to make their move early in the 4th for him.

·    Lavelle Hawkins.  I like the pick. Good value for a 4th.  Don't like his lack of measurable speed though.  Vince needs a burner.

·    Stanford Keglar - I am agnostic on this one.  LB is medium-term need, and this is a pick that could help.

·    Cary Williams - It's the 7th round and he's a division II guy.  Good luck to him.

Titans seem to believe in our receiving corps, as is.  If I am Vince Young, I am very upset right now.  15 years of Fisher ball is also getting a little tired for me.  I think I am almost ready for a coaching change; someone who believes that a football game should last more than two possessions and believes that a passing game matters.

by BeansCarter on Apr 28, 2008 10:07 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

I agree with all of that...
...save the TE thing.  I say that because a) Hartsock was (obvioously) quite replaceable, and b) isn't Scaife an FA next year?  I think by mid-season we'll all be happy as Hell to have our new TE.
DannoE

Go read FRIDAY MAD SCIENCE at www.paperbackreader.com
Thanks!

by DannoE on Apr 28, 2008 10:19 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

It's the quite replaceable thing
that gets me down.  You can find a good inline TE in free agency.  Best of luck trying to get a game-changing WR in the open market.

by willchance on Apr 28, 2008 11:41 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I agree Hartstock
was replaceable, just shouldn't have replaced him with a 3rd rounder. He was drafted nowhere near the 3rd rd himself, and we did pretty good on that.

by Big Bad Bulluck on Apr 28, 2008 1:12 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

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