I have looked at a boatload of mock drafts over the past few months. I would say about 75% of those have the Titans taking a defensive player, Marcell Dareus and Von Miller being the most popular choices, and the other 25% have the Titans taking a quarterback. Doug Farrar's mock over at Shutdown Corner is the first one I have seen with the Titans taking a receiver, and in fact, it is the first one that I have seen that has A.J. Green making it to #8. Here is what Farrar had to say about the pick:
8. Tennessee Titans - A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
What do you do if you can't get a marquee quarterback in the draft? Surround the quarterbacks you do have (and in Tennessee's case, it's anyone's guess who THAT's going to be) with the best receivers possible. A dominate player since his freshman year, Green and Kenny Britt would combine to give defensive coordinators nightmares.
Farrar makes the argument that a few of us have been making over the last couple of days. If you QB is going to stink, surround him with weapons that are really, really good.
A lot of people have compared Green to a young Randy Moss. Green isn't as explosive as Moss was early in his career, but A.J. is going to be an elite playmaker in the NFL. You can never have too many of those.
The other option that Green falling this far would probably open up is the ability to trade down. There are a lot of teams that are in love with Green but can't afford to trade into the top 4 to get him. Trading up to #8 wouldn't be nearly as expensive. That would give the Titans the ability to pick up extra picks, and they would still have a shot at drafting Julio Jones, who is another elite weapon!