Tennessee Titans News Links: The Combine!

"I've been dreaming with my eyes wide open,
My eyes wide open, yeah..."

Titans News!
Mariota had, what I would consider, a pretty productive rookie season. Maybe not so much in the "wins column," but for sure in the "stats column." Mularkey offers up ways Mariota can improve in 2016. He doesn't mind Mariota running, and will even design plays to showcase his running ability. He also wants to help Mariota play faster next season. One of the biggest things Mularkey feels Mariota struggled with last season was calling plays in the huddle. Mularkey is simplifying the terminology so more time can be used to assess the defensive situation at the line of scrimmage.

Is Dorial Green-Beckham ready to start for the Titans? Mularkey says a lot of that depends on DGB himself. Currently players cannot go to the facility to work out, and coaches cannot talk schemes with players. Players have notes that they can study, and can also study on what was done last year as well. DGB's preparation will show if he is ready or not.

A lot of the draft discussion for the Titans has revolved around them picking Laremy Tunsil with the first pick of the draft. The thought is the Titans would then move Lewan to right tackle. Jon Robinson spoke at the combine yesterday, and stated that Taylor is a good football player, and that they are proud of him being their left tackle. He also went onto say that Lewan has great athletic ability, and that he believes he is capable of playing many positions.

Draft/Combine News!
We heard from "The Hair" and Mayock. Now we get to hear from ESPN's John Clayton. He feels the Titans are in a tough spot, but believes Tunsil is the wise choice. He doubts a trade can/will happen, and just feels like Tunsil is the right choice to make.

Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht takes pride in Jon Robinson. He met Robinson for the first time 13 years ago at Nicholls State, and called Scott Pioli and said they needed to hire him to the scouting staff. He saw early on that Jon would be a great asset, and is glad he took a chance on him. Jon was given full reign of running the personnel department while in Tampa. Licht had the final say in making decisions, but Robinson still had a strong influence.

Jon Robinson views trading the first pick like buying a car. Everyone has a draft trade value chart, but people still have variations on what they think a pick is worth. One person thinks the pick is worth one thing, and the other believes it to be worth something different. So, like buying a car, the two need to come to some form of an agreement to make a deal happen.

Expect the Titans to throw a lot of smokescreens leading up to the draft. Jon and Mike are not wanting the top choice to be widely known ahead of time. They will be keeping their cards close to their chests, and will try to avoid any "risky" conversations about the pick.

Laremy Tunsil isn't afraid to admit that he doesn't know much about the Titans, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't love to play for them. He said it would be great to go number one overall, and that he would put it all on the line when it comes to protecting Mariota. He also said it would be nice to stay close to Mississippi as well.

If the Titans select Tunsil then they might be solving the problem at Right Tackle as well by shifting Lewan to that end of the line. Back in the day Left Tackle was the "most important" position on the offensive line. Nowadays teams are blitzing from all over the place, and they switch players along the defensive front to create different looks. Having a solid right tackle is just as important as having a solid left tackle now, and fixing that position along the line would go a long ways.

Video Links!
Day 1 at 2016 NFL Scouting Combine with Mike Keith, Jon Robinson, and Mike Mularkey. 
Mularkey explains the "exotic smash mouth" football that he utilized during his time in Pittsburgh.

That's all for today. Happy reading!