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Mel Kiper 2021 NFL mock draft

NCAA Football: Miami at Pittsburgh Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Mel Kiper doesn’t always know what’s up, but he knows what’s up with the Titans this year. Just check out the first line from his Titans pick in his latest 2021 NFL mock draft:

This has to be an edge rusher, right?

Yes, Mel, it does. The Titans pass rush was the biggest abomination since Mike Vrabel not doing whatever it took to bring Dean Peas back. You know what? Those two things might be correlated. Well, at least they fixed that problem for 2021...OK...I will let it go now.*

Now to the pick:

Kiper selected Gregory Rousseau, DE, Miami for the Titans. It is too early to determine which pass rusher the Titans should be targeting, but it absolutely has to be a pass rusher. Kiper’s comments on the pick:

The Titans had a putrid pass rush last season, finishing with 19 total sacks, which was only two more than the last-ranked Bengals. They got very little from free-agent signing Jadeveon Clowney, and leading sacker Harold Landry finished with only 5.5. That’s not good enough for a team that thinks it’s a Super Bowl contender. Six-foot-7 Rousseau, another opt-out, had 15.5 sacks in a breakout 2019 season, but he doesn’t have an elite first step and needs to add some moves to his repertoire. With only one year of production and no live football in a year, he’s another wild card in his class. But again, teams love pass-rushers, so he could be in demand.

Would you be happy if the Titans landed Rousseau here?

*Probably not