2008 draft thread

[Cashmoney]

I know it's early, but I thought I'd create a thread where we can all come and talk about potential players for the Titans to draft.

Ill start off with some of the more obvious guys we should be looking at.
First and foremost I still believe we need a go to Wr. Some guys to look at are Earl Bennett, Desean jackson, Adarious bowman, malcolm kelly, limas sweed. we need playmakers desperately.
on the defensive side our D-line could potentially use upgrades, so chris long, lawrence jackson, frank okam and sedrick ellis are all potential players for us to scout.

What do you guys or who do you guys think we should be looking at at this point.

[Pit Bull #53]

Malcolm Kelly is my favorite player in college football right now.

That is all

[Titans10]

Earl Bennett please

[TitanHope]

In my view, our needs so far go WR, FS, DT, MLB and then depth.

Obviously, we need someone at WR. I'm tired of picking up WR's in the 3rd or later, and hoping they'll develop well. We tried it, and its not working. I have no single favorite WR right now, but if we do pick one, I want him to be extremely polished and NFL ready,

We need an actual FS thats of starter quality. I think Calvin Lowry is more of a SS than a FS. Griffin could fill this need, but it seems that he is definitely staying at CB. I'd prefer the safety to excel if coverage, so being a knockout hitter isn't needed. But, in this year's draft, the safety class goes Kenny Phillips and then the rest. We will not be in position to pick Phillips, and I don't see us reaching on Jonathan Hefney. So this likely won't be assessed in the first.

Then we have DT. Albert Haynesworth is in the last year of his contract and is playing like a maniac. Add in that he has a troubled history, I think re-signing him may be problematic. So we could very well lose him, which would leave a big hole in the DLine (Both metaphorically and literally). The priority of the DT position will depend on Big Al's contract situation and if Corey Simon amounts to anything. If Albert leaves and Simon blows, I think DT is the 1st round pick and that we pray that Dorsey falls to us or even Okam. But even if Albert stays, I think the addition of another impact DT, ala the Jacksonville approach, would help our defense immensely. Imagine a DLine of Vanden Bosch, Haynesworth, Dorsey, and Odom/Fisher.

Finally, MLB. Its definitely not a 1st round need due to the limited amount of playing time the MLB sees in our defense, but it is a need. I'm not confident in Tulloch or Fowler, and I think that we can upgrade that position. A solid MLB can be found in the 3rd round due to how deep the LB pool is this year.

The only other positions that come to mind are CB and DE. I'm not worried about CB since we may get PacMan back next year, we just drafted Michael Griffin to play CB, Finnegan looks like he can be a solid #2 CB/Nickelback, and Harper can play for another year. Then at DE, we have Vanden Bosch who is a Pro Bowler and will have another good season now that he's back at RE, Antwon Odom who looks like he's on his way to a breakout year, and Bryce Fisher who was a starter on a defense that went to the Super Bowl and multiple playoff appearances with the Seahawks. Not to mention, we still have LaBoy, Connover, Ford, and Tony Brown can play both DE and DT. If anything, I'd like us to get our hands on a great pass rusher somehow. I don't like LaBoy. He's a one trick pony that doesn't even gallop well.

[Cashmoney]

im gonna go ahead and guess that we pick between 15-20. at that point i think we could realistically take Earl Bennett if he comes out. if we wait till the second round on WR I think we would pick sedrick ellis or frank okam in the 1st. If we took okam that'd be the third longhorn for us in the first round the past 3 years.

[TitanHope]

Lol, if we pick Okam or Sweed in the first, we all need to put "Tennessee Longhorns" in our sigs, and have the Texas Longhorn steer head with a circle around it with the Titan fire around it. :) Either way, it just means more Texans fans will convert to Titans fans.

I don't think we'll pick Ellis. He's a great DT, but more so in the mold of a pass-rusher. We have pass-rushing DT's in Tony Brown and Randy Starks, and Tony Brown is playing well so far. What we need is a run-stuffer, like Okam or Dorsey. Actually, Dorsey can play both roles and play them extremely well; Thats how good he is. And like I said, if Haynesworth leaves via FA, we'll have no one to plug the middle and stop the run. Ellis and Brown in the middle would be two DT's bordering 300 pounds a piece, and I don't think they'd stop the run well. Opposing QB's would hate it, but opposing RB's would love it, and offensive lines would not be intimidated.

Earl Bennett intrigues me. I haven't seen him play much unless its a UT vs Vandy game, but I hear nothing but good things about him.

[smittyjs]

Lol, if we pick Okam or Sweed in the first, we all need to put "Tennessee Longhorns" in our sigs, and have the Texas Longhorn steer head with a circle around it with the Titan fire around it. :) Either way, it just means more Texans fans will convert to Titans fans.

I don't think we'll pick Ellis. He's a great DT, but more so in the mold of a pass-rusher. We have pass-rushing DT's in Tony Brown and Randy Starks, and Tony Brown is playing well so far. What we need is a run-stuffer, like Okam or Dorsey. Actually, Dorsey can play both roles and play them extremely well; Thats how good he is. And like I said, if Haynesworth leaves via FA, we'll have no one to plug the middle and stop the run. Ellis and Brown in the middle would be two DT's bordering 300 pounds a piece, and I don't think they'd stop the run well. Opposing QB's would hate it, but opposing RB's would love it, and offensive lines would not be intimidated.

Earl Bennett intrigues me. I haven't seen him play much unless its a UT vs Vandy game, but I hear nothing but good things about him.

He lives up to the hype man, i watch him every week.

[Pit Bull #53]

I wouldn't rule out taking a guy like Ellis if he were available. Starks is terrible, and Tony Brown has played well, but we'll see how he can hold up as a full time starter for 16 games. I think we'll franchise Albert this year.

Not sold that we'll go FS in the 1st at all. Lowry wasn't good in preseason, but he's played well so far in the regular season, plus I just don't see us using another high pick on a DB right away.

I like Bennett a lot, but the WR I like the most is Kelly. He's turning into a touchdown machine, he's tall, and he has great hands. Plus he has a little bit of a swagger that I like.

Also wouldn't mind if we nabbed a stud versatile LB, but not sure if that'll happen.

[Cashmoney]

scott has eric young of tennesse the #1 rated guard right now. doubt the titans are looking at guard but i thought it was interesting since im a UT fan and they really havent been run blocking that well this year.

[TitanHope]

Eric Young being #1 is odd to me too, but I'm a Vols fan so its all good to me!

And I think the best thing about this upcoming draft is that the Titans have no glaring need, besides possibly at WR. So its ok for us fans to say, "I want an upgrade at such-and-such position," and not be wrong. Therefore, we can all have different opinions and be able to discuss more and know more about the players in the draft.

And speaking of WR, depending on how many juniors declare(Jackson, Bennett, Hardy, Kelly), this could be a very deep draft class. Last year's was good, but it was very top heavy. This year's looks to be better overall.

[stephenson86]

Frank Okam, a combination of him and Albert Haynesworth is just what our defense needs.

[Cashmoney]

scott has us picking derrrick harvey in his latest mock. but if our d-line keeps up this pace and we resign haynesworth im pretty sure we'll go in a different direction.

[stephenson86]

scott has us picking derrrick harvey in his latest mock. but if our d-line keeps up this pace and we resign haynesworth im pretty sure we'll go in a different direction.

we need a stud pass rushing end in the mould of someone like kearse

[Pit Bull #53]

A stud DE could help, but so far this year, it doesn't look like we need one. Pass rush has been good. Harvey is a beast though.

Someone mentioned it earlier, it doesn't look like we have a ton of "holes" to fill - as in terrible starters to replace - except maybe WR. It looks like we can just focus on upgrading certain positions, which means our 1st round pick can go anywhere.

I honestly wouldn't be mad at all if we took a RB, WR, DE, DT, or MLB. Hell, we could even take a FS, but I think Lowry looks solid and I think Griffin is gonna stay at corner. This could all change if Pac comes back.

Also gotta remember that Haynesworth, Simon, Starks, Odom and LaBoy are all FAs this year. Not sure about RFA or UFA, I still can't keep straight on when each one occurs.

[MicktheGreat]

A stud DE could help, but so far this year, it doesn't look like we need one. Pass rush has been good. Harvey is a beast though.

Someone mentioned it earlier, it doesn't look like we have a ton of "holes" to fill - as in terrible starters to replace - except maybe WR. It looks like we can just focus on upgrading certain positions, which means our 1st round pick can go anywhere.

I honestly wouldn't be mad at all if we took a RB, WR, DE, DT, or MLB. Hell, we could even take a FS, but I think Lowry looks solid and I think Griffin is gonna stay at corner. This could all change if Pac comes back.

Also gotta remember that Haynesworth, Simon, Starks, Odom and LaBoy are all FAs this year. Not sure about RFA or UFA, I still can't keep straight on when each one occurs.

I think DE makes a lot of sense in round 1, especially if Odom & LaBoy are both FAs. Also, a lot will depend on whether we re-sign Haynesworth (and as good as he's been playing, that could be difficult).

As far as WR goes, Roydell looks like the real deal, IMO and could be a great #2 WR. But it seems like the Titans' front-office isn't too keen on taking a WR in the 1st round. I'd say that WR is more of a mid-round pick next season or maybe even a FA acquisition.

I think we're OK at RB. Lendale's looked fine; and Chris Henry will hopefully be able to take-on Chris Brown's role next year (if Brown leaves).

Right now, I'd rank our likely 1st round pick as being:
1. DE
2. DT
3. FS
4. MLB
5. WR