List of Jon Robinson’s draft picks still on Titans’ roster

With Chris Jackson gone, an updated look at the draft picks made by former GM Jon Robinson who are still on the Titans’ roster.

When the Tennessee Titans parted ways with defensive back and 2020 seventh-round pick, Chris Jackson, he was just the latest player from one of former general manager Jon Robinson’s draft classes to get the boot.

This was not the first time Jackson had been cut, though, as he did not make the team’s initial 53-man roster in 2022 before being brought back on the practice squad and later promoted to the active roster.

While it’s possible Jackson will eventually be brought back, the fact that he was let go weeks before final cuts makes this one feel a bit more final.

With Jackson gone, cornerback Kristian Fulton is once again the last man standing from the 2020 draft class, which is one of three Robinson draft classes that has one player remaining on the Titans’ current roster.

The others are the classes of 2017 and 2018.

With Jackson’s recent departure, we thought it would be fun to see how many of Robinson’s picks from 2016-2022 are remaining on the 2023 squad as of right now.

We’ve also included a list of the departed players (and the teams they currently play for, if applicable) if you want to pour one out for them.

Unpacking Future Packers: No. 50, Minnesota CB Terell Smith

Up next in the Unpacking Future Packers draft preview series is Minnesota cornerback Terell Smith.

The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects that could be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2023 NFL draft.

As it stands right now, the Green Bay Packers have their top four cornerbacks under contract. Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, Rasul Douglas, and Keisean Nixon give the Packers a solid quartet of cornerbacks. 

There have been talks about Douglas moving to safety. What if Stokes fails to replicate the success he had during his rookie season? Nixon was solid when he saw the field, but his one-year deal should not stop the Packers from adding a cornerback to the room. 

Even if Douglas moves to safety, the trio of Alexander, Stokes, and Nixon could keep Gutekunst from taking a cornerback early in the 2023 NFL Draft. If Gutekunst opts to wait until day three to add a cornerback, he will have plenty of options to choose from. 

A cornerback that Gutekunst could target on day three of the draft is Terell Smith. The Minnesota cornerback checks in at No. 50 in the Unpacking Future Packers countdown.

A four-star recruit out of Georgia, Smith recorded 43 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one interception, and nine pass deflections during his first season on campus. Over the next three seasons, Smith recorded just one interception and four pass deflections. During his final season as a Gopher, Smith recorded 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, and seven pass deflections.  

“Terell made major strides this season while earning a large role in Minnesota’s scheme,” Daniel House, the founder of GophersGuru, said. “His physicality, size, length, and speed were apparent while watching him in coverage. He is the type of cornerback you can put on the boundary in man coverage and let his physicality and length take over. Not only that, but he’s skilled at dropping into zone, reading the route concept, and breaking on the ball too. The Gophers also occasionally maximized his downhill burst by sending him off of corner blitzes. All year, Minnesota relied upon Smith and he executed at a high level.”

A track athlete in high school, the first thing that stands out about Smith’s game is his athleticism. He’s a fluid athlete with the speed to make up for any missteps early in coverage. He won the state title in the 100 and 200 meters during his prep track and field career. His 20.84 time in the 200 was the fifth fastest in the country that year. During the East-West Shrine Bowl, he was the fastest defensive player on the field (21.37 miles per hour). At the combine, Smith clocked a 4.41 40-yard dash. 

“I would say closing speed, acceleration, and length,” House said. “He has excellent downhill burst and downfield acceleration. You can certainly see his track background while he’s playing the position. Terell ran a personal record of 10.32 100 meters in high school. Smith focused on improving his flexibility in recent seasons, particularly while changing direction and mirroring receivers out of breaks. I saw improvements in this area, but think it’s something he will continue to work on in the NFL.”

Smith is physical at the line of scrimmage and does a good job of rerouting wide receivers. He’s not shy about using his length and physicality to disrupt at the top of the stem. In zone coverage, he has shown improved route recognition and quickly breaks on the ball. He has the long speed to run stride for stride with wide receivers downfield. He has the footwork and fluidity to stick in a wide receiver’s hip pocket. 

“He’s become particularly good at learning and locating vertical routes,” House said. “He transitioned from backpedaling to swiveling his hips, accelerated downfield, and then compressed space by leaning and locating deep balls. As a true freshman, he wasn’t as consistent in this area. Minnesota’s coaches emphasized all of the techniques and Smith made huge strides by the end of his career. I also like how he can drop into zone and instinctively break on the football. He showcases quick-twitch athleticism and then uses his length to disrupt passing lanes. Smith doesn’t give wide receivers much room to work because of his length, physicality, and downfield acceleration. In recent years, he’s become even more physical, which has been huge for his overall game.”

A high school wide receiver, Smith had minimal ball production during his time as a Gopher. He recorded four interceptions and 16 pass deflections.

“Smith disrupted passing lanes because of his length, but didn’t close on plays as much,” House said. “I always say, just because a defensive back isn’t making plays on the ball, doesn’t mean they’re not executing their role in the scheme and impacting the game. Receivers had trouble getting position or separation because he tightly mirrored and matched in coverage. The flexibility component occasionally comes into play though. Sometimes when he’s tasked with turning in mid-air and adjusting, ball location and the timing of his jump are just slightly off.”

In run support, Smith uses his burst to quickly fly downhill. He quickly gets his man to the ground when the ball arrives to limit any YAC. According to PFF, Smith was flagged with just six missed tackles this season, with four of them coming back-to-back weeks in early October. 

“He showed adequate tackling ability when he was tasked with doing so,” House said. “I wouldn’t say he was tested much in this area, however, when needed, he certainly got downhill and wrapped up. I particularly noticed his tackling skills when he was reacting to screens or blitzing downhill. In general, Smith’s physicality increased over the course of his career with the Gophers.”

Fit with the Packers

Bet on the traits. Smith’s technique in coverage started to catch up to his athleticism this past season. Smith has excellent straight-line speed and has the fluidity to develop into a lockdown cornerback.

As it stands right now, the Packers have seven picks on day three of the draft. It would not be shocking to see Gutekunst use one of those picks on the athletic cornerback as he looks to bolster the depth at cornerback. 

“If your team is looking for a cornerback with excellent length, physicality, and speed, Terell Smith is your guy,” House said. “He is scheme-versatile and can play in man or zone systems. Smith improved his technique each year and was well-coached in a defensive system that has produced numerous NFL defensive back talents in recent years. He is responsive to coaching, puts in the work, and has a great personality. All of those things will serve him well in the league.”

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Ravens OLB Jaylon Ferguson’s died from effects of cocaine and fentanyl, says medical examiner

Ravens outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson died of the effects from cocaine and fentanyl according to the chief medical examiner

Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson died at the age of 26 last week. His death was sudden and unexpected, and left many saddened and shocked at how such a great young man could be gone so soon after impacting so many people in a positive way.

On Friday, the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Ferguson’s death was caused by the effects of cocaine and fentanyl. It was also ruled an accident, according to official spokesman Bruce Goldfarb.

Ferguson was entering his fourth season in the NFL after being a third-round pick out of Louisiana Tech. He was a hard worker who always radiated positivity, and was loved by his family, friends, teammates, coaches and so many more.

Poll: What draft selections outside of 2021 are Jags fans most excited about from past 5 years?

The Jags recent draft classes haven’t been great, but there are some players from them who could blossom. Excluding 2021’s class, what selections are you all the most excited about from recent drafts?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have selected 42 players over the last five drafts. Most of the high draft choices excluding the 2021 draft class haven’t panned out for the franchise. However, there are still a select few who have been successful and remain with the team.

For the sake of getting another fun post up, we wanted to poll the fanbase on the draft pick from the past five drafts who they are most excited to watch besides those from the 2021 class. The choices we’ll offer are cornerback Tyson Campbell, defensive end Josh Allen, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, and defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot.

Finding four players for this poll was difficult because the Jaguars made so many stumbles in the 2020 and 2018 drafts that include busts like C.J. Henderson, K’Lavon Chaisson, and Taven Bryan. However, the four players we’ve centered this poll around have a chance to be key pieces for the defense.

Allen should be the runaway favorite because in three seasons he has compiled 20.5 sacks, 128 total tackles, 25 tackles for loss, and 48 quarterback hits. And while the team has yet to pick up his fifth-year option, it would be unwise for the Jags to not continue forward with Allen in 2023 as he’s been a standout on the defense.

But fans shouldn’t sleep on Campbell because of how much potential he flashes down the stretch last season. Last season, he was second among rookies in interceptions and incompletions caused (11).

Hamilton is an interesting player because he hasn’t had any standout seasons two years into his career. In his first two seasons, he only acquired grades of 53.9 (2021) and 52.8 (2020) according to Pro Football Focus, but an X-factor for his career could be new defensive line coach Brentson Buckner. Buckner, a former player in the NFL, is a highly respected coach in the NFL and has coached players like Chandler Jones, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Maxx Crosby.

As for Smoot, he’s mostly been a rotational player in his five seasons with the Jags and only has 17 starts. However, an argument could be made he’s one of the better rotational players in the NFL. He ended the 2021 season second on the team in sacks with six and led them the year before with 5.5. He also garnered a 73.9 pass-rush grade last season, which was the highest of any defensive lineman on the team with significant snaps.

Now, with all the cases we’ve made for each of these four players, we’d like to hear from our readers at home in terms of who excites the fanbase the most heading forward. Vote in the poll below.

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Sunday funnies: Looking back at the Mitchell Trubisky at No. 1 hysteria

Many reports linked the Browns to Trubisky at No. 1

The morning coffee hadn’t really kicked in yet, but suddenly I was jolted awake by a notification of something written exactly four years ago today. It’s a stark reminder of how important good draft decisions are, as well as the critical nature of seeing through the all the smoke that happens at this point in the draft season every year.

On this date, April 11, 2017, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Browns were seriously considering selecting North Carolina QB Mitchell Trubisky instead of Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick. Schefter wasn’t the only one, not even close; some in the Cleveland media had been advancing the theory for weeks. It was a topic we had to cover several times, unfortunately.

It all proved for naught. Garrett was the pick and the Browns lived happily ever after. Trubisky somehow managed a Pro Bowl berth and a playoff berth as the starting QB in Chicago despite uneven play, but he played his way out of the position and is now the backup QB in Buffalo. That’s a terrible return on investment for the Bears, who traded up a spot to No. 2 overall to select him.

There’s a lesson here in believing all the reports you see at this time of year. Schefter and others were merely repeating what was told to them. I do that as well, but always try to clarify that it’s just one person’s or source’s take. The motivation behind those sources is the key, and that can be very difficult to ascertain. I’ve been doing this a long time and I still “get had” on some things like that, unfortunately.

Keep that in mind as you see all the reports that seem crazy in the final weeks leading into the draft. Remember the conviction with which some tried to sell you that Trubisky was indeed going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft right up until Roger Goodell announced,

“With the first pick in the 2017 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns select Myles Garrett.”

Epic failure of Cowboys’ 2017 draft class echoes through organization

The Cowboys’ hinge their roster model on draft acquisitions, so is it any wonder they’ve missed the playoffs two years in a row when looking at their recent hauls?

The Dallas Cowboys are very much a team which values their draft capital  and prefers to build their roster through this method of cost-effective talent acquisition. Through the first half of the 2010s, the Cowboys had an incredible drafting run where they were able to add an impact player with their first-round pick as well as several other useful players who’ve stuck around over the years.

Their more recent drafts have been far less fruitful than what their reputation suggests, however. The book is far from written for many of these newer players, but it’s already wrapped up for the 2017 class, a relative disaster compared to the 2016 haul which brought in franchise quarterback Dak Prescott, star running back Ezekiel Elliott, linebacker Jaylon Smith and cornerback Anthony Brown.

Only two of the nine players the Cowboys drafted in 2017 remain with the team — CB Jourdan Lewis and WR Noah Brown signed three and one-year deals this offseason, respectively — and many of the holes the team tried to address then are still unfulfilled today. What went wrong for these players in Dallas, and is the fate of the next Cowboys draft picks scheduled to hit FA any brighter?

DeMarcus Ware, Myles Garrett show incredible box jump hops

DeMarcus Ware is 38 and retired that doesn’t mean he couldn’t show the Browns’ Myles Garrett a thing or two about box jumping.

Young legs and old legs still have plenty of leaping ability.

Check out DeMarcus Ware and Myles Garrett as they show off plenty of hops when it comes to the box jump.

Ware retired after 12 seasons and 138.5 sacks with Dallas and Denver in 2017.

He is 38 years old and still can spring.

Garrett, meanwhile, is only 25 and has 42.5 sacks since the Browns chose him No. 1 overall out of Texas A&M in 2017.

Some TV network might try and turn this into a sponsored competition. Everyone remembers “Superstars,” right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZkK7umu3JI

Giants stick with Evan Engram in PFN’s 2017 NFL re-draft

In Pro Football Network’s 2017 NFL re-draft, the New York Giants stick with tight end Evan Engram.

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With the 23rd pick in the 2017 NFL draft, the New York Giants selected tight end Evan Engram out of Ole Miss.

Since then, Engram has gone on to frustrate more than excite. He’s battled a series of injuries and played a full 16-game slate just once (2020), has scored three or fewer touchdowns in each of the previous three season and, perhaps most concerning of all, has a permanent case of the dropsies.

Engram’s drops are not only a weekly part of his game, they often seem to come at inopportune times. This past season, one of his drops came in the final moments of a Week 7 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, effectively costing the Giants a win — a win that would have ultimately won the NFC East down the line.

Despite all of that, Pro Football Network has the Giants sticking with Engram in their 2017 NFL re-draft.

23) New York Giants: Evan Engram, TE, Ole Miss

After securing 2,420 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, Evan Engram is proven to be a productive tight end for the New York Giants. With Eli Manning approaching the end of his career, quarterback was a need here, as was offensive tackle and middle linebacker. With no player meeting those needs — I did give consideration to Cam Robinson — the Giants hold firm with Engram in this 2017 NFL Draft redraft.

“Productive” is one way to put it. “Maddeningly inconsistent” is another.

In addition to Cam Robinson, running back Dalvin Cook, cornerback Shaquill Griffin, wide receiver Kenny Golladay and several other intriguing options were also still on the board. Instead, the Giants stick with Engram and doom themselves to future issues in key moments.

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Patrick Mahomes on predraft workout with ‘offensive genius’ Sean Payton

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has a lot of respect for New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton after meeting before the 2017 NFL Draft.

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Things could have gone very differently for the New Orleans Saints — and for future Super Bowl-winning league MVP Patrick Mahomes. The former Texas Tech quarterback was a highly-valued prospect in the 2017 draft, and he ranked high on the Saints draft board. He ranked so highly, in fact, that the Saints would have picked him at No. 11 overall if the Kansas City Chiefs hadn’t leapfrogged them in a trade up to No. 10.

And Mahomes would have welcomed that opportunity. He was impressed by a predraft visit with Saints coach Sean Payton, who put him through a private workout and left quite a positive impression.

“I mean, obviously he’s an offensive genius, but he also really is respected by his guys in his locker room,” Mahomes said during Wednesday’s media availability session. “Yeah, I mean, obviously then you could see how all the stuff he’s done for years and years had success and then when you watch them on film, you can see all the different game plan plays that they have is as long as their base plays.”

While Payton’s reputation preceded him, Mahomes’ interactions with him during their throwing session showed him everything he wanted to see: this was a coach who could get the most out of him.

Mahomes continued: “I think that was the first thing you kind of see I mean, the way he talks to you, the way he coaches you can tell he truly cares about the guys he coaches and he wants to make them better. That day he wanted to get it out of me and see where I was at and also help me improve in every way possible. You can see how he coaches.”

However, he acknowledged that Payton didn’t quite tip his hand one way or the other. Mahomes knew the team’s makeup meant they weren’t necessarily looking to draft another quarterback, and he didn’t think New Orleans was as invested in acquiring him as, say, the Chiefs.

“Yeah, with the Saints I didn’t sense it as much. I know I definitely had a good workout, but I didn’t sense  that they were going to pick me obviously with Drew (Brees) still being there and the success that he still has to this day,” he finished.

Mahomes did take time to point out that the Saints landed a pretty good prospect after missing out on him: cornerback Marshon Lattimore, the 2017 Defensive Rookie of the Year. Lattimore is one of several defenders Mahomes is wary of facing on Sunday, describing the two-time Pro Bowler: “He’s a great cornerback. I mean, he’s not only physical, he can run and he’s very smart and he recognizes plays and so they do a lot different coverages.”

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Texans QB Deshaun Watson downplays the fact Bears didn’t select him in 2017 NFL Draft

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson isn’t focused on the fact the Chicago Bears passed over him in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Sometimes, superstars are perturbed that they were passed over in the NFL Draft. Just ask Randy Moss, who never let the Dallas Cowboys forget they passed him over in 1998.

When the Houston Texans take on the Chicago Bears Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at Soldier Field, quarterback Deshaun Watson will take on another team that needed a quarterback in 2017 but chose to take someone else.

With the second overall pick, the Bears drafted Mitch Trubisky from North Carolina. At No. 12, the Texans selected Watson.

Don’t count on the two-time Pro Bowler making a big deal out of this fact leading into Week 14’s matchup.

“Nah, it’s no motivation,” Watson said. “That’s what the organization went with. I have no ties, nothing against the Chicago Bears or the organization.”

Though Chicago fans and even the sports media may make something of the fact Houston got Watson while the Bears passed over, Watson is focused on leading his 4-8 club to a win after a heartbreaking loss to the Colts at NRG Stadium.

“They did what they did and just keep pushing forward,” said Watson. “They thought that was the best situation for themselves at that time. For me, it’s no motivation. I respect and have all the respect for those players and coaches and ownership at the Chicago Bears.”

According to Watson, the Bears were just another team in the pack that didn’t really separate themselves from the other 32 to show more than nominal interest.

Said Watson: “All 32 teams were at the [Clemson] Pro Day so it was like a blur, honestly, from what I remember. That was pretty much it. I don’t really remember any, too much interaction with those guys. Maybe a little bit at the [NFL Scouting Combine] in Indianapolis, but nothing too crazy.”

Watson has compiled a 28-21 record with the Texans since 2017, leading the club to a playoff win the AFC wild-card last postseason.