Like a lot of Tennessee Titans fans, ESPN’s Mel Kiper wasn’t thrilled with the team’s first-round pick, Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson.
In an article listing “2020 NFL draft winners, head-scratching picks from Round 1“, Kiper listed the Titans’ pick as a head-scratcher.
That makes two Georgia offensive tackles in Round 1 here, and there has been some buzz around Wilson over the last few weeks. At 6-foot-6, 350 pounds, Wilson is massive, but he’s going to need some time to clean up his technique before he can start in the NFL. I actually thought he could have been a top-15 pick if he had returned to school for another year and entered the 2021 draft. There is some upside with Wilson, who started at right tackle over the last two seasons, but he’s raw. Yes, Tennessee has a hole at right tackle with Jack Conklin gone, but I don’t see Wilson as an immediate starter.
In his last mock draft, Kiper pegged EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos to the Titans, and it wasn’t the only time he did so. Granted, the Titans do still have a need for a pass-rusher, but I’m in the camp that believes Jadeveon Clowney is coming to Nashville to help solve that issue.
Kiper’s reasoning for not liking the pick aligns a lot with what I said when grading the Titans’ pick myself.
While Wilson will get a chance to battle it out with Dennis Kelly for the starting job, according to general manager Jon Robinson, he may end up losing that battle, thus won’t be an immediate contributor to this team.
Adding to that, there were a plethora of solid defensive players on the board, and particularly at cornerback, which was arguably the biggest need for the Titans at the moment.
Tennessee could have had corners like Kristian Fulton or Jeff Gladney, both of whom can play in the slot in 2020 and then transition to the outside in 2021.
Until we see the outcome of what Wilson brings to the table, we’ll just have to trust in Robinson’s judgement that he made the right call, and perhaps the Titans can grab the corner they need on Day 2.
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