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It was a little mind-boggling for some when the Tennessee Titans went with an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
After all, with Logan Ryan potentially forever out of the fold and the uncertain long-term futures of Adoree’ Jackson and Malcolm Butler, the cornerback position was high on the priority list.
But the Titans addressed it in the second round with the same player many people wanted in the first round in LSU’s Kristian Fulton.
One of the first areas of concern was whether or not Fulton could play slot corner, which shouldn’t be a problem.
Kristian Fulton said one of the first things the Titans asked him when they met was if he's comfortable playing inside. Fulton pointed to how much he played nickel as a freshman at LSU and said he's comfortable there. https://t.co/UA4mabTaSd
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) April 25, 2020
Teams may have been wary of Fulton in the beginning, after all the drama that surrounded his suspension in 2017 due to a tampered drug test.
Fulton seems to have learned his lesson, and didn’t hold back or try to hide anything when asked about it, according to NFL Network’s Michael Giardi.
“It was a tampered drug test. Going through that, it taught me a lot about accountability, and mental toughness,” Fulton explained. “I thought I had it, according to my freshman self. I learned that I didn’t. There was another level I had to elevate myself to, and there was a lot of people around me. I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about the people around me. Not everybody has my best interest in mind. I have to watch who I hang around with and hold myself accountable. I felt like all that I went through is going to help me get here.”
Fulton has seen hardship both on the field and off of it, as he recently lost his grandfather to COVID-19, per Erik Bacharach of the Tennessean.
“Definitely was (difficult),” Fulton said. “There’s a lot going on right now, just dealing with everything that’s going on.
It’s crazy. I had just talked to him a few days before and he was telling me how he was still watching some of my old games that was coming on TV, and he was always atching and was always excited just to see me succeed. It was definitely tough for me.”
Fulton should be expected to strengthen Tennessee’s secondary as the team moves forward in the coming years, potentially without some key players from the past.
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