The 2018 NFL Draft takes place April 26-28 this year, and as it stands, the Tennessee Titans have one first round draft pick. General manager Jon Robinson and first year head coach Mike Vrabel currently hold the 25th overall selection. Over the next few weeks, your boy “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley will be taking a look at some of the prospects who are either rumored to be tied to or who make sense for the Titans.
I couldn’t wait to write this one because Marcus Davenport is a fascinating case in this year’s NFL Draft. He seems to keep trickling further and further down NFL mock drafts. While I’ll be the first to admit that you can’t put too much stock into a mock draft, these are supposed to be professionals who are in tune with all the happenings of the NFL. So, why is a guy who was once thought to be a consensus top-10 pick (top five in some mocks) suddenly sliding into the teens or even 20s?!?!
It’s not like a video has surfaced of him smoking a bong in a gas mask or anything.
Sure, Davenport is RAW – but he stands at 6’5″ 259 pounds. He’s strong, physical, and athletic – drawing comparisons to Jadeveon Clowney. That’s a high ceiling, folks. Davenport has a ton of potential on top of his already being reliable in run support and being a high character kid.
In 2017, he had 55 total tackles, 8.5 sacks, forced three fumbles, returned one of those for a touchdown, and had four passes deflected to boot. At times, he was downright dominant as a pass rusher, and that’s what has a lot of NFL coaches salivating (or are they? What’s going on? WHY HAS THE BUZZ ON DAVENPORT DIED DOWN!?!?). Plus, he’s got a hell of a long-arm move.
He projects as a defensive end in the 4-3, but it’s not like the Titans don’t already have a couple of traditional defensive end types playing OLB in Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo. The transition is possible.
Davenport will have to shake the perception of “small school competition,” and will need to be more consistently productive in the NFL. But, the sky’s the limit with this kid.
The big question is whether or not the Titans would be tempted to trade up to get him if he starts to slide. Jon Robinson only has six picks this year, so they might not have the capital to invest with unless they wanted to start dipping into next year’s draft picks. But, as far as holes on the roster go, the Titans are in pretty good shape and adding a guy with Davenport’s potential could fill the biggest one. As much as I am in favor of hoarding draft picks, believe it or not, I think I’d be okay if the Titans were able to trade up a few spots to select him.
Love some Voch Lombardi – if you aren’t following my man, check him out.
Further reading: Mike Tanier wrote one of the best pieces I’ve read all draft season. It’s about the interesting case of Davenport and the quest to figure out what makes him tick. It’s well worth the lengthy amount of time it’ll take to read it (just a heads up).
TENNESSEE TITANS FIRST ROUND OPTIONS ARCHIVES
Rashaan Evans
Will Hernandez
Sam Hubbard
Ronald Jones
Harold Landry
Leighton Vander Esch
Vita Vea
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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