2016 NFL Draft: Jalen Ramsey's Case For #1

I get it. The defensive back position is not a position that usually garners a first overall selection. Those spots are usually for quarterbacks, offensive linemen, and in some situations, defensive linemen. It’s quite possible that Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey won’t be drafted first overall by Tennessee or any other team. Those odds are significantly low. However, that’s not why I’m here today.

More from NFL Draft

I’m here to attempt to make a case for arguably the best player in the draft to go first overall. Many of you may not agree with this proposal. If you don’t, that’s fine. The show will still go on. However, hear me out.

It’s a quarterback league. Scoring is up. Defensive penalties have risen. Defensive schemes have been altered. Yards are by the boatload. In the AFC South, you have young up-and-coming playmakers such as Andrew Luck, T.Y Hilton, Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson, DeAndre Hopkins, and Allen Hurns. With that amount of talent plus whatever talent the Colts, Texans, and Jaguars may add via the draft and/or free agency this offseason, is it really outrageous for Tennessee to go after the best free safety and in many eyes the best defensive player in the draft?

No one player who has ever been drafted is a sure thing. The draft is one massive “educated guess”. So for those who feel Ramsey is overrated or will be a “bust”, the same can be said for every player in the draft pool. For a team like the Titans, who have very few assets in place at the moment, why not grab a difference maker to be their “quarterback” of the defense?

“I’m here to attempt to make a case for arguably the best player in the draft to go first overall”

QB Marcus Mariota was selected by the Titans in the 2015 Draft to be the flag bearer for the franchise. In Ramsey, Tennessee gets a 6’1 210 lb defensive back with 33 inch arm length, 9 1/2 inch hands, 41.5 inch vertical, 4.4 seconds in the 40 yard dash. They get an athlete who has won indoor and outdoor long jump titles at the collegiate level. They get a free safety with versatility, length, NFL size, and a confident swagger to his game that fits.

Granted, it is unorthodox to draft a defensive player let alone a player from the secondary with the first overall pick. In the last 15 drafts, only three players selected first overall were on the defensive side of the ball (Brown, Williams, Clowney). To take it a step further, the last 25 drafts have only seen a total of six defensive players (Emtman, Wilkerson, Maryland). All coincidently, are defensive linemen.

Look at it from this perspective. In the 2011 Draft, can a case be made for Von Miller being the best player from that draft so far? What about JJ Watt? Not saying either one is ultimately better than the #1 pick, Cam Newton. Just saying a legit case can be made. What about 2010? A legitimate argument can be developed for such players as Earl Thomas, Gerald McCoy, Joe Haden, Ndamukong Suh all being better than the actual first pick, Sam Bradford.

For Tennessee, a player like Ramsey can give them an elite defensive back in an offensive league. A league where players such as Desmond Trufant, Josh Norman, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Eric Berry, Chris Harris are all coveted, needed, and required. Whether it’s the Titans or whoever trades up to first overall, Jalen Ramsey can be an asset and worthy of being #1.

Home/NFL Draft

2016 NFL Draft: Jalen Ramsey’s Case For #1

By Eric Robinson | Mar 4, 2016