2020 NFL Draft: First-round targets for the Tennessee Titans
By Ian Higgins
After recovering from a poor start on the arm of Ryan Tannehill, the Tennessee Titans look to rekindle their postseason magic in the 2020 campaign.
After an underdog run through the 2019 playoffs, taking down an aging dynasty and upstart franchise in the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens respectively, Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans came up just short of a Super Bowl berth. Losing 35-24 against the Chiefs in the AFC championship after defeating them 35-32 in September, the Titans quietly asserted themselves as a potential future competitor in a young and hungry AFC.
In the final games of a closing contract, Derrick Henry asserted himself as one of the most physically dominant athletes in the NFL with 377 yards in his first two playoff games. Ryan Tannehill managed to clean up a mess left behind by former number two overall selection Marcus Mariota. Along with targets A.J. Brown, Corey Davis and Adam Humphries, Tennessee’s offense has embraced their head coaches gritty personality.
The Titans only ranked 21st in yards allowed (359.5) but managed to rank 12th in points allowed per game (20.7). Defensively, Tennessee was able to rack up 43 sacks and 14 interceptions, staying within the top half of the league’s defenses. This Titans team played through their defense, staying true to their complementary football and running game.
Entering 2020 free agency, names entering the open market include but are not limited to:
- QB Ryan Tannehill (rumored to return)
- QB Marcus Mariota (departing)
- CB Logan Ryan
- RB Derrick Henry
- LB Wesley Woodyard
Derrick Henry has made abundantly clear that he plans to become one of the highest-paid running backs in the league, an investment justified by an incredible postseason and league-leading regular season in rushing yards, but countered by the general philosophy that investing in a running back committee rather than an individual star is the most financially efficient method of generating production on the ground.
With approximately $48 million in cap space, only so many pieces can be kept on the roster.
For this first-round target piece, we will be using a scenario in which both Henry and Tannehill are given major contracts by the Tennessee Titans in the offseason, letting Mariota, Ryan, and Woodyard hit the open market to find a new home. With the 29th overall pick, some late first-round talents should be able to replace the departing pieces, or talent can be added elsewhere to change the identity of the unit in question.