The Tennessee Titans have had their fair share of draft steals over the last 10 years.
Say what you want about the job former general manager Jon Robinson did post-pandemic (2020-2022), but there’s no denying he was borderline phenomenal over the first four years of his tenure as Titans GM.
Early on in his career, Robinson appeared to have a knack for finding severely underrated talent on the second and third days of the NFL draft.
That’s why it’s no surprise to see the Titans with three different players on ESPN’s list of the 50 biggest draft steals of the last decade, with all three being ranked in the top 25.
According to ESPN’s Matt Miller and Jordan Reid, RB Derrick Henry (No. 5), WR A.J. Brown (No. 19), and S Kevin Byard (No. 21), each made the cut. By the way, first-round picks were purposely excluded for their exercise.
Henry tops the Titans’ draft picks after becoming, as Miller wrote, “the most feared running back since Jerome Bettis” despite being selected in the second round (No. 45 overall) of the 2016 NFL draft.
🗣 STOP DOWNPLAYING DERRICK HENRY’s GREATNESS 🗣
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) June 21, 2023
Brown undoubtedly was one of the biggest steals of the 2019 draft, instantly becoming a household name by the end of his rookie season.
Lastly, Byard has become arguably the best ball-hawking safety since Ed Reed, tallying 28 interceptions over his last six seasons alone (leads all safeties).
Tennessee desperately needs to get back to identifying and drafting this type of talent. Let’s hope general manager Ran Carthon can do just that.
