It’s officially draft week, and when it’s all said and done we’ll finally be able to put to bed all of the guessing surrounding the Tennessee Titans that’s been going on over the last few months, replacing it with definitive answers.
By Saturday evening, we should have a much clearer idea of what the 2023 Titans are going to look like. That will subsequently let the fanbase know how high their expectations should realistically be as well.
Like many others, we have shared plenty of mock drafts throughout the last couple of months in preparation for this weekend. We’ve also covered a variety of different scenarios, including trading up and down in round 1.
Today, we are doing our final mock draft of the year, and I will be using our original format of sticking and picking. As a reminder, the Titans have six picks, with one in every round but the fourth.
As always, I went ahead and used Pro Football Focus’ mock draft simulator for this article.
It’s no secret that the Titans’ offense needs a lot of work at the moment, so let’s find out how I went about improving the unit in my final seven-round mock draft ahead of the actual 2023 NFL draft.
Round 1, No. 11 overall: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
After spending the majority of the offseason pounding the table for an offensive lineman, I’ve finally come around to the point where I believe Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the best-case scenario in Round 1.
The Titans’ wide receiver room is completely depleted right now. They just signed a soon-to-be 30-year-old veteran who is coming off a season in which he produced more than 300 receiving yards for the first time in his career.
That guy (Chris Moore) is currently the second-best receiver on the team, and he is the only one on the roster who has ever eclipsed 500 yards in a single season.
Simply put, if the Titans have the opportunity to take the best wide receiver in the draft at No. 11 overall, they should strongly consider doing so.
And of course, we all know about Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s legendary Rose bowl game.
It just sucks that we haven’t seen anything like this in over a year.
However, other than that, I don’t have many real concerns with JSN.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/AhwhTlTG3L— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) March 22, 2023
Tennessee has at least signed a couple of starting-caliber linemen through free agency, leaving left guard as their only true hole on the offensive line.
Could they use upgrades across the board? Sure, but at least they have four-out-of-five spots filled with players you’re at least relatively comfortable with. The same cannot be said for any of the receivers outside of Treylon Burks.
Chig Okonkwo, Burks, and Smith-Njigba give the team a potent trio of pass-catchers who at least give the offense some real firepower at the top of the depth chart.
Round 2, No. 41 overall: IOL Joe Tippmann, Wisconsin
This would be a home-run selection in Round 2, especially considering what the Titans walked away with in Round 1.
The combination of Smith-Njigba and Tippmann would fill the Titans’ two biggest needs with high-quality players who have tons of short-term and long-term potential.
The Wisconsin product is a big-bodied lineman who can physically displace powerful defenders in the run game, while also being athletic enough to get out in space to block the agile athletes.
Prospect of the Day: Joe Tippmann, C
– 2 year starter at Wisconsin
– 6'6" 317lbs, 21.9 years old
– currently the 5th highest graded prospect overall according to NGS
– 1 sack allowed in his college career (PFF)
– Athletic but strong and powerful— Spencer Thompson (@ThompsonNFL) March 1, 2023
Tippmann has historically been a center throughout his career, but his size and athletic fluidity would likely make a seamless transition to guard if needed.
However, he is one of the smarter prospects in the class, so you can’t blame anyone for wanting to keep him at center if he’s selected.
Regardless of where he plays, Tippmann would fit in well in an offense like the Titans’ that would allow him to take advantage of his smooth movement skills.
More importantly, the former Badger gives the Titans a legitimate starting five all across the board.
Round 3, No. 72 overall: WR A.T. Perry, Wake Forest
A.T. Perry is one of the most talented and productive receiver prospects who is flying under the radar for whatever reason.
Over his last two seasons, Perry totaled a whopping 2,396 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns, producing an impressive yards per route run of 2.61.
He also finished with an overall grade of 83 and a receiving grade of 83.25 over that span, per PFF.
Perry is a ridiculous athlete for someone of his stature. On top of being 6-foot-3, 198 pounds, he ran a 4.4 40-yard dash while also jumping 35 inches in the vertical.
The massive wideout ended up finishing the pre-draft process with the seventh-highest Relative Athletic Score (9.62) for his position group.
AT Perry’s ability to consistently get off the LOS and defeat press is second to none in the class.
He has a good release package and uses his hands and feet well to easily dispose of CBs and get into his route cleanly. pic.twitter.com/CUZ493f231
— Brett Whitefield (@BGWhitefield) April 17, 2023
The ACC standout would give the Titans a much-needed vertical threat who can take the top off the defense at any moment. Perry is also capable of competitively attacking the football at its highest point on 50-50 balls, accumulating an impressive contested catch rate of 44 percent in 2022.
The Wake Forest legend would be a fantastic third option in a receiver room that is suddenly looking much more promising than it was when the Titans entered the weekend.
Perry is predominately an outside wideout, so he would add such much-needed help along the boundary, while Smith-Njigba becomes that lethal weapon out of the slot.
Round 5, No. 147 overall: LB Ivan Pace Jr., Cincinnati
With my next selection, I went ahead and selected one of the most disrespected linebackers in the entire draft, Cincinnati’s Ivan Pace Jr.
Pace is enters the draft with a preconceived notion that he’s too undersized (5-foot-10, 231 pounds) to thrive in the league despite having some of the best tape in the class.
Cincinnati LB—Ivan Pace Jr is an interesting prospect to study. He doesn’t meet the physical thresholds at Mike LB.
5’10 1/2
231 lbs
30 1/4He’s a physical downhill player with speed and production. He knows how to pressure QBs (12 sacks). #2023NFLDraftpic.twitter.com/8e5DAm801V
— Full-Time Dame 💰 (@DP_NFL) April 6, 2023
From a mental, instinctive, and playmaking standpoint, he does everything a team could want from an off-ball backer.
People love to nitpick prospects this time of year and talk themselves out of players for a variety of reasons; however, I am not going to be one of those when it comes to the Cincinnati linebacker.
If he is still on the board at this point, the Titans should run to the podium and make that selection as fast as possible.
Pace is coming off a season in which he was graded as the No. 1 linebacker in the country (93.2), per PFF. This comes after a 2021 season in which he was graded as the 38th-best linebacker (83.0) out of the 814 that qualified.
The last time the Titans took a chance on an obviously talented yet undersized linebacker in the middle rounds, it ended up working out very well for them.
I think giving an opportunity to Pace at this point in the draft has the chance to yield similar positive results to the recent David Long Jr. experiment.
Round 6, No. 186 overall: IOL Atonio Mafi, UCLA
The UCLA product is a mauling lineman who would thrive in a run-heavy offense like the Titans’.
Atonio Mafi doesn’t have the natural athleticism that the Titans often prefer, but he is the type of player who embraces every opportunity to get physical in the trenches with the opposition.
Atonio Mafi has some natural born power. When he makes contact, the displacement of defenders is eye-opening. Here, he drives the DT pff balance and into the ground pic.twitter.com/98OBZxPGsM
— BOLTS Draft Talk (@BoltsDraftTalk) February 4, 2023
Mafi gives Tennessee a talented project to develop in hopes of eventually turning him into a vital piece along the offensive line.
Round 7, No. 228 overall: K Jake Moody, Michigan
Lastly, I decided to end the draft by taking one of the best kicking prospects in this year’s class.
Jake Moody is coming off an impressive 2022 campaign that saw him set single-season program records for made field goals (29), PATs (60), points scored (147) and 40-plus yard field goals in a season (10).
Moody also owns career program records for points (355), PAT percentage (100), field goals (69), 40-plus yard field goals (17) and is tied for the most 50-plus yard field goals (four).
✅ Career long
✅ School record
✅ Longest FG in #CFBPlayoff historyJake Moody with the 59-yard BOOT 😤 pic.twitter.com/UmOBT2hPnr
— ESPN (@espn) December 31, 2022
If the Michigan legend is still on the board at this point in the draft, the Titans should run to turn this card in.
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