Rich Eisen Weighs In on Titans First Pick Decision

On a recent segment of The Rich Eisen Show, how the Tennessee Titans will maneuver the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick in April was discussed in detail.

Below are four points made by Eisen during that discussion.

WILL LEVIS VS. THE NEXT YOUNG QUARTERBACK

In his broadcast, Eisen mentioned one simple question that should be considered the make-or-break factor when it comes to how the Titans will spend its first overall NFL Draft selection.

“The question is what do they think of Will Levis? That’s the end of the story,” Eisen said. “What the Tennessee Titans do with the first overall selection is a window into their evaluation of Will Levis. Period. End of story.

“You can sit there and say, ‘Well, it’s really an evaluation of Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders.’ Okay, ‘cause Will Levis was not a first-round draft choice. It’s rubber meeting the road, pretty much, on Will Levis.

“You could start the clock again with another year of contractual control on a kid…‘Is that player not as good as Will Levis? Okay, we’ll take Abdul Carter or we’ll trade the draft choice and we’ll figure out the quarterback another time,’ and they could do that in free agency. I cannot wait to see these puzzle pieces land because it is all about what’s happening in two weeks.”

Eisen’s ‘in two weeks’ comment acts as a perfect segue into the next point in the column below.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON THE QB DECISION

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis. | Stacy Revere-Getty Images

Eisen drew the contrast between the NBA and NFL timeframes when it comes to the order in which the drafts and the free agency periods take place.

In the NBA, Eisen noted, the draft takes place first which allows teams to fill out their post-draft rosters via the free agency market. In the NFL, of course, it’s the opposite, a free agency frenzy underway prior to the NFL Draft. Each time frame creates unique questions.

“You want a quarterback? You need to make the evaluation pretty darned fast. Right now,” Eisen said. “You need to make these decisions now because is three weeks, Sam Darnold’s gone. In three weeks, Aaron Rodgers could be gone. In three weeks, Matthew Stafford could be up and you could fall head over heels in love with Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, and all of a sudden say, ‘Wait a minute…really? We can have Stafford?’ Well, that goes out the window.”

Again, as Eisen mentioned earlier, the spotlight is on Will Levis.

Should the Titans choose to stick with the young passer, the points related to Ward and Sanders in concert with the free agent quarterback market would be moot. Alternatively, the Titans could pass on Levin, Ward, and Sanders.

TAPPING INTO THE FREE AGENT QB MARKET

“You can have Travis Hunter, you can have Abdul Carter, or you can have someone else fall in love with Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders and move down and have more picks because your team has got to get some help,” Eisen said.

As Eisen lays out, if the Titans find an answer through a free agent signing at the quarterback position, of course, Tennessee gets the pick of the litter. Alternatively, the Titans can add more potential impact players through a trade.

“If you fall in love with Abdul Carter and you’re like, ‘I don’t know if these quarterbacks are as good as Will Levis,’ does it matter?’ Eisen said. “‘Hey Sam Darnold, do you want to come to Tennessee and be in the Brian Callahan/Zac Taylor/Sean McVay-type system?’ And Sam Darnold might say yes to something like that if you put enough cheddar on the table, and then suddenly, your options on the first overall selection are vast because you don’t have to use it on a quarterback.

“Sit back and see if anyone falls in love with a quarterback because they’ve got to jump ahead of the Cleveland Browns,” Eisen said. “You know what they’re doing, and you know the Giants are going to take one of them unless the Giants are the ones to choose him and go upfront.

“I’m just giving everybody the scenarios that are going to play out, and they’re going to play out fast because free agency’s right around the corner.”

All the while, the Titans have to also weigh all trade options that surface.

FIELDING CALLS REGARDING POTENTIAL TRADES?

“Mike Borgonzi…He has the new GM role in Tennessee, and he is the one fielding phone calls on the first overall selection in the draft, and you bet, he is fielding phone calls, and he confirmed it today,” Eisen said.

** Below: Response from Tennessee’s GM to questions from the press regarding whether teams have inquired about potential trades for the No. 1 pick, via footage played in The Rich Eisen Show.

“Whenever you have the first overall pick, you’re a topic of conversation…I’d say we’ve fielded some phone calls. Those phone calls haven’t been the best, but yeah, we’ve fielded some phone calls,” Borgonzi said per the cited footage.

Will we see the Titans trade down and pick up a high-quality pass rusher, a plug-and-play receiver, and an impact offensive lineman across the first two or three rounds? (Keep in mind Tennessee does not currently hold a third-round pick).

It’ll be interesting to watch unfold.

Of course, according to Eisen, it starts with how the Titans feel about Will Levis.

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