Daily Mock Draft: Southeastern Conference Only
The negotiating period for free agency starts Monday, and signings won’t begin until two days after that.
Whatever plays out during that critical portion of the NFL’s offseason calendar will have a direct impact on what teams decide to do in the 2020 NFL Draft.
To help pass the time until then, we will serve up a daily mock draft (following a break for a news-heavy Thursday) with help from TheDraftNetwork.com’s rankings and mock draft program. Each will have a different theme, but when all is said and done, they should provide a little more insight into what might be available to the Tennessee Titans in this year’s draft.
Today: SEC only.
Wednesday: Offense only.
Tuesday: Defense only.
Monday: Best player available.
If you were going to make all of your selections from a single conference, the Southeastern Conference would be it. Each of the last 13 years, the SEC has had more players selected than any conference. In 2019, the 32 NFL franchises chose a total of 64 players from the 14 SEC programs, which set a record for a single conference. The previous high was 63, set by the SEC in 2013, and Alabama coach Nick Saban has produced 34 first-round selections in his career, the most by any coach.
THE RESULTS
First round (29 overall): Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU
Second round (61 overall): Cameron Dantzler, CB, Mississippi State
Third round (93 overall): Isaiah Wilson, T, Georgia
Sixth round (174 overall): D.J. Wonnum, OLB, South Carolina
Seventh round (224 overall): Rodrigo Blankenship, K, Georgia
Seventh round (243 overall): Benito Jones, DL, Ole Miss
Thoughts: This draft manages to hit on pretty much all of the Titans’ needs and does so fairly effectively.
Wide receiver is not a primary area of concern, but as mentioned in previous mocks, there are plenty of high-end receivers to go around in this draft. So, getting one who established himself as one of the best can’t be a bad thing. Jefferson (6-3, 192) led the country in receptions and was second in touchdown catches in 2019 and can play all three positions, which makes him an immediate replacement for Tajaé Sharpe who like will develop into a starter.
Dantzler has great size for the position (6-2, 185) and was a two-year starter who was regarded as one of the conference’s best pass defenders. Wilson (6-7, 340) might not be an All-Pro as a rookie like Jack Conklin was, but he is a prototypical right tackle who will add size and muscle to the run game. Wonnum (6-5, 254) has some physical limitations but competes hard and has a lot of experience as a four-year player on defense.
Following Friday’s release of Ryan Succop, Tennessee still has a kicker, Greg Joseph, under contract for 2020. However, if last year’s debacle of a kicking game doesn’t convince a team to take a guy who made 80 of 97 field goal attempts (82.5 percent) over four seasons, nothing will.
Jones (6-1, 321) is a big man who occupies space. With DaQuan Jones in place, he will have the chance to develop into a regular part of the rotation or maybe even a starter.
Bottom line: This group pretty much addresses the Titans’ free agent departures. Dantzler is not an immediate replacement for Logan Ryan, but he can follow the developmental path Adoreé Jackson has taken the last three years. Wilson fills Conklin’s roster spot, if not his place in the starting lineup right away, and Jones plugs in for Austin Johnson.
Not every conference could produce a draft class as comprehensive and as promising as this one. Then again, not every – or any – conference is the SEC.
