Titans Start Day Two Flush With Draft Capital

Jon Robinson's trades during the first round set him up for one of the biggest draft classes during his time as general manager.

NASHVILLE – Everything comes at a cost. But Jon Robinson’s wheeling and dealing Thursday during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft netted him more draft capital than he has had in a long time.

In trading wide receiver A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles and unloading his team’s original first-round pick to move back to the early part of the second round, the Tennessee Titans general manager added three picks overall and significantly increased the potential Day Two haul.

With six rounds remaining, the Titans are now scheduled to make 10 selections in this year’s draft. If that happens, it will be the franchise’s largest single draft class since 2016, Robinson’s first year in charge. Additional deals over the next two days could make it the biggest since 2009, when Tennessee came away with 11 players.

Additionally, the Brown deal got the Titans – in part – the No. 18 overall selection, which Robinson used on wide receiver Treylon Burks of Arkansas. That is the earliest they have taken a player since 2017 when they got wide receiver Corey Davis at No. 5 and cornerback Adoreé Jackson at No. 18.

“There were still some players obviously that we like [at No. 26],” Robinson said. “We just felt the value of the trade for us, it was too good to pass up because we feel like it allowed us to get some more cracks at players over the next couple nights and the extra pick on Saturday.”

Here is a rundown of the picks the Titans currently have remaining in the draft:

FRIDAY

Second round

• 35th overall – (acquired along with No. 69 and No. 163 from the New York Jets for No. 26 and No. 101)

Third round

• 69th overall – (acquired along with No. 35 and No. 163 from the New York Jets for No. 26 and No. 101)

• 90th overall – original selection

SATURDAY

Fourth round

131st overall – original selection

143rd overall – compensatory selection

Fifth round

163rd overall – (acquired along with No. 35 and No. 69 from the New York Jets for No. 26 and No. 101)

169th overall – original selection

Sixth round

204th overall – original selection

219th overall – compensatory selection

When the draft began Thursday, Tennessee did not have a second-round pick. That was traded last June to the Atlanta Falcons in the deal for wide receiver Julio Jones. They also had just one pick in the third round.

In all, they had just two choices among the first 130.

As it stands now, they have four of the first 90, and the second-round pick they got from the New York Jets as part of the compensation for No. 26 will be the third choice of Round 2.

In increasing the number and overall quality of their picks, the Titans also increased the chances that they will make more trades over the next two days.

“I think being at the top of 2, you never know until you get closer to your pick if you're going to get action on that pick,” Robinson said. “We had a couple sniffs on 26 from other teams, but then the Jets came in there late and really gave us one that we didn't feel like we could turn down.

“…We've got quite a bit of picks that we think we can move around and give us a little bit of flexibility. If we need to slide back into the bottom of the second if somebody is there, now we've got some ammunition to do that.”