Tennessee Titans 2020 NFL Draft Live Updates, Analysis
The 2020 NFL Draft begins Thursday (Round 1), continues Friday (Rounds 2 and 3) and concludes Saturday (Rounds 4-7).
And we will be here to cover everything as it happens and analyze what it all means to the Tennessee Titans. Stay up to date and share your thoughts on all the developments in our live blog.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON
The Picks
Tennessee enters the draft with seven selections. The rundown:
First round: No. 29 overall
Second round: No. 61 overall
Third round: No. 93 overall
Fifth round: No. 174 overall
Seventh round: No. 224 overall
Seventh round: No. 237 overall
Seventh round: No. 243 overall
• No. 224 came from Cleveland in a trade for wide receiver Taywan Taylor last August.
• No 237 came from Denver in last month’s trade for defensive lineman Jurrell Casey.
• The Titans traded their fourth-round choice (No. 135 overall) to Miami last March in the deal that brought quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
• Their sixth-round pick (No. 208 overall) went to Green Bay in exchange for linebacker Reggie Gilbert last August. (Tennessee originally gave up a conditional seventh-round pick that was upgraded based on the amount of playing time Gilbert got in 2019).
If general manager Jon Robinson and his staff make all seven selections as scheduled, it will be their largest draft class in three years. They made just four selections in 2018 and six in 2019. The 10 combined selections are the smallest two-year total in franchise history.
If they pick at No. 29, as scheduled, it will be Tennessee’s latest first-round pick since 2009, when they took wide receiver Kenny Britt at No. 30. It also will be the second time in franchise history the Titans picked at that spot. The first was in 1984, when No. 29 was a second-round choice and the then-Houston Oilers took defensive lineman Doug Smith of Auburn.
History lesson
In three of the last four years and four of the last six, pick No. 29 was used to select a defensive lineman. Seattle took TCU defensive end L.J. Collier at that spot in 2019.
The prospects
Take time to review SI.com’s ranking of this year’s top 255 prospects here: https://www.si.com/nfl/titans/news/si-com-s-pre-draft-ranking-of-the-top-255-prospects-MBvwDRNGMEiLbgIHayO4Qg
The predictions
Based on what the Titans need and where they are scheduled to pick, we made our predictions for which seven players they will select. To review those choices, click here.
Pre-draft reading from SI.com
A look at how one team’s IT department made a war room at the GM’s home.
Which teams have drafted the most quarterbacks in the first round since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. (Spoiler, the Titans make the list).
Why this year’s virtual draft could be catnip for hackers.
How the NFL draft ended up on television.
Trade talk
In a development that is surprising to no one, it has been reported that the Titans are reportedly shopping their first-round pick, No. 29 overall.
General manager Jon Robinson said earlier this week that he is willing to deal and drop out of the first round altogether. With that in mind, earlier today we explored trade possibilities that involve No. 29.
THE DRAFT
Before the first selection, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell delivers an optimistic address that touches on the country’s effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the fact that this will be the first virtual draft in the league’s history.
“This is different for us,” Goodell said, in part. “And it’s different for you. Because it has to be.”
And we’re on our way … at 7:25 p.m. (CDT) Joe Burrow is announced as the first overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Just 27 more picks until the Titans’ turn. Limit for first-round picks is 10 minutes, which means it likely will be more than four hours before Tennessee makes its choice.
No. 2 overall: Ohio State DE Chase Young to Washington
No. 3 overall: Ohio State CB Jeff Okudah to Detroit
No. 4 overall: Georgia T Andrew Thomas to N.Y. Giants
No. 5 overall Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa to Miami
No. 6 overall: Oregon QB Justin Herbert to L.A. Chargers
Three quarterbacks among the top six overall picks. Only one goes to a team that appears on the Titans’ 2020 schedule (Burrow). It will be a road game for Tennessee (date TBA).
No. 7 overall: Auburn DT Derrick Brown to Carolina
No. 8 overall: Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons to Arizona
No. 9 overall: Florida CB C.J. Henderson to Jacksonville
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 14 of 18 passes for 259 yards (14.4 yards per attempt) in his lone start against the Jaguars last season. A.J. Brown had 135 yards on four catches in that one. Brown and Henderson likely will see a lot of each over the next few years.
No. 10 overall: Alabama T Jedrick Wills Jr. to Cleveland
Wills figures to be the opposite bookend to former Titans tackle Jack Conklin, who signed a free-agent contract with Cleveland last month.
No. 11 overall: Louisville T Mekhi Becton to N.Y. Jets
No. 12 overall: Alabama WR Henry Ruggs to Las Vegas
Ruggs is the first of a whole lot of wide receivers who will be selected in the first half of this draft.
TRADE: Tampa Bay moves up one spot in a trade with San Francisco, which drops back to No. 14.
No. 13 overall: Iowa T Tristan Wirfs to Tampa Bay
No. 14 overall: South Carolina DT Javon Kinlaw to San Francisco
No. 15 overall: Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy to Denver
No. 16 overall: Clemson CB A.J. Terrell to Atlanta
No. 17 overall: Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb to Dallas
Now comes a run of teams that already have made a pick in this round, in order – Miami, Las Vegas, Jacksonville.
No. 18 overall: USC T Austin Jackson to Miami
No. 19 overall: Ohio State CB Damon Arnette to Las Vegas
No. 20 overall: LSU LB K’Lavon Chaisson to Jacksonville
Jaguars have made two picks, Chaisson and cornerback C.J. Henderson (No. 9). None of the other three AFC South teams have made a selection. The NFC North is the only other division in which just one team has picked (Detroit).
No. 21 overall: TCU WR Jalen Reagor to Philadelphia
No. 22 overall: LSU WR Justin Jefferson to Minnesota
TRADE: The L.A. Chargers move up from the second round (No. 37 overall) to make their second pick of the round. New England moves back into the second round and picks up an extra third-round pick.
No. 23 overall: Oklahoma LB Kenneth Murray to L.A. Chargers
No. 24 overall: Michigan C Cesar Ruiz to New Orleans
TRADE: San Francisco moves up from No. 31 to No. 25 and gives Minnesota two later picks (117 and 176) to drop back the six spots. 49ers set to make their second selection.
No. 25 overall: Arizona State WR Brandon Aiyuk to San Francisco
TRADE: Miami gives its third pick of the round to Green Bay. The Packers get into the first round.
No. 26 overall: Utah State QB Jordan Love to Green Bay
No. 27 overall: Texas Tech ILB Jordyn Brooks to Seattle
No. 28 overall: LSU ILB Patrick Queen to Baltimore
Titans on the clock. They have multiple options at cornerback, tackle, and wide receiver.
No. 29 overall: Georgia T Isaiah Wilson to Tennessee
No. 30 overall: Auburn CB Noah Igbinoghene
No. 31 overall: TCU CB Jeff Gladney
No. 32 overall: LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
"Our board, it kind of came off how we had it stacked, if you will, with the players that were selected tonight," Titans general manager Jon Robinson said. "... I thought the communication was excellent from the league. We could hear the picks by a speakerphone. ... It was a different way of doing it, but I think at the end of the day the process worked well."
