Who Is Dillon Radunz and Why Did The Titans Draft Him in Round 2?
The right tackle competition for the Tennessee Titans got much more interesting on day two of the NFL Draft.
A few weeks ago, coach Mike Vrabel, when asked about the position, said there was no predetermined depth chart. Those with a chance to end up on top include free agent Kendall Lamm, the recently re-signed Ty Sambrailo and David Quessenberry.
Dillon Radunz, Tennessee’s second-round pick, will add some youth to the battle. While the 6-foot-6, 298-pound North Dakota State product knows he will be the least experienced player compared to the three veterans, but he also has every intention of winning the job. Because that’s just who he is.
“I'm always going to want to start. I'm not going to speak it into existence that I won't be (the starter), if that for some reason happens,” Radunz said. “I'm always going to be competitive. I'm always going to want teams to win. I'm always going to want my team to win, so I'll push the guys in front of me and make sure they're on their P's and Q's about that. It's going to be a competitive atmosphere.”
What to know about the newest candidate to be the Titans’ right tackle:
He prides himself on versatility. A few days before the NFL Draft, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Radunz’s stock was rising because some people around the league believed he could play all five offensive line spots.
Radunz said he focused on making himself versatile throughout the draft process. That will be important because he primarily played left tackle in college. He will be shuffling over to the other side in the NFL, at least early on, and may also be expected to play other positions.
“I've been working on it in the offseason, doing drills and stuff with the right tackle if that is the position they want me to be at,” he said. “So, I've been working on both sides of the ball, switching up my stance like that, so that is probably the biggest challenge and then making sure everything you're dotting your I's and crossing your T's when you switch over.”
He has plenty of experience with NFL players and coaches. Leading up to the NFL Draft, Radunz trained with one of the best offensive tackles in recent league history, Joe Staley, the former San Francisco 49er who made six Pro Bowl appearances and made the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-2010s team. He has also worked with former NFL offensive line coach Paul Alexander.
“I flew out to California immediately after that game, went to train with Joe Staley, ex-49er, future Hall of Famer, so he was super good in my development,” Radunz said “He was a huge testament to that, so shout out to him. I did that a lot with previous NFL players. I worked out with Paul Alexander. He was a previous NFL coach.”
And of course, he has played with some NFL players at NDSU, including the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft, quarterback Trey Lance, and 2016 No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Carson Wentz.
He feels like his stock rose at Senior Bowl. Radunz played in just two games in the past several months due to COVID-19, and only one of those was for the NDSU Bison due to COVID-19. The other was at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he was named player of the week after a strong showing throughout.
“You can always lift weights, stuff like that, but there's something different about hitting guys,” he said. “So, being able to just hit pads, being able to train with other offensive linemen, they understand the physicality of the game, so having them hold pads for you and stuff. It's been difficult, but at the same time, I think I did a good job at it. Things showed at the Senior Bowl, and we'll continue to do that through OTAs and rookie minicamp.”
Titans general manager Jon Robinson agreed.
“Their season was shortened obviously. That Senior Bowl exposure was really good for him to go against some of the best of the best in college football,” Robinson said. “Got a chance to spend some time down there with him, get to know him. He's about what we're about, you know, football-wise and makeup and commitment to being a good football player.”
He’s durable. After redshirting as a freshman, he entered the 2017 season with a much large role. However, he tore his ACL after playing 15 snaps in NDSU’s season-opener the following season and went on to miss the entire season.
After that, though, he went on to start 32 consecutive games for the Bison. He enters the NFL about as healthy as could be.
“My body is super fresh,” he said. “I literally have no injuries at all, no nicks and bruises. I was able to gain a lot of strength too through that because I wasn't playing in the season, so my body's in tip-top shape. It's just a matter of getting back into or I should say coasting into that football shape that I was talking about since I haven't played football, but I'd say there's a lot of positives about only playing one game.”
