Titans Trade Up in Latest Mock Draft from ESPN's Mel Kiper

The Tennessee Titans continue to be pegged as a team trying to trade up for a quarterback in the latest mock draft from ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper.

NASHVILLE — The noise around the Titans and a trade up for a quarterback is not going away any time soon it appears as yet another mock draft has the Titans jumping up to pick number three to select a passer. This time it comes from draft analyst Mel Kiper from ESPN.

The Titans see two quarterbacks go off the board with the first two picks and then choose to trade up to the third pick in a deal with the Arizona Cardinals. With the third pick, the Titans select Anthony Richardson. Richardson is a common pairing with the Titans. Richardson has an elite ceiling, but does need some seasoning before he would be ready to start. With Ryan Tannehill on the last year of his deal, Nashville would be a perfect landing spot for Richardson, in theory.

Kiper explains the trade and the pick:

"Here's that quarterback for the Titans. The 6-foot-4 Richardson might have the highest ceiling of any prospect in this class. If he puts together all of his tools and isn't rushed into being the guy in Week 1, he could be a star. It's a big "if," though, because he was extremely inconsistent as a passer in college and has a ways to go to clean up his mechanics. Now, the hope for Tennessee is that it can coach him up, unlock some of those traits and let him show his dual-threat ability. And it could sit him behind Tannehill in Year 1.

As we saw last season when Tannehill got injured, though, Willis was forced to step in, and there's no doubt it hurt his development. Willis wasn't ready to play. Richardson needs time as well, and I hope whichever team takes him understands that."

While you can see the logic in this move for the Titans, it would be hard to sell to the locker room or fan base that the team is focused on winning this season if they go this route. Richardson doesn't help win this year if things go according to plan and this was a two-round mock draft from Kiper that the Titans only made one selection in due to the trade.

Giving up your limited draft picks to take a quarterback who is not expected to play in 2023 is the furthest thing from trying to help the team win this year.Maybe at the end of the day, the Titans don't care about winning in 2023 and a move like this confirms it, but it would still be a bit of a surprise.