ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACK: Titans picking ‘Pac-Man’ not surprising
We’ll be playing “Pac-Man” this year in Nashville as the Titans were true to form Saturday, taking Adam “Pac-Man” Jones out of West Virginia with their first pick.
The pick, which was the pick people had projected for months, came over what I’m sure was a major temptation to take one of the big play receivers like Michael Williams out of USC (who went to the Lions at 10) or Troy Williamson out of South Carolina (taken seventh by the Vikings).
It’s very likely new Titan offensive coordinator Norm Chow was lobbying heavily for a Williams selection when he was still on the board, seeing he was coordinator at USC when Williams was making highlight reel catches as a Trojan. Even I was sitting in front of the television, half rooting for a Williams pick despite the depleted Titan secondary. I mean a threesome of Drew Bennett, who I believe will be a Pro Bowl selection this year, along with a healthy Tyrone Calico and someone like Michael Williams would have been pretty fun to watch on Sundays.
Instead, Williams goes to a team which appears to be receiver heavy as the Lions have drafted Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and now Michael Williams in successive years. These are all guys I think, individually, are some of the best wideouts to come out of college in a decade. Hey, if Joey Herrington can’t get it done this year in the Motor City with targets which would have made Heath Shuler look good, perhaps it’s time to look elsewhere for a quarterback.
Meanwhile, the Titans addressed the loss of Samari Rolle with the undersized but hard-hitting and exceptionally quick West Virginia corner. Frankly, this guy will have to hit the turf running given the massive departures in Nashville during the offseason. “Pac-Man” won’t have the luxury a rookie season.
The choice of Jones comes over the larger Antrell Rolle out of Miami, who some had estimated may eclipse “Pac-Man” due to his great showings in the pre-draft workouts. But, in the end, I think the Titans made the right choice, especially in resisting the skill position players.
Meanwhile, the rest of the early draft selections went as scripted as Utah quarterback Alex Smith went first to the Niners who are in great need of a signal caller. Then, it was no secret Miami would take a running back out of Auburn. However, many were under the impression it would be Cadillac Williams rather than Ronnie Brown. Of course, neither will feel neglected as Williams went fifth to Tampa Bay, meaning both went to running teams where competition for the starting job will not be too stiff.
It does kind of surprise me; however, the Fish didn’t try to negotiate a trade for Travis Henry from Buffalo given Willis McGehee will likely take the job there and Henry has made no bones he doesn’t want to share. And, it also kind of surprises me the Dolphins didn’t give more serious thought to Cedric Benson out of Texas (drafted fourth by Chicago) who may have been the best back in the draft.
But, it’ll all come out in time as to who made the best moves in the opening part of the draft. And, as Tom Brady and Terrell Davis can tell you, some of the biggest impact players are taken in the later rounds. However, with that said, I’d have to say, aside from maybe Ronnie Brown at Miami, the Titans did the best job of filling a specific team need of any organization drafting in the first 10.
I mean, Alex Smith is work in progress, Benson will be in Chicago with a platoon of other backs, Cadillac will have to deal with a quarterback issue in Tampa, and Michael Williams is amongst all-stars in Detroit. After all, this wasn’t a year of luxury for the Titans, it was a year of patchwork and repair.