Titans’ youth movement features 11 new draftees
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The franchise has added 11 new draftees to a roster that could feature 27 Titans with a year or less NFL experience this season. They have only three players with more than seven years each: quarterback Steve McNair (10), left tackle Brad Hopkins (12) and punter Craig Hentrich (11).
But that’s life in the NFL for a franchise paying the salary cap penalty of chasing playoff berths the past six seasons.
“We’re going to have a young football team, but young doesn’t mean you can’t win games,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “The coaching staff’s very excited about getting started with the roster. The way it’s been, we’ve been limited. … We’ll be in good shape.”
At least the Titans have some bodies to fill the holes left by February’s slashing of six players to carve $27 million off their salary cap. They went into the NFL Draft with only two receivers on the roster and nobody healthy enough to start the season at right tackle.
They came out with three tackles, three receivers, a running back and a tight end to go with three defensive backs, including the first defensive player drafted in cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones of West Virginia at No. 6 overall.
Jones has a chance to immediately replace cornerback Samari Rolle, now in Baltimore.
The Titans like 6-foot-7 Michael Roos of Division I-AA Eastern Washington (41) and think he can replace Fred Miller at right tackle this season before moving to left tackle when Hopkins’ career ends. They didn’t take any chances and drafted 6-7 David Stewart of Mississippi (113) and Texas Tech’s 6-6 Daniel Loper (150) to ensure plenty of competition.
“The more options that you have, the better chance you have to find that guy,” Fisher said. “This thing will play itself out very well. We feel like we’ve got a future in the last two days, at least at the tackle position.”
After coming into the draft with only two receivers, they added Courtney Roby (68), Indiana’s all-time leading receiver, Brandon Jones of Oklahoma (96) and Roydell Williams of Tulane (136). They also addressed depth at running back by grabbing Damien Nash of Missouri (142) and tight end with Bo Scaife of Texas (179).
Coaching the receivers now goes to new position coach Ray Sherman.
“Ray has proven he can develop young receivers,” Fisher said. “He’s going to get an opportunity starting a couple days from now. From that standpoint, it becomes a big challenge for the coaches. We’re going to have guys ready to play, so that’s the exciting part about it.”
The other draftees are safety Vincent Fuller of Virginia Tech (108) and Reynaldo Hill of Florida (218).
“I’m looking forward to us making a lot of plays in the future,” Fuller said.
After the draft Sunday, the Titans immediately began talking to free agents and will try to sign one or two quarterbacks. Fisher said the team will evaluate them as quickly as possible to determine if they need to sign a veteran to be their No. 3 quarterback behind McNair and backup Billy Volek.