Titans GM Hoping Patriots-Style Draft Helps Spur Turnaround In Tennessee

First-year Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson has brought the Patriot Way to the Music City.

Robinson, who worked in the New England Patriots’ scouting department from 2002 to 2013, employed a Bill Belichickian approach to the 2016 NFL Draft, acquiring picks via trade and then using them to select big, physical players.

“My background is mostly in New England, obviously, for 12 years and we were a big football team,” Robinson told Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB. “We always had big, strong backs, whether it was Corey Dillon or Laurence Maroney or LeGarrette Blount. On the offensive line we had Sebastian Vollmer and Nate Solder and Logan Mankins for a long time, all bigger guys. And then on defense, we had Vince Wilfork and, back in the day, Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel. We won a lot of football games with those big guys.”

Robinson’s decision to trade the No. 1 overall pick to the St. Louis Rams left him with six selections in the first three rounds. He used two of those picks to move up from No. 15 to No. 8, where Tennessee selected Michigan State offensive tackle Jack Conklin, then used the remaining four selections to nab Clemson defensive end Kevin Dodd (No. 33), Penn State defensive tackle Austin Johnson (No. 43), Heisman Trophy-winning Alabama running back Derrick Henry (No. 45) and Middle Tennessee safety Kevin Byard (No. 64).

“The message was clear,” Vrentas wrote Saturday. “The Titans want to build a tough, physical football team, from the inside out.”

It remains to be seen whether this strategy will translate into on-field improvement for a franchise that has gone 5-27 over the last two seasons. The Titans have not reached the postseason since 2008, and Steve McNair was Tennessee’s quarterback the last time it won a playoff game, way back in 2003.

Thumbnail photo via Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports Images