Tennessee Titans 7-round mock draft: How about Brock Bowers after Calvin Ridley signing news?
Sorry to Rome Odunze. Apologies to Malik Nabers. Even if chances were slim, condolences to Marvin Harrison Jr., too. The Tennessee Titans look a lot less likely to pick a receiver No. 7 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft now.
The Titans shocked the league Wednesday by agreeing to terms with star receiver Calvin Ridley on a monster free agent contract. Now, dare we say it, receiver isn't a weakness.
Let's not go so far as to call it a strength. Depth is still a concern. But with Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins in tow for 2024, the Titans can exhale knowing quarterback Will Levis is going to have options. Now they can focus on some other needs in the draft.
Or ... they can make Levis' life even easier.
The natural impulse is to say the Titans are using their free agent money knowing the plan is to pick a left tackle at No. 7. Which is a fair theory. If Notre Dame's Joe Alt falls to the Titans, it'll be hard to resist making that pick through a megaphone cranked up so loud that every bird in a 10-mile radius flees their nest with the starting speed of a drag racer.
But Alt might not make it to seven. And this is a deep, deep offensive tackle draft. Deep enough that prospects who'd usually go in the top 20 could fall to the Titans in the second round at No. 38. Knowing that, what's stopping the Titans from supplying Levis with another luxury item as he heads into his first full season as a starter?
Let's live out this fantasy with a quick Titans seven-round mock draft.
Round 1, pick 7: Georgia TE Brock Bowers
Bowers is a super weapon. He's part Rob Gronkowski, part George Kittle and part Deebo Samuel. Split him out wide, put his hand in the dirt, stagger him off the line or line him up at running back and it won't matter. Dude is going to produce. Chig Okonkwo is a solid starter. Bowers is a team-changing talent.
You know how they say tight ends are a quarterback's safety blanket? Bowers would be Levis' safety samurai sword. Sure, blankets make you feel safe and that's cool. Bowers makes you feel safe and is a clear and present danger to the things that are dangerous to Levis. It's a risk waiting on offensive tackle until Round 2, but this is a risk that makes the Titans offense scary.
Round 2, pick 38: Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton
Maybe it's not Guyton. Maybe it's Arizona's Jordan Morgan, BYU's Kingsley Suamataia or Houston's Patrick Paul. Heck, maybe it's Bowers' Georgia teammate Amarius Mims. At least one of these tackles will fall into the second round. And the patient Titans will have a steal when that happens.
For now, let's say it's Guyton. He's only been a college starter for a year-and-a-half. But he was excellent in that time, allowing just two sacks and three quarterback hits. He vertical jumped 34.5 inches at the combine at 6-foot-8, 322 pounds. He's athletic, versatile and the right kind of project for offensive line coach Bill Callahan to undertake.
Round 4, pick 105: Penn State CB Kalen King
This time last year, King seemed like a shoo-in first round pick. His play declined in 2023, potentially dropping him into Day 3. If this is the case, the Titans should bet high on the potential here and grab King as someone who can develop into a starting corner on the outside by year's end.
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Round 5, pick 145: Auburn DB Jaylin Simpson
Select King to try to develop him into a shutdown outside guy. Pick Simpson for everything else. The Auburn product lined up at free safety, box safety and nickel in equal capacities last year and was spectacular in coverage. Think of him like a 6-foot Elijah Molden who can play everything from base safety to dime linebacker.
Round 6, pick 181: Illinois DL Keith Randolph Jr.
Time to add a little bit of big. Randolph's another guy who followed a great 2022 with a less-than-great 2023, but there was also a scheme change that moved him defensive end to defensive tackle. Randolph would be a nice add as a 296-pound interior presence who lines up over tackles, makes plays against the run and clears paths for edge rushers to cook.
Round 7, pick 221: UCLA OLB Grayson Murphy
The less-heralded of the Murphy twins, Grayson still thrived in college. Even with his brother and projected first-rounder Laiatu Latu competing for reps, Murphy logged more than 50 quarterback pressures each of the last two years. He might just be a situational pass rusher for now, but he'll be a productive one at that.
Round 7, pick 227: Mississippi State WR Lideatrick Griffin
Griffin was one of the best kick returners in college football the last three years. Maybe he lines up as a speedy slot option every once in a while. But here the Titans are stealing a special teams ace in the seventh.
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Round 7, pick 242: Washington State OLB Ron Stone Jr.
Murphy's a hyper-productive Pac-12 edge who has no business falling into the seventh. Why not add another in Stone? Stone logged 124 quarterback pressures in 38 games from 2021-23. Trust the production and find a way to harness it at the NFL level.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans 7-round mock draft: What's next after Calvin Ridley