The sixteenth pick in the inaugural edition of the Cincy Jungle Mock Draft is brought to us by member Jaegner, selecting for the Tennessee Titans. His explanation for the pick is after the jump. Thank you for your participation Jaegner.
With the sixteenth pick in the 2010 Cincy Jungle Mock Draft, the Tennessee Titans select...
Brandon Graham, DE, Michigan
The Tennessee Titans: a 13-3 force in 2008, an 8-8 anomaly in 2009, and a very unknown commodity in 2010. While I can't tell you what this team's identity will be this coming season, I will tell you what it can't be. It can't be a team that ranks 25th against the pass, ranks 26th against the rush, and faces quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Peyton Manning twice yearly. As it stands, this is what they are, and this is what needs to change.
Let's focus on the inadequacies in pass defense. My first instinct when looking at a team that gets shredded for about 258 yards per game is to take a look at the secondary. This notion doesn't hold much weight in this case, however, because the Titans' secondary is solid. Below is the statistical production of their 2009 starters.
| Player | Tackles | Sacks | F Fum | Int | Int Yards | TD | PD |
| CB: Rod Hood | 16 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 91 | 1 | 4 |
| CB: Cortland Finnegan | 63 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 194 | 1 | 11 |
| SS: Chris Hope | 81 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 7 |
| FS: Michael Griffin | 77 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
While nothing really jumps off the page at you, this isn't exactly a glaring area in need of improvement. The problem in the secondary lies in its depth, and I think this can be addressed later in the draft.
So we've got poor pass defense, and we've got solid play from the secondary. In order for this to compute, we've got to have deficiencies elsewhere - namely, the defensive line.
| Player | Tackles | Sacks | TFL | TFLY | F Fum |
| LDE: William Hayes | 51 | 4 |
7 |
25 |
2 |
| LDT: Jovan Haye | 32 | 0.5 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| RDT: Tony Brown | 38 | 5 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
| RDE: Kyle Vanden Bosch | 44 |
3 |
5 |
9 |
2 |
According to Football Outsiders, the Titans defensive line ranks 25th against pass protection. With Kyle Vanden Bosch gone, this problem is more pronounced and leaves a hole at DE. Brandon Graham is the best DE still on the board at pick 16, and I believe he'll be a good fit here.
An initial criticism of Graham came from his size, but he's addressed this by bulking up to 268 pounds at 6'1". Despite the added size, this guy is still running a 4.69. As a productive pass rusher, amassing 9.5 sacks in his senior year, he addresses issues in the Titans' pass defense. This will be the most crucial benefit of drafting Graham. His 25 tackles for loss is nothing to scoff at either, however, and will play a role in improving the Tennessee's poor run defense as well. Graham is a disruptive, productive, high intensity DE who has the potential to have a hand in improving every aspect of the Titans' defense, and for this reason I think he's the highest value pick for this team.
Brandon Graham Highlights:
(via ProDraftParty)