By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Tennessee Titans made their first playoff appearance since 2008 last season. They had a 9-7 record and finished second in the AFC South behind Jacksonville. They also won in the first round of the playoffs against Kansas City.

The biggest team weakness was on the defensive side of the ball. They ranked 13^th in total defense, which is not bad but they ranked 25^th in pass defense. They tried to address some of those needs in the draft.

Draft picks: Alabama LB Rashaan Evans (No. 22), Boston College EDGE Harold Landry (No. 41), Arizona S Dane Cruikshank (No. 152), Washington State QB Luke Falk (No. 199)

The Titans did not have a lot of draft picks but they addressed needs with the first two picks. This was the smallest draft class in Titans history so that was an understatement.

Avery Williamson departed in free agency (Jets). Evans is an attacker that played in a complex pro style scheme at Alabama so he should contribute immediately.

Evans made the All-SEC team in 2017 and he won two national championships. He had 13 tackles for loss and 6 sacks last year. A lot will be asked of him in Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Dean Pees’s system.

In the second round, Tennessee traded up to get late first-round projected edge rusher Harold Landry. He will have this year to develop because Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan are both in the final years of their contracts.

2016 second-rounder Kevin Dodd has not developed because he fits a classic 4-3, not a flexible 3-4, like Tennessee ran under Dick LeBeau and will run in a slightly different way under first-time head coach Mike Vrabel.

Landry’s best season was his junior year in 2016. He had 50 total tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks and an interception. He was drastically less productive as a senior with only 8.5 TFL’s and 5 sacks.

Landry has some good measurable, standing 6’2 and 252 pounds. He ran a 4.64 40 yard-dash and he benched 24 reps at the combine.

Dane Cruikshank was picked in the fifth round. He primarily played cornerback in college but will probably play safety in the NFL.

“Whatever they need me to play, I’m willing to play,” Cruikshank said. “I feel like I can do it all, so I don’t think I’ll have trouble playing free safety or strong safety. I can tackle, I can play in the box, I can roll to the post, so it doesn’t matter to me.”

As a senior in 2017 he recorded 75 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three interceptions, five pass breakups and a forced fumble in 13 games. Two of those picks were against Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold, two of the four quarterbacks drafted in the top 10 in the first round.

The final pick was a head scratcher, Washington State QB Luke Falk. Tennessee is set at the position with Marcus Mariota as the franchise quarterback. I thought they should have tried to add a weapon on offense instead of drafting a back up QB.

Grade: B-