Team-by-Team Draft Recap: Tennessee Titans
Editor’s Note: We’re blowing out the draft coverage this year and covering every team’s selections in a team-by-team recap. We start with the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans certainly went meat and potatoes in this draft. The selection of Taylor Lewan is a curious one. Clearly they felt he had fallen too far and took the “Best Player Available” and disregarded team needs. As a fan, I’m actually happy with this selection because we got a stud player later than he should have gone.
The Titans only took two “skill position” players of potential fantasy relevance, let’s dive in to them.
Bishop Sankey, RB WASH (Pick #54)
The Titans made Sankey (surprisingly) the first running back off the board. Most draft pundits had Carlos Hyde ranked higher. Sankey is substantially less powerful than Hyde, but has better hands. He’s this year’s version of Giovani Bernard. Both the selection of Lewan and Sankey show the Titans are trying to remove every excuse for Jake Locker failing. If the revamped line, the stout receiving group and a top tier running back prospect aren’t enough, it’s time to move on.
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From a dynasty perspective, Sankey is likely the first running back off the board in your league. The situation in Tennessee is excellent for immediate production with the only competition being Shonn Greene. I believe the issue is Sankey’s skill set doesn’t warrant a high rookie draft selection. He’s an average NFL talent and probably won’t ever break in to the top-15 in fantasy production.
The way to capitalize is to trade out of your pick if Sankey is on the board when you are on the clock. There is almost always a team in your league that needs a running back and will overvalue a situation. My recommendation is to capitalize on this especially if you are at 1.03. I don’t see a huge difference between Odell Beckham, Brandon Cooks, Marqise Lee or Davante Adams from a value perspective. So why not trade down and pick up something extra in the deal? Someone is going to covet Sankey and I’d rather take advantage of that as opposed to taking him or burning the 1.03 on a receiver.
Zach Mettenberger, QB LSU (Pick 178)
Titans fans had to wait a long, long time for another skill position player to come off the board and somewhat surprisingly it was Mettenberger. I say surprising not because the Titans don’t need a quarterback (they do), but more so that they are willing to take a bet on a tremendous character risk player.
For those who don’t recall, Mettenberger was convicted of sexual assault, banned from Valdosta Georgia and thrown off the Bulldogs team. That’s deplorable. In a league where Justin Blackmon and Josh Gordon’s careers are in jeopardy for substance abuse and Colt Lyerla goes undrafted, to take a player who put his hands on a woman is beyond the pale. As a fan, I’m very disappointed in the team. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve a second chance, just that I’d rather it was somewhere else.
Off my soap box.
Mettenberger actually has a modicum of fantasy value. Locker isn’t solidified in his role by any means. The Titans declined to exercise his fifth year option which is akin to a vote of no confidence. Note: The money for his option (and all the rookie options you have likely heard about) is only guaranteed in case of an injury in 2014 that precludes the player from playing the entirety of 2015. The team can cut the player prior to 2015 without any penalty otherwise. So the “option” is nearly risk free. To not exercise it shows a high degree of skepticism about the player’s future with the team.
On the field, Mettenberger is a mixed bag. He has a powerful arm, can make all the pro necessary throws, but lacks mobility and speed. He’s coming off an ACL tear which is a slight concern although it seems modern medicine has conquered that one. He has enough pure talent to present a threat to Locker sooner rather than later. And as mentioned before, the Titans have a supporting cast around their quarterback to make someone (maybe Mettenberger) successful.
My advice is unless you are in a league with about 28 offensive roster spots (or a 2QB league), leave Mettenberger on the waiver wire. He’s a backup quarterback to a quarterback who you also wouldn’t want to start in a standard league. It’s hard for me to imagine a situation where I’d want to put my fantasy team’s success in the hands of Zach Mettenberger.
Editor’s Note: Tim Stafford can be found @dynastytim on twitter and in the forums as dlf_tims.
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