Titans 'open for business' on No. 5 pick, Jon Robinson says
INDIANAPOLIS — A year ago, at his introductory press conference, Jon Robinson wasted little time in hanging a “for sale” sign on the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
On Wednesday, the Titans’ general manager did the same with pick No. 5.
“It’s got to be a two-way street. We’ve got to have somebody that wants to move up to that spot,” Robinson said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “But like I said last year, we’re open for business and willing to have discussions. We’re just again trying to put ourselves in position to improve the football team.”
The Titans own eight picks in the NFL draft, scheduled for April 27-29 in Philadelphia — the fifth and 18th overall selections in the first round, two picks in the third, and one each in the fourth through seventh rounds. They do not have a pick in the second round after it was dealt to the Browns in a flurry of trades last offseason. But based on the GM’s track record, the Titans could end up with one.
Robinson pulled off five trades in reshaping the Titans last offseason, setting the stage for the team to improve from a 3-13 record in 2015 to 9-7. The six-win improvement tied for the largest single-season jump in franchise history.
Robinson’s deal to ship the No. 1 overall pick to the Rams for a “king’s ransom” proved among the most impactful, and led to the extra picks in the first and third rounds this year (the fifth and 100th overall).
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“I’d love to have about 20 picks” this year, Robinson said. “But it may be hard to get that. I think we’ll just take every scenario like we did last year, and you really evaluate the player that’s available to you there when you’re on the clock.
“Obviously, if you’ve kind of made a deal before you’re on the clock, you move on that. If you think you can get the player a couple picks later — there’s a lot of draft strategy that goes into the draft and positioning yourself to get the player that can have a meaningful impact to the football team, and knowing your competition around the pick that you’re at, either above you or behind you, in trying to get yourself in position to improve the team.”
Robinson was masterful a year ago. After trading down from first to the Rams’ pick at 15th, Robinson traded with Cleveland to move back into the top 10, where he selected right tackle Jack Conklin with the eighth pick. Conklin was named All-Pro his rookie season.
The Rams used the first pick to select quarterback Jared Goff.
The groundwork for the franchise-altering Titans-Rams trade, which was announced two weeks before the draft, was laid at last year’s combine.
“We’re in a little bit different situation this year being at five,” Robinson said. “There’s going to be four players off the board before a team picks. We’ll see kind of as the process goes along. Some of those conversations might intensify. But for now, I think it’s a little bit early considering we’re not really in the driver’s seat in this draft.”
Robinson said he’s had preliminary discussions with teams about trading down again, but that any such deal is more likely to happen during the draft, when the Titans are on the clock.
“That’s probably a little bit more likely scenario,” he said. “You have those discussions potentially before the actual draft starts — ‘If this happens or if that happens, would you consider doing this?’ — so you at least have some framework in mind, so that when you’re under the gun and you’ve got to make a decision, you’ve at least been able to think through it a little bit.”
Reach Jason Wolf atjwolf@tennessean.comand follow him on Twitter at@JasonWolfand on Instagram and Snapchat atTitansBeat.
KEY DATES
NFL Combine: Runs through Monday
Free agency begins: March 9
NFL Draft: April 27-29
Titans draft picks
Round (overall)
1 (5 - from Rams)
1 (18)
3 (83)
3 (100 - compensatory from Rams)
4 (125)
5 (164)
6 (214 - from Falcons)
7 (236)