Poor Draft Picks Have Killed Titans

Every NFL team declines at some point, but what makes the Tennessee Titans' decline so different is just how sudden it was.

From 2019-21, the Titans were one of the AFC's better teams, compiling a 32-17 record while making it to the AFC Championship Game in 2019 and earning the conference's top seed in 2021. They were far from perfect - heck, one could argue that they weren't ever true Super Bowl contenders during that time - but Mike Vrabel still managed to get impressive results.

The Titans then looked like they were going to continue their impressive streak in 2022 after starting 7-3, but it's been all downhill since then. They lost their last seven games that season to miss the playoffs, and their record since that hot start is a dreadful 9-32.

How did it all go so wrong so fast? Well, there are plenty of factors that led to the Titans collapse, but a streak of horrific drafting from 2020-22 is arguably the biggest one.

In that time, the Titans whiffed horribly on all three of their first-round picks.

Offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson, the No. 29 pick in 2020, played a grand total of three offensive snaps over his lone season with the team, matching the number of arrests he had between September of 2020 and March of 2021.

Cornerback Caleb Farley, the No. 22 pick in 2021, played just 12 games over three seasons due to injury, and was released just before last season.

Treylon Burks, the No. 18 pick in 2022, had just 699 receving yards and one touchdown in three seasons and battled injuries constantly, and the fact the Titans traded A.J. Brown to get him only adds insult to injury. He was released on Monday after breaking his collarbone over the weekend.

Even when looking at the later picks, there's not much to write home about. Sure, there are some solid players in the group - including tight end Chig Okonkwo and cornerback Kristian Fulton (who's now with the Los Angeles Chargers) - but the vast majority of them never amounted to much in Tennessee.

With this streak of poor drafting, and the horrific trade of Brown, it's no wonder the Titans ended up canning general manager Jon Robinson in December of 2022.

Unfortunately, there's no way to undo the damage that Robinson did with this drafting, but a new era could be on the horizon with 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward leading the way.