2 mistakes by the Tennessee Titans in the 2021 NFL Draft

No NFL Draft goes perfect. It's part of the deal. The excitement and mystique of what's to come, what's possible and what never materializes coalesces in the process — where the dreams of a professional career fulminate into reality.

After months of preparation, things can change in the “war room” quickly, and franchises have to be prepared to pivot. The Tennessee Titans were no different in 2021, when Virginia Tech's elite defensive back — Caleb Farley — unexpectedly fell to them at No. 22 overall.

Still, there were a couple of mistakes made in the overall process for 2021. Nothing super egregious, but definitely worth addressing before heading into preseason OTA's and, eventually, week No. 1 of the 2021 NFL season.

Titans Draft Mistake No. 1: Didn't take WR early enough

There's little question that GM Jon Robinson and the Tennessee Titans addressed critical needs with the first four picks of the 2021 NFL Draft, when they selected Virginia Tech defensive back Caleb Farley (1st round, 22nd overall), North Dakota State offensive tackle Dillon Radunz (2nd round, 53rd overall), Georgia linebacker Monty Rice (3rd round, 92nd overall) and Washington cornerback Elijah Molden (3rd round, 100th overall). The defending AFC South champions needed immediate help and depth in the secondary (Farley/Molden), the pass rush package (Rice) and on the offensive line (Radunz).

But the 2021 wide receiver class came on board as an awfully strong group, and with the departures of TE Jonnu Smith, WR Adam Humphries and WR Corey Davis in free agency, “acquiring some pass catching” seems like a priority, underlined-on-the-team-whiteboard subject for Tennessee — this season and beyond.

Robinson and the Titans didn't address that need until the fourth and sixth round, when they selected Dez Fitzpatrick out of Louisville with the 109th overall pick in the draft, and LSU's Racey McMath with the 205th overall pick in the draft. And while it's extremely likely “Fitz” is going to get an immediate look at some targets (he averaged more than 19 yards per catch in 2020), and McMath is a strong project specimen with a sub 4.40 40-yard dash, Tennessee was in prime position to acquire several different big-time names in the first three rounds.

At No. 20, where the New York Giants (surprisingly!) traded down to, was Florida's Kadarius Toney. The Titans passed on Minnesota's Rashod Bateman, only to see him get selected at No. 27 by the Baltimore Ravens (who, you know, just ended Tennessee's 2020 campaign in the opening round of the playoffs at Nissan Stadium in Nashville).

Meanwhile, Ole Miss standout Elijah Moore would've combo'ed nicely with second-year Pro Bowler and former Rebels star A.J. Brown, but he went to the New York Jets at No. 34 overall (2nd round). Purdue's elite slot receiver in Rondale Moore was selected 49th overall by the Arizona Cardinals — just four spots ahead of Radunz — before a quick run at the position (Western Michigan's D'Wayne Eskridge at No. 56 overall to the Seattle Seahawks, Louisville's Tutu Atwell at No. 57 overall to the Los Angeles Rams, and LSU's Terrace Marshall Jr. at No. 59 overall to the Carolina Panthers) further thinned the pool available for the Titans.

Tennessee wouldn't have had to maneuver too much in either direction within those first 100 picks, without landing a potential game-breaking talent.

Now, the Titans seem to be in the expensive Julio Jones sweepstakes, with rumored chances of landing the disgruntled Atlanta Falcons wideout. Jones is clearly better than any option in this year's draft based on talent and experience alone, but Robinson will likely have to give up a couple of top-notch future picks in any trade.

Selecting a young wideout now would've taken them out of the Julio discussions, and protected future draft scenarios.

Titans Draft Mistake No. 2: Why move back in the third round?

With extra third-, fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Titans found themselves in a unique position — nimble and able to not only draft key depth at specific spots, but to move up or down where there were better fits.

It's easy to play “Monday Morning Quarterback” now, but Robinson and the Tennessee front office had some opportunities here to move up in the draft for a flashier selection.

Imagine a draft package that included, say, the 100th overall pick (3rd round, and compensatory), the 135th overall pick (4th round) and the 215th overall pick (6th round). Using a talent calculator designed for the 2020 NFL Draft, the Titans very likely could've found a salary-cap starved team to deal and bite, allowing for a move up earlier in the third round.

This was the perfect draft to make such a move, too, because of the post-COVID-19 salary serving as a true concern for several teams across the league. And, yes, Robinson did eventually slide up over the three-day festivities to select Fitzpatrick — surrendering No. 126, No. 166 and No. 232 to get back to No. 109 (mathematically, a solid deal).

But instead of moving forward in the third round, Robinson moved back in a deal with Green Bay, which garnered the extra fourth-rounder.

If Tennessee flips its original fourth-round selection (No. 126) with its third-round compensatory pick (No. 100), they're almost certainly landing a pick in the No. 75-90 range. And that ended up being the following talents:

75. Dallas Cowboys -Osa Odighizuwa – Defensive Tackle – UCLA
76. New Orleans Saints – Paulson Adebo – Defensive Back – Stanford
77. Los Angeles Chargers – Josh Palmer – Wide Receiver – Tennessee
78. Minnesota Vikings – Chazz Surratt – Linebacker – North Carolina
79. Las Vegas Raiders (from Arizona) – Malcom Koonce – EDGE – Buffalo
80. Las Vegas Raiders -Divine Deablo – Safety – Virginia Tech
81. Miami Dolphins – Hunter Long – Tight End – Boston College
82. Washington Football Team – Dyami Brown – Wide Receiver – North Carolina
83. Carolina Panthers – Tommy Tremble – Tight End – Notre Dame
84. Dallas Cowboys – Chauncey Gholston – Defensive End – Iowa
85. Green Bay Packers – Amari Rodgers – WR – Clemson
86. Minnesota Vikings  – Wyatt Davis – Guard – Ohio State
87. Pittsburgh Steelers – Kendrick Green – Center – Illinois
88. San Francisco 49ers – Trey Sermon – Running Back – Ohio State
89. Houston Texans – Nico Collins – Wide Receiver – Michigan
90. Minnesota Vikings – Patrick Jones II – Defensive End – Pitt

Again, it's all one big “what if?” crapshoot for the NFL Draft sometimes. Diamonds and duds are everywhere. But panning for gold has never been easy. Nor will it ever be.