Thank goodness. Now they finally have a player I feel will certainly help the team.
Hawkins isn’t an over-the-middle guy due to his frame, but like Manningham, the dude can track a deep ball and adjust fluidly. The opening TD of the Senior Bowl was an underthrown bomb from Henne, and Hawkins used a light veteran push-off on Chevis Jackson to come back to the ball and score. In practice, he burned Terrell Thomas on the most sudden stop-and-go route I’ve seen in a while. He stopped quickly and managed to flash his entire body back to the QB — most WRs never sell a move that completely. He did, and it got him 5+ yards of separation in a one-on-one drill. Unreal.
I like the kid a lot, especially since his absolute ceiling is something like Marvin Harrison.
Really, when you think about it, the selection of Chris Johnson says more about the previous two years of Titans draft failures than it does about screwing up this one. I think what really burns me is how quickly they give up on a highly-picked guy and then select another guy *just like him* for the same reasons and somehow hope for the best again. And sure enough, the Titans are still following the same “40 first” philosophy that’s gotten them in trouble with pretty much every first day pick over the last two drafts.
When you think about *just* Johnson, though, you can make the argument he’s closer to McFadden than a lot of people might think. Don’t believe me? Watch him bust tackles and big runs in his highlight reel, paying special attention to how many guys taking *good* angles still can’t even come close to catching him:
His pad speed, balance, and drive through tackles form a potent skillset. I can live with the pick, though I’m still not sure I can live with what it says about the way the Titans play this very important game called the NFL Draft.
Let’s see now, in the last 3 years, the Titans have burned a 1st and 2 2nds now on RBs with tantalizing skills who appear ill-suited to carry the load in the NFL. Chris Johnson is just like Chris Henry last year — the fastest back in the draft with little to show for his speed. Is Johnson better? Sure. But why do the Titans continue to ignore so many other needs when RBs are often found in the later rounds?
The pick of Johnson isn’t necessarily terrible in a vacuum, but it points to a disturbing trend. Clearly, the Fisher/Reinfeldt decision team looks first at 40 times, and maybe *only* at 40 times, when choosing their first-day players. Griffin, Henry, Paul Williams, and now Johnson had little else to recommend them at the spots they were chosen. And remember — this is the team that thought Griffin’s 40 time alone was enough to turn him from a safety to a corner. That experiment lasted about 2/3rds of a season.
So now the Titans still lack a second pass rusher, still have a shaky secondary, still have no wideouts. And they had Merling, Jenkins, and Thomas on the board and ready to slap on a Titans cap. But hey, they have two of the fastest backs in the entire league.
If the road to the Super Bowl ever transforms into a track meet, maybe they’ll get somewhere.
Why in the name of all that is good did Atlanta trade up to take a player that most of us had as a second round pick? The only thing I can think of is that they had intel that the Steelers were going to take him.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys have their choice of Mendenhall or Jenkins or any safety or WR or role playing RB they want. The Steelers should be happy with Merling, Jenkins, or Mendenhall. And Titans fans should revolt if Merling is there and they don’t take him.
Should be fun to see if Jerry Jones really does break the seal on drafting Hogs for his team.
Comments
agarda, cecil, agarda
agarda, cecil
agarda, cecil
cecil, agarda, BST
cecil
JB, agarda