At Grantland, Bill Barnwell has delved into the Tennessee Titans and the No. 2 pick.
He looks back on the bad decision-making since their last playoff berth in 2008 that helped get the Titans where they are. Bad drafts led to free-agency chases that didn't produce a lot of fruit.
"To patch holes on their roster and replace players who have either left or ceased to be effective enough to justify a roster spot, the Titans have instead been forced to shop in free agency," Barnwell wrote. "While they made a pass at Peyton Manning when the Colts released their injured star quarterback after the 2011 season, the vast majority of their signings have come in the middle of the market, where players are often too expensive to emerge as bargains and not talented enough to justify the significant salary hike compared with younger prospects on rookie deals. It’s actually staggering to see just how many marginal players the Titans have signed over the past few seasons. You can make a whole team out of those veterans. No, really."
I'd pick quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and safety Bernard Pollard as captains. But look at Barnwell's roster of Titans free agents in that span and he's absolutely right. It's not pretty.
"[T]he vast majority of these guys came and went without leaving much in the way of memories," he writes.
All of that helped land the Titans in position to draft second overall at the end of the month.
Barnwell runs through the three primary options with the pick in his fine piece, which you should read here.
