Evaluating the Titans’ post-draft additions

I kept track of the Titans’ undrafted free agent additions, but didn’t add any commentary. With the Titans making a couple moves today other than that, it’s time to add a level of analysis to the information collation and reportage. I’ll start with the undrafted free agents and then add the other players:

WR Devin Aguilar-One of four wideouts the Titans drafted. A history with Locker from their days at UW. Still, with the drafting of Wright and two other wideouts on the practice squad last year, it’s difficult to see any of the rookie UDFAs having a shot at the roster.
TE Brandon Barden-A body at tight end. Not expecting anything.
OL George Bias-A body on the offensive line. Not expecting anything.
LS/TE Beau Brinkley-Sneaky good chance to make the active roster in my opinion. Ken Amato is un-signed as of right now, and I now think he’s the fallback plan. Jake Ingram is the favorite in my mind, but Brinkley has a shot, especially if he can play situationally as an actual tight end.
OL Chandler Burden-A body on the offensive line. Not expecting anything.
WR Chase Deadder-See Aguilar. Not expecting anything.
WR LaQuinton Evans-See Aguilar. Not expecting anything.
DT DaJohn Harris-Intriguing, especially because I considered selecting him when I went with a hypothetical draft, but medical concerns apparently knocked him off the draft board. He’s still probably behind Casey, Klug, Martin, Smith, Marks, and Clayton just among pure defensive tackles
S Christian Scott-If the Titans are desperate to get rid of Robert Johnson and don’t add a safety, I could almost see him stealing a spot. It’s a longshot, though.
QB Nick Stephens-Camp arm. With rookie minicamps, you need a rookie to throw the ball. It’s why I didn’t have a problem with a complete scrub like Alex Mortensen until he actually played in the Hall of Fame Game.
LB Alex Watkins-Too many linebackers ahead of him on the depth chart, not all of whom are likely to make the team.
RB(FB?) Darryl Whiting-A backup fullback for Quinn Johnson, perhaps. I think Johnson is the heavy favorite to be the fullback, and Ahmard Hall is the fallback option more than Whiting.
CB Gary Wilburn-I count seven cornerbacks ahead of him on the depth chart, including Campbell. No chance at a roster spot.
WR D.J. Woods-See Aguilar. Not expecting anything.

After the undrafted free agents, the Titans also added P/K Will Batson, who’s basically a camp leg to limit the workload of Brett Kern and/or Rob Bironas. The Titans also added Collin Mooney, who as far as I can still fills more or less the same role Darryl Whiting does.

The other addition is of course linebacker Zac Diles, most recently of the Indianapolis Colts but who also spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2011 and before that was a member of the Houston Texans. He’s a veteran outside linebacker, but I would put him behind Will Witherspoon, Gerald McRath, and Zach Brown at weakside linebacker and don’t really think of him as a fit at sam linebacker either. He’s familiar name, but was on the street on May 1 for a reason.

I’ll be writing more about at least one of the draft picks for my next post; there’s a lot more to be said about them, but Football Outsiders Almanac 2012 writing (not about the Titans) and other non-football obligations will keep me from doing as much of it as I’d like immediately.

EDIT (5/2/12 2207 CT): As a couple commenters pointed out, I accidentally left out UDFA C William Vlachos. He’s fairly well-known, having played at Alabama, and the Titans got him over a couple other teams. He went undrafted because he’s both short for the position at only 6’0.5″ nor does not have particularly long arms for his height. Unfortunately for him, it’s very hard to play center at that height, especially on a zone running team that asks the center to execute reach blocks-those couple inches can be the difference between a blocked defender and a play that gets stopped for a loss. The Titans haven’t had a starting center shorter than 6’3″ since Mark Stepnoski, and it’s hard for me to see Vlachos as the exception to that rule.