Oops, I thought I got up a post on these guys from my phone while hanging out in the media workroom. Apparently not. Well, this post is better than that would have been.
The Tennessee Titans rounded out the 2015 NFL draft by selecting Louisville outside linebacker/defensive end Deiontrez Mount with their sixth-round pick, 177th overall. They used their second sixth-round pick, 208th overall, acquired from the Patriots in the Akeem Ayers trade, by selecting Boston College center Andy Gallik. They then concluded the draft by using the seventh-round pick they acquired from the Giants on Friday night, 245th overall, on William & Mary wide receiver Tre McBride.
Mount was one of the Titans’ reported visitors, so he was a player I had watched. He bounced between defensive end in a 4-3 and outside linebacker in a 3-4 over the course of his career with the Cardinals and also bounced in and out of the starting lineup, never getting a full-time role. He will be an outside linebacker for the Titans. If you like him, as Josh Norris of Rotoworld and NBC Sports does, you like his ability to convert speed to power. I thought he spent too much time trying to go through blockers rather than go around them, and I was expecting him to be a more powerful player than I thought he showed. Lance Zierlein’s scouting report had him as a likely sixth- or seventh-round pick and thought he might be limited to 3-4 strong outside linebacker, which would make him a candidate for the backup to Derrick Morgan.
Gallik was an excellent college center for the Boston College Eagles I paid absolutely no attention to on the field or in the pre-draft process; I don’t specifically recall seeing any of Boston College since watching Andre Williams play last draft season. Zierlein is my go-to on offensive line play, so read his scouting report. Good functional strength, it sounds like, and a potential center in a power scheme, but a real phone booth player and maybe not the guy you want blocking players at the second-level. If you want to read him as a response to the Colts and Texans playing a 3-4, you might be right.
Tre McBride did not have any connection with the Titans, but he was another player I watched, since a number of people I know, particularly Matt Waldman, were very high on him. He looked very good and very smooth for a college receiver. In the I-AA game I watched, he stood out the way you wanted him to. I also saw him against West Virginia, and he didn’t look out of place at all. Matt compared him to Amari Cooper in playing style and thought McBride could have fit right in at Alabama. Watch this for more of Matt on McBride; I haven’t yet, but I will be for sure. He was Matt’s fifth-ranked receiver, behind DeVante Parker. Not everyone was quite that high on him, but I thought from what I saw he’d go in the third or fourth round. Why, then, was he a seventh-round pick? Very unclear to those of us on the outside, with some reports of very vague character issues as much as we’ve heard. Unless he’s refusing to play special teams, as a receiver at the Senior Bowl in the past reportedly did, or otherwise cannot get along with his coaches or teammates, it seems like he could be a seventh-round steal.
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