Titans snagged best center in the draft

I’m fairly impressed by the Titans’ fourth draft pick, center/guard Leroy Harris. Although he played both positions at NC State, it looks like the Titans will use him primarily as a backup to Kevin Mawae, and possibly to be his eventual replacement.
The Titans have Harris listed only as a center on their roster and Jeff Fisher said they had him rated as the best center in the draft. That’s saying something when you consider that Ryan Kalil and Samson Satele were selected back to back in the second round. It probably also explains why the Titans leaped at the chance to draft him when he was still available in the fourth round.
I won’t be a bit surprised to see o-line coach Mike Munchak give Harris plenty of work at guard as well. Munch believes in having well-rounded linemen, which is why he’s worked all of the new ones at multiple positions.
In many ways, Harris is similar to C/G Eugene Amano. I’m going to go out on a short limb here and predict Amano will be the first man in line to backup starting guards Benji Olson and Jacob Bell. I don’t view this as Harris competing against Amano for the same job, instead I view them as complementary pieces of the puzzle.
The line should be the strength of the offense this year and Harris and Amano should both be reserves who can step in and contribute if need be.
Amano and Bell are both restricted free agents and may not be back next year, which makes Harris even more valuable.
Mawae has three years remaining on his contract and he still looks to have enough gas in the tank for at least one more season, if not two or three.
Although I was disappointed in the Titans for not using this pick on a defensive end, I felt the same way about the Titans’ first three picks. All in all, however, Harris looks like a guy who will be a valuable member of the o-line for the next four years.
I fully expect Harris to make the final 53-man roster this summer, along with Amano and Loper as the three backups.
Harris’ competition in training camp will include C/G Justin Geisinger, G Isaac Snell, OL Marques Ogden, and T Dan Loper, who’s also played a little guard. Loper is the only one of them with a good chance at making the roster, and he should make it once again for his ability to backup tackles Michael Roos and David Stewart.