Most NFL Draft analysts believe the Titans, desperate for a starting left tackle, will select Notre Dame’s Joe Alt with the seventh overall pick.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Mark Dominik sees the need. But he believes the Titans can wait a round to fill it.
That’s why Dominik, who will be serving as a draft analyst on the SiriusXM NFL Radio and SiriusXM College Sports Radio channels, has the Titans following a different first-round path than most: He thinks the Titans should — and will — grab Georgia tight end Brock Bowers at No. 7 if he’s available, then circle back to select a tackle in the second round with pick No. 38.
Why would the Titans pass on Alt for Bowers?
Dominik says it has to do with the two-round combination the Titans could come away with if they went in that direction, as opposed to taking Alt and then trying to find a quality tight end in the second round.
“I think the value in this draft class is the offensive tackles, especially early, like the top 50 picks,” Dominik said Thursday on a conference call with media. “If I can walk out with Bowers and still end up with a tackle like [Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton, Houston’s Patrick Paul or Arizona’s Jordan Morgan], someone that I like, that I trust, that I can possibly play out there week one … that feels better than the opposite with, maybe I get a [Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders] — because there’s really only two tight ends in this class that are going to go high — and Alt.”
Dominik explained that his preference for Bowers at No. 7 is no slight on Alt, the 6-9, 321-pound prospect who allowed only one sack in 774 pass-blocking snaps over the past two seasons.
It’s more a recognition of the Titans’ need at tight end and the feeling there’s a smaller pool of quality players at that position than at tackle.
“Alt is very safe [as a pick] as we all know, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Dominik said. “But I just feel like my combination, [Bowers] and the fifth tackle or sixth tackle or seventh tackle on the board [is preferable].
“When you look at the [Titans’] tight end room, you know [Chig Okonkwo] is the only real tight end. And then you’ve got [Josh] Whyle who hasn’t had an opportunity. Chig goes back to some of the stuff we’re worried about at tight end. Like sometimes he just drops balls he shouldn’t drop.
“And I think for a young quarterback to have that tight end that’s just, 'Hey, I can run screens for this guy. We’re not protecting very well. We’re not chipping. I can just drop the ball off here all day long and just get six, seven, eight yards.’ I think it makes a lot of sense. I think I trust my combination that I walk out with Bowers and Jordan Morgan, rather than walk out with Alt and another position because [Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders] went higher than I thought he was going to go, and I didn’t get him.”
Dominik was asked about the perception of some that tight end is a difficult position to evaluate.
But he thinks Bowers’ ability to run after the catch is a skill that will serve him especially well in the NFL. The 6-3, 243-pound Bowers averaged an eye-opening 8.5 yards after catch on 175 career receptions over three years.
“That’s what really separates [Bowers] and pulls him to a different level than I think some of these other first-rounders that haven’t played as well,” Dominik said. “I think functional strength is the thing that probably [evaluators] miss most in these tight ends. What I mean is it’s not their bench press, it’s when they catch the ball, how hard are they to tackle? And I think Bowers is uniquely difficult to tackle.”