Former Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson had some major misses in the NFL draft during his tenure in Nashville, but at least one of them could’ve been avoided had he stuck to his guns.
In what is a fantastic piece by The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode that does a deep dive into the process of drafting Derrick Henry, former head coach Mike Mularkey revealed the team “went against our beliefs” when it came to drafting failed defensive end Kevin Dodd.
Mularkey said the Titans didn’t work Dodd out, nor did they interview him before taking him with the No. 33 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft.
“It kind of went against our beliefs because we didn’t work out Kevin, we didn’t interview him,” Mularkey said. “We didn’t do the homework on him like the rest of the guys we were looking at. It was more about need and he was a one-year wonder there at Clemson.”
Dodd ultimately played just 18 games (one start) over two seasons with the Titans, tallying one sack. He was cut loose prior to the 2018 campaign and never played another snap in the NFL.
Making the selection of Dodd even more frustrating is the fact that the Titans had three other players in mind in that spot, all of whom the team did more homework on, per Rexrode’s report.
The three players included tight end Hunter Henry, cornerback Xavien Howard and defensive lineman Chris Jones.
Of course, Henry has become a good tight end, and Howard and Jones have both ascended to two of the better players at their respective positions, with Jones being a bona fide superstar.
With Henry, Jones and Howard all off the board at No. 43, Robinson went on to take defensive lineman Austin Johnson, who didn’t pan out, either.
When the Titans were on the board again at No. 45, Robinson was keen on taking offensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson, which would’ve proven to be yet another draft bust for the former Titans GM.
But a late push by former scout Blake Beddingfield, along with a blessing from Mularkey, helped steer J-Rob to draft Derrick Henry instead.
“When we got done (in a morning meeting), I felt I had made enough headway with Mike (Mularkey) and a little bit with Jon (Robinson), that I could influence them in the draft room (to take Henry) if it came to that,” Beddingfield explained. “And I’d have my backup. My backup was the scouts who thought it was a no-brainer.”
“But it came down to Jon and me, and Jon looked at me and said, ‘Mike, what do you think?’” Mularkey said. “I said, ‘If we’re talking about being a team with a physical, no-nonsense offense, (Henry) fits that M.O. pretty well. And I don’t know if you can have enough good running backs.’”
In what was a foundation-building draft class that also included safety Kevin Byard and right tackle Jack Conklin, things would look a lot different if Robinson didn’t take Henry.
And the class could’ve been even better if Robinson didn’t take what amounts to a blind swing on Dodd.
