Titans Pre-Draft Interviews (First Post Continually Updating)

[reo]

Hyde doesn't strike me as anything all that special. Decent speed. Good power. Nice little stutter/jump cut to the outside. Good balance but not great. He's not very fluid but I guess you've got to expect that from a bigger back.

Edited April 22, 2014 by reo

[oldschool]

I can't tell you guys how annoyed I'll be if the Titans waste a 2nd rounder on a RB. Haven't they learned their lesson? 

[reo]

I can't tell you guys how annoyed I'll be if the Titans waste a 2nd rounder on a RB. Haven't they learned their lesson? 

 

I lean toward agreeing especially considering the guys available combined w/ how they seem to want to approach the running game.

[Jonboy]

The Titans can have 30 draft prospects visit them in Nashville. That doesn’t count guys from nearby schools or nearby hometowns who they can have in as well. 

Annually, much is made of who comes to town. 

I traditionally don't make much of the reports. I’m happy the list emerges, but many people put too much stock into it. (Such lists may be incomplete as well.) 

It’s not that the list isn’t telling. I can’t find a list for 2009, but the last four first-round picks were in for visits with the Titans. 

Overall, however, the Titans have drafted 10 of 114 players they’ve had in for reported visits over the last four years. 

That’s 8.7 percent. So if we spent a ton of time discussing those four groups of visitors, 91.3 percent of the conversation would have ultimately been for naught. 

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/17/2014-nfl-draft-visits-workouts/

 

We've discussed this a lot so I thought I would share. I must admit the 8.7% is a bit skewed. I'm more concerned about how it predicts the early picks than the entire draft. 

[Jonboy]

Also, I know we were having some discussions about Fuller earlier. PFT lists him as a "workout," but I'm still unclear if that counts as a "visit" or not. I suppose what's unknown is if we worked him out in TN or elsewhere. 

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/17/2014-nfl-draft-visits-workouts/

[reo]

The Titans can have 30 draft prospects visit them in Nashville. That doesn’t count guys from nearby schools or nearby hometowns who they can have in as well. 

Annually, much is made of who comes to town. 

I traditionally don't make much of the reports. I’m happy the list emerges, but many people put too much stock into it. (Such lists may be incomplete as well.) 

It’s not that the list isn’t telling. I can’t find a list for 2009, but the last four first-round picks were in for visits with the Titans. 

Overall, however, the Titans have drafted 10 of 114 players they’ve had in for reported visits over the last four years. 

That’s 8.7 percent. So if we spent a ton of time discussing those four groups of visitors, 91.3 percent of the conversation would have ultimately been for naught. 

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/17/2014-nfl-draft-visits-workouts/

 

We've discussed this a lot so I thought I would share. I must admit the 8.7% is a bit skewed. I'm more concerned about how it predicts the early picks than the entire draft. 

 

That 8.7% is massively skewed since it's a total of all players drafted. You're not going to bring in 5th round and later guys (at least not generally) which are what makes up a big portion of that total. If they had looked at only 1st and 2nd round picks then it could've been interesting.

Edited April 22, 2014 by reo

[Jonboy]

That 8.7% is massively skewed since it's a total of all players drafted. You're not going to bring in 5th round and later guys which are what makes up a big portion of that total. If they had looked at only 1st and 2nd round picks then it could've been interesting.

I wanted to do something like that a few weeks ago, but couldn't find any kind of reliable archive to look back on. Would have been a very interesting study imo. Walter Football has the visits for last year, but our list wasn't correct b/c Warmack wasn't on there. We all know he was brought in for a visit. 

 

I may start trying to keep an archive. Would obviously take a while to build it up with enough data worth analyzing though. 

[reo]

I wanted to do something like that a few weeks ago, but couldn't find any kind of reliable archive to look back on. Would have been a very interesting study imo. Walter Football has the visits for last year, but our list wasn't correct b/c Warmack wasn't on there. We all know he was brought in for a visit. 

 

I may start trying to keep an archive. Would obviously take a while to build it up with enough data worth analyzing though. 

 

I think I found last year's list on PFT.. they might have previous years in there somewhere.

[headhunter]

So 100% of our first rounds picks came in for a visit.

[Guest]

Kuharsky and Wyatt have both said that. As usual, they're completely clueless unless they're being told something directly from a Titans source.

To me, that 8-10% is a large percentage. If you can look at a relatively large group of players and say 10% of these guys will definitely be Titans, that's a much better predictor than looking at all draft eligible players and saying less than 1% of these players will definitely be Titans.

I don't understand how someone can argue that's insignificant even from that perspective.

When you look at it from the Titans perspective, using last year and the year before as examples, and can say 3 or 4 of our 7 or 8 picks will most likely be from this manageable list of 30-45 players ( including local guys), that's very significant.

And in reference to the early rounds, 100% of the players drafted in the first and 2nd rounds under Webster are from the list. Even if it isn't an absolute predictor, how the hell is that not significant?

Edited April 22, 2014 by tgo

[reo]

Kuharsky and Wyatt have both said that. As usual, they're completely clueless unless they're being told something directly from a Titans source.

To me, that 8-10% is a large percentage. If you can look at a relatively large group of players and say 10% of these guys will definitely be Titans, that's a much better predictor than looking at all draft eligible players and saying less than 1% of these players will definitely be Titans.

I don't understand how someone can argue that's insignificant even from that perspective.

When you look at it from the Titans perspective, using last year and the year before as examples, and can say 3 or 4 of our 7 or 8 picks will most likely be from this manageable list of 30-45 players ( including local guys), that's very significant.

And in reference to the early rounds, 100% of the players drafted in the first and 2nd rounds under Webster are from the list. Even if it isn't an absolute predictor, how the hell is that not significant?

 

Exactly.

 

Doesn't mean it'll always be the case and he'll forever only select guys that they've brought in for visits. Sure, there may be the occasional player that falls that they didn't think would have any chance of being there or there may be a case where all the players they've had in for a visit are gone and they're left w/ reaching for a player they have had in or taking on they've rated decently that they haven't but traditionally, they pick the guys they've brought in.

[headhunter]

So 100% of our first rounds picks came in for a visit.

[Jonboy]

Adam Caplan ‏@caplannfl

As noted last week, Bortles is done with pre-draft visits (after today's with #Browns) since he met with many teams in Indy/around pro day.

 

Adam Caplan ‏@caplannfl 

Same situation for Mettenberger: Has visit with the #Titans next week, but met with around 2 dozen teams during combine, others at pro day.

[Jonboy]

@tgo @reo

 

You know I've wondered if PK and Wyatt are encouraged (by the team) to intentionally downplay the visits? They catch a lot of heat, but they're smart enough to see those connections just as we have. 

 

As I've worked to compile this list, one thing that has become increasingly obvious to me is how much you have to dig for accurate information. Sometimes the visits come directly from a player or an agent. Sometimes they aren't reported at all. Other times, reporters get them wrong or report something as a workout when it was really a visit, etc. 

 

I wonder if it's just another attempt to further cloud the process so other teams can't guess how others are leaning?

 

 

 

Are you reposting for emphasis or just asking? If you're asking, then yes that's true for the past 4 Titans drafts according to PK's article. Beyond that, we don't really know because there isn't a reliable archive of pre-draft visits (as far as I know).

[reo]

I doubt PK would. Wyatt is a separate matter. I don't, however, think he shows up at the facility and gets marching orders from the Titans on what to say. I think he probably just gets his info from specific sources who are told exactly what to feed him by the Titans.