Tennessee Titans Get Huge Steal in MTSU’s Kevin Byard In 2016 NFL Draft

When the Tennessee Titans made their initial trade with the Los Angeles Rams a few weeks ago, my initial belief was that they would select Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders’ safety Kevin Byard with the No. 76 overall pick.

Byard seemed like a match made in heaven for the Titans. Tennessee released longtime safety Michael Griffin the offseason, and Byard was a highly-touted safety who could come into this squad and be a potential starter almost immediately. On top of that, he played college football in Murfreesboro, TN, at MTSU, a school just a relatively short drive from Nashville that has over 20,000 students and thousands of alumni in the Nashville area. Byard would immediately become a fan favorite with the Titans and fit into what the team needs.

On the first day of the 2016 NFL draft, Tennessee traded away their No. 76 pick as part of a deal with the Cleveland Browns so that they could move up to No. 8 overall and select OT Jack Conklin. Things looked grim for the perfect match between the Titans and Byard, and even more so on the second day of the draft, as the Titans did not take clear needs in wide receiver and cornerback in the second round of the draft.

However, Tennessee pulled the trigger on Byard with the first pick of the third round and made what might be their best decision of the draft so far. The Derrick Henry pick might still have fans reeling, but the Byard pick should put them at ease. He looks to be in for a long, successful career that should have the majority of Titans fans extremely excited.

Just please, draft a receiver for Marcus Mariota soon.