Liberty QB slips to third round, selected by Titans
The Tennessee Titans capped their second night of the NFL draft by trading up and selecting a quarterback.
The Titans insist making Malik Willis of Liberty the third quarterback taken in this draft was simply about picking the best player available, nothing more. But it could create competition at the position, even if Ryan Tannehill has the NFL’s highest salary-cap figure coming off a down season.
General manager Jon Robinson doesn’t know what will happen, saying he can’t predict the future.
“We’ll see how it shakes out,” Robinson said. “You can’t have enough of them. We saw that last year when we went through 91 different players.”
In their third trade of this draft, the Titans dealt the 90th and 169th selections to Las Vegas to move up to No. 86 and use the pick to select the Liberty quarterback Friday night. They already have Tannehill, with Logan Woodside as his backup, and also Kevin Hogan.
“I don’t think anybody’s going to be able to talk about anybody’s future tonight,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said.
The 6-foot, 219-pound Willis threw for 2,857 yards and 27 touchdowns last season despite 12 interceptions. He also ran for 13 TDs. For his career, Willis finished with 48 TD passes and 29 rushing touchdowns.
Willis was in Las Vegas for the first night at the draft, then rented out a bowling alley for Friday because he didn’t have another suit for the green room. Like Tennessee’s other selections to that point, Willis visited the Titans before the draft.
“I really think we clicked out at the combine and after my pro day and every time we got a chance to meet,” Willis said.
Tannehill is coming off a season in which he was sacked 47 times and had 14 interceptions — his most since his second season in the NFL.
Here are some other players with Virginia connections who got drafted:
Jelani Woods, TE, Virginia: The Indianapolis Colts selected Woods with the first of two third-round picks. He went 73rd overall and was the second tight end taken in the draft. The Arizona Cardinals picked Colorado State’s Trey McBride in the second round at No. 55.
Woods (6-7, 253) joins another tight end on the Colts’ roster who hails from a Virginia school: Mo Alie-Cox, who played basketball for VCU and signed as an undrafted free agent in 2017.
Woods caught 44 passes for 598 yards and eight touchdowns for the Cavaliers last season. He played his first three college seasons with Oklahoma State.
James Mitchell, TE, Virginia Tech: The Detroit Lions took Mitchell (6-4, 249) near the end of the fifth round with the 177th overall pick. He missed all but two games of last season with a knee injury. The southwest Virginia native finished with 52 catches for 838 yards and seven touchdowns in 22 career games with the Hokies.
Amare Barno, OLB, Virginia Tech:
The Carolina Panthers picked Barno (6-5, 246) in the sixth round with the 189th selection. He had 35 tackles, including 5.5 for losses, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble for the Hokies last season.
Luke Tenuta, OT, Virginia Tech:
The Buffalo Bills chose Tenuta in the sixth round with the 209th pick. The 6-8, 319-pounder from Western Albemarle High earned All-ACC honorable mention as a senior last season and was a third-team All-ACC selection as a junior in 2020, when Tech averaged a school-record 5.58 yards per carry.
Lecitus Smith, G, Virginia Tech:
The Arizona Cardinals took Smith (6-3 314) in the sixth round with the 215th pick. He started 37 games for the Hokies, almost exclusively at left guard, but he sprained his ankle against Duke late in the 2021 season and didn’t play again. He competed in the Senior Bowl.