Tennessee Titans 10 Best NFL Draft Picks

With the 2016 NFL Draft getting closer, here’s a look back at the Tennessee Titans and Houston Oilers’ 10 best picks in franchise history.

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Coming up with the greatest Tennessee Titan draft picks of all-time is tough since most of the franchise’s top selections were 1) Houston Oilers and 2) taken in the AFL era. It’s also difficult because a slew of the best draft picks played somewhere else, starring a who’s who of receivers including Steve Largent, Charlie Joiner and Charley Taylor.

A few rules. First, with rare exception, the player had to have been drafted by the franchise. Defensive back Jim Norton’s number might be retired, but he was drafted by Detroit.

Warren Moon is also a tough call, having begun his NFL life with the Oilers, but he started his career in Canada and wasn’t drafted by the franchise. Jim Kelly, for example, started his career in the USFL, but he was drafted by Buffalo.

Second, longevity with the franchise means just about everything. With the exception of a certain Texas running back, high-end production for a long time matters more than a short burst, especially if that player spends a key portion of his career with someone else.

And finally, this isn’t a list of the best players in Tennessee Titan/Houston Oiler history – Moon would obviously be on that. This is a list of the best draft picks whose career was mostly spent with that team.

1. OG Bruce Matthews, USC

1983, 1st round, 9th pick overall
Pick Before: RB Michael Haddix, Southern Miss by Philadelphia
Pick After: CB Terry Kinard, Clemson, by New York Giants

The ultimate lifer, Matthews played 19 years and not only maintained a high level of play, but he improved named All-Pro from 1998 to 2000 before retiring in 2001. Most amazingly, the Hall of Fame blocker didn’t start in one game in his rookie year, missed two games in the strike-shortened 1987 season, and started all 16 games in every other year. With a ridiculous 14 Pro Bowl appearances and seven All-Pro nods, he’s the dream of all dream offensive lineman draft picks.

2. RB Earl Campbell, Texas

1978, 1st round, 1st pick overall
Pick Before: None
Pick After: DE Art Still, Kentucky by Kansas City

Campbell might have only run for Houston for seven years, but they were among the most physically dominant seasons by any running back in pro football history. The No. 1 overall pick rumbled for 8,574 yards and 74 touchdowns with 1,300 yards or more in six of his seven campaigns. Call this quality over quantity, and why? His rookie year: 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns. As a sophomore? 1,697 yards and 19 scores. In 1980, his third season, he ran for 1,934 yards and 13 scores.

3. QB Steve McNair, Alcorn State

1995, 1st round, 3rd pick overall
Pick Before: OT Tony Boselli, USC by Jacksonville
Pick After: WR Michael Westbrook, Colorado by Washington

It’s crazy to think about now, but taking an Alcorn State quarterback with the third overall pick was considered a big chance at the time. He’s not in the Hall of Fame, but for 11 years he was one of the toughest quarterbacks in football throwing for over 27,000 yards with 156 touchdowns while running for almost 3,500 yards with 36 scores. It was a tough time to try to get any recognition as a quarterback, but he went to three Pro Bowls and almost carried the Titans on his back to a Super Bowl.

4. OG Mike Munchak, Penn State

1982, 1st round, 8th pick overall
Pick Before: RB Darrin Nelson, Stanford by Minnesota
Pick After: RB Gerald Riggs, Arizona State by Atlanta

It might not be all that sexy to have nailed the right interior offensive lineman with the eighth overall pick, but there’s nothing wrong with taking a Hall of Fame blocker who spent 12 years at left guard. The two-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowl performer was more than just reliable; he was a difference-maker on the Houston line.

5. DE Elvin Bethea, North Carolina A&T

1968, 3rd round, 77th pick overall
Pick Before: LB Mike McGill, Notre Dame by Minnesota
Pick After: WR Rich O’Hara, Northern Arizona by Baltimore

If Bruce Matthews is Mr. Oiler because of his longevity, Bethea isn’t all that far behind. The third round pick also earned a spot in the Hall of Fame after playing 16 years in Houston. Steadily terrific, he might not have been named to any All-Pro teams, but he went to eight Pro Bowls as a tough all-around pass rusher who was as dependable as any defensive lineman in the 1970s.

6. DT Ray Childress, Texas A&M

1985, 1st round, 3rd pick overall
Pick Before: OT Bill Fralic, Pitt by Atlanta
Pick After: DE Chris Doleman, Pitt by Minnesota

Unfortunately, it’s hard to gush too much about Childress with Hall of Fame end Chris Doleman going one pick later, but that’s not fair. If you were to tell any GM with the third overall pick that his defensive tackle would start every game but three over an 11-year career with the franchise, would be a superior interior pass rusher, would go to five Pro Bowls, and would get named to one All-Pro team, he’d take it in a heartbeat.

7. LB Robert Brazile, Jackson State

1975, 1st round, 6th pick overall
Pick Before: DE Mack Mitchell, Houston by Cleveland
Pick After: WR Larry Burton, Purdue by New Orleans

The two-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler played all ten years in Houston setting the bar high as one of the game’s best all-around defenders. Not just a tough tackling machine, he was excellent against the pass and was always around the ball as one of the best outside linebackers of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

8. RB Eddie George, Ohio State

1996, 1st round, 14th pick overall
Pick Before: CB Walt Harris, Mississippi State by Chicago
Pick After: LB John Mobley, Kutztown by Denver

The franchise’s all-time leading rusher hasn’t made the Hall of Fame yet, but he belongs in the Hall of the Very Good with 10,009 career rushing yards with 259 catches and 86 total touchdowns. He suffered from ramping up just as Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith were winding down, and he didn’t quite compare being named to just one All-Pro team and going to four Pro Bowls, but he was one of the most durable runners of his era.

9. S Ken Houston, Prairie View

1967, 9th round, 214th pick overall
Pick Before: T Fred Freeman, Mississippi Valley State by New York Giants
Pick After: WR Bob Moton, Bishop by Atlanta

Here’s the problem – the Hall of Fame pickoff artist played most of his career in Washington. However, for a ninth round AFL pick, he was a terrific playmaker for the Oilers in his first six seasons going to five Pro Bowls while scoring all nine of his career defensive touchdowns. Granted, his career went from great to all-timer because of what he did with the Redskins – no argument if you don’t want to really count him as a true Oiler for this list.

10. WR Ernest Givins, Louisville

1986, 2nd round, 34th pick overall
Pick Before: RB Darryl Clack, Arizona State by Dallas
Pick After: LB Dino Hackett, Appalachian State by Kansas City

Derrick Mason had a stronger four-year receiving run for the Titans, but he left for Baltimore. Haywood Jeffires and others in the run ‘n’ shoot era were every bit as dangerous, but they didn’t have the staying power. Givins was very steady, very dependable, and very, very good missing just two games in his nine-year Oiler career catching 542 passes for 7,935 yards and 46 scores going to two Pro Bowls.