How Titans use their pick insures Mariota’s future

You’ve undoubtedly seen the Island Insurance commercial where Marcus Mariota gives a jogger a suggestion about where to buy her auto insurance.

Maybe for his next commercial he can pitch the importance of workman’s comp insurance as a well-pummeled Tennessee Titans quarterback.

Perhaps, something along the lines of, “I bought this workman’s comp policy because I was sacked 38 times last year and who the heck knows what my team will do with the No. 1 pick in this NFL Draft?”

Who indeed? The Titans have confounded for years, which is one reason they went 3-13 to earn the top pick and have missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons.

Laremy Tunsil, a 6-foot, 5-inch, 315-pound offensive tackle out of Mississippi, is the presumptive choice for Tennessee of most draft boards and safeguard for Mariota’s twice-injured knees. Except that these are, after all, the Titans.

Ideally, of course, somebody well below them would offer a bushel of picks to trade up for the Titans’ spot. Thereby allowing Tennessee to fill multiple needs and still get a well-regarded tackle, a premium running back, a deep-threat receiver… . Well, you name it.

Without a consensus marquee gotta-have No. 1 quarterback atop the draft that plenty of teams are clamoring for this year the chances of swinging such a deal are slim.

Maybe they could acquire a quality free agent offensive tackle, except that Titans might not be a high demand destination given their struggles.

Which brings us back to the draft. Reports out of last week’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis had Tunsil putting on an impressive performance. Meanwhile, the Titans also were checking out defensive end Joey Bosa of Ohio State and defensive back Jalen Ramsey of Florida State. Both would undoubtedly help their wide-ranging needs.

But Tunsil, who yielded just two sacks in 28 games at Ole Miss would seem to best address their most pressing one: keeping Mariota ambulatory.

As ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay put in in a media conference call Wednesday, “I think it just makes sense to protect the investment, Marcus Mariota. You’re going to win or lose over the next five plus years depending on how Mariota plays. And, how Mariota plays will, in part, be determined by how well he is protected. He wasn’t protected well enough last year. They need to upgrade.”

As McShay notes, “He (Mariota) needs to get the ball out quicker but the one thing they can control is pass protection. I think Laremy Tunsil is the most naturally athletic and talented offensive lineman in this draft and it would make a lot of sense to bring him in and now have two former (first rounders) as your offensive tackles.”

Taylor Lewan, who played left tackle last season but lacked consistency, was a first-round pick in the 2014 draft and could move to right tackle to make room for Tunsil.

As Mariota gets the knees that sidelined him for four games last year ready for the rigors of a sophomore NFL season, who could blame him for talking about more insurance?

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.