The Tennessee Titans found a future starting QB and a lot of good defensive players in last April’s NFL Draft.  Here is a look at how well the rookies played in their first taste of the NFL in 2011:

In the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, the Titans picked 23-year old QB Jake Locker.  Jake Locker played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Titans last year and he completed 34 of 66 passes (51.5%) for 542 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 INTs (99.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 8 times for 56 yards (7.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Locker is going to be the starting QB of the very near future for the Titans as he will likely compete with Matt Hasselbeck for the starting job in the 2012 training camp.

22-year old LB Akeem Ayers was picked in the 2nd round.  He played in 16 games for the Titans last year and he had 76 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  He will likely be a starter for the Titans for a long time.

22-year old DT Jurrell Casey was picked in the 3rd round by the Titans.  He played in all 16 games for the Titans last year and he had 52 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  Casey has a huge upside and he will likely be a starter for a long time for the Titans.

23-year old LB Colin McCarthy was picked in the 4th round by the Titans.  He played in 13 games for the Titans last year and he had 68 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  McCarthy is likely going to be a starter for a long time for the Titans.

22-year old RB Jamie Harper was also picked in the 4th round by the Titans.  He played in 13 games for the Titans last year and he carried the ball 17 times for 44 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Harper also caught 4 passes for 32 yards (8.0 avg) for the Titans last year.  He will need to improve if he wants to see more P.T. in 2012 and beyond.

23-year old DT Karl Klug was a 5th round pick of the Titans.  He played in all 16 games for the Titans last year and he had 20 tackles, 7 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 passes defensed and 2 tackles for a loss.  Klug was a steal where they got him as he is an outstanding inside pass rusher.

23-year old OT Byron Stingily was picked in the sixth round by the Titans.  He didn’t get into any games as a rookie.

24-year old DT Zach Clayton was a 7th round pick of the Titans.  He played in 3 games for the Titans last year and he had 3 tackles.

24-year old CB Tommie Campbell was also a 7th round pick by the Titans.  He played in 15 games for the Titans last year and he had 8 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.

GRADE FOR 2011:  A

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:   A++++++++++

The Titans are getting solid work out of 22-year old Akeem Ayers and 23-year old Colin McCarthy so far this year.  Ayers has played in 12 games for the Titans so far this year and he has 53 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  McCarthy has played in 9 games for the Titans so far this year and he has 42 tackles, 6 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception.  The Titans’ are playing better defense than most “experts” thought they would and Ayers & McCarthy are a big part of that.

I really like what the Titans did last April.  The Titans took QB Jake Locker in the first round (#8 overall) to be the QB of the future.  Locker would have likely been the #1 overall pick if he came out after his junior season in 2010, so the Titans are getting value here.  He is a swashbuckling type QB as he uses his strong arm to try to fit the ball into tight windows.  He also is a good runner.  RB Jamie Harper was a very solid pick for the Titans in the 4th round.  He’s a power runner and he will give the Titans’ offense a different look when he gives Chris Johnson a break.  OLB Akeem Ayers, DT Jurrell Casey, LB Colin McCarthy and DE Karl Klug give the Titans a nice group of defensive players to help out.

PROJECTED GRADE:  B

The Titans have picked CB Tommie Campbell out of California (Pa.) with the 251st overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Campbell is 6’3″, 205 pounds and he ran a 4.31 40 at the Cactus Bowl.  Campbell played in 12 games (4 starts) at California (Pa.) last year and he had 29 tackles and 2 interceptions.  Campbell is an impressive physical specimen but he will be making a huge leap in competition.  It will be interesting to see if he can make the Titans’ opening day roster.

The Titans took DT Zach Clayton out of Auburn with the 212th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Clayton is 6’2″, 299 pounds.  He wasn’t that productive in college and he will need to really improve just to get on the field.  He had 28 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss and 1 sack last year for Auburn.  In his four years at Auburn, Clayton had 65 tackles, 16 tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks.  This was a longshot pick for the Titans as Clayton didn’t play that well in college.

The Tennessee Titans picked OT Byron Stingily out of Louisville with the 175th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Stingily is 6’5″, 313 pounds and he runs a 4.99 40.  Stingily played in 13 games (all starts) for Louisville last year and he played in 24 games (all starts) in his two years with Louisville.  Stingily will be a developmental project that’s likely going to take some time before he’s ready to get on the field when the real bullets are flying.

The Titans took DE Karl Klug out of Iowa with the 142nd overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Klug is 6’3″, 275 pounds and he runs a 4.78 40.  Klug’s main assets are that he’s nasty and always plays with a high motor.  Klug had 57 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, he bated down 3 passes and he forced 1 fumble.  Klug played in 39 games in his four years at Iowa and he had 139 tackles, 31 tackles for a loss, 11.5 sacks, he batted down 8 passes and he forced 4 fumbles.  The Titans will have to find a position that Klug can handle as he appears to be a tweener.

The Titans picked RB Jamie Harper out of Clemson with the 130th overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Harper is 5’11″, 233 pounds and he runs a 4.63 40.  Harper is a power back who would rather run over than around a defender.  He is also a  solid receiver out of the backfield.  Harper played in 13 games for Clemson last year and he carried the ball 197 times for 760 yards (3.9 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also caught 35 passes for 328 yards (9.4 avg) last year.  He played in 39 games in his three years with the Tigers and he carried the ball 311 times for 1,311 yards (4.2 avg) with 12 TD runs.  He also caught 50 passes for 398 yards (8.0 avg) in his three years in college.  The Titans wanted to get another big back to give them a power runner to back up Chris Johnson and give opposing defenses another look during games, and Harper might be able to give them that.

The Titans picked 23-year old OLB Colin McCarthy out of Miami (FL) with the 109th overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft (4th round).  McCarthy 6’1″, 238 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40.  McCarthy is a pure football player as his motor always runs hot.  He’s not much of a pass rusher but he makes plays sideline to sideline on ballcarriers.  McCarthy has had issues keeping healthy though as he only played in 4 games in two different years for the Hurricanes.  McCarthy played in 12 games (11 starts) for the Hurricanes last year and he had 119 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass broke up and 1 interception.  McCarthy played in 44 games (34 starts) in his five years with the Hurricanes and he had 304 tackles, 34.5 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 6 passes broken up and 3 interceptions.

The Tennessee Titans took 21-year old DT Jurrell Casey out of USC with the 77th overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Casey is 6’1″, 305 pounds and he’s pretty mean.  Casey hits through the ball carrier and he has a lot of speed inside which gives guards and centers big trouble.  Casey played in 13 games (all starts) for USC last year and he had 67 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, batted down 2 passes and he recovered 1 fumble.  Casey played in 38 games (26 starts) in his three years with the Trojans and he had 138 tackles, 22 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks, batted down 3 passes, forced 3 fumbles and he recovered 4 fumbles.  This was a solid pick for the Titans as Casey should help them right away.