Jon Robinson: Belichick Disciple Plundered Draft

The Tennessee Titans general manager, Jon Robinson, worked for the New England Patriots from 2002 until 2013, and his Patriots training was obvious in the 2016 draft.

Jon Robinson may be a Tennessee boy at heart, since he was born and raised in the blink-and-you’ll-miss-the-exit town of Union City, TN, but he spent a decade cutting his teeth with the New England Patriots. And once the Titans – and Jon Robinson – were on the clock in the 2016 NFL Draft, he locked in and executed everything that makes the Patriots one of the best-drafting teams in the NFL.

Almost every pick and trade the Titans made just screamed classic Patriots drafting strategies. Bill Belichick, who, of course, is the Pats’ de facto general manager, has principles in the draft that he rarely, if ever, deviates from, which is why dumb people every year get all worked up when he doesn’t draft a receiver in the first round. Jon Robinson, in his first year as the general manager of the Titans, didn’t just do a couple Patriot-esque things this draft – he ran the whole thing like Belichick 2.0.

More from Chowder and Champions

Let’s back up for a second – general managers in the NFL don’t have a whole lot of time to make moves and build a winning team. Just ask the New York Jets, whose ex-GM Mike Tannenbaum, the guy who drafted Muhammed Wilkerson and pretty much nobody else that turned out to be any good, and is now the Executive VP of Football Operations for the perpetual free agency champion Miami Dolphins.

Jon Robinson started at the bottom with the Pats as a scout in 2002, then moved up to Assistant Director of College Scouting in 2006, then got promoted to Director of College Scouting in 2009, and he stayed in New England until 2013. After a brief stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he signed on with the Titans as general manager – his first GM gig – in January of 2016.

If you were watching the draft, at all, every time the Titans made a pick, it was so classic Belichick that Jon Robinson had been a sponge for all 11 years he spent working in New England. Of course, only time will tell how this draft class works out for the Titans, but on paper, it looks like a razzle-dazzle slam dunk AND a testament to Robinson basically copy-and-pasting the Patriots’ style of drafting.

First things first: the big ol’ trade.

Patriots 101 – Trade Down

Even before the 2016 draft had started, Jon Robinson was already Belichick-ing. He traded the Titans’ number one overall pick to the St. Louis….err, sorry, Los Angeles Rams for a treasure chest of picks – in their desperation to find a decent quarterback, the Rams sent picks 15, 43, 45, and 76 in the 2016 draft, AND their 2017 first and third-round picks to Tennessee. Robinson’s highway-robbery trade netted the Titans 6 picks in the top 76 of the 2016 draft, and a (presumably) top-20 pick in next year’s draft, which most people think will be a pretty solid one.

Trading down and reaping the spoils of desperate, stupid football teams is classic Belichick, and Robinson pulled it off brilliantly with that trade. Whether it was the Saints trade where New England got pick 56 in 2011 and a first-rounder in 2012 so the Saints could take Mark Ingram, trading out of the first round in 2013 so the Vikings could draft Cordarrelle Patterson (the Patriots eventually took linebacker Jamie Collins that year), or fleecing the Ravens so Baltimore could draft quarterback Kyle Boller, while New England got the 41st pick in 2003 and the Ravens’ first-rounder in 2004.

Given that Robinson walked in on a situation that almost never happens – having the #1 overall pick – and that the Titans already have a BAMF quarterback in Marcus Mariota, who was on pace to break the rookie touchdown record before coach Ken Wisenhunt’s idiotic play-calling got Mariota injured last season, flipping the #1 pick for a boatload of early picks to take as many chances to fill Tennessee’s mostly-pathetic roster was a no-brainer.

Patriots 101 – Take the Big Boys First

If you had to bet the rent on it, there’s really only three types of players New England has taken in the first round since Belichick’s reign of terror began. The Patriots’ first-round picks are almost always defensive linemen, linebackers, or offensive tackles and guards.

Why? It’s simple, really – teams get starry-eyed over quarterbacks and receivers and running backs, but there’s only so many football players that really have the size and athletic ability you need to succeed in the NFL as a lineman or linebacker. Over the years, the Patriots have disappointed their whining fans time and time again by not drafting flashy players like (at the time) Cordarrelle Patterson, Demaryious Thomas, and Dez freaking Bryant, but they’ve nabbed perennial Pro Bowlers like Logan Mankins, Richard Seymour, Jerod Mayo, and Vince Wilfork instead.

So the Titans, armed with that strategy, took Michigan State bruiser offensive lineman Jack Conklin in the first round, then took Clemson linebacker/edge defender Kevin Dodd and Penn State defensive tackle Austin Johnson in the second round. The Titans also snagged Alabama’s beastly running back Derrick Henry in the second round, but we’ll get to that in a second.

Bottom line: the Patriots have always drafted the big boys early to snag the best of the best, and that’s been a huge part of why their defense is almost always top-10 and why Tom Brady still feels “fresh as lettuce” at 38 years old. The Titans, and Jon Robinson, are doing the same thing now.

Patriots 101 – Draft Running Backs in the Middle Rounds

Ok, so New England has taken a running back in the first round before – they drafted Minnesota’s Laurence Maroney in the first round in 2006 – but usually, the Pats find their running back talent in the heart of the draft. Rounds 2, 3, and 4 have been a goldmine for New England to replenish their running backs year after year. The Titans are probably best-known for drafting Chris Johnson in the first round in 2008, and CJ quickly became CJ2K before his contract outweighed his usefulness, but this year, the Titans made two very Patriot-ish moves to help their god-awful ground game.

First of all, before the draft even started, they traded with the Philadelphia Eagles, picking up 2014 rushing champ Demarco Murray for the pennies-on-the-dollar price of swapping fourth-round picks with Philly. Think about how dumb that sounds for the Eagles. You signed the 2014 leading rusher in the league to a big-money deal, and then get rid of him a year later and move up just a few steps in the fourth round as a return. Yikes.

Chip Kelly’s faceplant as a GM notwithstanding, the Titans entered the 2016 draft not really needing to take a running back for anything other than depth. But when Heisman-trophy winner and combine stud Derrick Henry was still on the board late in the second round, Tennessee pounced, which gives them the one-two punch of Henry – who’s 6’3” and 245 pounds and lightning-quick – and Demarco Murray at the running back position, the Titans suddenly look like they have a terrifying backfield to pair with quarterback Marcus Mariota and a wet-behind-the-ears, younger offensive line.

The Patriots pull stuff like that all the dang time. Some pretty notable New England running backs the Patriots have had success with – and make fun of their “committee” approach that screws over your fantasy football team if you want – have been mid-round draft picks.

A few examples:

James White, who was drafted in the 4th and filled in admirably for the injured Dion Lewis last year;

Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley, who were taken in the 2nd and 3rd rounds in 2011, respectively, and both won Super Bowl rings with New England in 2014;

J.R. Redmond, the Arizona State running back that rushed and played special teams as a kick returner from 2000-2004. He got some Super Bowl jewelry to show for it, too.

More from Boston Sports

Patriots 101 – Take a Roll-the-Dice Pick After the First Round

The first round is no place to get cute and risky, and that’s at least part of the reason the Titans got progressively worse every year after winning an impressive 13 games in 2008. They’ve spent first-round draft picks on quarterback Jake Locker, who retired last year at 26 years old, Kendall Wright, who hasn’t executed at a level even close to what a first-round receiver should be racking up, and took Kenny Britt as their first-rounder in 2009.

The Patriots haven’t hit on all their first-rounders either, obviously – Dominique Easley and Brandon Meriweather are good examples of a pick blowing up in New England’s face – but they’ve mostly played it safe early in the draft, then rambled and gambled in the middle rounds to see if anyone’s left with a high upside, even if they fall farther down the board than people expect.

Tennessee got a lot of “WTF?” looks when they drafted local kid Kevin Byard, the safety from Middle Tennessee State University right down the road in the third round. They also got a double helping of “WTF?” when they picked up Massachusetts wide receiver Tajae Sharp in the fifth.

Those types of picks, though, are where the Patriots have snagged elite – and occasionally, all-time great – talent. Want an easy example?

Gronk.

The Pats rolled the dice with Rob Gronkowski in 2010, spending a second-round pick on a guy they knew was scary talented, but had well-known injury problems going into the draft. Sure, Gronk has spent plenty of time on IR during his six years in New England, but nobody’s complaining when he’s on the field embarrassing defenders and throwing people out of the club.

Want some more? Of course you do! The Patriots have used second and third-rounders to draft Sebastian Vollmer, who came from a relatively tiny program in Houston, cornerback Ellis Hobbs, who at one point held the NFL record for longest touchdown return, and Pro Bowl corner Asante Samuel, who fell all the way to the fourth round in 2003. Oh, and that Matt Light guy was a second-rounder, too.

Bottom line – once the Titans had a few can’t-miss draft picks locked up, that treasure chest of mid-round picks they got from L.A. means they’ve got the chance to gamble a bit.

Patriots 101 – Draft For the Future, Not For Today

It seems kind of backwards for a team like Tennesee, who’s clearly faceplanted the last two years, to draft like the Patriots, who usually just laugh at Mel Kiper’s “TEAM NEEDS” every year, but that’s exactly what they pulled off this weekend.

Bill Belichick has always been a “best player available” kind of guy, instead of going “OMG we NEED a (receiver/corner/tackle/running back/whatever)”. The 2015 draft was a great case in point – everyone flipped out when Bill didn’t really draft anyone to “replace” Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner at cornerback, and of course, everyone gets pissed annually when Belichick doesn’t take a wide receiver. All the Patriots did in 2015 was put out a top-5 offense and a top-10 defense, and came within a couple freak-accident plays of going to back-to-back Super Bowls.

Enter the Titans, and their draft haul just screams that they’re building something, not just freaking out because of how bad they were last year. Demarco Murray is everyone’s idea of a BAMF running back, but he’s also 28 years old, and his last two seasons, including his almost-joined-the-2000-yard-club 2014 season, are the only ones where he hasn’t spent more time in the trainer’s office than on the field. So when Alabama’s Derrick Henry dropped almost all the way out of the second round, Jon Robinson pounced, adding a guy who’s got the potential to be a guy with a banner hanging outside of Nissan Stadium someday, but in the meantime, can either form a mean running-back-by-committee approach with Demarco and Antonio Andrews, and if Murray bounces back this year, then Henry is – at the worst – one of the best backups in the NFL. Good luck with that, AFC South linebackers.

The rest of their draft was all foundational, too – if first-rounder Jack Conklin works out as a tackle, he’ll be on the front-lines in Tennessee as a somewhat amusing pair of Michigan and Michigan State tackles with Taylor Lewan. The pick of Clemson’s Kevin Dodd at linebacker was a bit of a head-scratcher, until you remember that Tennessee’s Dick-LeBeau-coached defense took a nosedive after Derrick Morgan got hurt last year. Kevin Dodd notched a tidy 12 sacks in his senior year, so he should be able to rotate in – or jump up to a starting job – if any of Tennessee’s linebackers go down again. Not a flashy pick, but hey, depth, depth, depth – or, as the Patriots call it “Next man up”. No excuses.

Patriots 101 – Take Advantage of Cheap Rookie Contracts

Ever since rookies got fixed contract amounts after the 2011 CBA, their deals are hands-down the best in sports from a team-building perspective. Rookies and their cheap contracts are half the reason Seattle could build the Legion of Boom while paying Russell Wilson relative peanuts, and a big part of teams like the Ravens, Steelers, and Broncos that seem to be in the playoff mix every year while the rest of the league looks like dogs chasing cars.

Belichick has never been shy about paying his homegrown talent, dealing out suitcases of cash for players like Jerod Mayo, Vince Wilfork, and Devin McCourty, but overall, the Patriots are one of the youngest teams in the league, and that means a lot of these guys are great bargains. Freaking Malcolm Butler, the Super Bowl god that turned in a Pro Bowl season at cornerback this year, is making less than a million dollars in salary.

So with a whole slew of positions that needed help this offseason, Jon Robinson, like we said earlier, flipped the number one pick into a whole bunch of sweet, sweet picks to help Tennessee rebuild for pennies on the dollar instead of just throwing money at their problems like they’ve done in the past.

Before Robinson took over, Tennessee paid beaucoup bucks to guard Andy Levitre, signed offensive lineman Michael Oher, who turned out to be terrible after all, and famously paid Chris Johnson so much money that they couldn’t justify keeping him when he wasn’t rushing for 1500+ yards a year. Instead of making it rain in free agency this year, the Titans sat back, picked up a few decent players like wideout Rishard Matthews and safety Rashad Johnson (hat tip to my buddy Nick for reminding me about that guy), and then focused on making as much out of the draft as possible.

With quarterback Marcus Mariota on a rookie deal for the next few years, if Tennessee can draft well, it’ll keep their salary cap sitting pretty before they have to pay Marcus elite quarterback money, which can totally bork your team when your quarterback is on the books for $20+ million a year. Looking at you, Saints, Steelers, and Ravens!

Want proof? Just look at – and this still feels weird to write seriously – the Oakland Raiders. After spending pretty much all of the 2000s as the NFL’s running joke for drafting and signing players so badly, the silver and black attack is somehow looking pretty darn solid as a title contender. Told you it sounds weird on paper, but by picking up good-to-great kids like Alabama’s Amari Cooper, linebacker Khalil Mack, and, most importantly, quarterback Derek Carr, the Raiders are looking pretty stacked and have boatloads of cap space to play with. If the Titans – and Jon Robinson – can pull off a couple solid Belichick-type offseasons, they could pull a complete 180 on this team and have them right back in the mix after years of exasperated Titans fans.

Next: Top 10 Non First Round Picks for Pats

So Tennessee fans, thanks to Robinson studying up under the best, and – by the looks of it, anyway, acing his first test – the Titans can take what’s worked so well for New England since Belichick and Robert Kraft started running the show, and hopefully build themselves a winner.

All it’s done for New England is produce 4 Super Bowl titles, 6 AFC championships, one undefeated season, and a team that hasn’t had a losing record since their Cinderella Super Bowl win in 2001.

Game on.

Home/Boston Sports

Jon Robinson: Belichick Disciple Plundered the Draft

By Matthew Rewinski | May 1, 2016

The Tennessee Titans general manager, Jon Robinson, worked for the New England Patriots from 2002 until 2013, and his Patriots training was obvious in the 2016 draft.

More from Chowder and Champions