Titans address defensive line in Draft Wire’s latest 2022 mock

The Tennessee Titans still have a long 2021 season ahead of them, especially now that there’s a 17th game on the schedule; however, Draft Wire is already looking ahead to 2022, and more specifically, the 2022 NFL draft.

Luke Easterling shared his latest two-round projections, but of course the Titans only had one selection after sending their 2022 second-rounder to the Atlanta Falcons as part of the package that landed wide receiver Julio Jones.

With their first-round pick, Easterling has the Titans taking Oklahoma defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey with the No. 22 overall pick.

The 6-foot-3, 297-pound lineman played in nine games for the Sooners in 2020, totaling 17 tackles (5.5 for loss), 0.5 sacks and three passes defensed. He likely could play either nose tackle or end in Tennessee’s 3-4 defense.

Tennessee going defensive line early on in 2022 is certainly a possibility.

While two spots upfront appear to be locked down for at least the next few seasons thanks to Jeffery Simmons and Denico Autry, the Titans are still trying to figure out who will play next to them in 2021 and beyond.

After the Titans and DaQuan Jones parted ways, Tennessee is left with a competition to replace his snaps between 2020 UDFA Teair Tart, 2020 fifth-round pick Larrell Murchison, and veteran free-agent signing, Abry Jones.

The jury is still out on if any of those three players can make enough of a dent to stick around for the long haul, but if they can’t Tennessee might be looking for help upfront sooner rather than later in next year’s draft.