NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Rashaan Evans should be a Day 1 starter as an inside linebacker for the Titans.
But the team’s former director of scouting says the franchise shouldn’t look to him to be the defensive quarterback right from the start and he doesn’t expect Mike Vrabel and Dean Pees will ask at of the first-round pick.
Blake Beddingfield was part of 19 drafts with the Titans, the last five as director of college scouting. John Robinson let him go in 2017.
During an hour with The Midday 180 on Monday Beddingfield, an Alabama graduate, said he likes Evans but guarded against too much too soon.
“I don’t think he’s going to be that guy, I think Wesley Woodyard is going to be that guy this year and Rashaan is going to be a guy that kind of learns off of Wesley and that’s a good situation,” he said. “I think he can (graduate to it later.) Stay in the same system, don’t’ start changing systems on the guy and don’t start mixing things up.
“But right now, no, it’s not going to be a thing for him.”
Blake Beddingfield on The Midday 180 @Titans https://t.co/P7JART53ri
— The Midday 180 (@Midday180) July 2, 2018
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Evans early time on the field for the Crimson Tide was as a pass rushing edge player, which was a simpler spot. Like Reuben Foster before him, he had to wait and learn before he got a starting role inside.
Without the college time limitations, the Titans will be able to teach Evans more sooner and get him in advantageous positions.
Vrabel preached he wasn’t guys playing fast, so it makes sense that the team wouldn’t slow Evans down.
Beddingfield wasn’t comparing Evans to Zach Brown. But he did use the second-round linebacker out of North Carolina in 2012 as an example. Brown was not very good in Tennessee but has gone onto success in Buffalo and Washington.
“Outstanding athlete; you put a lot on him mentally, it wasn’t going to come out well,” he said. “You would just have to let him go play. Put a lot on him mentally and he made some mental mistakes. Then when we let him play he became a player. Washington did that, Buffalo did that and he’s made the Pro Bowl.
“One of Rashaan strengths is he’s very athletic. He’s very fast. He’s rangy. He’s an instinctive player. He can rush from the inside and the out. There are a lot of good qualities to him.
“Don’t tax his brain with having to line everybody up on this defense from Day 1. You’ve got veteran guys around him who could do that, you’ve got a safety in Kevin Byard who can do that and you’ve got another insider back that’s going to stand next to him in Wesley Woodyard. They are already probably going to put (Evans) in a situation where he’s going to have the play a lot of nickel and play the base defense, so that’s a lot physically and mentally to handle.”
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