The Tennessee Titans have already won the 2016 NFL Draft
The Rams and Titans shook up the NFL Draft with a blockbuster trade. The Rams got the top pick in the Draft, but it is the Titans who are the big winners.
Similar to the popular draft-value chart created by Jimmy Johnson, we can assign a value to every draft pick based on the average career of players drafted in those spots in previous years, using data compiled by FootballPerspective.com.
Summing up the values of all picks, the Titans now have the most valuable collection of picks, gaining 199 points in this year's draft based on the trade with the Rams alone. In the deal, the Titans received this year's first-round pick (No. 15 overall), two second-round picks (Nos. 43 and 45), and a third-round pick (No. 76). Meanwhile, the Rams get the first pick in the draft, a fourth-round pick (No. 113), and a sixth-rounder (No. 177), but lost 199 points in draft-pick value.
But the real value comes next season when the Titans will get the Rams' first- and third-round picks. Those two picks will be worth at least another 761 points (if the Rams win the Super Bowl) and as much as 1,983 points (if the Rams have the worst record). To put that in perspective, the Cardinals' entire collection of draft picks this year is only worth 1,155 points, and the Titans didn't give up any picks next year.
Of course, if the Rams get a quarterback who turns into an elite player, the cost will have been worth it, and the Titans still have to make smart picks. But for now, the move was a huge cost for the Rams and the Titans' margin for error just grew significantly.
