*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Blake Beddingfield a Candidate for Titans GM Job
Updated Jan. 5, 2016By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
After a 3-13 season, the Tennessee Titans started down the path of a new regime after moving on from general manager Ruston Webster weeks after firing head coach Ken Whisenhunt. The Titans are one of the most attractive job openings at each position because of the young talent on the Tennessee roster, specifically a young franchise quarterback. The architect for that young talent is Titans director of college scouting Blake Beddingfield, and there is the possibility that Beddingfield will be promoted to the general manager position. Sources in Tennessee say that Beddingfield is a candidate to be the Titans next general manager.
A year ago, many were projecting Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota to land with the Browns, Jets, Rams, or Eagles. However, Beddingfield had the Titans locked into their future franchise quarterback early in the process. As a rookie, Mariota exceed expectations as he completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,818 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 12 games. He also ran for 252 yards (7.4 average) and two scores.
Sources say the Titans’ record this season is misleading as to the superb job that Beddingfield has done. Aside from Mariota, other recent draft picks have shown a lot of promise. Left tackle Taylor Lewan has played well the past two seasons and rookie wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham came on strong late in his first season. League contacts say that while Beddingfield has gone under the radar, he’s an excellent talent evaluator and knows how to build up the talent on a roster.
Beddingfield has been a college and pro scout for 17 years with the Titans. Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim worked his way up in the organization over 15 years before being elevated to the general manager position. The Cardinals had some rough years before Keim took over, but with his work in the front office and Bruce Arians leading the coaching staff, Arizona has produced back-to-back playoff seasons. With a good coaching staff and Beddingfield leading the front office, that looks entirely possible in the wide open AFC South.
A lot of the names being discussed for the Titans, Lions, and Browns have been general-manager retreads who were let go from other teams. There haven’t been many general managers in NFL history that had success in their second attempts at leading a franchise. League sources say the both the Lions and Browns should be giving Beddingfield serious consideration for their general manager positions, but Beddingfield is a candidate with the Titans and they may elevate him to succeed Webster to prevent him from landing the same job in Detroit or Cleveland.
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