The Titans might have had a bit of an inside assist with sixth-round pick Byron Stingily of Louisville.
The offensive tackle, whom they had in as one of their 30 pre-draft visits, trained at D-1 in Franklin under the tutelage of long-time Titans offensive tackle Brad Hopkins.
“Me and Brad got real close,” Stingily said. “We did position work three days a week for the past two months and he's somebody I hung out and got close with while I was down there. He had a big part in helping me with my position work.”
Hopkins, of course, was teammates with new offensive line coach Bruce Matthews and with new Titans head coach Mike Munchak, who later coached him. And while the team didn't solicit Hopkins on the pick, his influence will likely be felt as Stingily makes his way into town as a Titan.
"He'll be a work in progress but feels under Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak they will teach him the right toolage on the offensive line to turn into someone really good," Hopkins said.
Hopkins said that footwork-wise, Stingily probably projects right now as a right tackle or right guard and that the Titans will have to break some habits he had at Louisville in his technique.
Despite being a raw prospect, Stingily (6-5, 313) began to draw interest from a number of teams after the left tackle ran a 4.86 time in the 40 on his pro day and also bench pressed 225 pounds 28 times.
“I put up some good numbers on my pro day and after my pro day, I seemed to get a lot of interest,” Stingily said.
- Terry McCormick
- co-publiser of TitanInsider - Lions247