With the 8th selection in the 2011 GGN Mock Draft The Tennessee Titans select Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri

via sportscasm.com

Is Blaine Gabbert the safest pick? No. Is he the most talented player? Perhaps. Does he have upside? Yes. The Titans could go a multitude of ways with this pick and frankly if Gabbert was off the board, this pick would have easily been a defensive lineman. However, the most valuable position on a football team is by far the quarterback. In the past two years, the Titans have spent their early picks addressing their most pressing needs, even if their was someone more talented at another position. Kerry Collins can't play forever and Rusty Smith isn't the long term answer.

The best thing that Gabbert has working for him is raw physical abilities. Gabbert has a plus arm and plus mobility. His release is quick and gets good spiral on the ball. He has been productive in his two years starting at Mizzou. That said, Gabbert has a lot of work to do to develop into a good player. He is coming out of a pure spread (not like the hybrid spread Sam Bradford had a year ago) so his footwork is a mess and he has to learn how to snap from under center. He can also be extremely inconsistent, some games looking awesome and others looking totally lost. This is largely attributed to his accuracy which also is inconsistent (which is partially a product of footwork which is a mess). Plus their is the whole problem of playing from a spread, which often saw him scrambling if option number one wasnt open

Gabbert is far from finished, but his physical tools make an NFL team very happy. He has enough upside to warrant a high draft pick