GALLERY: NFL Draft takes on Nashville

GALLERY: NFL Draft takes on Nashville

The NFL Draft is being held in Nashville this week for the first time ever.  An estimated crowd of over 200,000 people attended the first round of the draft on Thursday. The NFL has taken over almost every inch of downtown. The main stage where the picks are announced is on lower Broadway, but the NFL is also holding a free festival across the Cumberland river in the parking lot of Nissan Stadium, called the NFL Draft Experience. The festival has photo opportunities with NFL memorabilia and trophies, chances to meet NFL players and free tours of the Titans locker room. On Thursday, the “NFL Draft Experience” had Titans players Marcus Mariota, Derrick Henry and Corey Davis along with several other NFL players. The full list of player appearances for Friday and Saturday’s festival can be found on the Fan Mobile Pass app.  Attendees for the festival will need to download the Fan Mobile Pass app to be able to get access to many things. Nashville has become the epicenter for many national media outlets this week including ESPN and the NFL Network. ESPN’s popular show “College Gameday” broadcasted Thursday night from Broadway. Once the draft started on lower Broadway, the Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray as the first overall selection. The hometown Titans picked later in the draft and selected Jeffery Simmons. The following six rounds of the NFL draft along with the NFL Draft Experience festival will continue through Friday and Saturday this week. « ‹ of 3 › »...

The Film Session (a weekly NFL recap), Week 3: Surprise, or No Surprise?

This week in the NFL, an age-old truth was once again proved: the better team always wins. We saw it when Baltimore got a last-minute win against Cleveland. We saw it when the Bears held off the Jets. We saw it when Philadelphia fended off Washington. We saw it when the Patriots got the best of the Raiders by game’s end. The NFL regular season isn’t always the kindest to the underdog, which can make things fairly predictable. But, what happens when Goliath stumbles? So far this season, three NFL powerhouses, the Packers, the Saints and the 49ers, are all staring a 1-3 record in the face if they all lose in week four. With the Pack traveling to Chicago, the Saints heading to Dallas and the Niners hosting the Eagles, there’s a distinct possibility these three teams could quickly be headed in this direction. The NFL can be predictable, but it can also be full of surprises. Rookies can emerge to have huge games. Veterans can struggle at all the wrong moments. The Browns can prove to be competitive without their top offensive weapon. Sometimes, you just don’t know what professional football will have in store. Here are the 10 things I’m thinking after week three. 1. The Broncos and Seahawks’ Super Bowl rematch was the game we needed back in February. Despite being bullied by Seattle for three quarters, the Broncos put up 17 points on Seattle’s defense, including a late-game drive by QB Peyton Manning that looked like the kind of football that usually closes out a movie. Ultimately, the Seahawks were able to pull out...

Opinion: Locker ready to lead Titans as starting QB this season

Jake Locker was named the Tennessee Titans’ starting quarterback over veteran Matt Hasselbeck on Monday, Aug. 20. It was no surprise to many fans, as the Titans drafted Locker with the 8th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Many thought that Locker might oust Hasselbeck for the starting job last season, but Hasselbeck kept the job. The veteran QB had a pretty good season in 2011, so Locker had to compete for this season’s head quarterback position – unlike most first round quarterbacks nowadays. The Titans have the 28th ranked schedule in the NFL, play four playoff teams from last season and face seven potential playoff teams. How Locker will play this year is a big topic of discussion leading up to the Titans’ opener against the New England Patriots on Sept. 9. As far as making progress is concerned, Jake Locker benefitted greatly from sitting behind Hasselbeck last season. In hindsight, sitting Locker during his rookie year was probably best for the future of the Titans organization because, thankfully for Locker, he wasn’t being thrown into a fire early on in his career. The skills Locker learned from Hasselbeck definitely showed in the quarterback’s second preseason start. During last Thursday night’s preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, Locker completed 11 out of 20 passes for 134 yards and two touchdown passes – one to Kendall Wright and another to Nate Washington. Throughout the game, Locker showed great poise in the heat of pressure. ESPN NFL Analyst Trent Dilfer commented on Locker’s progress during the game. To paraphrase, “Jake Locker has shown a great ability in pure progression. He goes...