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](http://www.titansonline.com/schedule/2009-NFL-draft.html)*NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Kenny Britt and Sen'Derrick Marks stopped for some very important photos Sunday with the Tennessee Titans.
Not those during a news conference posing with their new jerseys.
These came as both of the Titans' top two draft picks pulled out their cell phones and snapped shots of the stretch sport utility vehicle limousine taking them back to the airport. Then the driver used their phones for a couple quick snaps of the duo outside the doors to the Titans' headquarters.
Welcome to the NFL indeed.
"For me, like a little kid on Christmas," said Britt, the first Rutgers player ever drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. "I'm blessed with the opportunity to live out my dream."
Marks agreed, calling it a life changing moment.
"It's like the best call of your life. I know me personally I've been blessed," said Marks, the defensive tackle out of Auburn.
Tennessee went into the draft with 10 picks, then swapped its second-round pick in 2010 for New England's third-rounder to give the Titans their 11th selection. They wound up selecting two wide receivers, a defensive tackle, two offensive linemen, three defensive backs, a linebacker, a tight end and an All-American running back in Michigan State's Javon Ringer.
"We feel like offensively we definitely helped ourselves," coach Jeff Fisher said.
The Titans think Britt is special after drafting their first receiver in the first round since 1998 when they took Kevin Dyson and just the third in the franchise's 50 years. The team that went an NFL-best 13-3 in 2008 only to lose 13-10 in the divisional round of the playoffs needed a boost at that position and believes Britt might be the missing piece in its Super Bowl chase.
They brought back veteran quarterback Kerry Collins with a two-year contract. He takes care of the ball and avoided being sacked much last season, but he needed more targets other than tight end Bo Scaife and Justin Gage to improve a passing offense that has ranked 27th in the NFL each of the past two seasons.
Tennessee signed free agent Nate Washington, then targeted Britt. They used their newest pick on another target for Collins, South Carolina tight end Jared Cook. Fisher said the Titans considered drafting him in the second round. They called once New England went on the clock with the 89th pick overall.
"These kind of guys don't come along very often with the skills that Jared has," Fisher said.
Cook had the strongest physical performance of any tight end at the NFL Combine, running a 4.49-second 40-yard dash and turning in a 41-inch vertical jump and tops in the broad jump. All-Southeastern Conference first-team in 2008, he had 37 catches for 473 yards and three touchdowns. He started 15 of 36 games and started his career as a wide receiver.
This move could pressure Scaife, the tight end who led the Titans in receptions with 58 in 2008. The Titans slapped the franchise tag on Scaife, but he has yet to sign the one-year tender of $4.46 million. Veteran Alge Crumpler, who lost the ball when hit by two Ravens linebackers in Tennessee's divisional playoff loss to Baltimore, is in the final year of his contract.
Scout Cole Proctor said he didn't know why South Carolina didn't leave the 6-5, 246-pound Cook at receiver and called him probably faster than all of the Titans' receivers except maybe Washington.
"He is going to create tremendous mismatches out there in the slot and you can move him around," Proctor said.
A team coming off two consecutive playoff berths, the Titans needed depth most of all. Even when they failed to trade up in the fourth round, Fisher said they still got the players they wanted in Southern Miss linebacker Gerald McRath and Tulane offensive tackle Troy Kropog.
"They fell right to us," Fisher said.
Drafting All-American Javon Ringer of Michigan State in the fifth round likely means Chris Henry, their second-round pick in 2007 won't make it to the 2009 season. It also pressures LenDale White, their 2006 second-round pick who ran for 15 touchdowns in 2008.
Ringer led the nation in scoring with 22 touchdowns and 390 carries, and he ranked fourth with 1,637 yards rushing. He comes to the Titans with something to prove.
"I don't want to be one of those running backs that who is titled as, 'He was a good running back in college and went to the NFL and became a bust.' I want to make sure I continue to be called a great running back also in the NFL," Ringer said.
