The Tennessee Titans are in the market for a quarterback, and new coach Mike Munchak believes the NFL draft could be the place to find one.
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The Titans have the No. 8 overall pick and, once the lockout ends, only third-stringer Rusty Smith at quarterback on the roster. Vince Young will be jettisoned, either by trade or outright release, once a collective bargaining agreement is reached and teams again can make roster moves. Another former starter, Kerry Collins, will be a free agent, although he could return to Tennessee.
The NFL's labor situation hasn't enabled Munchak to sign a free agent -- the lockout prevents him from even talking to free agents -- making for an odd situation entering the April 28-30 draft.
"This has made it a lot more interesting, having it kind of reversed here, that we're going to have the draft first before we have an opportunity to look at possible NFL quarterbacks or signing back Kerry or something," Munchak said Wednesday on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access." "(Without a lockout) there would have been a good chance that we could have had another (quarterback), which could have made the draft a little different for us.
"But this is the way it is, so we'll make the best decision, round by round. We're going to get some great picks. When you have the eighth pick of each round, we're going to have an opportunity to get some great football players, so, obviously, quarterback will be one of the positions we'll be considering."
Three top quarterback prospects -- Auburn's Cam Newton, Nevada's Colin Kaepernick and Florida State's Christian Ponder -- have visited the Titans in the past week or so.
Tennessee has nine draft picks after receiving compensatory selections last month for the free-agent losses of tight end Alge Crumpler (to the New England Patriots) and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (to the Detroit Lions).
Munchak, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman taken in the first round with the No. 8 pick of the 1982 draft by the Houston Oilers, believes the Titans can add talent with their picks.
"That's the encouraging part, is knowing that there's going to be a lot of great picks to choose from," said Munchak, who's entering his 30th season with the franchise. "Not only the first round, but when you have the eighth pick in the second and third and so on, it's also a position where we feel we can get three quality guys that can probably come in and have a great opportunity to help us win this year."