There is certainly potential for the Tennessee Titans to select a running back with their first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

That decision would make sense, but there are also some fair arguments against the idea.

PROS

Derrick Henry is on a one-year contract.

Robinson on tagging Derrick Henry: We couldn't come to an agreement, so we used an avenue to keep him. I spoke to his reps after we used the tag, and we want to continue having discussions in hopes of reaching a longterm agreement.

— Luke Worsham (@luke_worsham) April 1, 2020

While the Titans have said that they are interested in working out a longterm contract with Derrick Henry, he's currently set to play on the franchise tag in 2020.

After Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey received a major contract extension worth $16 million per season, the running back position figures to get at least a touch more expensive.

It's fair to wonder if that will affect Henry's value to the point where the Titans view him as overpriced.

If that's the case, the Titans would need a new starting running back in 2021.

The Titans need a quality backup running back.

After losing Dion Lewis, who never became what the Titans hoped when they signed him in 2018 free agency, the team needs a new backup running back.

It would serve them well to get a good one.

Lewis was so ineffective in 2019 that the Titans offense was unable to get much of anything done whenever Henry needed a rest. They also didn't have a viable receiving option out of the backfield.

The Titans have to enter next season with a new running back that can both be an effective receiver and be good enough to get a few carries a game and do something with them.

Drafting a back in the first round would guarantee that the Titans would get that.

There should be several good players available.

This year's running back draft class is top-heavy. There isn't as much depth for the later rounds, but the guys at the top have a lot to offer.

There's a very good chance that, when the Titans pick at 29, they could have their pick of the litter of the best backs in the draft.

That scenario would give the Titans their choice of Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins, Georgia's D'Andre Swift or Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor.

Dobbins and Taylor, in particular, had very productive college careers and would easily have enough talent to be the Titans' No. 2 guy in 2020 and start in 2021 if the team moves on from Henry.

Drafting a back in the first round gives an extra year of team control.

"Draft, replace, repeat" has been a lot of NFL teams' strategy when it comes to finding starting running backs in recent years.

Because the running back position has proven to be easily replaceable, teams rarely commit to a second contract with backs and, instead, opt to find a cheaper replacement through the draft.

However, it is nice when you're able to keep the same starter for at least a somewhat-lengthy time, especially if it's a good starter.

NFL first-round draft picks receive contracts with a fifth-year option, almost always at a price well below free-agent market value.

If the Titans are set on finding a Henry replacement in the 2020 draft, pulling the trigger in the first round would give them an extra year of that player's services.

CONS

The Titans have other, more pressing, needs.

While the Titans do need to add a capable second tailback before the start of next season, that isn't one of their more pressing needs.

Cornerback, pass rusher and receiver could all be argued to be more important areas for the Titans to address in the draft.

Spending a first-round pick on a running back would make finding quality players at those other, more critical positions of need difficult.

Good running backs can be found later in the draft.

Dalvin Cook. Kareem Hunt. Jordan Howard. Alvin Kamara.

The list of really good NFL running backs who were drafted outside of the first round over the last five years is a long one.

For whatever reasons, teams have frequently been able to find quality starting running backs late in the draft at a much higher volume than any other position.

The Titans are one of them. Henry was a second-round pick in 2016, and he was the Titans' fourth pick.

Finding a good backup or eventual Henry replacement could be accomplished beyond the first round.

He wouldn't start.

No matter what happens in the draft, Henry will be the Titans' starting running back in 2020.

He is the engine that makes the offense go, and anyone that the Titans bring in before the start of the season would be nothing more than a complimentary piece.

Drafting a complementary running back, even if the plan were to make him the starter in 2021 and beyond, would be a bit rich.

Cover image: Matthew Emmons & Thomas J. Russo / USA Today