Titans draft Roger McCreary in second round with pick No. 35

Titans draft Roger McCreary in second round with pick No. 35Titans draft Roger McCreary in second round with pick No. 35

MOBILE, Ala. – Roger McCreary didn't have to wait long to hear his name called Friday night. The Auburn cornerback was taken with the third pick of the second round, No. 35 overall, by the Tennessee Titans in the 2022 NFL Draft.

"It felt great to finally get that call," McCreary said. "I went on a visit to Tennessee, so I was hoping they were going to pick me, and they did. I was just excited. I had a lot of people here to support me. I'm grateful to get picked."


McCreary is the eighth Auburn player since 2018 to be drafted in the first three rounds and the highest since fellow corner Noah Igbinoghene went 30th overall to the Miami Dolphins in the 2020 draft. Igbinoghene and Derrick Brown were both first-round picks that year. 

McCreary, a native of Mobile, Alabama, is the first Auburn player selected by Tennessee since 2015 when the Titans took defensive lineman Angelo Blackson in the fourth round. 

"It's great heading up to Nashville," McCreary said. "Nashville is a nice city. I loved everything about my visit – their staff, the players. I feel like it's going to be great having those as my teammates. I'm going up there with Treylon Burks, a guy I went against. We're finally teammates now. It's going to be great going to the next level."

There was some draft buzz surrounding McCreary following his junior season, but he opted to return for his senior season and became Auburn's first All-American since Brown in 2019. He recorded 49 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions and 14 pass break-ups, which led the SEC. He was named First Team All-SEC by the league's coaches. 

In four years at Auburn, McCreary played in 42 games and started his final two seasons. He finished with 135 career tackles, six interceptions and 32 pass break-ups. 


"Roger McCreary had a nice career," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said "He doesn't have top physical traits. What he compensates that with is the technique, the footwork, the instincts, the consistency overall. He's not afraid to come up and make a tackle and throw his body around. He's just a guy who knows how to play and gets the most out of his ability."

"This is a smooth mover in Roger McCreary," added NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah. "He battled the best wideouts in the SEC, as well as (Jahan) Dotson from Penn State, and more than held his own. I think the fact that he doesn't have long arms is probably why he didn't go in the first round, but there's first-round quality tape on Roger McCreary."

Going back to 2018, Auburn has now had at least one cornerback taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft in four of the last five years with McCreary (2022), Igbinoghene (2020), Jamel Dean (2019) and Carlton Davis (2018).