Rennie

Curran

The 97th pick in the 2010 draft, Curran surprisingly spent all of 2011 out of football after being waived by the Titans at final cuts. He’s limited to weak-side linebacker in a 4-3. Riley played his college ball at Illinois State.

Rennie Curran opened OTAs with the ones due to veteran status, but David was drafted to be the starter and will remain in the lineup into Opening Day. It’s worth noting that new Bucs coach Greg Schiano is a defensive mind, and his 2011 leading tackler at Rutgers was WLB Khaseem Greene. Middle linebacker Steve Beauharnais finished a distant second. SAM ‘backer Jamal Merrell was eighth.

Curran has little chance of beating out No. 58 pick Lavonte David, but this could be a sign he has an inside track on a roster spot after spending 2011 out of football. A third-round pick of the Titans in 2010, Curran was cut after making eight tackles in nine games as a rookie. He’d be a special teamer in Tampa.

An explosive if undersized (5'11/225) weak-side linebacker, Curran was a 2 1/2-year starter for the ‘Dogs. He led them in tackles as a junior by a wide margin, racking up 130 including five for a loss. Curran will be limited to playing in a 4-3 defense, but still figures to flirt with first-day draft status.

It’s 10 pounds greater than his college listing. Curran, who projects as a weak-side linebacker in a 4-3 system at the next level, also recorded 25 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. He’s in the second-day discussion.

At 5'11/235, the time is pedestrian for Curran, who projects as a Tampa-2 style weak-side ‘backer in the pros. He’s wearing roughly a third-round grade.

Curran isn’t going to beat out Gerald McRath or Will Witherspoon, so he’ll be limited to a special teams role to start. He’ll have to improve his speed to develop into a quality starter.

Though lacking in the size-speed combo department (5'11/235, 4.7s), Curran was an overachieving college player. He led the SEC in tackles (135) from the weak-side linebacker position last season, earning first-team all-conference honors. In Nashville, Curran will likely be asked to run down kicks initially. SLB Gerald McRath, MLB Stephen Tulloch, and WLB Will Witherspoon appear entrenched, leaving Curran without a chance at a starting role.

The under-sized Curran’s status got murky after Tennessee drafted both Akeem Ayers and Colin McCarthy, but Bush says Curran still “fits in as one of our weak-side linebackers.” Active just nine times as a rookie last season, Curran tallied only eight tackles.

We have a hard time believing this. Coach Jeff Fisher has always preferred thumpers in the middle, and Curran would be small even for a starting weak-side linebacker at 5'11/228. Curran was active for nine games as a rookie, racking up four special teams tackles and just nine on defense.