Many see the Titans‘ strategy with the No. 7 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft as simple: Take Joe Alt (assuming he’s available).
Notre Dame‘s All-American left tackle is the prospect who’s been most commonly mocked to Tennessee, which needs a blindside protector for second-year quarterback Will Levis. Left tackle is the Titans’ most glaring weakness, and Alt is widely considered to be the best in this year’s class among draft pundits.
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Receiver is also a big need in Nashville, even with the addition of Calvin Ridley in free agency. Tennessee has a dearth of young talent at the spot. It’s why prospects like LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington‘s Rome Odunze should be on the radar for the Titans. Both of them have also been popular choices in mock drafts for the franchise.
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At least one of Alt, Nabers and Odunze is expected to be available when the Titans are on the clock Thursday. So no one would fault Tennessee for staying put to take one of them, or whoever else is at the top of its board.
But there should be serious consideration to trading back if the opportunity presents itself.
“I like 7, but I’m open,” Titans general manager Ran Carthon said at the combine. “We have to listen to any offers that may come. Our long-term goal is to build this football team into a consistent winner. And the way you do that is building through the draft. And off of that, you need draft picks to do that.”
Earlier this offseason, we watched the Titans be one of the most aggressive spenders in free agency, signing the likes of Ridley (four years, $92 million), running back Tony Pollard (three years, $21.75 million), center Lloyd Cushenberry (four years, $50 million) and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie (three years, $36 million). They traded for cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and gave him a massive extension (four years, $76.4 million).
Tennessee has been a heavy spender not only because it had the financial flexibility, but also because it had to be. The team had that many holes. And it still has many left entering the draft, including the need for starting-caliber talent at safety, linebacker and defensive tackle on top of receiver and offensive tackle.
The draft is where the foundation is built, where you construct a team that doesn’t need to be as reliant on free-agent talent as these Titans have been forced to be.
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It’s because of the missteps of the previous regime.
Trading away a 24-year-old A.J. Brown and having his replacement, 2022 first-round pick Treylon Burks, not pan out is why you have to give a 29-year-old Ridley $50 million guaranteed, which many league observers believe is an overpay.
The Titans’ whiffing of their 2020 draft class is a big reason why depth is an issue on the roster today. Of the seven players the franchise drafted that year, none remains on the roster. Just one was on the team last season: cornerback Kristian Fulton, a starter whose tenure in Tennessee was marred by soft-tissue injuries. He signed with the Chargers in free agency last month.
The 2021 class hasn’t fared much better.
Of the eight players the Titans drafted that year, four are no longer on the team. And just two of the four on the roster, Elijah Molden and offensive lineman Dillon Radunz, played at least a quarter of snaps on offense or defense in games in which they appeared.
Trading back from No. 7 would give the Titans the most valuable draft ammunition to not only acquire starting-caliber players, but also to restore depth to the team.
“The hope is in the future that we’re drafting and developing and just signing in free agency with a little bit more discretion,” new coach Brian Callahan said earlier this month. “We had to sign a bunch of players this year, but the goal is to always draft and develop and supplement in free agency as it goes on.”
A potential best-of-both-worlds scenario for Tennessee: staying at 7, but finding a trade partner to move back in the second round, where the Titans hold the No. 38 pick. That would offer the team another chance to accumulate more top-100 selections — possibly one in the third round, where the Titans don’t have a pick — but still get an elite talent, what Carthon calls a “blue” player (a Day 1 starter).
At offensive tackle, for instance, it’s extremely difficult to find a star outside of the top of the first round. The Titans’ Bill Callahan, one of the most respected offensive-line coaches in football, is not immune to that fact.
Of the 14 Pro-Bowl offensive linemen he’s coached as either an offensive-line coach or head coach in the NFL, just four have been tackles: Lincoln Kennedy (Raiders, 2000-01), Tyron Smith (Cowboys, 2013-14), D’Brickashaw Ferguson (Jets), 2009-11) and Trent Williams (Washington, 2015-18). All of them were selected within the top nine picks of their respective drafts.
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That brings us back to a prospect like Alt, who on paper is a home-run option for the Titans at No. 7.
“I’ll say this: You can never replace elite talent,” Brian Callahan said at the combine. “You can coach guys. Coaching makes an impact. It matters. But ultimately, the better players you have, the better coach you are. And so, I will never pass up on elite talent just because I think we have a great coach.”
The balance between acquiring elite talent and building a sustainable, competitive team for the long haul should be a delicate one for the Titans this draft season.
It’s a conversation that should start at the top of their board.
Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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