NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans’ uncertainty at left tackle did not end with the seventh pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night.
They chose JC Latham of Alabama, an excellent strong lineman. The 6-6, 342 lineman played 1,753 snaps at right tackle per FPP and 135 snaps at right guard and has not played at left tackle since high school.
Nevertheless, Ran Carthon and Brian Callahan found him irresistible.
“There are not many people that walk the earth that are his height and weight and can move with his fluidity,” Callahan said. [Unlocked]
Latham isn’t likely to be the biggest addition to the offensive line in 2024. That’s the new position coach Bill Callahan, the highly respected father of Brian Callahan. The elder Callahan helped the team identify Latham as the choice despite his failure to do any testing at the combine or his pro day.
And if Bill Callahan does the kind of work the Titans hired him for, he should shape the team’s new tackle into a top blindside pass protector and run-blocker on the left side and the Titans will be set.
There is projection and wait-and-see to all this, however. And trepidation is not unreasonable given the size of the issue. If the move somehow doesn’t work, Latham will play right tackle and the Titans will not have solved a position that has been a legitimate disaster over the last two years. Dennis Daley took over for Taylor Lewan after two games in 2022 and free-agent signee Andre Dillard took over in 2023. Both were ineffective to put it kindly.
Latham was a great interview not too long after the pick and said he had a great feeling about Bill Callahan after meeting with him at Titans' headquarters.
“I love it,” he said. “There is so much technique I’d never even heard about before. He’s such a legendary coach. Just to be able to be coached by him and pick his brain, just understand what type of guy he is on a personal level but also understand the environment that he’s created with technique and discipline. I love that all, I’m really intrigued by it all.”
JC Latham’s hand. #Titans pic.twitter.com/ijJtNmIhsE
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) April 26, 2024
Latham asked Bill Callahan about some situations he saw at Alabama and they talked about how he can deal with them in the future. They went over his plays, they looked at some Browns tape and “everything,” Latham said, sounding like an enthusiastic student.
“The next thing we know, two hours had went by like it was nothing,” Latham said. “We just had a great conversation. I just can’t wait to get into the building and dive deep into it all.”
Brian Callahan said all tackles think they have what it takes to play left tackle, and that Latham is excited about the prospect and has the skillset for it.
“He possesses the requisite traits to do it… it’s all the same traits, it’s just a matter of switching stance and kicking a different way,” Brian Callahan said. “…It’s really a comfort thing really for him and for us. He really presents all of the traits you want in a tackle, right or left.”
Said Latham: “(Left tackle) was the expectation. (Bill Callahan) knew I was athletic enough to get the job done. He told me he knows that, especially with his teaching that the sky’s the limit with me and we’re going to hit the ground running.”
Bill Callahan has successfully helped Tyron Smith move from right to left with the Cowboys and Jedrick Willis made the move under him with the Browns.
Evan Neal, the seventh overall pick by the Giants in 2022, was Alabama’s left tackle when Latham arrived. He landed at right tackle and stayed put even after Neal left as the Crimson Tide worked to get their best five linemen on the field.
Latham is now at the head of the Titans’ tackle line that includes Nicholas Petit-Frere, Jaelyn Duncan and Leroy Watson – recently acquired from Cleveland, where Bill Callahan coached him in exchange for a seventh-round pick. Petit-Frere and Duncan struggled in chances on the left side last year as the Titans tried to find a solution, though Carthon pointed Thursday night to NPF moving there as an example of positional flexibility.
“I like Latham -- big and powerful,” said former Titans scout and PK.com writer Blake Beddingfield. “Gets caught off guard at times and holds. Will get better with technique and already has massive size. Solid movement but not elite. With Josh Allen, Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter and now Laiatu Latu in the division, we will find out quickly about how he deals with the outside speed. His effort is always good.”
As for the possibility of the Titans still needing a left tackle, Carthon said this:
Ran Carthon on LT if JC Latham winds up at RT. Sees veteran options still out there. #Titans pic.twitter.com/3jp0DKwVWt
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) April 26, 2024
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