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New Titans GM Ran Carthon has reputation as a collaborator

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Multiple outlets have reported and I’ve confirmed that Ran Carthon will be the Titans new general manager.

RanCarthonCarthon has a reputation as being an excellent collaborator, a quality that Amy Adams Strunk surely likes in the replacement she chose for Jon Robinson.

I spoke with three people who know Carthon and all three pointed to his ability to head up teamwork as a strong suit.

Carthon was the Rams' director of pro personnel from 2012-2016, when Jeff Fisher was the team’s coach.

“He’s got communication skills that are off the charts and he loves evaluating,” Fisher said. “In this day and age that’s become a lost art, in my opinion. He’s a really good evaluator. Very, very thorough.

"I can hear him right now, going through an evaluation, Character means a lot to him. He’s going to make everybody in that building really excited about this hire.”

It seems Carthon’s second interview with the team took place while the Titans were finishing up their initial interviews. The team announced Tuesday that it completed an interview in the morning with Malik Boyd, the Buffalo Bills senior director of pro scouting.

Boyd was the seventh interview. Monti Ossenfort, one of two in-house candidates, got the other open GM job. The Arizona Cardinals hired him Monday.

Also in the mix were Ian Cunningham, Chicago Bears assistant GM; Quentin Harris, Arizona Cardinals VP of player personnel; Glenn Cook, Cleveland Browns assistant GM and VP of player personnel; Ryan Cowden, Titans VP of player personnel; and Ossenfort, who was the team’s director of player personnel.

Carthon, Cunningham and Cowden were reported as having scored second interviews by NFL Network.

Another friend who knows Carthon gave me this review of him:

"Thorough, hard worker, good listener, great communicator, good eye for talent, team player. Sees the big picture. Will represent the Titans and the community well."

Carthon becomes the eighth minority GM in the NFL and the first in the Oilers/Titans history joining Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings, Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears, Andrew Berry of the Cleveland Browns, Martin Mayhew of the Washington Commanders, Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins and Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions and Terry Fontenot of the Atlanta Falcons.

The hire fulfills what I saw as the team’s need for outside influence and new ideas.

When she dismissed Robinson as GM On Dec. 6, Strunk pointed to disappointment with "team construction/roster building." That is where Carthon will need to do the most the soonest, working with Mike Vrabel to make key decisions regarding salary cap cuts to ease financial pressure, Ryan Tannehill's future and alterations in the team's approach to talent acquisition on the offensive line.

It’s not yet clear if Carthon will have power over the roster as Robinson did. But no matter where the final say with the roster landed, the team is sure to talk about consensus building.Kuharsky megaphone

“He can compare a player to someone on your current roster and to someone everybody is familiar with who’s played in the league,” Fisher said. “'He’s a little smaller version of this guy but a little quicker.’ He can paint that picture for you before you look at a player on tape. From my standpoint that was real important, for a head coach at the point you become involved that’s real important.

“He just paints a great picture of a player and his ability."

Strunk told the team’s website that both Vrabel and the new GM will report to her. Previously Vrabel reported to Robinson.

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