NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lost in the Titans’ first-round failures and their big positional issues on the offensive line and at receiver and covered up by the grand success of Derrick Henry and the solid debut of Tony Pollard, is their poor drafting at running back.
Darrynton Evans was a third-round bust in 2020, Hasaan Haskins brought little as a fourth-rounder in 2022 and 2023 third-rounder Tyjae Spears is dynamic in space, he just hardly gets in any.
The Titans sold Spears as a co-No. 1 with Pollard last season, but he averaged seven carries in the 12 games he played. He looked far more appealing as a pass catcher.
The team has made it clear it seeks a bigger guy, or at least one with more of a between-the-tackles style. Whereas wear-and-tear was never a concern while Henry was the starter, Brian Callahan was clearly conscious of Pollard’s workload in 2023.
Tennessee had some prominent prospects at the position in for 30 visits: Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, Oregon’s Jordan James and Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo. James and Skattebo are in today, the final day for visits.
Those were the only three 30 visits for backs.
The Titans also spent time with Texas’ Jayden Blue at the combine and visited virtually with UCF’s RJ Harvey.
There are likely others they interacted with through the process.
Dane Brugler projects Johnson as a second-rounder, James and Harvey to go in the third, Skattebo to be chosen in the third or fourth and Blue to be taken in the fifth.
It’s regarded as a good year at the position. The Titans don’t have a third-round pick, but have two fourths and two fifths.
They also have big needs elsewhere, starting with quarterback. The Titans are expected to address that by selecting Cam Ward first overall.
They are in dire need at edge and receiver – they could really use two players at each of those spots -- and are not good enough at tight end.
They have no proven option as their second inside linebacker, need depth and a safety net for L’Jarius Sneed at corner, a third safety and a developmental guard/OL depth.
Include running back and that’s nine positions of need for a team with eight picks. They've also been looking at defensive linemen, potentially adding to that list.
