NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With fewer than three weeks to go before the NFL Draft, let's rank the Titans' needs.
I'm not suggesting the team needs to draft players in this order.
Rush end – The defensive front four is taking nice shape, but the six defensive linemen they’ve brought in have an average contract life of 1.7 years. There are no long-term solutions here, particularly not at end, and the group doesn’t include a front-line guy who can play the wide-9 rush spot. It’s the position that will complete their rebuild and complete the first stage of the defensive overhaul. Fill this correctly, rush four effectively, and a lot of things can fall into place.
If you want a deeper look at how the draft's top edges rate and would fit the Titans, Mike Herndon broke it down in detail here.
Right guard – The easiest place on this line to plug in a rookie starter. Austin Schlottmann may be good enough to start at center. He’s coming off four games as a reliever with the Giants, in which he fared very well. He is also the most promising of the three in-house options when measured versus Cordell Volson (out in 2024 with a shoulder
injury) and Jackson Slater (second year out of a small school with no starting experience). Mike Borgonzi left open the possibility of starting rookies side by side, but that would be asking a ton of two picks. The right guard won’t need to call protections and can have an “easier” time of it.
Blake Beddingfield highlighted three offensive linemen in his recent piece on Titans-specific fits in the draft.
Nickel corner/ nickel safety – Alontae Taylor is not playing the spot and neither is Kevin Winston. Robert Saleh said so directly. That means Marcus Harris is the nickel corner right now. The third safety will be the big nickel, and that’s currently Tony Adams, who signed for a year. Harris and Adams are hardly good enough to go unchallenged. The Titans need a better inside corner and a better third safety. Each will see the field a lot.
Center -- See right guard above. Better in my estimation for a veteran to be calling protections and getting the ball to Cam Ward in 2026. If things land right in the draft, the Titans certainly can take a center. They need two linemen, but what if a left tackle presents himself as a great value along the way? It's possible they'd go forward with Scholttmann and Slater. They may also take three.
Receiver – They are OK with Calvin Ridley, Wan’Dale Robinson, Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor. But Ridley is 31, coming off an injury, and, at his best, has been inconsistent. Second-year fourth-rounders might take off or might hit sophomore slumps. I know they can’t get everything this go-round, but the Titans will be conducting their seventh draft since the AJ Brown home run. And outside of the Treylon Burks failure that came with trading Brown away, they’ve spent five picks on the position, nothing higher than 103 (Dike). It’s time for a serious investment.
Drew Beatty provided a detailed breakdown of Carnell Tate, increasingly regarded as the draft's top receiver.
Inside linebacker – Saleh recently made the case that his linebackers aren’t asked to cover as much ground as they were in the original iteration of the defensive system he helped run back in Seattle. That sounds good for Cody Barton. If he’s the weakest player among the 11 who are on the field the most, that may be OK, but it would be better if he isn’t. The Titans could use a more instinctive, natural player alongside Cedric Gray as they sort out Mike and Will.
Left tackle -- The team fully plans to start the average and overpaid Dan Moore there this year. But the Titans should be looking to upgrade in 2027. If a great option falls in their lap in rounds 2-4, they'll have to weigh the value. A developmental pick in the final three rounds is a definite possibility. But the odds of him being Moore's successor are low. Currently, just five left tackles set to start around the league came into the NFL outside of the first, second or third rounds -- and two of those were selected in the fourth.
Running back – I left the NFL owners meetings with a strong feeling the Titans could draft Jeremiyah Love or no back. That’s a stark difference in the position group. They added Michael Carter since then. He could bump Julius Chestnut out of his spot and be more injury insurance if they stay the course. Borgonzi and Saleh are both talking up the current group. And Borgonzi doesn’t sound impressed with the class after Love. They could still take one.
Tight end – Daniel Bellinger is a big blocking upgrade over Chig Okonkwo and I believe his role as a pass catcher will expand, as will Gunner Helm’s. But the Titans may want a third who’s more of a weapon than David Martin Robinson. A third-day pick who can make some plays is certainly in play.
