The Tennessee Titans won’t officially be on the clock to make a decision with the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft for nearly seven weeks. But time is still ticking for the organization to firm up a plan for its most vital asset in a rebuild.
With the NFL Scouting Combine now complete, the Titans will host visits with several prospects in the coming days, according to multiple reports. Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter was first up Thursday, with Miami (Fla.) quarterback Cam Ward following Friday. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is on the schedule for next Monday, while his former Buffaloes two-way teammate, Travis Hunter, is set for a meeting later this month.
And looming over all this is the possibility that Tennessee goes an alternative route and trades out of the top spot.
‘We have to go through this process here,’ new Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi said at the combine. ‘So, this is like one touch point in the process. We’ve gone through the whole evaluation part. Now we’re finally getting to sit down and meet with these guys and talk with them. We’ll have pro days, we’ll have (top 30) visits. We have to go through the whole process really to make that decision.’
Borgonzi is charged with stabilizing a Titans franchise that has been in turmoil for nearly three years. In April 2022, after Tennessee earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs but was bounced by the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round, the team traded leading receiver A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles in a move that was heavily scrutinized. That December, general manager Jon Robinson was fired in what would be the first of several surprising dismissals, with Mike Vrabel’s firing in January 2024 further highlighting the disconnect among the coaching staff, front office and ownership.
Now, with Borgonzi taking over for general manager Ran Carthon, who was removed from his post after two seasons, the Titans will try to get on the same page after coach Brian Callahan’s first season was marred by self-inflicted mistakes, both on the field and in the composition of the roster.
‘I think (the players) are excited for the new process we have in place, player acquisition,’ Borgonzi said. ‘You can feel the want-to to be better, and they want to be a part of it. They want us to get this roster right and do something special.’
Free agency, which begins next week, will likely prove telling in the Titans’ approach to the draft, as the team must decide whether to bring in a veteran quarterback to compete with or replace incumbent starter Will Levis. But with that chapter yet to unfold, here’s a look at the Titans’ top options for the No. 1 pick, ranked from least to most appealing.
5. Draft Shedeur Sanders
In most drafts, the conversation around the No. 1 pick starts at quarterback – and it often ends there. The position has accounted for eight of the last 10 top selections, with the lone exceptions coming in 2017, when Myles Garrett was the consensus top overall choice, and 2022, when the Jacksonville Jaguars chose Travon Walker after taking Trevor Lawrence a year earlier.
And with Levis having tied for the NFL lead in turnovers last year with 18 despite starting just 12 games, Tennessee has made it clear that it expects to shift its outlook behind center in some form.
‘We have to solidify that position,’ Borgonzi said. ‘And we have Will on the roster right now, and he’s going to compete with whoever we bring in. We have one quarterback on the roster, so we’re bringing people in.’
In some respects, Sanders would mark a sharp pivot from the volatile Levis. The 6-foot-2, 212-pound passer has been widely lauded for his accuracy and poise in the face of consistent pressure, two facets in which Levis has failed to measure up in the early portion of his career. And despite many questioning whether Sanders has the arm strength to drive throws into tight windows downfield, Callahan has drawn a parallel to his past pupil – Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow – to explain that there were ways to compensate for that shortcoming.
At the combine, however, Callahan noted his belief that all passers who thrive in the NFL clear a certain bar for being able to exploit the entire field.
‘I think that there’s a requisite arm strength, right? You have to be able to make a certain amount of throws down the field, outside the numbers, tight windows, those things,’ Callahan said. ‘But then the other part of it is the ability to anticipate and to make the decision that puts the ball in the right window, those things all matter. So again, you don’t have to have the strongest arm in the entire draft. But there is a threshold, there’s a minimum requisite, I think is the best way to put it.’
Despite his success in two years as an FBS starter, Sanders makes for a somewhat unsure projection to the pros. His proclivity for exacerbating pressure by hanging onto the ball for too long necessitates a fine-tuning of his internal clock, especially if he’s left to operate behind a Tennessee front that Borgonzi and Callahan have acknowledged is one of the team’s most debilitating deficiencies. And in an era defined by the creative abilities of Patrick Mahomes, reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen and other quarterbacks, Sanders’ best fit seems to be in a timing-based offense in which everything around him is clicking at all times.
As the only candidate on this list who isn’t widely viewed as a lock to be a top-five pick, Sanders doesn’t seem to be a particularly likely or reasonable option for Tennessee – at least if the team holds firm in the top spot.
4. Draft Travis Hunter
It’s easy to understand why some thought of Hunter when Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker said in late January the team wouldn’t pass up on a ‘generational talent.’
‘Yeah, that’s very realistic,’ Callahan said of Hunter playing both cornerback and receiver in the NFL. ‘I think he’s a unique player, that there’s not a whole lot of other players you could compare what he’s done. There’s not many guys that have played that many snaps on both sides of the ball. And you watch his tape and you see his ability to play both at a very high level.’
Despite this, positional value might be one of the bigger question marks for Hunter in his case for the top spot. Callahan said that if the Titans were to take the multitalented star, they would likely start him out at cornerback and work in reps at receiver over time. No cornerback has ever been selected No. 1 overall. Given Tennessee’s abundance of needs and cornerback play famously being volatile, taking him at the top spot might not be the optimal use of resources.
3. Draft Abdul Carter
No one could fault the Titans for trying to ramp up their build with an elite player at a premium position.
In a draft deep on pass rushers, Carter has established himself as a cut above his peers and perhaps Hunter’s lone competition on many big boards for the title of the class’ top player. Upon moving from linebacker to defensive end full-time last season, he racked up 12 sacks and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors. His standout, seven-pressure performance against Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff semifinal reinforced that the unanimous All-American had a strong case for the title of the most dominant defensive force in the Football Bowl Subdivision last season.
Carter sat out combine workouts and was later revealed to have a stress fracture upon which he elected not to have surgery. The Titans, however, already have a clear sense for his worth.
‘Abdul is a very good player,’ Borgonzi said at the combine. ‘I don’t want to go into many evaluations of the players, but there are certainly some players at the top that fit that description of generational talent.’
Tennessee ranked 12th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric, but its edge rush could be due for additional investment. Former Pro Bowl outside linebacker Harold Landry III has been permitted to seek a trade after leading the team with nine sacks last year, while Arden Key is in the final year of his contract.
Still, for all the value a premier pass rusher can provide, look no further than Garrett for evidence of some limitations. The six-time Pro Bowl pick and Defensive Player of the Year winner has enjoyed just two playoff appearances for a Cleveland team dogged by extensive issues elsewhere.
2. Draft Cam Ward
If the Titans have the conviction to make the selection, it would be hard to argue against Ward. After showing plenty of promise at Incarnate Word and Washington State, the 6-foot-2, 219-pound signal-caller reversed course on his decision to declare for last year’s draft and instead transferred to Miami, where he became one of college football’s biggest breakout stars last season.
Now, Ward appears to stand alone as the one quarterback who won’t escape the top three picks.
Taking on a signal-caller known for a daring, devil-may-care approach might seem like an odd solution for Callahan, especially given how open he was in 2024 about his dissatisfaction with Levis’ decision-making. Yet while Sanders’ skill set might more closely align with the coach’s emphasis on timing and precision, Callahan has also vowed not to let his own system interfere with pursuing the most gifted players.
‘So I would always say the player is going to come first, and it’s our job as coaches to fit what we do around that player,’ Callahan said. ‘Whether that’s an offensive lineman, a receiver, a quarterback, a pass rusher, whatever that looks like, our job is to fit the system to the talent. And I would never sacrifice scheme over talent at the end of the day as a general philosophy.’
Ward will almost assuredly be called on to dial back his big-game hunting for whichever team selects him. But as Jayden Daniels reinforced in his nearly unanimous NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, a quarterback capable of elevating his supporting cast is the most transformative player any team can add. Ward’s ability to attack defenses within structure while also extending and creating when things break down gives him unmatched upside in this class.
Yet the example of Daniels – as well as the diametrically opposed experience of No. 1 pick Caleb Williams – also highlights that any quarterback’s performance will be inextricably linked to his support system – or lack thereof. Even if Tennessee is convinced Ward is the right player to take over as its new offensive catalyst, it might not be set up properly to support him out of the gates.
1. Trade back
The Titans have been coy regarding the details of any discussions for a swap out of the top slot of the draft, but the team has made it clear it will listen to offers.
‘Anytime you have the No. 1 pick, it’s going to be a topic of conversation,’ Borgonzi said. ‘I would say we’ve had some phone calls. I would keep those phone calls to the vest, but we’ve had some phone calls.’
Tennessee has been in this position once before since the franchise relocated from Houston in 1997. When the team held the top choice in 2016, it moved the selection to the Los Angeles Rams in a blockbuster trade. Part of the pick package the Titans received in return was a second-rounder used to select Derrick Henry, the two-time NFL rushing champion who helped power three playoff appearances and two division titles from 2019-21.
Could Tennessee recoup similar value by moving back this year? It’s unclear. But with the quarterback-needy New York Giants hovering in the background as a potential trade partner, the Titans could have an enticing option to move back to No. 3 if a deal materializes. That would not only leave them still in range to secure either Carter or Hunter but also help them stock up on assets after parting with this year’s third-round pick last offseason to acquire cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
And while the Titans might not receive a bounty comparable to the one they secured nearly a decade earlier – or the one the Chicago Bears landed two years ago from the Carolina Panthers – they could still set themselves up to help fulfill Borgonzi’s vision of building through the draft. And there’s no shortage of areas to address.
‘We have some young players we are excited about, but ultimately, probably the key points are: What are we going to do at the quarterback position?’ Callahan said. ‘And, on our two fronts, where do we keep adding players there? And, the receiver/linebacker positions, there are some holes we have to fill there.
‘I think there’s plenty of (holes), unfortunately.’