Due to the Tennessee Titans’ lack of success this season, a lot of the fanbase has started to shift their focus to the upcoming offseason. One of the most popular topics of conversation has revolved around Tennessee’s offensive line.
However, one narrative that is largely exaggerated is how the Titans supposedly have no choice but to spend their future first-round picks on building an offensive line.
While it’s certainly a realistic possibility they go that way in the spring, by no means is it their only choice, nor the only way to accomplish the aforementioned goal.
Believe it or not, the opportunities have been there for this franchise to get good offensive linemen on the second and third days of the NFL draft.
The problem is, this team under former general manager Jon Robinson legitimately sucked when it came to identifying offensive line talent, subsequently leading to bad decisions more often than not.
For example:
- IOL Creed Humphrey (PFF grade: 75.2) was there when the Titans picked OL Dillon Radunz (2021 second round).
- IOL Quinn Meinerz (PFF grade: 81.5) was there when the Titans picked LB Monty Rice (2021 third round).
- LT Bernhard Raimann (PFF grade: 82.8) was there when the Titans picked OT Nicholas Petit-Frere (2022 third round).
- RT Zach Tom (PFF grade: 78.8) and LT Braxton Jones (PFF grade 64.8) were there when the Titans picked RB Hassan Haskins (2022 fourth round).
- LT Christian Darrisaw (PFF grade: 86.1) was there when the Titans picked CB Caleb Farley (2021 late first round).
- Taking Isaiah Wilson over literally anybody else (2020 late first round).
2nd year Left Tackle, Bernhard Raimann is having a breakout season!
💪 Lowest pressure rate allowed from second-year tackles (5%)
-Per @PFF
💪Top 8 pass pro grade
💪 Top 5 run block grade
💪 Highest graded offensive lineman on the team #ForTheShoe pic.twitter.com/Ii4QKSB6K4— Ʊ Bring The Juice Ʊ (@BTJPod) November 17, 2023
Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but had the Titans made the right choices with those picks, I’d argue that an offensive line comprised of those Day 2 and 3 selections would be one of the better offensive lines in the NFL.
If the new front office decides they want to go the offensive line route early, then that’s perfectly fine, especially if it’s for Notre Dame’s Joe Alt or Penn State’s Olu Fashanu.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is obviously the other #Titans
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels98) November 14, 2023
With that said, let’s play devil’s advocate for a bit.
If Ran Carthon showed us anything last year, it’s that he’s going to trust his board and take the best player available.
That is why Tennessee taking someone like Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — the best player in the draft at a position of need — isn’t some crazy idea like some people make it seem.
The real issue is you’re probably going to have to land in the top three to have any chance of selecting him.
Should they end up picking that high and ultimately decide to go that route, fans need to trust that the new regime will be better at identifying adequate O-line talent in the later rounds than JRob was.
It’s largely getting overlooked due to how poor the team is overall, but Carthon’s first draft class was strong, thus he deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
Another narrative I keep seeing thrown around as a reason why Tennessee supposedly has no other choice but to go offensive line in Round 1 is because of what’s happened with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Quarterback Joe Burrow has suffered season-ending injuries in two out of his four seasons in the NFL. The other two resulted in a Super Bowl appearance and an AFC Championship appearance in back-to-back years.
Uncoincidentally, the team took off after the team selected a franchise-altering talent at the receiver position.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, they’ve had and have the same exact issues as the Titans. Almost every example I gave above could work for them, as well.
Cincinnati’s biggest problem is it’s also struggled to identify adequate talent along the offensive line. The Bengals have only drafted two offensive linemen since 2021 (none in 2023), and those were Jackson Carmen (2021 2nd round) and Cordell Volson (2022 4th round).
Carmen is currently listed as the backup right tackle, while Volson is one of the lowest-graded guards in the NFL (51.1).
Cordell Volson HAS to be benched
He is not starter quality
Figure it out Duke Tobin
— Nati Sports (@Nati_Sports) November 17, 2023
To make matters worse, the Bengals willingly signed free agents that have contributed to them having the least athletic O-line in the league by a wide margin.
Average NFL OL athleticism (by RAS) plotted against PFF production this year.
Data from @MathBomb continues to be one of the best resources out there.
I knew the Bengals line was unathletic but the reality is they’re not even close to the rest of the league.
This is damning. pic.twitter.com/OfgyNE6iye
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) November 17, 2023
The point I’m making is, not every situation is comparable, nor is it as concrete or elementary as some make it seem.
The easiest way to miss when it comes to the draft is by predetermining your picks before you even see who is available.
If the Titans find themselves on the clock and an offensive lineman is the BPA, then by all means, take them and don’t look back. On the contrary, if a game-changing talent at another position of need is there as well, the possibility of them going that route can’t be ignored, either.
If the Titans land a top-five pick in next year’s draft, there are three dream prospects: Alt, Fashanu, and MHJ. Walking away with any of those three would be a home-run selection.
The biggest waste of time is trying to argue about whether you want MHJ or Alt/Olu.
Both routes would be phenomenal and franchise altering picks in their own right. Everybody is allowed to have a preference, but trying to downplay one for the other is absurd.#Titans
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels98) November 19, 2023
Whether they go with a generational wide receiver prospect or a blue-chip lineman, the fanbase has to trust that Carthon and Co. will be able to identify sufficient talent later in the draft at whichever position they don’t address on Day 1.
One thing is for sure, there is a lot of time between now and then. Nothing is set in stone no matter how hard some people pretend it is.
For now, let’s just see how the rest of the season plays out and save all of our definitive opinions until then.
