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Ranking Tennessee Titans NFL draft needs: Is adding WR, TE more urgent than fixing D-line?

Nick Suss
Nashville Tennessean

Let's establish the difference between the Tennessee Titans' NFL draft needs and their priorities.

A few months ago, the Titans' roster had more holes than a honeycomb. As the team spent a busy spring upgrading at receiver, cornerback and center and making offsetting acquisitions at running back, backup quarterback and linebacker, that honeycomb is now more of a Wiffle ball.

So with this year's draft beginning Thursday, April 25, let's rank the team's remaining needs by urgency, and identify some targets the team could end up considering.

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Immediate needs

  • Left tackle

Quarterback Will Levis needs a blindside protector. Short of bestowing Peter Skoronski, Dillon Radunz or Nicholas Petit-Frere with a bigger role, the Titans simply don't have a projectable left tackle on roster.

Notre Dame's Joe Alt is regarded as the top tackle in the class, with a cluttered glut of fellow first-round talents battling behind him to be OT2. This list includes Penn State's Olu Fashanu, Alabama's J.C. Latham, Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga and Georgia's Amarius Mims, among others.

If the Titans prefer to wait until the second round to look for a tackle, options may include BYU's Kingsley Suamataia and Houston's Patrick Paul, as well as fringe Round 1 prospects who could fall, such as Arizona's Jordan Morgan and Oklahoma's Tyler Guyton.

Because the Titans don't have a third-round pick, it's hard to imagine them waiting longer to seize on upgrading their biggest weakness.

Needs, not holes

  • Defensive tackle
  • Edge rusher

Whether it's with one player or two, the Titans need to find a way to replace Denico Autry's versatile departing production. Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry III and Arden Key need help.

Alabama's Dallas Turner, UCLA's Laiatu Latu and Florida State's Jared Verse all should be available when the Titans pick in the first round, but it's more likely the team will wait until the middle rounds to address these needs.

That means targeting players like Missouri's Darius Robinson, Alabama's Chris Braswell, Western Michigan's Marshawn Kneeland or Florida State's Braden Fiske in the second round, or waiting a little longer for fourth-round talents such as Miami's Leonard Taylor, UCLA's Gabriel Murphy or Colorado State's Mohamed Kamara.

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Priorities — just not early in NFL draft

  • Safety
  • Inside linebacker

Neither safety nor linebacker is settled, but neither is in need of massive renovation, either. Mid-round draft picks make sense at both positions, and there are plenty of starting-caliber free agent safeties around, too.

If the Titans are looking for a Day 3 linebacker, they'll have plenty of options. Notre Dame products J.D. Bertrand and Marist Liufau, Texas' Jaylan Ford, Ohio State's Tommy Eichenberg, Kentucky's Trevin Wallace and Mississippi State's Bookie Watson could all go after Round 4 begins.

The safety market is a little different, depending on if the Titans are looking for more of a dime corner, a centerfield safety or a box safety. But the market could include prospects like Wake Forest's Malik Mustapha, Utah's Sione Vaki, Oregon State's Kitan Oladapo, Georgia's Tykee Smith and Auburn's Jaylin Simpson.

Big concerns — maybe not major needs

  • Wide receiver
  • Tight end

The Titans have more than enough receiver and tight end talent to run the offense they had before hiring coach Brian Callahan. But with a new offense comes need for more depth, rotation and top-tier playmaking personnel to accommodate a more pass-heavy attack.

That's why there's an argument to be made that first-round prospects like Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze and Brock Bowers should be on the Titans' radar. Or second-round pass catchers like Ricky Pearsall, Roman Wilson and Ja'Tavion Sanders. Or a falling first-round talent like Keon Coleman or Troy Franklin.

But if the plan is to wait a little longer, the Titans can find late-round gems in the form of slot-first receivers like Jacob Cowing or Ainias Smith, or a high-upside tight end like Jaheim Bell.

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Tennessee Titans NFL draft needs, ranked

Here are The Tennessean's rankings for the Titans' biggest draft needs, sorted by level of urgency to address those needs specifically with draft picks.

  1. Offensive tackle
  2. Defensive line
  3. Edge rusher
  4. Wide receiver
  5. Inside linebacker
  6. Tight end
  7. Safety
  8. Running back
  9. Cornerback
  10. Interior offensive line
  11. Quarterback

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick atnsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.