The Tennessee Titans' rebuild is chugging along, but this continues to look like a multi-year project for Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi.
Picking Cam Ward at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft will inject the fan base with some much-needed excitement, but the team has a lot of work to do to help him succeed as a rookie.
Ignoring the money, signing Dan Moore to play left tackle, moving J.C. Latham to right tackle, and signing Kevin Zeitler to play right guard should give the Titans five proven starters on the offensive line for the first time since 2019. If Moore can break the curse of free-agent Titans tackles, they should be a productive group.
But the Titans' reduced emphasis on free agency means that the rest of the team's problems are going to be addressed during the draft. On offense, the biggest need that the franchise has is at wide receiver, where they lack quality and quantity.
There is some intel on what the Titans are looking to do at the position, courtesy of Easton Freeze, who recently reported this for AtoZ Sports:
"Here’s what I do know: they’re looking hard at receivers in the middle rounds of the draft. They have a pair of 4ths, a pair of 5ths, and a pair of 6th round picks. I’d bet serious money at least one, possibly two of those picks are a receiver. Happy hunting!
I also think they’ll add another WR or two from the free agent pool, which was bad to begin with and is even worse now that it’s been picked over."
Combing over the likely Day 3 receivers and some potential connections, three players stand out.
1. Xavier Restrepo WR, Miami
As a 5-foot-10 slot receiver who will turn 23 before the draft, Restrepo had an uphill battle to climb if he was going to be a Day 2 pick. The door on that opportunity might be shut after running a disappointing 40 time at his Pro Day, but he will have a strong advocate in the building in Nashville where Ward will likely pound the table for him after the historic season the two put together.
2. Kyle Williams WR, Washington State
Williams is another receiver connected to Ward, but this one goes back to 2022 when the two were together at Washington State. Despite a decorated career in college, Williams gets knocked for not being as refined as you would like a fifth-year senior to be. However, he has speed, and he was durable, missing only three games in five years, and both of those things should be attractive to the Titans. Brian Callahan's offensive coordinator Nick Holz was also his OC at UNLV.
3. Dont'e Thornton WR, Tennessee
It's rare for a 6-foot-5 receiver with 4.30 speed to make it to Day 3, but that will probably happen with Thornton. Despite being a four-year starter, Thornton didn't break out until the Volunteers committed to playing him on the outside, where he thrived on vertical routes and shots down the field. The big-time vertical playmaker is less of a developmental player and more of an immediate role player who could develop into something more in time. Ward loves to throw the ball deep, and it would help to have a big, fast target waiting on the other end of those attempts.