Tennessee Titans GM Mike Borgonzi did a great job finding value on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft last offseason. The biggest win was landing All-Pro Chimere Dike, but Elic Ayomanor, Gunnar Helm, and Marcus Harris were all starters as rookies and look to be a part of the team's future.
This offseason, the Titans have clearly defined needs at the top of the draft, but getting value on Day 3 is still something they need if they want to speed up this rebuild in an organic, sustainable way.
Luckily, recent history has proven that the NFL Combine has a few events that help identify which players might be diamonds in the rough.
Short shuttle for offensive linemen
Josh Norris has been a strong proponent of this for years, but if you didn't know, there is a very high chance that an offensive lineman with an elite short shuttle will turn into a serviceable (or much better) player in the NFL.
The time to watch out for is anything sub-4.47 seconds, and you can check out the list of linemen who have cleared that bar, as well as the games they have played in and started here.
With the Titans likely needing to add depth on the offensive line on Day 3 of the draft, landing one of these athletic phenoms would be a great bet.
Three-cone drill for EDGEs
Regardless of where you draft an EDGE, the really good ones have at least one of a handful of traits. Right up there at the top of the list are great bend, overwhelming power in their hands, and nuanced and diverse pass rush moves. Since power is a combination of different muscle groups and not something you can accurately test for, and a diverse pass rush move set is only helpful if you already have a lot of other physical tools, the one to focus on is bend.
Being able to bait tackles and then avoid their blocks with flexibility and burst is one of the freaky traits that makes an EDGE a terror for offensive linemen and quarterbacks alike. The combine has an excellent test for that, the three-cone drill.
The number to watch for is anything faster than seven seconds. That number is the Mendoza line for EDGEs, and the heavier that the EDGE is when they hit that number, the higher the chance of hitting on a player. Maxx Crosby is one of the players that comes to mind when you think about success stories for Day 3 EDGEs, and he ran the three-cone drill in 6.88 seconds.
40-yard dash for tight ends
If you had to ask 100 football fans to name a drill at the NFL Combine, and if they got it right, they win a million dollars, 99 of them would pick the 40-yard dash.
The 40 means different things for each position. For cornerbacks, the 40 is a pass-fail test, and if you don't clear a certain threshold, teams will take you off the board. For a position like wide receiver, it is fool's gold because it causes coaches and GMs to overlook other flaws in their game and to dismiss the physicality of the NFL. One position where being the fastest player does seem to have a correlation with success is at tight end.
In recent years, tight ends like Chig Okonkwo and Theo Johnson have been great Day 3 additions who have been above-average starters and role players on their teams. There is no guarantee that a player of that caliber will fall to Day 3, but if the Titans want a more athletic tight end than Helm, they may consider targeting a player that checks that box on Day 3.