5 bold predictions for the Tennessee Titans in the 2023 NFL draft

2. Tennessee Titans trade down, but not too far

If the Titans want to compete this season, they should really try to come away from the draft with a starting offensive lineman and two receivers that can be in and out of the lineup without a dropoff in production.

This number gets overblown, but right now the Tennessee Titans have six picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, and when you look at those needs it would help to have more than three premium (top 100) picks to work with. While it is possible to do it with those picks, it gives you a small margin for error and it does become impossible if you deviate from the plan (more on that in prediction #4).

Even though it almost certainly means missing out on a blue-chip player, ultimately Mike Vrabel and Ran Carthon will collaborate their way down the draft to pick up another pick on Day 2.

However, I don't think this means that the Titans will trade out of the top-18 picks. There are plenty of rumors going around that suggest that teams in that range are considering moving up including the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.

Another team to keep an eye on is the Detroit Lions. If this is a class with a dozen or so players with true first-round grades, the Lions have the ammo to move up from 18 all the way up to 11 to grab one. They have 9 picks in this class including two first-round picks and two second-round picks.

We know that the Tennessee Titans have been talking to the Detroit Lions, and we have assumed that was because Ran Carthon wanted to trade up to the sixth pick in the draft. What if those conversations also included talks about Detroit wanting to come up to 11 if the Titans' plans fell through?