Live 2024 NFL Draft grade: Tennessee Titans draft G/T J.C. Latham
By Will Lomas
Despite an entire offseason connecting the Tennessee Titans and Joe Alt, Ran Carthon and Brian Callahan never got the chance to land the best tackle in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Speculation leading up to the draft suggested that if the Tennessee Titans didn't have a chance to draft Joe Alt, that they would be looking at one of two names, Malik Nabers or J.C. Latham.
With a chance to collect their thoughts after Alt went the pick before, the New York Giants selected Malik Nabers cutting that list in half.
After a nightmare scenario ahead of them, the Titans were stuck taking J.C. Latham with the 7th pick in the draft.
What does this mean for the Tennessee Titans
There is no sugar-coating it, when you look at the consensus draft board Latham will almost certainly be the worst value of any team drafting a non-QB in the first round. Latham's ranking on the consensus board was 15th, so taking him at 7 is a massive reach.
According to people like Matt Miller, Dane Brugler, and Lance Zierlein, he is a right tackle who is more likely to play right guard than he is left tackle so it is pretty clear where he is going to line up with the Titans.
Is he a terrible pick? No, but it is a very bad value and his playing weight of 360+ lb. combined with his refusal to do any athletic testing is as big of a red flag as you can get. The last two first-round picks at that weight were Mekhi Becton and...Isaiah Wilson.
The harsh truth is, the Tennessee Titans made great moves in free agency but those moves also forced them to lock into offensive tackle in the first round. Unfortunately, they missed out on Joe Alt and still haven't figured out the left tackle position unless Bill Callahan can work out a miracle.
The Titans ended up without a left tackle, without a blue player, without extra picks, and with as many questions as they had entering the draft. The only thing keeping this from being an "F" is that Bill Callahan must have signed off on this pick, without that it would be a disaster.