The Tennessee Titans selected Alabama offensive tackle J.C. Latham with the 7th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and picked Texas defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat with the 38th pick.
The decisions made total sense positionally, as the Titans needed help in the trenches, but they were not seen as great picks in the eyes of many.
Despite more positive buzz around him in the weeks leading up to the draft, Latham's athleticism is not quite as good as many of the other top tackles in the draft, and that is largely why his selection was seen as a reach.
Sweat was a whole separate matter, not just because of on-field concerns but for those off of it as well. He was arrested for DUI just weeks before the draft, and the Titans appear to have done their homework there, but that does not erase the conditioning concerns people have for him at the next level.
It is not what many saw coming, but they are both still excellent players and move the needle for the Titans on paper. And despite the actual value of the picks, it is not like Ran Carthon and Brian Callahan were settling based on what their board looked like coming into last Thursday.
Tennessee Titans show that they just take their guys when they are available
One of the questions for the Titans coming into the draft was whether or not they would trade back at any point, as they lacked a 3rd round pick going in, and will not have one next year after trading for L'Jarius Sneed.
It seemed smart for the Titans to maximize their resources since they needed a lot of roster help, but of course, there was no way they were going to have everything fixed for the 2024 season.
The most important thing for Ran Carthon and Brian Callahan to do was make the best picks for the best players with the best opportunities they could get, and even though they did not trade back, they would tell you they took advantage of every best chance they got.
The Titans did reach for Latham a little bit in terms of consensus value and in a perfect world, would have gotten him four or five spots later. And they did have an opportunity to move back and get a few more assets in return, but Carthon said they liked Latham and wanted to take him when they had the chance.
.@Titans GM Ran Carthon told reporters in Nashville the team had a lot of calls at 7, but unless we heard an offer that was going to blow us away, the team was going to stay put. The team wanted JC Latham.
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) April 26, 2024
Carthon said the team felt the Chargers would take Joe Alt at 5
It was a very similar deal to T'Vondre Sweat, and even though the pick was not a big reach in terms of just talent, trading back and choosing from the many good players left would have looked better value-wise. Still, the Titans waited patiently to see how the draft would fare and took the guy they liked when they were on the clock.
Carthon said #Titans had 8 or 9 offers for their pick, but said they wanted to see how the board would shake out up until their pick. Said he knew there would be a WR and CB run, then knew a DT run was coming.
— Terry McCormick (@terrymc13) April 27, 2024
Doing it the way the Titans did it will not get you the best actual draft grades, but there is a lot of good in what they did. Most importantly, it shows that they had a definite, serious plan and cared simply about executing, rather than nickel and diming it to the max and potentially missing on their guys.
Drafting is not a perfect science and every decision will have its potential drawbacks, and it is great that the Titans had a vision and can live the cons. It also can only make the drafted guys work harder for the team knowing that they were wanted, which in turn can only promote a positive team culture.
Now obviously, this strategy is only best if your evaluation of the players is on point, and we will have to see how Latham and Sweat perform to determine if it pays off. And if these picks were made for players who were never supposed to go that high, they would be irresponsible, but the Titans did not do that.
Latham and Sweat were seen as very talented players in the draft, and nobody was confused about them being highly coveted by NFL front offices. The Titans feel good about drafting them, and you should feel good knowing the players themselves and how the team went about the selection process.