There will be a lot of Tennessee Titans fans coping on social media over the next week or so, and Nashville radio stations will be clamoring to find people who like what the Titans did.
People are going to say, "The Titans actually got a 'B' according to this person!" That is true, but that is the same person who only gave out one "C" so they still think the Titans had one of the worst drafts in the NFL.
Let's rip the bandaid off now, here is where the Titans rank according to the most respected draft analysts.
🏈🧑🏻🎓 I´ve compiled 20 evaluations of the 2024 NFL draft and totaled the team grades.
— René Bugner (@RNBWCV) April 28, 2024
Here is the spreadsheet. Sorted by GPA for all 32 teams.
I also sorted the 20 evaluations by GPA. From left (soft graders) to right (hard graders).
Thanks to all who give out grades every year! pic.twitter.com/53EozhxKQT
So according to those rankings, the Titans had the 29th class (or fourth worst class) in the NFL.
That is going to make a lot of people upset, but you have to remember what draft grades are meant to represent. They are reflections of the perceived talent of the player that the team picked weighed against where they drafted that player.
In that respect, the Titans deserve a low grade. The same fans who scream about taking the BPA no matter what can't look at this draft and think they did a good job. They had two premium picks in this draft and they reached with the first pick and then bragged about turning down several offers (that were almost certainly better than fair value based on the picks that were traded right after they picked) for the chance to pick T'Vondre Sweat which everyone considered a very big reach.
Moves like that are always going to hurt a draft grade and those are picks that get people fired if they don't work out. Fans have to just accept that and move on.
However, just because the Titans draft wasn't efficient and they didn't maximize their value, that doesn't mean that this will be a bad class. In fact, this draft could produce as many starters as any other class this year.
No matter what they say publicly, the Titans didn't draft for value or to get the best player available. Instead, they drafted for need, just mentioning that idea instantly causes people to clutch their pearls, but is drafting for need such a bad thing?
Whether you think the Titans reached or not, J.C. Latham is still going to be a starting tackle for the Tennessee Titans in Week 1. Same thing with T'Vondre Sweat on the defensive line and Cedric Gray at linebacker.
They also have three more players who should be active on game day for their immediate contributions to special teams Jarvis Brownlee Jr., James Williams, and Jha'Quan Jackson.
This class could end up yielding four or five starters, and the Titans did a good enough job in free agency to have this sort of mediocre draft and still come away as a better team.
In 5 years, there are going to be players who were drafted in the first and second rounds that the Titans wish they would have picked instead of what they got. However, it also seems like a draft class where teams that gambled on boom-or-bust guys, will be jealous of the consistency that Ran Carthon landed.
Should fans be thrilled about this draft? No, just getting starters and patching holes is what free agency is for, not the draft. But could this draft be useful for the Titans and make them better in the short-term and long-term, yes.