The Tennessee Titans can't trade down in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, they have to come away with a blue-chip prospect whether that means Joe Alt or one of the trio of legendary receivers.
At least, that is what I thought until today.
The Tennessee Titans social media team challenged everyone to tell them what they wanted to see in the draft. So, I fired up the PFF mock draft simulator and was stunned to see the first six selections.
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Drake May, and Jayden Daniels were off the board with the first three picks, which is standard. the Arizona Cardinals stuck at 4 and drafted Marvin Harrison Jr. while the L.A. Chargers stuck and 5 and drafted Rome Odunze.
Again, all of these moves make sense for these teams. Then the New York Giants selected J.J. McCarthy, and that makes sense as well considering that the Giants have been sniffing around quarterbacks all offseason and there have been strong rumblings that they already regret giving Daniel Jones an extension.
That left the Tennessee Titans on the clock with two blue-chip prospects and a phone call from the Chicago Bears. Knowing that the Atlanta Falcons were going to draft Alabama EDGE, Dallas Turner at 8 (which they did), that meant that the Titans could pull off a trade down to 9 and still get a blue-chip player. This is how it went down...
TRADE: Tennessee Titans receive picks 9 (1st), 75 (3rd), and a 3rd in 2025 from the Chicago Bears in exchange for pick 7.
With the 9th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select Joe Alt OT, Notre Dame
This is the dream scenario for the Tennessee Titans. First and foremost, they get a franchise left tackle that the vast majority of teams consider to be the clear OT1 in one of the best draft classes ever for offensive linemen. That alone is enough to celebrate and throw a parade over after watching Dennis Daley and Andre Dillard for the last two seasons.
On top of that, they get paid a 3rd round pick this year and a 3rd round pick in 2025 (which replaces the 3rd round pick they traded for L'Jarius Sneed) to do it!
No one knows how draft prospects will turn out, but no one in the country would argue that pairing up Joe Alt with elite OL coach Bill Callahan AND getting two top-100 picks to do it, is anything less than a grand slam for Ran Carthon.
But wait, there is more...