The Tennessee Titans' rebuild is firmly underway, and there are several reasons to be optimistic about the future. However, ESPN's Bill Barnwell doesn't trust the Titans to maximize the potential throughout this roster.
Barnwell recently shared his thoughts on what the best players on each team might be worth on the trade market.
Barnwell's article had players broken down into tiers ranging from "four first-round picks and more" to "one first-round pick," so the criteria to even be mentioned was high. While some teams had more than half a dozen players, the Titans only had two players mentioned.
Rookie quarterback Cam Ward was valued at two first-round picks, while Jeffery Simmons was valued at one first-round pick.
Titans roster gets extremely harsh evaluation from ESPN
That is a pretty rough evaluation considering it is common knowledge that the New York Giants offered more than that for Ward before the draft. Ward is almost certainly getting knocked down by Barnwell because of the small-market team he was drafted by, paired with the lack of hype around him leading into the draft.
At first glance, Simmons also seems to be undervalued here, but when you look over the list, the only two defensive tackles valued higher are Mason Graham (who only got a higher estimation because he is a highly-drafted rookie) and Jalen Carter.
The lowball price tag of the Titans' two most valuable assets was bad enough, but where things really went off the rails was when Barnwell talked about the players who didn't make the cut. He said,
"The Titans hope their young offensive linemen are worth counting here. OT J.C. Latham led all linemen in sacks allowed last season, per NFL Next Gen Stats; he was likely stretched at left tackle and will return back to his college role on the right side. If he excels there, he will be back in the first-round range, but there are no guarantees he lives up to expectations; not being able to play on the left side limits a tackle's ceiling. Likewise, there was chatter about OL Peter Skoronski being able to play tackle at the pro level, but he hasn't established himself as even an above-average guard through two seasons. There's still time for those guys to develop, but the hope with first-round linemen is that they'll step right into the starting lineup and hold their own. DT T'Vondre, a second-rounder last year, was very good as a rookie nose tackle, but he'll need to do more against the pass to attract the kind of value Simmons would have around the league."
It is hard to watch every single player in the NFL, especially offensive linemen, so I understand why Barnwell allowed the stats to form his opinions. Criticism for Latham is fair, but he had more good moments than bad as a rookie.
As for Sweat, he was productive enough as a rookie to put him in the conversation for a first-round value, but considering that the defensive tackle position as a whole was devalued on this list, it's understandable why Barnwell would exclude him.