Franchise quarterback Cam Ward is the focal point of the Tennessee Titans' 2025 NFL Draft class, but the team's methodology around the other eight picks should lead you to believe that he isn't the only rookie they expect to contribute this season.
PFF recently ranked the draft classes by which teams drafted the most experienced players. The Titans placed seventh on that list, but more than half of the teams in front of them had at least two additional selections compared to the nine picks the Titans made.
The Titans prioritized experience this offseason, and there is a clear and obvious reason they did that.
Mike Borgonzi and Chad Brinker have been clear and up front about their "draft-and-develop" mentality. Their goal is to bring in rookies that can step into the mix immediately and compete for spots on the roster, which is why the front office weren't big spenders in free agency. They don't want to flood the depth chart with older players who prevent rookies from getting valuable reps during training camp and the preseason.
That might sound like the Titans aren't trying to create enough competition in training camp to get the best result, but that isn't true. It has been less than a month since the draft, and the Titans have already made several waiver claims and added veterans to the roster to compete with some of their rookies.
By drafting rookies who have already played thousands of snaps at the collegiate level, the Titans front office is giving the coaches the best chance to quickly identify which players should be able to contribute and which might take a little longer to develop.
The only two players that the Titans drafted with fewer than 1,400 career snaps were Kevin Winston Jr. and Kalel Mullings, and there are reasons why those two are the exceptions.
Winston was a starter for Penn State as a 20-year-old sophomore, and he was one of the best players on the field every time he played. If he had been healthy, he would have added hundreds of snaps to his total count, but he suffered an injury that caused him to miss more than half of his final season. He was already a polished product after his sophomore campaign, so he didn't need those reps as much as others might have.
Mullings is a former linebacker who converted to running back because the team needed help at the position. His primary role will be on special teams, where he spent a lot of time in college, and PFF didn't take special teams snaps into consideration when they were putting together these rankings.
Keep an eye on the EDGE position during training camp. The Titans only drafted one in the class, and it was Femi Oladejo in the second round. He certainly looks the part in the weight room, but more than 75% of his snaps came when he was playing off-ball linebacker. In reality, he would be the Titans' least experienced draft pick if we were judging him solely on his snaps at EDGE.
That is the perfect storm for a sizable investment in one of the few talented EDGEs that are still floating around in the free agent market.