If the Tennessee Titans can come out of the 2025 NFL Draft with a franchise quarterback in the first round and a potential Pro Bowl wide receiver in the second round, it would go a long way toward rebuilding this team and getting fans excited again.
However, if the Titans swing and miss on a receiver in the second round, fans will look back at the gap between No. 35 overall and their next scheduled choice (No. 103), and slam the front office for taking that risk instead of picking one of the safer bets that panned out.
Alternatively, the Titans may consider trading down in the second round to pick up a third-round choice that mitigates whatever risk they take in the second round. a third-round pick to help mitigate that risk. That is a popular scenario, but what happens if the Titans don't receive a worthwhile offer?
General manager Mike Borgonzi may have to stick-and-pick at 35. Considering the state of their roster, they need to make the best choice available at either wide receiver or EDGE. Assuming the Titans follow the trend of supporting first-round rookie quarterbacks with second-round weapons, they will have a lot of names to choose from at wide receiver.
Emeka Egbuka, Jaylin Noel, Kyle Williams, Jayden Higgins, and Tre Harris are just some of the receivers who may be available at No. 35 overall. However, no receiver's potential fall has Titans fans buzzing more than Missouri's Luther Burden III.
Burden hasn't always played with the most urgency, and Josh Norris described him best when he said that "Luther Burden will be as good Luther Burden wants to be." Scouts have pre-draft questions about his effort and alleged character. That is something that the Titans can't know for sure until after they draft him (though Cam Ward might be the perfect guy to get the best out of him).
However, there is a prospect in the draft that they will have an incredible amount of inside information on. Washington State's Williams played with Ward in 2023 when both were playing in the former PAC-12. The duo was fantastic together, but in 2024, Williams proved that he wasn't just a product of Ward's talent when he set career highs for receptions (70), yards (1,198), yards per reception (17.1), and touchdowns (14).
Not only do they have the Ward connection, but Titans offensive coordinator Nick Holz was Williams' OC at UNLV in 2022. So the Titans have a year of information about what it was like to coach Williams, and a year of information on what it was like for the quarterback to throw to him.
In addition to all of that, the Titans had him in for a private visit heading into the draft. You aren't going to get a more multidimensional look into a player's work ethic and intangibles than that.
Williams is somewhere in the 75-100 range on the consensus big board, which means he is a solid third-round prospect. Analysts think he can be a WR3 as a rookie with WR2 upside down the road. That is stellar, but it is a far cry from Burden, who is universally acknowledged as a first-round talent if you can get him to commit himself.
Ward has deleted his now-infamous Fortnite livestream from the other night, but in that stream, he praised Burden and Williams, so presumably, he would like to have either player on the roster. It all comes down to whether the Titans are willing to roll the dice on a player with Pro Bowl upside or if they want to make it out of this draft with a guy who won't surprise them (for better or worse) in training camp.