The Tennessee Titans made nine total selections during the 2025 NFL Draft. General manager Mike Borgonzi did an outstanding job blending instant starters with depth picks and developmental projects. The Titans will attempt to make the process appear as natural as possible, but it's fairly certain that No. 1 overall quarterback Cam Ward will be the Week 1 starter.
That begs the question, will the Titans have any additional rookie-year starters? Pro Football Focus recently wrote an article examining those possibilities for all 32 teams across the league, placing rookies in "virtual locks," "on the cusp," and "could win a competition" buckets.
A total of four Titans rookies are mentioned, with Ward understandably being the lone "virtual lock."
From there, PFF mentions both wide receiver selections, Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor, as rookies who could "win a competition." It's easy to understand why. Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett will be the Titans' two primary wideouts in 2025. Head coach Brian Callahan prefers to run 11 personnel with three receivers on the field as his primary formation. That third spot currently belongs to the underwhelming Van Jefferson.
Though Jefferson may begin the regular-season campaign in that position, the preferred outcome would be for Ayomanor and Dike to make a valiant push. Dike and Ayomanor must first prove capable of learning and executing the playbook. If they do that, Jefferson could quickly be considered replaceable.
And finally, safety Kevin Winston Jr. is also named under the defensive "could win a competition" header. The Titans were elated to land Winston Jr. at No. 82 overall, a player they had a borderline first-round grade on before he suffered a season-ending partial torn ACL injury.
"Kevin Winston Jr. has starting-caliber talent if he proves to the Titans that his knee is fully healthy," Dalton Wasserman specifically wrote.
Amani Hooker and veteran free-agent signing Xavier Woods should enter the season as Dennard Wilson's starting safeties. Winston Jr. could play in three-safety formations, or in certain nickel and/or dime packages. Winston Jr. projects as a long-term starter in Tennessee, even if he begins the season in more of a rotational role.
The 2025 NFL Draft will be considered a huge success if the Titans manage to come away with so many instant contributors.