{"id":647790,"date":"2026-01-02T09:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/647790\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T09:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:54:19","slug":"prospects-titans-should-watch-during-thursdays-cfp-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/647790\/","title":{"rendered":"Prospects Titans should watch during Thursday’s CFP games"},"content":{"rendered":"

And just like that, 2025 came to an end, and 2026 kicks off with some football. While the Tennessee Titans<\/a> continue preparations for their Week 18 finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars, football fans will likely be tuned in to the three college bowl games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These three games will showcase some of the top prospects for the 2026 NFL draft and players who may end up roaming the sidelines of Nissan Stadium in 2026 and beyond. There is no doubt scouts will be paying attention, including the Titans, who will likely have a top-5 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.<\/p>\n

The Titans currently hold the fourth-overall pick, but could see some minor movement depending on how Week 17 plays out. Tennessee has multiple needs and needs an infusion of talent, so maximizing draft capital is a must during this rebuild. With limited games remaining, Titans scouts have one final significant opportunity to evaluate top prospects in a live game setting.<\/p>\n

Here is a quick breakdown of the players the Titans should key in on today.<\/p>\n

Orange Bowl: Oregon vs. Texas Tech<\/p>\n

Player spotlight: Texas Tech EDGE David Baily<\/p>\n

Even though the system the Titans will play in 2026 remains an unknown, there is no doubt that they will be scouting edge prospects, and Baily is a good one. Experienced and armed with a quick first step, he has been productive in two different conferences and has proved to be a problem for Big 12 offenses in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his only season with Texas Tech, he exploded for 43 total tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, and 13.5 sacks, and has risen on draft boards. Baily lacks the prototypical height for an edge player and could slide out of first-round consideration, which would be great news for Tennessee as they look to add talent on both sides of the ball.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other players of note:<\/p>\n

Oregon QB Dante MooreOregon TE Kenyon SadiqOregon Edge Matayo Uiagalelei\u00a0Oregon OT Isaiah World\u00a0Oregon OL Emmanuel PregnonOregon OL Iapani Laloulu\u00a0Texas Tech Edge Romello HeightTexas Tech TE Terrance Carter\u00a0Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez\u00a0Texas Tech DL Lee Hunter\u00a0Texas Tech OL Sheridan WilsonRose Bowl: Alabama vs. Indiana<\/p>\n

Player spotlight: Indiana WR Elijah Sarratt<\/p>\n

This matchup will feature two of the top quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL draft, but with Cam Ward in place, the Titans will focus on their teammates rather than the signal-callers.\u00a0With holes on the edge, at cornerback, and at wide receiver, there will be some players on hand that should catch their eyes, and one of those could be Sarratt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sarratt has been productive at his two stops in college football, bursting onto the scene with James Madison before moving on to Indiana, where he developed into a top target for the Hoosiers. At 6-foot-2, 213 pounds, he is a physical possession receiver who can make the contested catch and be an actual red zone threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other players of note:<\/p>\n

Alabama QB Ty SimpsonAlabama OT Kadyn ProctorAlabama Edge LT Overton\u00a0Alabama WR Germie Bernard\u00a0Alabama CB Domani Jackson\u00a0Alabama OL Parker Brailsford\u00a0Indiana QB Fernando MendozaIndiana OT Carter Smith\u00a0Indiana CB D\u2019Angelo Ponds\u00a0Indiana WR Omar Cooper\u00a0Indiana Edge Mikail Kamara\u00a0Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Ole Miss<\/p>\n

Player spotlight: Georgia DL Christen Miller<\/p>\n

With Jeffery Simmons and T\u2019Vondre Sweat in place, the Titans have a solid core to anchor their defense, but could look to add another playmaker to their front, and Miller could be that type of player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 6-foot-4, 310 pounds, Miller enters this game as an established run stuffer, with some untapped potential as a pass rusher. In 2025, he finished with 20 total tackles, three tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. With Sebastian Joseph-Day an unrestricted free agent, Miller is the type of player who could be found on Day 2 of the draft and have an impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other players of note:<\/p>\n

Ole Miss DT Zxavian HarrisOle Miss LB Suntarine PerkinsOle Miss TE Dae\u2019Quan WrightOle Miss S Wydett Williams\u00a0Ole Miss CB Antonio Kite\u00a0Georgia LB CJ AllenGeorgia WR Zachariah Branch\u00a0Georgia OT Monroe Freeling\u00a0Georgia CB Daylan Everette<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And just like that, 2025 came to an end, and 2026 kicks off with some football. While the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[4955,17051,247,265,1603,318,339,19,7,20842,1184,248,267,88,6,15,35196,245,537,530,1602,1610,2517,9,266,526,394,2411,527,1604],"class_list":["post-647790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-tennessee-titans","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-17051","tag-american","tag-american-football","tag-breaking","tag-college","tag-college-sports","tag-draft","tag-football","tag-hub","tag-listicle","tag-national","tag-national-sports","tag-news","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-nfl-hub","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-positive","tag-smg","tag-smg-breaking-wire","tag-smg-listicle","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-tennesseetitans","tag-titans","tag-wire"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115824903206441823","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}