{"id":699142,"date":"2026-01-23T15:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699142\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T15:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:06:17","slug":"titans-land-texas-tech-star-in-latest-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699142\/","title":{"rendered":"Titans Land Texas Tech Star in Latest Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the No. 4 overall pick, the Tennessee Titans<\/a> have a huge decision to make.<\/p>\n

Wide receivers like Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson catch the eye, but there’s also a world where offense is off the board entirely.<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Mel Kiper<\/a> dropped his latest NFL Mock Draft, which saw the Tennessee Titans newest hire<\/a>, Robert Saleh, prioritize defense with the team’s top-five draft pick.<\/p>\n

Trading down doesn’t seem to be an option anymore as the Titans are content with where they are. Instead of potentially overpaying for a wide receiver, Kiper believes Saleh won’t be able to turn down this Texas Tech linebacker.<\/p>\n

Titans Select OLB David Bailey\"Texas<\/p>\n

Oct 18, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders linebacker David Bailey (31) reacts as he walks off the field following the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

“Tennessee is going to be focused on two things this offseason: getting quarterback Cam Ward more help and improving the defense,” Kiper wrote. “It’s a tough call on which direction the Titans will go here, but let’s follow the board while also knowing new coach Robert Saleh is a defense guy.”<\/p>\n

From there, he began to rave about the Red Raiders linebacker, “Bailey was outstanding this past season. His stats tell the story: 14.5 sacks, 20.2% pressure rate, 23 tackles for loss — and all at least tied for a share of first in the FBS. Pairing Bailey with defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons on the D-line could be a big step in the right direction.”<\/p>\n

“As for offense, this is a pretty deep class of pass catchers,” Kiper added. “But if Saleh decides Ward’s supporting cast is the first-round priority no matter what, then I’d expect Ohio State’s Carnell Tate to get some attention here.”<\/p>\n

Defense Should Be Titans No. 1 Priority \"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Tech’s David Bailey takes the field before a non-conference football game, Saturday, August 30, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium. | Nathan Giese\/Avalanche-Journal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Titans have enough money to spend on a proven pass catcher in free agency, they don’t need to waste their No. 4 overall pick. Bailey’s name has come up a time or two, as has Miami’s defensive end Reuben Bain Jr.<\/p>\n

Either way, the Titans would be hitting a home run. Saleh isn’t going to let a star defensive player not go his way<\/a>, and thankfully for him, Kiper only sees Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese being drafted ahead of them.<\/p>\n

Bailey began his collegiate career in his hometown of California with Stanford before putting his name in the portal. Coming off his best year yet, it’ll be no surprise seeing a proven player with 163 career tackles, 29 sacks, and 10 forced fumbles going in the top-five.<\/p>\n

Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the No. 4 overall pick, the Tennessee Titans have a huge decision to make. Wide receivers like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[7,6,526,394,2411,527],"class_list":{"0":"post-699142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-tennessee","11":"tag-tennessee-titans","12":"tag-tennesseetitans","13":"tag-titans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699142","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=699142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}