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\nJeremiyah Love (4) of Notre Dame could be the big debate for the Titans at No. 4 overall in the draft, given their need for playmakers on the field. (Photo by Trinity Machan\/Icon Sportswire) <\/p>\n
\nJeremiyah Love (4) of Notre Dame could be the big debate for the Titans at No. 4 overall in the draft, given their need for playmakers on the field. (Photo by Trinity Machan\/Icon Sportswire)
<\/p>\n
The Tennessee Titans have a few different options at No. 4 in the first round of this year\u2019s draft, provided they don\u2019t trade the pick to move down and add more draft capital.<\/p>\n
With Robert Saleh being a defensive-minded head coach, a lot of conventional wisdom says to add either David Bailey of Texas Tech, Arvell Reese of Ohio State or Reuben Bain of Miami with the fourth pick. After all, at least one of them will certainly be there when the Titans\u2019 turn comes, given that quarterback Fernando Mendoza is expected to go No. 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders.<\/p>\n
The other option, as wide receiver seems to be fading more into a trade-back or second-round option for the Titans is, of course, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.<\/p>\n
The dilemma, if there actually is one, is that Love plays a position that has been devalued in recent years, as more and more emphasis has been placed on explosiveness in the passing game with star quarterbacks and wide receivers dominating on offense in a way that few running backs do.<\/p>\n
But before the thought of a running back can be openly dismissed by the Titans at No. 4 with Love, a few things have to be brought to light.<\/p>\n
Lest, we forget, the last dominant game-changing offensive player the Titans had in their possession was a running back \u2013 Derrick Henry, who now into his third year away from Tennessee, is still competing at a high level for the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n
Henry was the centerpiece of the Titans offense from 2018 until he left in 2024. It took him a couple of years to become a dominant player, but once he did, the Tennessee offense took off to a different level, a level not seen since his exit.<\/p>\n
And, while Love is a different style of back to Henry\u2019s battering-ram-with-speed approach, he might be a more well-rounded player than Henry, because he also possesses outstanding skills as a pass receiver.<\/p>\n
Love wasn\u2019t asked to catch a lot of passes, but still had 28 receptions and averaged 10.3 yards per catch for the Fighting Irish last year. That\u2019s a nice complement to the 1,372 yards he had rushing on just 199 carries.<\/p>\n
While the Titans have spent the off-season building up the defense, the offense \u2013 outside of adding WanDale Robinson in the slot \u2013 still doesn\u2019t look a lot better than what Cam Ward had to work with as a rookie. If the Titans want Ward to succeed, they have to start stockpiling some playmakers to take the pressure off him.<\/p>\n
Ward threw 540 passes last year as a rookie. That is way too many, and doesn\u2019t even count the times he was sacked or scrambled while trying to throw. To put that number in perspective, it was more passes than Will Levis and Mason Rudolph threw combined in 2024.<\/p>\n
The Titans have said they want to get back to being more balanced on offense, something they finally did in the final month of the season last year. And with that commitment to the run, Ward\u2019s play, which had been underwhelming for much of his rookie season, began to take off.<\/p>\n
Adding a dynamic like Love to the equation should only help Ward, as Saleh and Brian Daboll work to try and develop him into a franchise QB. Love could bring an immediate impact to the offense, something the Titans haven\u2019t had since A.J. Brown\u2019s rookie season in 2019.<\/p>\n
To me, the argument of Love not playing a premium position really doesn\u2019t hold water here. Normally, I would say don\u2019t spend a first-round pick on a non-premium position. Save that for quarterbacks, edge rushers and left tackles.<\/p>\n
But for every rule there is an exception. Two drafts ago, the Titans thought they were helping Levis by taking J.C. Latham at No. 7 overall to play left tackle after the Chargers grabbed the left tackle prize in Joe Alt two picks earlier.<\/p>\n
Latham, a right tackle at Alabama, would be just fine in his development under Bill Callahan was the thinking, after losing out on Alt.<\/p>\n
But in retrospect, the Titans probably should have gone a different direction and taken a playmaker that was right there on the board, only to be passed over in Georgia tight end Brock Bowers. Bowers didn\u2019t play a premium position, either, but had superstar potential, much like Love does in this draft class. Bowers\u2019 presence on the Titans offense in 2024 probably would have impacted things in a much different and likely better way than things went with Latham as a rookie.<\/p>\n
Yes, the Titans offensive line needed addressing, but Latham has since been shifted to right tackle and has still yet to fully blossom entering year three, as the Titans still are trying to find a cohesive unit along the front wall. Meanwhile, Bowers, despite injuries last year that limited him to 64 catches, is a top talent at his position and a true difference-maker with the ball in his hands.<\/p>\n
While conventional wisdom says don\u2019t take a non-premium position as high as No. 4, the Titans lack of offensive playmakers screams even louder to find someone who changes the game with the ball in his hands.<\/p>\n
The Titans will have to figure out who is going to block for Love, as 40 percent of the line is currently in question with center and right guard up in the air and open to competition. After all, whoever is going to carry the football is going to be someone to open some holes, but playmaking potential is something the Titans have ignored for too long at the expense of wins and quarterback development.<\/p>\n
If the Titans want to help Ward hasten his development, start drafting playmakers to help him excel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jeremiyah Love (4) of Notre Dame could be the big debate for the Titans at No. 4…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[7,6,526,394,2411,527],"class_list":{"0":"post-860329","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":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116367502879512374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860329","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=860329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}