{"id":863947,"date":"2026-04-11T12:45:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T12:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863947\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T12:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T12:45:37","slug":"underrated-robert-saleh-day-two-defender-options-titans-sleeper-prospects-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863947\/","title":{"rendered":"Underrated Robert Saleh day two defender options, Titans sleeper prospects in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

In part two of our underrated draft prospects series, we dive into three Day 2 defenders who Titans fans shouldn\u2019t sleep on ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNov 22, 2025; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Missouri Tigers linebacker Josiah Trotter (40) reacts during the first quarter against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The NFL Draft is less than two weeks away, and things are heating up. It\u2019s time to crash course on the prospects you may very well be rooting for in just a couple of days once the Titans take them, and you\u2019ve come to the right place to get the rundown.<\/p>\n

This is part two of a 3-part series on 2026 NFL Draft prospects who simply aren\u2019t getting enough shine. In part one<\/a>, we covered three Round 2 risers. In this edition, we take a look at three Day 2 defenders.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

I spoke with Zach Lyons and Stoney Keeley of the Football and Other F Words podcast, as well as Drew Beatty of @IronCityFilm on X in the video above. Check it out, they each laid out their individual cases for these guys. Now here\u2019s what you need to know:<\/p>\n

Joshua Josephs | EDGE | Tennessee<\/p>\n

Coming it at 83rd overall on the consensus draft board, Josephs brings plenty of length to the table which Robert Saleh values. He\u2019s 6\u20193 with 34 1\/4 inch arms (79th percentile), and ran a scout verified 4.73s 40-yard dash at his pro day. Speed and length are his game, as he weighs in at a mere 242lbs (5th percentile). This is his biggest knock, and is why he\u2019s so far down the big board. He had four years at the University of Tennessee to fill out his frame and hold some weight down, and he wasn\u2019t able to. That can be telling in an NFL eval.<\/p>\n

And yet, he has an elite get-off and that explosiveness married with length can be a winning ticket in the pros. He certainly managed to be productive with it in college, managing 5 sacks, 23 hurries, 4 QB hits and 4 forced fumbles as a senior. In the third round, he could be a solid speed contributor on the EDGE where this teams needs it.<\/p>\n

Jake Golday | LB | Cincinatti<\/p>\n

Golday comes in at 56 on the consensus board. His measurements and testing pop: 6\u20194 1\/2 (96th percentile), 239lbs, ran a 4.62s 40-yard dash (70th), jumped a 39\u2033 vertical (90th), and posted a 7.02s 3-cone (66th). He brings a rare combination of size, speed, explosiveness, and play-strength to the table. He has versatile experience too. He\u2019s played EDGE, standup linebacker, and big nickel as well. He managed 105 tackles (9% miss rate), 6 TFL\u2019s, and three sacks in 2025. And he had coverage upside on tape to boot.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list that really jumped out at me: the only inside LB prospects since 2015 who had one college season with a run defense grade > 88.0, a coverage grade > 80.0, and an RAS > 9.50?<\/p>\n

Leighton Vander Esch, Fred Warner, Jacob Rodriguez, and Jake Golday. Pretty, pretty good company.<\/p>\n

Josiah Trotter | LB | Missouri<\/p>\n

Josiah Trotter? That Trotter? Yes, that Trotter. Josiah is the younger brother of Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and of course the son of Sr., and that NFL pedigree is obvious when you watch him. The 60th player on the consensus board, Josiah comes in at 6\u20192 and 237lbs. He posted 84 tackles, 13 TFLs, 2 sacks, and a 7.4% missed tackle rate in his final college season.<\/p>\n

On tape, he demonstrates ideal strength with ridiculous punch. His downhill skillset is refined more than most at his level of minimal college experience, and that greenness shows through in his coverage IQ. That\u2019s still a work in progress. But if you have any faith in his ability to figure it out mentally like everybody in his immediate family did before him, this is an athlete worth betting on.<\/p>\n

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Tennessee Titans News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe most surprising prospect rankings in Dane Brugler\u2019s The Beast that shed light on where potential Titans targets might go in 2026 NFL Draft\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Dane Brugler\u2019s \u201cThe Beast\u201d is finally out, and in it are some surprising differences when you cross-reference the consensus big board. Here\u2019s what Titans fans need to know:<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"\t\t<\/p>\n

Tennessee Titans News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL Draft Sleeper Watch: 2nd Round Risers who fit with the Tennessee Titans who deserve to be talked about more\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

This is Pt. 1 of a series on draft prospects who deserve more time in the spotlight than they\u2019ve gotten. Here\u2019s three under-discussed 2026 NFL Draft prospects to watch.<\/p>\n

2026 NFL Draft<\/a> Robert Saleh<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In part two of our underrated draft prospects series, we dive into three Day 2 defenders who Titans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[4955,7,6,6043,526,394,2411,527],"class_list":{"0":"post-863947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-robert-saleh","12":"tag-tennessee","13":"tag-tennessee-titans","14":"tag-tennesseetitans","15":"tag-titans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116386145870674576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863947","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=863947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}