Music City Miracles
The Titans add a playmaker for Will Levis!
With the seventh pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select Malik Nabers, WR, LSU.
This pick will be a bit of a controversial one because Joe Alt was on the board, and the Titans' biggest need entering the offseason and still in April is a left tackle. I could have simply taken Alt and had the left tackle position locked down for the next decade, but I chose Nabers.
So why would a team that has desperately needed a left tackle for the last two years pass on the best one in the draft to take a receiver? For me it came down to a few things:
The first is the dropoff from Nabers to the receiver the Titans would have the chance to take in the second round is way bigger than the dropoff from Alt to the tackle they can get in the second round. Nabers has the ceiling of being one of the best receivers in the NFL. He’s a dynamic playmaker on the outside. Brian Callahan is going to value that more than the coaches the Titans have had in the past.
Secondly, giving Will Levis playmakers is the best way to set him up for success. Tennessee has proven with their moves this offseason that they are pushing everything in on the next two years with Levis. They have him on a second-round rookie contract. They need to learn if he can be their guy or not. There is no better way to find that out than to give him explosive, playmaking options on the outside. Naber is certainly that.
Thirdly, Brian hired his dad, Bill Callahan, as the offensive line coach. Bill is pretty widely regarded as the best offensive line coach in the league. That doesn’t mean he can turn Jaelyn Duncan into a Pro Bowl left tackle, but it does mean he can take a second rounder and develop him into a serviceable player. The Titans don’t have to be great at that position. They just need guys that can Levis a little bit of time to distribute the ball to playmakers like Nabers.
DraftKings Sportsbook currently has offensive lineman as the -330 favorite to be the first-round pick for the Titans. That makes sense given everything stated above. Receiver is next at +370. If the draft plays out the way this mock did, there is some pretty serious money to be made there.
There is a real chance the Titans got the best receiver in this draft without having to use any draft capital to trade up. That’s a big win!
