Pro Football Rumors
The Titans hold the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. They also will enter the 2025 league year with only one quarterback under contract. Unfortunately, that quarterback, Will Levis, has accumulated a 5-16 record as a starter in his first two years of NFL play. These facts put together make it clear why Tennessee is doing their homework on the draft’s top quarterback prospects: Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
The common refrain in the runup to the draft so far has been that neither Ward nor Sanders would rank ahead of the six quarterbacks who were taken in the first round last year. Fortunately for Ward and Sanders, they’re not competing with those passers; they’re only competing with each other and prospects from other positions.
Tennessee could certainly address other positions with their top overall pick. Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado two-way athlete Travis Hunter have been viewed as options that the Titans could roll with, but with the importance new general manager Mike Borgonzi puts on the quarterback position, a deep dive on the passers available is necessary.
Yesterday, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported out of Mobile, AL, the site of the Senior Bowl, that Ward was seen as the favorite in Tennessee over Sanders. They did note an interesting fact that, though both quarterbacks were onsite for the East-West Shrine Bowl in Arlington, TX, the Titans had an extra-long interview with Sanders, sitting with him for about an hour last week.
There’s a chance the Titans are throwing up a smokescreen, making things difficult for teams hoping to trade up into the top draft slot to know what they’re thinking. There’s also a chance that Tennessee has a good idea of what their thoughts are on Ward, and the extended interview could be viewed as due diligence necessary for Sanders to make up ground.
There’s of course a chance that the Titans are just interested in Sanders, though. Per ESPN’s Turron Davenport, Borgonzi is counting on head coach Brian Callahan‘s experience evaluating options for a No. 1 overall pick in this process. While Borgonzi was present in Kansas City for the acquisition of Patrick Mahomes, Mahomes fell to the Chiefs all the way down at No. 10 overall. Callahan, though, was part of the team in Cincinnati that decided to take Joe Burrow No. 1 overall over other options like Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa.
Callahan looks for attributes such as decision-making, timing, and accuracy when looking for a franchise passer. While arm strength is also an important baseline characteristic, Callahan notes that anticipatory throws can make up for a lack of arm strength.
“People had questions about Burrow’s arm strength in general coming out,” Callahan told ESPN. *“One of the things that makes Joe so unique, and I think you can probably put Shedeur in the same conversation…they anticipate when they throw it. They have the timing and accuracy on top of it. That makes up...
