2024 NFL Draft: 5 candidates for the Tennessee Titans at No. 38 overall

Which direction should the Tennessee Titans take the 38th overall selection in?

The Tennessee Titans selected former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive tackle JC Latham with the No. 7 overall selection in Thursday’s 2024 NFL Draft. In a minor surprise, general manager Ran Carthon and Brian Callahan quickly claimed that Latham will be playing left tackle, not the right tackle position he played at Alabama, in Tennessee.

With the left tackle secured, Carthon’s attention shifts to other positional needs on Friday evening. The Titans are slated to make the 38th overall selection in Friday’s second round. We’ve swiftly identified five potential targets. For the sake of the exercise, we bracketed five prospects at five different positions.

ROMAN WILSON | WR | MICHIGAN

The Titans resisted the urge to select Rome Odunze at No. 7, making the responsible decision to draft Latham instead. A slot wide receiver is still needed in this offense for head coach Brian Callahan to run his preferred 11 personnel with consistency. Treylon Burks is not that player. Options on the current roster include an injury-prone Kyle Philips, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and Mason Kinsey. An upgrade could be needed.

Roman Wilson visited Nashville on an official-30 visit with the Titans. Sources told me that the visit went extremely well. Wilson is a slot receiver with outstanding separation ability and quick-twitch explosiveness.

Alternative options: Ladd McConkey, Adonai Mitchell

T’VONDRE SWEAT | DT | TEXAS

I’m not necessarily advocating for the Titans to draft Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat at 38. I believe it would be an unpopular decision with the fanbase. I’m hesitant to draft two-down defensive linemen with top 40 picks, but the Titans have shown interest in Sweat throughout this process.

Sweat also visited with the Titans on an official-30 visit. Nose tackle has been a need since Teair Tart’s midseason departure. Free agent signing Sebastian Joseph-Day isn’t a true run-stopping nose tackle. Tennessee’s selection of Latham insinuates this new Titans regime likes freakishly large athletes. Sweat would check that box at 6-foot-4 (and a half) and 366 pounds with an 81-inch wingspan (77th percentile) and 11 inch hands (97th percentile), per MockDraftable.

EDGERRIN COOPER | LB | TEXAS A&M

Not a single linebacker was drafted during the first round. Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper is far-and-away my LB1. The Titans are in dire need of a green-dot defender at the position. Cooper would immediately step into a starting role opposite Kenneth Murray Jr.

Cooper is an explosive, rangy linebacker with sideline-to-sideline speed. Cooper has a terrific tackle radius with 34 inch arms (95th percentile) and a 80.25 inch wingspan (88th percentile). Cooper ran the 40-yard dash in an elite 4.51 seconds with a 10-yard split of 1.54.

Alternative options: Junior Colson, Payton Wilson

KOOL-AID MCKINSTRY | CB | ALABAMA

This would be a Best Player Available (BPA) approach. The Titans have a solid trio of cornerbacks in L’Jarius Sneed, Chido Awuzie, and Roger McCreary. But they’re an injury away from playing Tre Avery or Eric Garror in nickel defense. Better depth is required.

Kool-Aid McKinstry is a first-round talent that perhaps fell out of the opening 32 selections due to a Jones fracture injury in his right foot. An explosive athlete, McKinstry still ran a 4.47 at Alabama’s pro day despite requiring surgery on the injury. McKinstry is a big and athletic press-man cornerback. His aggressive style of play fits the defense being put forth by new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson.

MARSHAWN KNEELAND | EDGE | WESTERN MICHIGAN

I’ve beaten the drum of what the Titans have (or don’t have) opposite Harold Landry III at EDGE. I would have loved Darius Robinson here, but he went to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday. Marshawn Kneeland would be an appropriate consolation prize as an early-down defender that could be spelled by Arden Key on obvious passing downs.

Kneeland is stout and powerful at 6-foot-3 and 267 pounds. He plays with a red-hot motor and has terrific change of direction, evident by his excellent 4.18-second short shuttle result at the NFL Combine. Kneeland posted a 25.8% third-or-fourth-down pass-rush win rate in 2023 according to John Owning.

Alternative options: Bralen Trice, Chris Braswell