2024 NFL Draft: Tennessee Titans select JC Latham

Written By Jack Loeb

JC Latham

Mama we made it! After months of waiting, deliberating, and anticipating the Titans finally made their pick. With the 7th overall pick the Titans selected JC Latham from Alabama. This pick was months in the making. After missing out on Joe Alt at 5 and Malik Nabers at 6 the Titans ultimately decided to stick and pick. Although Latham may not have been many Titans fans first pick. Fans can at least rest easy knowing someone substantially better than Andre Dilliard or Dennis Daley is on this team for the next 5+ years (fingers crossed).

JC Latham stands at 6’6 and 335lbs. His stature alone is monstrous. He’s not going to wow anyone with his first step and kick steps in pass pro. However, when he gets his hands on a defender he tends to neutralize them immediately. Latham will probably be looking to move to the LT spot during camp. Although he played all of his snaps on the right side of the line he’ll need to make an adjustment. Similarly, Bill Callahan has already experienced this situation with another previous Alabama alumni, Jedrick Wills, who also played on the right side in Tuscaloosa. Wills was moved to the blindside his rookie year, and has since played very well at LT for the Browns. Coach Bill Callahan seems to have been all over Latham from the jump. One of the most well connected national reporters, Dianna Russini, had this to say about Coach Bill Callahan and his admiration of Latham:

JC Latham has played 1891 snaps and 970 of those in pass pro. In those snaps he’s only given up 2 sacks, 22 hurries, and 18 penalties according to PFF. That’s .21% sack rate, 2.3% hurried rate, and a penalized rate of .95%. Overall, his PFF grade his final season at Alabama was 81.9 which is very good considering he played in the SEC. However, most of those snaps came from the right side of Alabama’s OL. The first priority for JC Latham and Coach Callahan’s (plural) will be to get him ready at the LT spot. He hasn’t played LT since high school. Ran and Coach Callahan spoke to reporters after selecting Latham. They don’t seem to be worried about the transition, and are keen on moving him back to RT if Latham is unable to adjust as an NFL LT.

What’s Next

The Titans are, for the time being, scheduled to pick at 38 tonight unless a trade manifests. The Titans second pick of the draft is crucial for Ran Carthon. Even after the hoopla of yesterday the 2nd day pick is a much more difficult pick to account for, especially when you only have one of them. There are five teams picking in front of the Titans tonight. Buffalo, New England, Arizona, Washington, and the Los Angeles Chargers are all ahead of the Titans respectively. Many expect the Bills to select a WR to help after the Stefon Diggs trade. Both New England and Washington may follow suit by bolstering their weaponry as well to give their new QBs a friendly target. Then there’s Arizona sandwiched between New England and Washington. Look for Arizona to possibly target the top defender available. Arizona could target Chris Braswell (Alabama), Jer’Zhan Newton (Illinois) or Kool-Aid-McKinstry (Alabama) leaving a solid defensive prospect to fall. The Titans can go in a number of directions. By tonight one of these players could be added to the Titans’ roster: Ladd McConkey, Junior Colson, Adonai Mitchell, Chris Braswell and a handful of others. Adding any of the aforementioned players would help out the Titans immensely, especially considering the Titans already added a day one starter in Latham. 






Jack Loeb https://twitter.com/jakjack91
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