A new era of Tennessee Titans football began when former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan was named as the team’s seventh head coach since its transfer from Houston to Nashville in 1997. Callahan is the Titans’ seventh coach, which is apt given that the Titans have the seventh pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Aside from whatever the Titans want to do in free agency, what Tennessee does with that pick will be the first defining decision made by the Callahan regime. And perhaps Callahan’s experience with the Cincinnati Bengals might help us predict who the Titans will select with the seventh choice in the draft.
Just one year after selecting Joe Burrow with the first overall choice in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bengals now have the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Their decision came down to two guys, both of whom made sense given the Bengals’ requirements. The choice would be between Penei Sewell, a highly ranked offensive tackle from the University of Oregon, and Ja’Marr Chase, a wide receiver and one of Joe Burrow’s finest weapons at LSU.
The Bengals were expected to select Sewell to strengthen their offensive line, as Burrow’s rookie season was cut short due to an ACL tear during a sack in the pocket. Instead, the Bengals zagged, acquiring Chase and adding him to a receiving group that already included Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. After the draft, when asked about the decision to select Chase over Sewell, Callahan responded as follows, according to Bengals.com:
I believe you can see throughout the league that it is difficult to hold the ball. That’s every team in the league. Nobody sits back, lowers back, and holds on to the ball for an extended period of time because those players on the opposite side are freak shows. Many teams struggle with those defensive linemen and blitz packages. And when you get a chance to get guys who can win on the outside — and we are very confident in the guys we have who can go win matchups and catch balls — it helps when they win quickly.”
Callahan concluded his monologue by adding, “I think it’s just an arms race to whoever can get the most explosive players.”
This lengthy statement could provide light on what the Titans plan to do with the seventh choice in the 2024 Draft. Depending on how the first six picks go, the Titans could be faced with a choice between two elite offensive tackle prospects (Notre Dame’s Joe Alt and Penn State’s Olu Fashanu) and two elite wide receiver prospects (LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze).
Given the status of Tennessee’s pass-catchers and offensive weapons in general, particularly in comparison to what the Bengals had available heading into the 2021 NFL choose, the Titans are expected to choose the top wide receiver on their board in the first round. But perhaps Brian Callahan, now a head coach who must consider the big picture, will rethink his mindset.
