Tennessee
2024 NFL Draft: Tennessee Titans Need a Left Tackle; If Not Notre Dame Giant Joe Alt, Then Who?
NASHVILLE — Desperate for a franchise left tackle, the Tennessee Titans have options if they choose to address that position of need with the No. 7 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Most mock drafts so far have the Titans picking Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt, considered by most experts as the top tackle in the draft. But what if the Los Angeles Chargers, two picks ahead of Tennessee at No. 5, take Alt? What if the Titans trade down and add draft picks?
As it happens, offensive tackle is one of the deepest positions in the draft, with most draft boards predicting from five to seven tackles selected in the first round. If Alt is gone, the Titans might consider Alabama’s JC Latham, another favorite in mock drafts, or Georgia’s Amarius Mims.
It’s no secret the Titans need better pass protection. General manager Ran Carthon has already added reinforcements in free agency — wide receiver Calvin Ridley, running back Tony Pollard, center Lloyd Cushenberry — to support second-year quarterback Levis. But he still needs a big guy who has his back. Is that Joe Alt or someone else?
Here’s a list of some of the best tackles available in April 25-27 draft.
Joe Alt
Notre Dame
Height: 6-9
Weight: 321
Details: Pro Football Focus (PFF), the sports analytics platform that evaluates every player and every play, graded Alt 90.7 last season and 91.4 the previous season. In 2023, he allowed one sack, two quarterback hits, and two hurries on 368 passing snaps for the Irish. Alt is the No. 5-ranked player — for all positions — on PFF’s draft board.
Projected round: first.
Olumuyiwa Fashanu
Penn State
Height: 6-6
Weight: 319
Details: According to Pro Football Focus, Fashanu allowed no sacks and only 10 pressures on 382 passing snaps last season. He was a consensus first-team All-American last season and was the Big Ten offensive lineman of the year. Fashanu is No. 18 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: first.
Taliese Fuaga
Oregon State
Height: 6-6
Weight: 332
Details: “Fuaga’s hand work is exceptional in pass pro and will need to remain so, because of his lack of desired range for recovering when beaten,” Lance Zierlein said on NFL.com. “A team could slide him to guard to improve its interior protection, but he’s best-suited at right tackle, where he should become a good starter.” Fuaga is No. 12 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: first.
Troy Fautanu
Washington
Height: 6-4
Weight: 317
Details: Fautanu allowed three sacks in his college career on 1,255 pass-blocking snaps. Experts believe his flexibility, agility, and coordination make him capable of playing all five offensive line positions. Fautanu is No. 14 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: first.
JC Latham
Alabama
Height: 6-6
Weight: 360
Details: “Latham is in the mold of an offensive lineman who does not come around often,” Pro Football Focus wrote. “He will be just 21 during his rookie season, yet he has two years of starting experience in the SEC. Despite drawing 18 penalties over the past two years and having room to improve in some anticipation parts of the position, Latham is a first-round trench player due to his rare combination of size, speed and refinement.” Latham is No. 19 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: first.
Amarius Mims
Georgia
Height: 6-7
Weight: 340
Details: “It is very rare to see him clearly beaten by a rusher, and he has the recovery talent to do something about it when it happens,” Zierlein wrote on NFL.com. “Mims has more development to go, but he’s a Day 1 prospect with the traits and talent to be considered at either tackle position. He has a high ceiling, but questions due to his lack of experience could temper early expectations.” Mims is No. 22 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: first.
Tyler Guyton
Oklahoma
Height: 6-7
Weight: 328
Details: “Guyton is a young, inexperienced and green tackle prospect with elite physical tools and flashes of dominance that can get him on the field right away,” said Bleacher Report’s NFL scouting department. “He can eventually bloom into a high-end starter in the NFL, but he will need to be brought along slowly in a conservative scheme and veteran O-line room before bridging that gap.” Guyton is No. 30 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: late first or second.
Graham Barton
Duke
Height: 6-5
Weight: 314
Details: “He has a mean streak in the run game with the leg drive to bury defenders,” PFF wrote. “He is a good athlete off the ball and in space to be a successful second-level blocker. Barton struggles against power and will need to improve his anchor against interior defenders. He is experienced at tackle, but his foot speed and length are issues there.” Barton is No. 25 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: late first or second.
Jordan Morgan
Arizona
Height: 6-5
Weight: 312
Details: “He’s an elite athlete with impeccable leveraging skills, balance, and bend — and he didn’t lose any mobility in 2023 after returning from an ACL tear. There are still areas where Morgan can improve,” Pro Football Network wrote. “He’s still fleshing out his run-blocking arsenal past pure zone concepts. Meanwhile, as a pass protector, he’s still learning how to win and recover with independent hand usage, and his non-elite length limits his margin for error.” Morgan is No. 40 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: late first or second.
Kingsley Suamataia
Brigham Young
Height: 6-4
Weight: 333
Details: “Suamataia has the physical tools of a starting tackle with an unrefined skill set that is built on flashes rather than proven consistency,” Bleacher Report’s Brandon Thorn wrote. “But he’ll be only 21 when he gets drafted, and he has the runway to add polish to his game and bridge that gap within his first contract in an RPO/play-action based system that can help bring him along slowly.” Suamataia is No. 45 on PFF’s overall draft board.
Projected round: late first or second.
Related Titans stories
- REBUILD ON FAST TRACK: The Tennessee Titans have “needs all over the field, so credit to GM Ran Carthon for recognizing the deficiencies and addressing them decisively in his first year without former coach Mike Vrabel,” Jeremy Fowler wrote on ESPN.com. CLICK HERE
- NEW FACES IN AFC SOUTH: The free-agent market is still open. The NFL Draft is April 25-27. The Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans have been trading haymakers with their significant player acquisitions. CLICK HERE
- LEARNING CURVE ON KICKOFFS: The NFL changed its kickoff rules to encourage more returns. Tennessee Titans GM Ran Carthon says “the preseason is going to be very important for us … to figure out how we’re going to be able to execute that play for us to start the game, because it’s really going to be the first offensive snap.” CLICK HERE
Tennessee
Childhelp delivers Thanksgiving food baskets to 200 families in East Tennessee
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Childhelp Tennessee spent Sunday afternoon delivering Thanksgiving food baskets to 200 families across Knoxville and East Tennessee as a part of the annual Thanksgiving Basket Brigade.
Chad Schollaert, a Childhelp board member, said the boxes primarily went to foster families, where there’s a greater need for donations.
“Foster children, a lot of times they’re not coming from a stable environment. So, having a Thanksgiving meal with a family is extremely important and so is just being able to show stability and family atmosphere,” Schollaert said.
Schollaert said an effort like this takes months of planning and coordinating both meals and volunteers ahead of the big day.
“It’s been an effort for the last several months getting coordinating volunteers to deliver the meals, getting the meals. I know the staff here at Childhelp have been talking to board members and recruiting others to deliver the boxes,” Schollaert said.
Schollaert added that Childhelp is always looking for more volunteers because the more volunteers they have, the more children get help. He also said there are several other events and fundraising opportunities throughout the year. Click here for more information.
Copyright 2024 WVLT. All rights reserved.
Tennessee
Could the Tennessee Volunteers Host a First Round College Football Playoff Game?
Could the Tennessee Volunteers end up hosting a first round college football playoff game?
After the loss to Georgia, it looked like Tennessee was going to need some help to get their way back into the playoff, and they got more than enough help on Saturday. Alabama lost to Oklahoma, Ole Miss lost to Florida and Indiana lost to Ohio State. Three teams that were ranked ahead of Tennessee opened up a playoff spot for them this week.
Not only did it get the Volunteers back into the playoffs, it might have put them in a position to host a first round playoff game. A few things would need to happen and a lot of it will depend on what happens during conference championship week, but it’s certainly a possibility.
The five-seed, the six-seed, the seven-seed and the eight-seed all get to host for the first round. As of right now, it looks like Notre Dame is going to take one of those slots. The winner of Texas A&M vs Texas plays Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and the loser of that might take one of those spots as well. An Oregon vs Ohio State rematch is looking likely for the Big 10 Conference Championship and you would have to imagine that the loser of that game would take a host spot as well. So as of right now, it’s looking like there might only be one host spot up for grabs in the playoffs and Tennessee very well could be the team to snag it as an eighth seed.
More clarity will be provided about this when the rankings are released this Tuesday but the Volunteers had a very successful weekend of college football, needless to say.
Make sure to follow our website Tennessee on SI.
Tennessee
ESPN moves Tennessee back into College Football Playoff, gives Vols return trip to Georgia
Losses on Saturday by Indiana, Alabama and Ole Miss moved Tennessee up to No. 8 in ESPN’s new projected College Football Playoff rankings. The projection had the Vols as the No. 9 seed in the 12-team bracket, making a return trip to No. 8 Georgia in the first round of the playoffs.
The other first-round matchups were No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State, No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State and No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame. Oregon was ranked No. 1 and seeded first by ESPN’s Heather Dinich.
“As long as Tennessee doesn’t lose at Vanderbilt on Saturday — and that’s hardly a guarantee — the Vols should be in the committee’s top 12 on Selection Day,” Dinich wrote, “now that Ole Miss played itself out.”
ESPN keeps Alabama at No. 12 in playoff rankings despite third loss
The College Football Playoff selection committee will release its new rankings and bracket projection Tuesday night. The official bracket will be announced on December 8.
ESPN on Saturday night had Ohio State ranked No. 2 and seeded fifth. Texas was ranked No. 3 and seeded second as the presumed SEC champion. Miami was ranked No. 6 and seeded third as the projected ACC champ and Boise State was ranked No. 10 and seeded fourth as the projected Mountain West champs.
Alabama stayed in the top 12 at No. 12 in the ESPN rankings, but was bumped out of the bracket by Arizona State, which was ranked No. 17 but would be in the field as the projected Big 12 champion.
“Alabama needs help even if it is still in the top 12 on Tuesday night,” Dinich wrote, “because the Tide would be bumped out for the Big 12 champion in this scenario. Alabama needs to beat rival Auburn and hope there is more fallout above them.”
ESPN dropped Indiana to No. 11 in its rankings. Just outside the top 12 was No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 16 Clemson. BYU dropped to No. 18 after its loss at Arizona State and Colorado dropped to No. 20 after its loss at Kansas.
Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Saturday, Noon ET, ABC
Tennessee (8-2, 5-2 SEC) beat UTEP 56-0 on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium Saturday afternoon and now goes to Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4) this week in the regular-season finale.
Indiana lost 38-15 at Ohio State, Ole Miss lost 24-17 at Florida and Alabama lost 24-3 at Oklahoma. Texas A&M also lost at Auburn for its second SEC loss.
The Tennessee-Georgia winner in the ESPN projection would advance to face No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Georgia can play its way out of the first round by winning the SEC Championship game. Georgia has clinched a spot in Atlanta and will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Texas and Texas A&M.
“The Vols got some help on Saturday,” Dinich wrote. “With Ole Miss and Indiana both losing, Tennessee should move up by default — not because it hammered UTEP 56-0.
“The head-to-head loss to Georgia will keep them behind the Bulldogs, which makes putting them ahead of Alabama difficult for the committee in spite of the win against the Tide.”
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