Tennessee

2024 NFL Draft: What are Tennessee Titans’ top needs? Who are the top options?

Published

5 months ago

December 19, 2023

2024 NFL Draft: What are Tennessee Titans’ top needs? Who are the top options?

Some of the Tennessee Titans’ most obvious needs were on display in the team’s 19-16 overtime loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.

The Titans would own the No. 9 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft were the season to end today. They are one of five teams with a 5-9 record heading into Week 16, meaning Titans fans will have plenty of reasons to stay invested in how the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers fare the rest of the season.

Even if that logjam doesn’t resolve itself, a chance to pick inside the top 10 should mean a chance to draft an immediate contributor in an area of need. Here are the Titans’ biggest first-round needs following the loss to the Texans, ranked by what’s most pressing.

1. Offensive tackle

Rookie quarterback Will Levis is getting crushed out there. He took seven sacks and five more hits Sunday, including one that left him with an injured left ankle. And this isn’t an isolated trend. He has been sacked 27 times in eight games, and he is sacked only about 18% of the time a defender gets in his face. He has been pressured on 44% of his dropbacks. None of this mentions the running game, which has hardly been consistent this season because of defensive penetration not allowing running backs to burst into the open field.

Penn State’s Olu Fashanu and Notre Dame’s Joe Alt are the top tackles in this draft class, but both could be picked before No. 9 if other teams want dependable, franchise-caliber blocking help.

This is a deep tackle class. Alabama’s J.C. Latham should go in the middle of the first round and the Titans could wait until the second round to grab someone like Georgia’s Amarius Mims, Washington’s Troy Fautanu, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga or Houston’s Patrick Paul, among others. But if Alt or Fashanu is available at No. 9, jump at either of them.

2. Cornerback

Cornerback depth remains a big concern, with starters Kristian Fulton and Sean Murphy-Bunting heading into free agency. Even at full strength, the Titans’ secondary needs help. They rank 25th in pass yards allowed per attempt and last in interception rate. No team has fewer passes defended.

Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry and Clemson’s Nate Wiggins figure to be the top cornerbacks in the class. Both are tall, athletic corners who haven’t exactly been turnover machines in college, but Wiggins graded as one of the best pure cover corners in college football this season, and McKinstry was thrown at just 37 times in 13 games as opposing quarterbacks almost never tested him.

3. Defensive tackle

This might not have felt like a pressing issue a couple of weeks ago. But with Jeffery Simmons and Kyle Peko hurt and Teair Tart waived, the Titans are showing a little weakness in the interior for the first time in a long time. Pairing a prospect like Illinois’ Jer’Zhan Newton, who’s logged 13 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss in the last two years, with Simmons could be just the reboot the Titans front needs.

4. Edge rusher

If Denico Autry re-signs, this won’t be that immediate of a need. If he doesn’t, there are players like Alabama’s Dallas Turner, UCLA’s Laiatu Latu and Florida State’s Jared Verse who could take over as the next generation after Autry, Harold Landry and Arden Key.

Latu was the most productive of the bunch in 2023, but also has the most concerning injury history. Turner and Verse both have prototypical size and will have opportunities to show their talents on huge stages in their bowl games, if Verse chooses to play in the Orange Bowl rather than opt out.

5. Wide receiver

It’s strange to see this so far down the list. But with DeAndre Hopkins under contract for another year and the success Levis has had despite the group of receivers he’s playing with now, this might be a need the Titans can wait until the second or third round to address because of depth at the position.

If the Titans want to use a first-round pick on a receiver, Washington’s Rome Odunze and Florida State’s Keon Coleman fit the mold of the kinds of receivers the Titans tend to covet.

Receivers available early in Round 2 should include: Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk, Florida State’s Johnny Wilson, Texas’ Xavier Worthy, South Carolina’s Xavier Legette and LSU’s Brian Thomas.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

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Tennessee

Tennessee first SEC team with regular-season titles in men’s basketball, baseball, softball in same season

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5 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Press Room

Tennessee first SEC team with regular-season titles in men’s basketball, baseball, softball in same season

Tennessee athletics are sitting on the Rocky Top, indeed.

The Vols have accomplished major history this season, becoming the first SEC school to win the regular season championship in men’s basketball, baseball and softball in the same season. The Lady Vols are the No. 3 seed and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Super Regionals this weekend in softball, while the baseball team is the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, which kicks off Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama.

REQUIRED READING: Why it’s special for Tennessee softball seniors to lead Lady Vols back to NCAA super regional

Tennessee clinched the men’s basketball regular season championship on March 6 with a road victory over South Carolina, its first outright regular season championship since the 2006-07 season. On May 3, Tennessee softball defeated Kentucky in Knoxville to clinch its second straight SEC regular season title. The Vols went on to lose in the quarterfinals.

Following a sweep of South Carolina over the weekend, Tennessee baseball clinched a share of the SEC regular-season championship with Kentucky. It was the second time in three years the Vols won at least a share of the conference championship. They are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and are currently projected as a No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Tournament by D1Baseball, entering last weekend.

Here’s a look at how each team performed this season:

Tennessee men’s basketball

Tennessee men’s basketball advanced to the Elite Eight in 2023-24, losing to eventual runner-up Purdue. The Vols have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons under coach Rick Barnes.

Final record: 27-9, 14-4 SEC
Season finish: Lost to Purdue in Elite Eight
SEC regular season titles: 11

Tennessee softball

The Lady Vols won their second straight conference regular season championship and the third in program history, all led by coach Karen Weekly. Tennessee swept through the Knoxville Regional to advance to its 13th Super Regional.

Record: 43-10, 19-5 SEC
SEC regular season titles: Three
WCWS ranking: No. 3 overall seed
Next up: No. 14 seed Alabama in Knoxville Super Regional

Tennessee baseball

Tennessee baseball swept South Carolina, while rival Kentucky dropped its finale to Vanderbilt for the two schools to finish with a share of the regular season championship. The Vols ― led by coach Tony Vitello ― earned the No. 1 seed after taking two of three regular-season games against the Wildcats in Lexington, Kentucky, earlier this season.

Record: 46-10, 22-8 SEC
SEC regular season titles: Five
Next up: Winner of the No. 8-No. 9 matchup in SEC Tournament

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Tennessee

Heartbreak for Tennessee High, falling 5-1 to Gibbs to end their season

Published

12 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Press Room

Heartbreak for Tennessee High, falling 5-1 to Gibbs to end their season

BRISTOL, Tenn. (WCYB) — Sunday was the final day to punch tickets to Murfreesboro, with Tennessee High softball looking to return to the state tournament with a win over Gibbs.

Spending the Sunday at Rotary Park, it was the Lady Eagles of Gibbs striking first with an RBI-Double from Lacey Keck in the top of the first.

Tennessee High at the plate in the bottom of the inning, the Vikings looked for a spark and it was provided by Addie Wilhoit with a stand-up double.

Unable to move the runners around, the Vikings bac on the field and it would be Carly Compton settling in on the mound and collecting strikeout after strikeout.

Handling business in the top of the inning, it was Compton providing her own run support with a solo shot to even the game up in the bottom of the fourth.

Story of the day was stranded runners as Tennessee High came up short, fighting hard but falling 5-1 to close out their season.

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Why it’s special for Tennessee softball seniors to lead Lady Vols back to NCAA super regional

Published

19 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Why it’s special for Tennessee softball seniors to lead Lady Vols back to NCAA super regional

Kiki Milloy kicked into another gear when Tennessee softball coach Karen Weekly waved her home Sunday.

The senior outfielder sprinted down the third baseline to beat the throw from left field. Milloy dove, sliding headfirst across home plate – safe.

She rose to her knees to smack the ground as she screamed in celebration. Milloy turned towards the field at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium as she stood up, yelling again for good measure as she put the Lady Vols up by three runs.

Rylie West, who was on deck when Zaida Puni hit the RBI-single, came up to Milloy to join the celebration.

West and Milloy are the only two players left from Tennessee’s 2021 team. They’re the only ones left who felt the pain of back-to-back exits in the NCAA regionals on their home field. They’re two of the biggest reasons it hasn’t happened since.

West hit a two-RBI double right after Milloy scored, and by then, the win was well within their grasp. West followed it with a solo home run in the fifth, and No. 3 Tennessee (43-10) won 6-0 over Virginia (34-20) to claim the Knoxville Regional and advance to the super regionals for the second year in a row.

Two straight years of elation, made even sweeter by the two years before that ended in heartbreak.

“(I’m) just super proud that … we can end our careers differently than how we started them,” West said.

Puni, who transferred to Tennessee from Oklahoma ahead of the 2022 season, called the early exit her first season at UT “heartbreaking.”

“So, we made a commitment to never having that feeling again,” Puni said.

The Lady Vols will host No. 14 Alabama (36-17) in the super regionals. The best-of-three series will start Friday.

Weekly was already getting emotional after the Lady Vols run-ruled Virginia on Saturday. She fought back tears in the dugout as soon as the game ended.

“When they go out and play with so much joy and so much competitiveness and so much passion … They were just locked in and just really, really enjoying competing, and that’s what makes me the happiest,” Weekly said. “Usually wins come with that, but really, that’s what I want them to strive for every day, is just to go out there every day and compete their hearts out.”

Tennessee was dominant in all three victories, not conceding a single run. The Lady Vols outscored opponents 21-0 over 19 innings and hit .329. Karlyn Pickens and Payton Gottshall held opposing hitters to a .109 average and combined for 24 strikeouts.

MORE: Rylie West’s dad saw potential that led to Tennessee softball career. But first he told her to quit

The three-game shutout was the first thing Weekly pointed out when she met with the team after Sunday’s win.

“That’s huge. I doubt that’s being done in any other regional in the country,” Weekly said. “I think it takes just a big weight off these guys’ shoulders as hitters, knowing that our pitchers … they both have the mindset that my job is to keep a zero on the board until our offense can figure things out and get runs up for us. I would imagine they’re a whole lot of fun to play behind.”

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.

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