Ran Carthon focused solely on offense in his debut draft as the Tennessee Titans general manager last year.
However, this time, the Titans selected five defensive players out of their seven NFL draft picks. Carthon explained that their choices were guided by the draft board.
“We anticipated that the early picks would lean toward offense, and the latter ones would lean toward defense, and that’s how it played out for us,” Carthon remarked on Saturday night.
Despite having just three picks in the first 106 selections, the Titans saw six out of seven draftees in action at the Senior Bowl.
They took a significant step in fortifying the offensive line by selecting JC Latham from Alabama with the 7th overall pick. Latham will be trained by line expert Bill Callahan and is expected to play at left tackle.
Later, in the sixth round at No. 182, they chose wide receiver and returner Jha’Quan Jackson from Tulane.
Subsequently, the focus shifted to defense. The Titans drafted defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat from Texas at No. 38 overall, North Carolina linebacker Cedric Gray at No. 106, Louisville cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Miami linebacker James Williams, and Michigan edge rusher Jaylen Harrell at No. 252.
Carthon jokingly told first-year head coach Brian Callahan that it’s now his turn to get busy. The Titans are aiming to bounce back from two consecutive losing seasons after securing consecutive AFC South titles.
“It’s time for the action to unfold, and we’re excited about that,” Carthon added.
