• The offensive line remains a concern in Tennessee: PFF's 32nd-ranked unit in 2023 could use a player like Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt to shore up the left side of the line.
• The Cardinals need an injection of talent in their receiver room: If Arizona stays put at No. 4 in the 2024 NFL Draft, then the team will almost certainly be able to select either Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. or LSU’s Malik Nabers.
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Four weeks separate us from the 2024 NFL Draft, and with most of the top free agents having already found homes, that marks the next big opportunity for NFL teams to add star players outside of making a trade.
With that in mind, we are taking a look at some of the weakest position groups in the NFL and then determining which players in the draft class could be fits to improve them.
Tennessee Titans‘ Offensive Tackles
The Titans have made some big splashes along the offensive line over the past two seasons, with the two most notable being left guard Peter Skoronski‘s selection at No. 11 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft and Lloyd Cushenberry III becoming the fifth-highest paid center in the NFL this offseason. They are still lacking at offensive tackle, with Nicholas Petit-Frere earning just a 35.5 PFF grade on 117 snaps and rookie Jaelyn Duncan earning a 32.9 mark on 364 snaps this past season.
Dillon Radunz looked good at right tackle to finish the 2023 campaign, earning PFF grades above 60.0 in five of seven starts there, but it’s clear that the Titans are crying out for a long-term fix at left tackle. The good news for them is that Notre Dame’s Joe Alt could fall to their No. 7 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Alt earned PFF pass-blocking and run-blocking grades above 85.0 a year ago and looks like the prototypical franchise tackle Tennessee so desperately needs.
Seattle Seahawks‘ Interior Offensive Line
It’s been an offseason of change for the Seattle Seahawks, including new head coach Mike Macdonald joining after an impressive two-year stint as the Baltimore Ravens‘ defensive coordinator as well as some defensive turnover. The Seahawks have the offensive pieces to make some noise in the NFC, but the big concern right now is on the interior of their offensive line.
Seattle's starting trio on the interior as things stand, per Ourlads depth charts, would be Tremayne Anchrum Jr. at left guard, Anthony Bradford at right guard and Olusegun Oluwatimi at center. Anchrum and Bradford have combined to play 229 NFL regular-season snaps, while Bradford earned a 38.9 PFF pass-blocking grade on 419 snaps last season.
Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson, the 19th overall player on the PFF big board, would make sense with the Titans' first-round pick, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see them spend multiple top-100 draft selections to bolster the interior.
Arizona Cardinals‘ Wide Receivers
If the season started today, the Cardinals’ top four wide receivers would be Michael Wilson, Chris Moore, Greg Dortch and Zach Pascal. Wilson had some nice moments as a rookie, but this is a unit in desperate need of talent.
Arizona is rumored to be a trade-down candidate from the fourth overall pick, with the Minnesota Vikings tipped to want to move up. But if the Cardinals stay where they are, then they will almost certainly be able to select either Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. or LSU’s Malik Nabers. They earned PFF receiving grades of 89.6 and 93.1, respectively, in 2023, and both have the size and athleticism profiles to be instant No. 1 receivers in the NFL.
Atlanta Falcons‘ Edge Defenders
The Falcons made their big splash in signing free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins this offseason and are now odds-on favorites to win the NFC South. While they have the pieces in place to put up plenty of points, they lack the pieces to generate pressure off the edge on defense. That will have to change if they want to have success beyond competing for a division title.
Arnold Ebiketie hasn’t developed into the every-down edge rusher the Falcons had hoped for when they made him the 38th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, though he did earn a 70.1 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2023 with 28 quarterback pressures on 175 pass-rushing snaps. They have the eighth overall pick in April’s draft, and there is a real possibility that they will be able to take the first defensive player off the board with how the landscape is shaping up. Alabama’s Dallas Turner, who earned a 90.7 PFF pass-rushing grade on true pass sets and impressed at the NFL scouting combine, is the current favorite to be that player.
Las Vegas Raiders‘ Cornerbacks
The Raiders picked up cornerback Jack Jones after his release from the New England Patriots, and after some initial struggles, he ended the season with strong 78.0-plus PFF coverage grades in three of his final four games. Rookie Jakorian Bennett struggled, and was ultimately benched, in his first NFL season, earning a 41.1 PFF coverage grade.
The good news for the Raiders is that they are in prime position to land one of the top cornerbacks with the 13th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. If what they are looking for is an outside cornerback who can develop into their CB1, then Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell, who earned PFF grades above 90.0 in each of his final two seasons in college, or Alabama’s Terrion Arnold, who earned an 88.4 PFF grade last season, could be the pick.
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