The 2024 NFL Draft is now in the rearview mirror. After a flurry of selections from April 25 to April 27, 257 players were selected to join the NFL.
With that, we give you our full recap of the Tennessee Titans‘ draft, with analysis on every selection the team made during the weekend and an in-depth look at their top pick.
For more information on the players your favorite team drafted, it’s not too late to get the 2024 NFL Draft Guide, which includes expanded scouting reports, draft grades, offseason reports, unique advanced data, PFF grades and much more.
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2024 Draft Picks
- (7): T JC Latham, Alabama
- 2 (38): DI T’Vondre Sweat, Texas
- 4 (106): LB Cedric Gray, North Carolina
- 5 (146): CB Jarvis Brownlee, Louisville
- 6 (182): WR Jha’Quan Jackson, Tulane
- 7 (242): S James Williams, Miami Fl.
- 7 (252): EDGE Jaylen Harrell, Michigan
Latham — Few teams had a more glaring need than the Titans did at offensive tackle. With Joe Alt off the board, Tennessee tabbed Latham as the top remaining tackle. The Alabama product is a massive physical presence, weighing in at 343 pounds with 35-plus-inch arms, and he earned an 80.0-plus pass-blocking grade in back-to-back seasons to finish his college career.
Sweat — Between JC Latham and T’Vondre Sweat, the Titans have added a lot of size within the first 40 picks. When he was on the field, Sweat was extremely productive last season at Texas. He graded above 90.0 as both a run defender and a pass-rusher, finishing first among all FBS defensive tackles in PFF’s Wins Above Average metric. He had slid down boards leading up to the draft following a DWI arrest and off-field/conditioning questions, but Tennessee was clearly comfortable enough with those concerns to take him at the top of the second round.
Gray — Gray is at his best defending the run, as his 90 run stops over the past two seasons ranks first among all Power Five players at the position. His 85.5 PFF grade since 2022 ranks third among ACC linebackers.
Brownlee — Brownlee plays aggressively against the run and pass and posted an elite 92.9 run-defense grade over the past three seasons. He mostly played outside at Louisville, but his competitiveness and physicality could make him an impact player in the nickel sooner rather than later.
Jackson — A speedy receiver out of Tulane, Jackson didn’t put up a ton of production in his career but averaged over 2.2 yards per route run and 17 yards per catch the past two seasons. Jackson took three punts to the house in his career, which gives him a good chance to stick at the next level if he can stay healthy.
Williams — Williams is a solid player who could make an impact on special teams after being drafted here. He earned an 85.5 grade in 2023 and was the only Power Five safety to earn an 85.0-plus PFF grade in each of the past two seasons.
Harrell — Ranking 196th on PFF’s big board, Harrell is a solid draft selection for the Titans. Harrell had solid reps at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, but none of his reps are more famous than the first-and-10 in late November 2023 vs. the Ohio State Buckeyes where he disrupted QB Kyle McCord to force an interception.
DRAFT GRADE: B
Rookie Spotlight: T JC Latham, Alabama
Scouting summary
Physically, Latham is a dream offensive tackle, placing well above the 50th percentile at the position in height, weight and length. Yet, he moves like a player who is 40 pounds lighter. His foot speed and coordination are impressive. He has the flexibility to sit low in his stance at the line of scrimmage for good leverage.
He is a true people-mover in zone and gap concepts and is a devastating combo blocker. He shows good hand usage and hand speed for baiting pass-rushers and resetting his hands after hand fighting. He sometimes struggles to anchor in pass protection, with his worst plays over the past two years coming against strong bull rushes.
Wins above average
WAA represents the number of wins a player is worth over an average college football player and is a metric evaluators can utilize to assess performance.
It combines how well a player performed in each facet of play (using PFF grades) and how valuable each facet is to winning football games. The result is a first-of-its-kind metric that allows for cross-positional valuation and predicts future value at the player and team levels.
How Latham ranks in the stable metrics
Latham’s reliability is uber-impressive, as he hasn't missed a single game over the last two seasons. His 80.8 pass-block grade on true pass sets is excellent, and even more impressive is that he’s achieved that on almost 550 snaps.
He’ll benefit from entering a zone scheme at the next level, as he’s been positively graded on 16% of such plays. And while he played the vast majority of his career snaps at right tackle, he also played 125 snaps at right guard, giving him some versatility, too.
The bottom line
Latham is in the mold of an offensive lineman who does not come around often. 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.
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