Tennessee Titans · 2026 Draft · Pick #4 · (3-14)

Actual Pick: Carnell Tate (WR, Ohio State) SOLID Buy Jersey

Solid. Tennessee grabs the draft's cleanest WR1 separator in Carnell Tate, and pairing a CeeDee-grade route technician with Will Levis matters more than forcing a running back here. Tate's release package, contested-catch radius, and post-IMG polish give the Titans a true X receiver they haven't had since A.J. Brown left town. With Calvin Ridley aging into a complementary role, Tate becomes the long-term alpha — that is worth passing on positional need. The fit is cleaner than the needs list suggests. Brian Callahan's offense borrows heavily from Joe Burrow-era Cincinnati concepts — isolation routes, dagger, and back-shoulder fades — all of which weaponize a boundary receiver with Tate's body control. Cap-wise, Tennessee has flexibility after the Harold Landry restructure and can still address edge and interior OL on Day 2. Ignoring offensive line at #4 stings, but no tackle on this board graded as a top-five talent. No trade — Tennessee sat at #4 and took the phone off the hook. Rookie-deal value on a WR1 here is elite: five years of cost control on a projected 1,100-yard target-hog is exactly how you build around a second-contract quarterback. The real opportunity cost is Jeremiyah Love and Will Campbell, the Notre Dame back we slotted and the LSU tackle who would have plugged the left side. Defensible, but Campbell's absence will be felt in September. Our board had Tate WR1 and top-six overall, so #4 is market-rate bordering on slight reach against consensus — Jeremiah and Kiper both had Tate 6-8, PFF slotted him 5th. Call it a half-round premium, justified by positional scarcity at true X receivers in this class. Tetairoa McMillan went later for a reason; Tate's tape against Michigan and Texas separates him. Not a steal, not a reach — fair value with upside baked in. The pick screams that Ran Carthon is building the passing game first and trusting Levis to be the guy, which is the correct bet if you believe in the quarterback. Next up: Tennessee must hammer offensive line and edge on Day 2 — Kelvin Banks or Josh Conerly in Round 2, then a Bralen Trice-type rusher in Round 3. Front office earned cautious trust; the thesis is coherent, but the OL vacuum still haunts this roster.

Why different: Titans prioritized a franchise X-receiver for Levis over our Jeremiyah Love RB1 projection, betting that passing-game ceiling outweighs the Pollard replacement need.

Traded Away: This slot now belongs to Buffalo Bills, who drafted T.J. Parker.

Actual Pick: Keldric Faulk (EDGE, Auburn) SOLID Buy Jersey

Solid. Tennessee jumped the line to grab the draft's most physically imposing base end, and Keldric Faulk's 6'5"/288 frame with legitimate pass-rush counters gives Brian Callahan's defense a true five-technique it has been missing since Jeffery Simmons needed reinforcements. Faulk isn't a bendy speed rusher, but his power conversion and run-stopping anchor at Auburn were SEC-elite, and pairing him with Arden Key and T'Vondre Sweat creates a front that finally looks built for AFC South trench warfare rather than finesse. Fit is cleaner than the board suggests because Tennessee's defensive front under Dennard Wilson wants heavy ends who set edges on early downs and kick inside on passing downs — that's Faulk's exact archetype. The Titans' top need was offensive line, but the OL board had thinned after the Kelvin Banks/Josh Conerley run, and Edge was the clear second priority. Faulk is on a rookie deal through 2030, giving Ran Carthon cap flexibility while Harold Landry's bloated contract gets restructured or released next spring. Tennessee reportedly sent pick 41 and a 2027 third to Buffalo (who routed it from New England) to climb ten spots — that's steep but defensible given Faulk was the last true first-round edge on most boards, with Mike Green and Shemar Stewart already gone. Paying a future three to secure a five-year fifth-year option player beats waiting and watching Cincinnati or Carolina leapfrog at 32 or 33. The opportunity cost was Princely Umanmielen or guard Tyler Booker, both of whom Tennessee reportedly had graded a half-round lower. Our board had Faulk as EDGE4 and a top-25 overall prospect, so landing him at 31 is genuine surplus value even after the trade tax. Daniel Jeremiah slotted him 22nd, PFF had him 19th, and Kiper's final big board listed him inside the top 20 — consensus round delta of roughly eight to twelve spots. The only knock was pass-rush win rate dipping as a junior, but his 84.5 PFF run-defense grade was the highest among Power Four edges, which plays in Tennessee's division. This pick signals Carthon is done playing defense with Tennessee's defense — he's stacking young, ascending talent at premium positions and trusting free agency to patch guard. Next moves should be an interior OL on Day 2 (Jared Wilson or Miles Frazier at 52) and a developmental quarterback insurance policy later given Will Levis's uneven tape. Tonight the front office earned trust: they identified a fit, paid a fair premium, and walked away with a cornerstone. Carthon bought himself another year.

Actual Pick: Anthony Hill Jr. (LB, Texas) REACH Buy Jersey

Reach. Tennessee burned premium capital to leapfrog for Anthony Hill Jr., a Day 2 thumper at a position they shouldn't be force-feeding when the trenches are leaking. Hill is a downhill SEC linebacker with sideline range, but the Titans just spent meaningful draft equity to take a player most boards had floating in the R2 muddle, when Chase Bisontis and a healthier interior were sitting right there. Brian Callahan needed a guard, not another off-ball backer. Hill's three-down profile — green-dot communicator, blitz timing, coverage versatility against tight ends — is real, and pairing him with Kenneth Murray gives Dennard Wilson a legitimate dime quarterback. But the Titans' actual pain points are Will Levis's pocket and an edge rotation behind Harold Landry that thins out fast. Slotting Hill at LB4 in priority order tells you the board fell awkwardly; cap-wise the rookie deal is fine, the opportunity cost is not. This pick came from Buffalo via Chicago's DJ Moore trade chain, meaning Tennessee parted with future capital — reportedly a 2027 selection plus late-round sweetener — to climb into 60. That is a steep tariff for a non-premium position. You move up for Edge Bralen Trice or tackle Patrick Paul, not for a stack-and-shed linebacker. Ran Carthon paid quarterback-protection prices to address a luxury need, and the math just doesn't work for a 3-14 roster. Our board had Hill comfortably in the R2 range — Jeremiah 58, PFF 71, Kiper Top-50 — so the slot itself isn't egregious; it's market-rate to mild reach. The deviation is opportunity cost: Bisontis (our projection here), edge Adisa Isaac, and receiver Jalen McMillan were all available and addressed stated needs. Taking LB5-on-the-board over OL2-on-the-board with a stated OL-first priority is the definition of drafting the player, not the plan. Strategy-wise this screams Carthon trusting his Texas tape over his own positional hierarchy, and that's a yellow flag two years into a rebuild. The next pick has to be a tackle or guard — Caedan Wallace, Christian Haynes, Dominick Puni — or this room loses the plot entirely. Hill will play 900 snaps and tackle well; that doesn't absolve a front office from ignoring the quarterback's blindside. Tonight, Tennessee did not earn trust.

Actual Pick: Fernando Carmona (, ) SURPRISE Buy Jersey

Meh. Fernando Carmona (?, —) wasn't on our top-145 big board, which means the Tennessee Titans are betting on something specific that didn't show up in the consensus film grades. The Tennessee Titans acquired this pick via trade (From NYJ via BAL). Day-3 picks are won and lost on traits-and-fit calls like this — if the team's scouting department saw a special-teams role, a developmental skill, or an injury-discount, that's defensible. We don't have a board grade to anchor a verdict so we're rating this neutral and waiting for training-camp tape.

Actual Pick: Nicholas Singleton (RB, Penn State) STEAL Buy Jersey

Steal. Nicholas Singleton (RB, Penn State) was on our top-145 board in the R4 range — and the Tennessee Titans got him in Round 5. The Tennessee Titans acquired this pick via trade (From CHI via BUF). On Day 3 that's how you build a roster: value compounds quietly across the back half of the draft, and this is the kind of selection that becomes a starter in two years because the team didn't reach for him in Round 2.

Actual Pick: Jackie Marshall (, ) SURPRISE Buy Jersey

Meh. Jackie Marshall (?, —) wasn't on our top-145 big board, which means the Tennessee Titans are betting on something specific that didn't show up in the consensus film grades. Day-3 picks are won and lost on traits-and-fit calls like this — if the team's scouting department saw a special-teams role, a developmental skill, or an injury-discount, that's defensible. We don't have a board grade to anchor a verdict so we're rating this neutral and waiting for training-camp tape.

Actual Pick: Pat Coogan (, ) SURPRISE Buy Jersey

Meh. Pat Coogan (?, —) wasn't on our top-145 big board, which means the Tennessee Titans are betting on something specific that didn't show up in the consensus film grades. The Tennessee Titans acquired this pick via trade (From BAL via NYJ). Day-3 picks are won and lost on traits-and-fit calls like this — if the team's scouting department saw a special-teams role, a developmental skill, or an injury-discount, that's defensible. We don't have a board grade to anchor a verdict so we're rating this neutral and waiting for training-camp tape.

Actual Pick: Jaren Kanak (, ) SURPRISE Buy Jersey

Meh. Jaren Kanak (?, —) wasn't on our top-145 big board, which means the Tennessee Titans are betting on something specific that didn't show up in the consensus film grades. The Tennessee Titans acquired this pick via trade (From KC via DAL). Day-3 picks are won and lost on traits-and-fit calls like this — if the team's scouting department saw a special-teams role, a developmental skill, or an injury-discount, that's defensible. We don't have a board grade to anchor a verdict so we're rating this neutral and waiting for training-camp tape.