The Tennessee Titans were widely expected to take an offensive tackle with their first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, with Notre Dame’s Joe Alt being the most popular player linked to Tennessee.
However, Alt wasn’t on the board after the Los Angeles Chargers took him with the the No. 5 overall pick and the Titans ended up with Alabama tackle JC Latham instead.
It isn’t clear if the Titans would’ve taken Latham over Alt if both were available, but we do know that the former was offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s favorite player of the entire class.
But what would’ve happened if both Alt and Latham were off the board in Tennessee’s spot?
Well, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Titans likely would have taken LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who went to the New York Giants at No. 6.
Of course, with the way the first four picks fell, Nabers would have been there had Alt and Latham been drafted before the Titans were on the clock. Here’s more from Fowler’s report:
The Titans had three primary options at No. 7 overall: Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt, Alabama tackle JC Latham and Nabers, the LSU receiver considered by some evaluators as the most explosive player in the draft. If Latham, the eventual pick, was off the board, Nabers likely would have been the pick. A three-man core of Ridley, Nabers and DeAndre Hopkins could have been lethal for Will Levis.
Nabers would’ve made a ton of sense for Tennessee. Not only would he have given the Titans and quarterback Will Levis an absolutely lethal trio of wide receivers in 2024, but he would have been the future replacement for DeAndre Hopkins, who is on the final year of his deal.
The problem with that scenario, though, is that Tennessee would have still had a gaping hole at left tackle, something that might have forced their hand in Round 2 and not enabled them to take defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat.