New Titans head coach Brian Callahan sat down with Robert Mays for an interview on The Athletic‘s football show last week. It was a fantastic interview with several insightful nuggets about being a play-caller for the first time, all of the decisions a head coach is responsible for, Will Levis, and much, much more. If you call yourself a fan of the Tennessee Titans, it’s worth dedicating the time to watch. This man will have you ready to run through a brick wall. But, one thing I kept coming back to was just how highly Callahan spoke about first round pick JC Latham and second round pick T’Vondre Sweat. Naturally, you’d expect him to like the picks, I know! But, it’s the way he talks about them that make me think they feel like they didn’t just get guys they like…they got guys they believe can be truly special in the NFL.
In Latham’s case, Callahan effectively confirmed a lot of what has been swirling around in the rumor-sphere for weeks now. He acknowledged the team felt there were alternative avenues to acquiring wide receiver talent, and when you look at how they’ve attacked the position this offseason so far, that tracks. They paid up for Calvin Ridley. They invested a day 3 pick in Jha’Quan Jackson. They re-signed the reliable Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. And, after the dominos fell as they did in the draft, they added Tyler Boyd. But, to get the stud tackle? Callahan highlighted that there’s usually only one way to get ’em, and that’s with a high draft pick. That tells me that their evaluation of Latham was that he was that caliber of tackle – it wasn’t just a “Joe Alt is gone, so this is our 2nd best option” type of deal. Callahan also mentioned that it was between those two tackles as well. Something I’ve been curious about since the draft is whether or not the Titans would’ve taken Alt over Latham if he was there because I’m not so sure they didn’t have Latham rated ahead of Alt. Regardless, they love Latham, and Callahan effectively said they think he has the tools to be one of those generational left tackles.
As far as Sweat goes, Mays brought up the same issues that the Nashville media has beaten into the ground over the last month – the DWI, the weight, the maturity issues. As everyone in that organization has done over the course of the last month, Callahan handled it well. But, he did mention in passing that they felt Sweat had a ‘special’ combination of skills. He even said, “those guys make a lot of money,” acknowledging a sort of paradigm shift where the interior guys are starting to become some of the highest-paid in the league.
Like Latham, it’s clear Callahan sees a trajectory where Sweat can become a guy who is at the top of his position group in the NFL. These dudes are huge, and while they most definitely added some beef to both the offensive and defensive lines, I think it’s safe to assume that they view both of these guys as rare type of players.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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