The Tennessee Titans are a team in desperate need of a quarterback. They also hold the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
This has been a recipe for rebuilding success in the past. But this year’s quarterback class, headlined by Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, is relatively weak. Neither QB has the allure of recent prospects like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, and others.
While the Titans’ current QB room of Will Levis and Mason Rudolph obviously needs help, the NFL Draft may not be the route to address the issue. Instead, Tennessee’s front office could opt for a generational talent on the other side of the ball.
Titans Predicted To Select Abdul Carter
There’s no guarantee Ward or Sanders will evolve into face-of-the-franchise players, which is why the Titans could opt for the safer pick, Abdul Carter.
NFL analyst and former scout Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com predicts Tennessee will pass on the consensus top two QBs in favor of the Penn State edge rusher.
“My ears perked up when Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker said the team wouldn’t pass on a generational talent with the first pick,” Jeremiah wrote. “To me, Carter is the best player in the draft, and he plays a premium position. I could see Tennessee looking to add competition for QB Will Levis in the free-agent market or later in on the draft.”
Carter recorded 12 sacks and two forced fumbles in his junior campaign with the Nittany Lions. Adding that level of production to a Titans defense that ranked No. 22 in PFN’s Defense+ statistic would be ideal. Especially when considering it’s much easier to add a QB in the later rounds of the draft or free agency compared to an elite edge rusher this offseason.
PFN Projects Carter To Fall in the NFL Draft
Contrary to NFL.com’s prediction, Pro Football Network’s Matthew Cannata has the Penn State DE landing with the Carolina Panthers at No. 8.
“In this mock draft, Carter falls to the eighth pick, and the Panthers don’t hesitate to turn this card in. In April, Carter is likely to be taken within the first five picks, if not the first three,” Cannata wrote. “It’s impossible not to see Micah Parsons in Carter’s game. They’re similarly built, although Carter clearly has more anatomical length. Penn State figured out that Carter should live on the edge, just as Dallas figured out with Parsons before too long.”
While there is a possibility Carter is the first name called or the eighth, the most realistic outcome is the generational edge rusher coming off the board somewhere in between.