By MIKE HERNDON, columnist
After weeks of speculation and debate about Joe Alt and wide receivers, the Titans ended up sticking at pick No. 7 and taking hulking tackle JC Latham of Alabama in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Interest in Latham had been reported before the draft, but the Titans were thought to be high on Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt, who went off the board at pick No. 5 to the Chargers, as well. Certainly, legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan would be signing off on any tackle selection. [Unlocked]
Titans offensive line coach Bill Callahan LOVES JC Latham. It’s his favorite player in this draft.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) April 26, 2024
The first word you’ll see associated with Latham is powerful. He’s a big, thick tackle at 6-6 and 342 pounds with 35-inch arms (82nd percentile among tackles), a seven-foot wingspan (82nd percentile) and giant 11-inch hands (95th percentile). All that size translates directly to his strength as he routinely manhandles opposing defenders both in the run game and in pass protection.
Latham allowed two sacks and 26 total pressures over 960 pass-blocking snaps according to PFF charting over the last two seasons for the Crimson Tide while playing right tackle for Nick Saban. Alabama charted him with 41 knockdown blocks in 13 games in 2023.
The Titans, however, will start him at left tackle when he arrives in Tennessee, a position he excelled at in high school as he became the No. 3 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class. His high school career began on the defensive side of the ball before a rash of injuries to the offensive line at IMG Academy – a football factory prep school in Florida – forced him to switch sides and start at left tackle, so this is a player who has only four years of experience playing tackle at this point going back to high school.
Latham graduated early from high school and enrolled in January of 2021 at Alabama, where he served as a backup as a freshman before taking over as the starting right tackle as a true sophomore in 2022. He graduated in just three years from Alabama as well, skipping his senior season and entering the draft.
Given the relative lack of experience at the position and Latham’s young age – he just turned 21 two months ago – there is plenty of reason to believe that Latham is just scratching the surface of what he could become as a tackle at the NFL level, particularly under the tutelage of Bill Callahan.
JC Latham's power in both phases is the first thing you notice on tape. But his strike timing & patient hand usage is why he's a top 10 player for me. pic.twitter.com/WWSnPsUFvm
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) April 5, 2024
My thoughts on Latham’s college tape from my preview of the tackle class that published here over two weeks ago:
The film, I’d argue, is the best in the class. Latham's elite, almost comical power in both the run game and pass protection. Defensive linemen are hitting the grass like it’s a Pink Floyd concert. Imagine Jeffery Simmons gaining 40 pounds and then playing right tackle. That’s what the experience of watching Latham is like.
He’s the most powerful blocker I’ve seen since Sewell and he also possesses unreal grip strength, which he frequently uses to latch onto defenders and then torque them into the ground with zeal. It’s the most fun you can possibly have watching offensive line tape.
Okay, but can he pass protect? Yes, yes he can. Latham doesn’t have the sweet feet of Fashanu or the robotic technique of Alt, but he’s got pure stopping power that allows him to shut down rushes immediately upon contact. And while his lack of testing will naturally raise concerns about his athleticism, I didn’t see any reason for alarm on tape. He’s got plenty of explosion in his kick slide and never appeared to be unable to cope with speed rusher, even against top-end competition like Tennessee’s likely 2025 top-10 pick, James Pearce.
Latham’s power is top in the class without question and his length is rare. He’s proportionally built with a thick lower half but shows impressive flexibility and knee bend for a player of his size. This is not a big stiff waist bender. He’s also incredibly durable, never missing a game in his college career.
To be clear, I like Latham as a prospect and believe his upside to be tremendous. He’s worthy of the No. 7 overall pick even if he wouldn’t have necessarily been my first choice among the options that were on the board. I was higher on Rome Odunze and Olu Fashanu, though it was extremely close between all three of those and Brock Bowers.
There are some questions for Latham, starting with his ability to flip from the right side to the left, as the Titans said they would be asking him to do. Latham, for his part, wants to be a left tackle, but whether or not he can seamlessly make that transition remains to be seen. Some players have zero issues switching sides (Penei Sewell, Tyron Smith, and Lane Johnson are among the recent success stories), and others really struggle. Latham’s high school experience helps a little bit, but that was over three years ago at this point.
Latham also has some penalty issues to clean up. He was flagged 18 times over the past two seasons, including seven false starts and six holding calls according to Dane Brugler’s excellent notes in The Beast. The holding 
calls, based on my review of his tape, often were a result of overzealous finishing on the part of Latham, who seemed to relish the opportunity to torque defenders to the ground after they were already neutralized.
Some of that will need to be cleaned up and there is some technical refinement that could help him unlock even higher levels of play, but Latham is not a project. He’ll be a day one starter for the Titans and I think he’ll be good right away with a chance to be great within a few years.
Would I have liked to see the Titans trade back and accumulate more picks? Absolutely. However, without knowing what offers were on the table and how big of a gap there was on their board between Latham and other tackle prospects, I can’t judge that decision appropriately with so little actual information.
You are not authorised to post comments.