PHOENIX – Don’t expect center or right guard to be settled for the Titans before the draft.
The team could be so draft-reliant for interior line help that Mike Borgonzi didn’t shake off the idea of two rookie starters playing in front of Cam Ward this season.
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” he said at the NFL owners meeting at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel where, to be fair, he didn’t rule a lot out. “We started Creed Humphre and Trey Smith their rookie years (in Kansas City).
“You go through camp and the best guy wins the job. You have time here in the offseason once you draft them, you go through training camp, if they’re ready to play, you put them out there.”
The Titans cut center Lloyd Cushenberry and have left Kevin Zeitler a free agent, leaving two starting spots open.
They signed center Austin Scholottmann, who played well in four games as a substitute starter for the Giants and Brian Daboll last season, and guard Kendall Volson, who missed last year with the Bengals with a shoulder injury.
They are expected to compete to play, as is 2025 sixth-rounder Jackson Slater out of Sacramento State.
Check out the Titans Projected Depth Chart.
“I think there are some good options, interior-wise in the draft,” Borgonzi said. “I think it’s pretty strong. …Typically, those guys are Day Two and Day Three, a lot of those guys. There is some value in there in this draft.”
He said he certainly sees starting caliber players in that range, though they come with some limitations.
It's a tough spot -- is it best if the Titans draft players who are better than the veterans they bring in, or if their veterans show up and outplay newcomers? They'll all have the same status and be looked to for steady progress under new OL coach Carmen Bricillo, who's got a reputation for developing players.
But the Titans have been shaky on the line for too long.
Heading into Cam Ward's second season with competition at two spots, a shaly left tackle in Dan Moore, who is expected to be replaced in 2027, and a right tackle in JC Latham, who still has not proven himself as a first-round choice heading into Year Three, is far from ideal.
In his piece on Titans draft fits, former Titans scout Blake Beddingfield considers Genner Dunker, Conner Lew and Kage Casey as potential Titans offensive line fits.
Borgonzi’s example of two rookie starting offensive linemen comes from the 2021 Chiefs. Humphrey was a second-round choice, 63rd overall, out of Oklahoma and is now a two-time All-Pro.
Smith fell to the sixth round, 226th overall, because of concerns about blood clots in his lung. He made the NFL All-Rookie team, is a two-time Pro Bowler and played all but one game in his first four seasons.
Borgonzi said the Titans continue to keep their options open with Zeitler, who wants to play a 15th season.
But it seems clear the team would like to get younger and that it won’t make a move with him or any veteran until one becomes necessary after the draft, because things didn’t pan out as they liked.
“We’re keeping all options open there right now in terms of who we have there and we’re not done here,” Borgonzi said. “We’ve got the draft and even after the draft we can acquire players.”
