Grading Titans' 2025 Draft: Answering QB issues with Cam Ward, bolstering defence with UCLA star Oluwafemi Oladejo and more

After claiming they would shop the first pick of the draft, the Titans’ plans with the No. 1 selection became clear at the combine. Besides a quarterback and receivers to catch the ball, Tennessee hoped to leave the draft with players from all three levels of the defense.

2025 NFL Draft - Round 1 - Source: Getty

Despite publicly stating they wanted to move the first pick, Tennessee became enamored with Cam Ward at the combine, as I had reported, and chose the quarterback at the top of the draft. In the end, it was the best choice. The team needs a signal caller, as Will Levis has not panned out, and Ward’s game is on the rise. He has a few technical issues in his game that must be addressed, yet Ward is a great combination of physical skill and football intelligence.

After losing out on Jayden Higgins at the top of Round 2, the Titans moved back and addressed the edge-rushing spot with Oluwafemi Oladejo. I wrote extensively about the UCLA defender during our Senior Bowl coverage, as he was dominant every day in practice after a terrific 2024 season. Oladejo is athletic, smart and intense. He knows how to read his opponent, which gives him the upper hand and comes with a large upside. This will be one of the Titans’ better picks from this draft.

Tennessee needed a strong safety and hopes it filled the need in round three with Kevin Winston Jr. An explosive defensive back with terrific size, Winston played well in 2023 as well as the first two games last season before being sidelined with a knee injury. He is a terrific run defender who covers the pass well between the numbers, but he needs time to return to prior form and complete his game.

The team had a trio of picks in Round 4 and used them all on pass catchers, including receivers Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor as well as tight end Gunnar Helm.

Dike is a taller receiver who runs incredibly well and can double as a return specialist. Ayomanor is a well-built wideout who catches the ball extremely well, but he displays limited quickness in his game and must expand his route tree. Helm is solid in all aspects of the tight end position, yet he lacks the speed teams prefer for a No. 1 at the position.

Multi-versatile Jackson Slater was good value in the fifth round. A guard who some project to center, Slater is tough, powerful and a better athlete than given credit for. With 35-year-old Kevin Zeitler signing a one-year deal with Tennessee in the offseason, Slater can learn as a backup this season before taking over in 2026.

Tennessee’s final picks came in Round 6, when they selected cornerback Marcus Harris then running back Kalel Mullings. Harris comes with outstanding size as well as speed and showed a lot of ability in 2023. He did not improve the way I expected last season, yet he has terrific upside. Mullings is a strong downhill ball carrier who will complement the backs already on the depth chart in short-yardage or goal line situations.

Tennessee signed several top rated UDFAs who have the potential to make the roster. I had receiver Xavier Restrepo rated higher than Chimere Dike, yet poor 40 times during pro day knocked him out of the draft. Restrepo was never a potential Day 2 pick as was bandied about after his horrible run during pro day, rather he’s a lethal short and intermediate receiver with outstanding hands as well as great route-running skills. Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson is a talented blocker that can be an inexpensive utility offensive lineman. Cameron Horsley is a talented defensive lineman who should’ve been drafted, yet I don’t know how he fits the Titans’ scheme. Horsely is more of a one-gap/three-technique prospect who will now be battling to find space on the Titans’ three-man line.

Grade - B+: The Titans come out of this draft with their signal caller of the future, a potentially game-breaking pass rusher and several other players they expect to fill holes. They could’ve used an off-ball linebacker, yet given the weakness of the position in this year’s draft, it’s understandable that they did not reach for one.