Tennessee Titans 2024 first-round pick JC Latham hasn’t met expectations yet. A massive 2026 campaign looms large for Latham. He’ll have to be healthy and consistent if the Titans are to trigger his fifth-year contract option next offseason.

Mike Borgonzi didn’t pick Latham. The former Alabama standout had a decent rookie season, but his sophomore campaign was frustrating due to a hip injury and technical errors (false start penalties). Latham has some high-level traits, so hopefully he’ll improve in 2026.

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CBS Sports recently conducted a 2024 NFL redraft scenario. They have the Titans taking superstar wide receiver Malik Nabers, who went one pick before the Titans at No. 6 overall in the actual draft. Perhaps harshly, Latham falls out of the first round altogether in this scenario.

“Will Levis had been OK in a short run as the Titans’ quarterback near the end of 2023, and the Titans had made several moves to hopefully improve his surroundings,” Zachary Pereles wrote. “Adding Latham was supposed to be another step in that direction. Instead, he hasn’t lived up to his billing, and Levis completely fell apart in 2024. But remember, we don’t know what happens with Levis in 2024; we only know the future for the 2024 rookies. Levis, entering the 2024 draft, probably deserved a chance to be the starter, and giving him a premier wide receiver in Nabers would have certainly helped both him and, eventually, Cam Ward.”

Landing Nabers may have really altered the Titans’ future. Would they have drafted Carnell Tate this offseason if they already had Nabers on the roster? Hindsight doesn’t indicate the Titans should regret missing out on Nabers, in truth. Not picking Olu Fashanu at No. 7 was the real mistake. Fashanu has developed into a franchise left tackle, meanwhile the Titans would later overpay Dan Moore to fill that position.

Latham needs to prove he’s a multi-year solution at right tackle this season.