Matt Miller’s first 2025 NFL Mock Draft has the Tennessee Titans taking a familiar face in the first round in Tennessee Volunteers defensive end James Pearce Jr.
Full disclosure. It’s July, but for some fans, it’s always draft season. When you are a winner every year like the Titans were for the better part of a decade, you spend less time thinking about the offseason, and more time enjoying what happens on the field in the fall.
Unfortunately, back-to-back losing seasons have gotten Titans fans back into keeping one eye on the draft at all times.
Titans fans are optimistic right now and they have every right to be. In a single offseason, the Titans have added L’Jarius Sneed, Calvin Ridley, Lloyd Cushenberry, J.C. Latham, Tyler Boyd, Tony Pollard, and Chidobe Awuzie. They didn’t lose anyone they should miss other than Denico Autry.
On top of that, the coaching has improved across the board. Even if you are someone who believes that Brian Callahan isn’t a clear upgrade from Mike Vrabel, adding guys like Dennard Wilson, Bill Callahan, Tracy Rocker, and Tyke Tolbert wins that argument.
However, there is a chance that this team needs some time to develop. If that happens and if some things don’t work out perfectly, this could be another difficult season for Titans fans, and that could mean another high draft pick.
While I don’t think that is very likely, it is certainly a possibility. So what is the silver lining if a disappointing season is around the corner?
Miller gives the Titans a home-grown home-run
In Miller’s mock draft, the Titans had the fourth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and with that selection he had the Tennessee Titans taking James Pearce Jr. the blue-chip EDGE for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Here is what he had to say about Pearce:
“This is a prove-it season for quarterback Will Levis as a second-year starter, but the early returns were good enough that we can forget about quarterbacks at the top of the draft for now. Instead, the Titans could land my preseason No. 1 overall player — and an in-state prospect. At 6-foot-5 and 242 pounds, Pearce has special quickness around the edge, picking up 9.5 sacks last season. He also flashed his all-around game with a 52-yard pick-six last season. Pearce would be an instant boost opposite Harold Landry III.”
Several analysts have said that Pearce is the top player on their board and that is partially because he has some exceptional stretches, but it is also partially due to the lack of elite quarterback prospects in this draft.
The Titans need to be all-in on Will Levis this season and after all of the flashes that he showed as a rookie. It would take a catastrophe for management to give up on Levis before 2025. With that in mind, the areas that fans are most concerned about for 2025 and beyond are EDGE, WR (if DeAndre Hopkins isn’t extended), TE, and S.
I believe that the Titans are going to be able to solve any question marks at wide receiver between now and the end of free agency next year, and other potential needs like defensive tackle, safety, and tight end aren’t premium positions. That leaves EDGE as the one area where it makes the most sense to invest in a high draft pick, especially when you are potentially talking about the best prospect in the draft class.
If the Titans pick that high in 2025, it will mean that the 2024 campaign was a disappointment. If this gave the Titans the chance to “pander” to the best fans in the world (Vols fans) while also adding an elite talent like Pearce, maybe it would be worth it in the long run.
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