Dillard Could Be The Key To The Titans First Round

The Tennessee Titans liked tackle Andre Dillard enough to sign him as a free agent, but are they confident that he is their left tackle for the 2023 season?

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

NASHVILLE - How much confidence do the Tennessee Titans have in Andre Dillard to be their left tackle in 2023? 

The answer to this question, while unknown outside the confines of the Titans draft room, likely holds the key to the team's upcoming first-round draft selection. 

Suppose the Titans are comfortable entering the season with Dillard as their guy at left tackle. In that case, it is less likely they will add another player to compete with him in the first round, where there are likely multiple players at various positions the team could decide to select.    

The problem for the Titans is that they have not seen Dillard in person, on their practice field, to be sure if he is their guy at that spot in 2023. Any thoughts they have in mind concerning him and that position are just that, thoughts.

We've spent a lot of time roaming through mock drafts, where initially, the Titans were thought to be all in on one of the top quarterbacks and still are to some extent. Then it shifted to left tackles, which still might be the case, but lately, the trend has changed to the receivers, also a position of significant need for this team. 

Here's what we believe about this draft class. There are only four to five perceived first-round talents at left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., Broadrick Jones, Anton Harrison, and Darnell Wright. Peter Skoronski, while a tackle and perhaps the most NFL-ready, is thought by many to be better suited as a guard in the NFL but will likely get a shot at tackle first. 

At receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is widely considered by most the be the absolute best, with a good group of others in the second and third tier behind him.  

That might indicate that if the Titans are looking to add a receiver, the depth outside round one at that position would allow them to wait until the second or third round to add one or more wideouts. Not so with left tackle, where if you want one, you better be grabbing him at No.11.    

That's why Dillard could hold the key to round one. 

There's also a chance general manager Ran Carthon and head coach Mike Vrabel could decide to go an entirely different direction depending on how the draft falls in front of them.         

Opinions on what the Titans will do in round one are all over the board, and it's only guesswork to try to predict where they are leaning. Still, unless they are willing to spend big in either current or future draft capital to move up in this draft, then it seems most likely, barring a slide by a quarterback, that tackle and receiver will be where the choice is made. 

So is Dillard their guy at left tackle?

We'll find out sometime around 9 pm on April 27 when the Titans should hit the clock if they stick at their current spot.   

Speaking of that spot, the Titans currently sit in a good spot at No.11 if, as most predict, all four quarterbacks come off the board in the top ten. 

Thus the pressure is on Carthon to make the right choice and find a player who can stick with this franchise past his rookie contract.    

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