The 2023 offseason was a joke for the Tennessee Titans and Mike Vrabel and Ran Carthon were to blame.

Vrabel thought that he had a roster ready to compete for another AFC South title and he clung to veterans like Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, Denico Autry, and Kevin Byard in the hopes that they would be able to bounce back from a 2022 season that ended with a tragic 7-game losing streak.

That was the message that Amy Adams-Strunk repeated and that was the standard she held him to. After free agency and the draft, the Titans somehow managed to get worse, and the collaboration between Ran Carthon and Mike Vrabel ended with Vrabel out of a job.

Everyone was skeptical of Ran Carthon heading into this offseason because of the disaster the year before. Sure the Titans had more money this offseason, but more money doesn’t ensure better decision-making.

Not only has Carthon risen to the occasion, but he has thrived in his first offseason as a GM with actual power. Using a combination of the trade market and free agency, he has added new starters at wide receiver, running back, center, defensive tackle, cornerback, and linebacker. This wasn’t just filling holes either, many of those players should be in the running for the Pro Bowls this season.

However, there is one glaring hole on the roster that the Tennessee Titans need to fill, or else you can say goodbye to all of the goodwill that Carthon has built up.

That need is left tackle and the Tennessee Titans have to come away from the first round with a new tackle or it is going to be incredibly difficult for this team to get any better.

If the Tennessee Titans don’t draft a left tackle in the first round, they have three options. The first option is to have another stretch of Jaelyn Duncan as the left tackle, and no one wants that.

Jaelyn Duncan

The second option is to sign Andrus Peat in free agency and have him start at left tackle for a season as a bandaid. Peat has spent the majority of his career as a starting guard but he has played nearly 2,000 snaps at left tackle over his 9-year career, both numbers are more than all of the tackles on the current roster put together.

Finally, they could try to draft a tackle at the top of the second round, but that would be a huge mistake. There is no chance that they can guarantee that a guy they like is there, and in all likelihood. we are talking about the 10th or 11th tackle on the board.

Bill Callahan is an elite offensive line coach and he could probably get that guy up to speed and playing at an average level at some point during the season. However, history says that a player like that will be someone that the Titans are looking to replace in a few years. Is that the type of player that the Titans should be settling for with the 38th pick in this draft?

Joe Alt is the consensus OT1 and every analyst in this class either really likes him or they love him. That is something that only guys like Alt, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Malik Nabers, can say in this draft class.

However, Olu Fashanu is still a really good prospect so there will be options for the Tennessee Titans at 7 whether Alt is on the board or not.

This is the corner that the Titans backed themselves into when they didn’t add a starting tackle in free agency, and that is ok. If they get a left tackle in the first round they will have checked every box, and this offseason will be a homerun for Ran Carthon. If not, then the offseason will be incomplete, and current problems will just be pushed into the future.