New Titans offensive line coach Bill Callahan will have a nearly clean slate.
-- Photo By David J. Phillip | ApNowhere is the challenge greater for the Tennessee Titans than trying to fix the offensive line, which has deteriorated over the past two seasons, bottoming out last year with 64 sacks allowed.
For the second straight year, the Titans could have as many as four new starters on that unit, which will now be coached by head coach Brian Callahan’s father, Bill, who is regarded as one of the best teachers and talent developers in the NFL.
The elder Callahan figures to be a big upgrade in coaching, something comparable to the way Oilers/Titans legend Mike Munchak used to develop offensive linemen so easily it was almost taken for granted.
One of the biggest changes is simply a matter of mass. The Titans wisely moved on this offseason from underachieving Andre Dillard at left tackle and undersized Aaron Brewer at center and have made it a point to get much bigger. Free agent Lloyd Cushenberry is 6-4, 315, is 30 pounds bigger than Brewer was on his heaviest day.
The drafting of JC Latham adds another big body at tackle. He stands 6-6 and weighs 342 pounds. Even though he will have to switch sides and learn to play on the left after spending his time at Alabama entirely on the right side, he should in time be a major upgrade over Dillard, who seemed lost and slow much of last year in that spot.
“He’s big. He’s powerful. He’s a really good athlete for his size, and he’s got gigantic hands,” Brian Callahan said of his first draft pick as the Titans head coach. “He’s got great anchor. There’s a lot of things that he has that not a lot of people have, with his combination of size and athletic ability. So those things, as an offensive line coach, you get excited about and those are all the things that he (Bill Callahan) really liked about him.”
At left guard, Peter Skoronski has looked noticeably bigger in photos and videos after his rookie season. The first-round pick from last year lost some weight after an emergency appendectomy shortly after the season began and needed time even after his return to regain his weight and strength. That shouldn’t be an issue this time around.
Skoronski made a position switch coming into the NFL, shifting from left tackle in college to left guard in part due to shorter arms than the 2023 coaching staff liked at the outside position.
Now, the Titans will hope Latham can do the same in shifting across the line to solve another problem on the left.
If Latham can make the switch, it gives the Titans lots of size, strength and athleticism in the middle and on the left side with Cushenberry, Skoronski and Latham.
As for the right side, the Titans still have plenty of options from Nicholas Petit-Frere, newly acquired Leroy Watson, Jaelyn Duncan or perhaps a free agent at right tackle.
At guard, Daniel Brunskill is a holdover from last year, but he figures to get a challenge from Dillon Radunz and free agent bargain pickup Saahdiq Charles, who checks in at 6-4, 321 and drew enough praise early on from offensive coordinator Nick Holz that he could have the inside track to start at right guard.
But, as the Titans have pointed out, the offensive line rebuild won’t stop just because the draft is over. There still likely will be continued searching and adding to the roster there before training camp begins.