Current Titans’ GM Ran Carthon took over an interesting situation in January His predecessor, Jon Robinson, was shockingly ousted in Week 14 of the 2022 season, while the team was in first place in the division and coming off a season in which it secured the AFC’s #1 seed—the best run of success the fans had seen since Steve McNair was under center.

It is no coincidence, however, that his canning took place just two days after his most prominent proverbial chicken came home to roost. That chicken, of course, was star receiver A.J. Brown, who scorched the Titans for 119 yards and two touchdowns the preceding Sunday. The move and subsequent recompense was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and it was thematic of his tenure with the Titans, falling prey again to the ever-present allure of two birds in the bush. 

      Alright I’m out of animal idioms. 

      For those who forgot or have blocked it out for self-preservation, the A.J. Brown trade was as follows:

Titans Receive: Pick 18, Pick 101

Eagles Receive: A.J. Brown

     The rationale here was to avoid a big money extension for the 24-year-old and replace his production with a cheaper option, but Treylon Burks, who was selected with Pick 18, has yet to live up to expectations. From a strictly logistical, resource-allocation perspective, it tracks, but receivers of A.J. Brown’s caliber are not so easily acquired.

Unfortunately for Robinson, the camel already had back problems from his 2020 and 2021 drafts. From Isaiah Wilson to Caleb Farley to Treylon Burks, Robinson continued to fail to add impact supplemental talent to a roster with a strong core.

     Some non-moves that set a precedent, like declining Jack Conklin’s (All-Pro as a rookie) 5th-year option and letting Jonnu Smith walk in free agency, likely contributed as well to the retrospective that led to his sacking (I know it’s British, but we’re talking football).

Who Is Ran Carthon?

Carthon is a football guy. He is a former University of Florida running back who went undrafted in 2004 and stayed on the Colts’ roster bubble long enough to win a Super Bowl ring in 2006, although he didn’t see much of the field in his pro career.

Following a couple of years off, he got back into the game as a scout for the Falcons. He then worked as Director of Pro Personnel for the then-St. Louis Rams under GM Les Snead and drafted key players like Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, Jared Goff, Rob Havenstein, and Cooper Kupp from 2013-2016.

He then held the same role for another soon-to-be contending NFC West team – the 49ers. There, he played a role in landing several key contributors through the draft (Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Talanoa Hufanga, Brock Purdy..) and via trade (Christian McCaffrey & Trent Williams).

He remained with San Francisco until taking the General Manager position with Tennessee.

Changing of the Guard

In his first free agency, just about two months after taking the job, Carthon’s moves were .. whelming? They didn’t have a ton of cap space, so no splash moves were expected, but the acquisitions were relatively inconsequential. Andre Dillard, Azeez Al-Shaiir, and Sean Murphy-Bunting have already since departed.

His first splash move was signing DeAndre Hopkins. When the star veteran receiver was acquired, the memes harkened back to the Titan tenures of Andre Johnson, Randy Moss and Julio Jones. Hopkins’ production on the field however proved to be a cut above the final days of those legends. Having such a sure-handed professional on the outside early on gave them a chance to compete in the division, and later in the season was a huge benefit to the development of Will Levis. If Levis is the guy, Carthon intends to find out sooner rather than later.

2023 NFL Draft

Carthon’s first draft as the Titans’ General Manager was a peek into his roster assessment. Tennessee was in position to land a rookie quarterback in the first round if they so chose, but Carthon opted to begin the rebuild in the trenches with Northwestern OL Peter Skoronski.

Many thought Skoronski was the most pro-ready offensive lineman in the draft, and the selection showed the mentality of the new regime: DO NOT MISS ON ANOTHER FIRST-ROUND PICK. Skoronski was solid as a rookie and will continue to improve.

The selection of Quarterback Will Levis as he fell to the second round was particularly shrewd. As a GM, one definitive action that can truly set a timer on your tenure is a Quarterback selected early in the first round. If you take that swing and ownership doesn’t see enough from that player in his first two or three seasons, the GM tends to be let go before the organization restarts its franchise quarterback search.

Levis, in the second round, not only provides a ton of potential and moldable traits but also is much less of an indictment on the regime if he doesn’t pan out. Another thing the selection provides is some additional flexibility coming into the 2024 draft. They don’t need to shoehorn a rookie quarterback and can instead round out the roster to 1) Deduce whether Levis can be “the guy” and 2) Provide “the guy” with a strong supporting cast, whether it is Levis or someone else.

The class also featured a couple of other future contributors: Tyjae Spears (5.5 yards per touch on 100 carries and 52 receptions in 2023) and Josh Whyle (nine receptions for 94 yards, one TD in less than 100 passing snaps). Spears will be part of the committee going forward and can replace Tony Pollard, who will get the lion’s share (I snuck another one in) of touches if healthy.

2024 NFL Free Agency

Something I like about Ran Carthon’s run with the Titans to this point is that he has consistently vexed their division rivals. From outbidding the Jags for Calvin Ridley (Jacksonville shot themselves in the foot, but still), to trading for L’Jarius Sneed when many of Colts’ faithful thought Indianapolis was primed to land him, to even acquiring DeAndre Hopkins after he was traded from Houston in 2020, Carthon has already drawn the ire of fans (and maybe even some in the organization) of each rival team.

It wasn’t until this March that we saw him be willing to really open the pocketbook. The aforementioned Calvin Ridley and L’Jarius Sneed (franchise tagged by KC, extended by TEN) contracts were 4 years/$92 m and 4 years/$76.4 m, respectively.

Ridley’s contract could pay him through his age-33 season, which is questionable for a receiver, but that is only if the Titans so choose. It is structured such that, despite nearly $47m guaranteed at signing, the Titans can move on from him after 2025 for a measly (by 2025 NFL salary cap standards, presumably) $10m in dead cap. Not only is he a Titan, but they also won’t have to play him twice a year.

The swing Carthon decided to take on L’Jarius Sneed was even more striking, in my opinion. The previous regime was never able to draft and develop a star cornerback, and ol’ Ran wasn’t going to allow his team to continue to suffer the consequences.

The best part is that these moves were just exclamation points at the end of an excellent free-agency period for the Titans. They came into it with the third-most cap space in the league, but I thought they had a strong free agency, not just a prolific one. Barring something unexpected, Lloyd Cushenberry, Tony Pollard, Kenneth Murray, Chidobe Awuzie, Ridley, and Sneed will start for years to come.

Things Are Looking Up

Under Carthon and new Head Coach Brian Callahan, the Titans could cause a little trouble in the AFC South in 2024 if they draft well and build on the 2023 class. They have the #7 pick, where many expect them to have their choice of Offensive Tackle or defensive player, with Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers potentially being the first six picks.

If they get anything starter-level from Will Levis this season, I would no longer expect them to pick inside the top 10 in 2025; if Levis flounders (close), then Carthon and the Titans will have another high pick and a ton of flexibility to either draft another Quarterback or pursue a proven starter in free agency, depending on how he views the rest of the roster next March. Carthon has a chance to secure the Titans’ future in just 16 months on the job.

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