ESPN’s weirdest NFL exercise revealed something fascinating about the Titans roster build
The Tennessee Titans have a roster full of necessary building blocks but precious few homegrown players trending toward elite trade value.
Austin Stanley—Co-Founder, Host, Content Creator
Jul 16, 2026 3:55 PM EDT
The Tennessee Titans have won just 12 of their last 59 games dating back to the 2022 season. They enter 2026 on their third head coach and third general manager in that span.
ZERO picks from the 2020, 2021, or 2022 draft classes remains on this roster. That brutal stretch of futility has left Tennessee in a strange place, and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell just provided the perfect lens to see exactly how strange it is
Barnwell publishes an annual column identifying every NFL player worth at least one first-round pick in a hypothetical trade, broken down by team. Most of these trades will never happen. The Chiefs aren’t moving Patrick Mahomes, and the Bills aren’t shipping Josh Allen. Barnwell lists both quarterbacks at a value of seven first-round picks, a number that isn’t even legal under the current CBA’s three-draft trading window.
But these exercises do reflect real market dynamics. Micah Parsons got traded. Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams left the Jets. The Giants moved Dexter Lawrence for the 10th overall pick. Maxx Crosby was briefly dealt for two first-round picks before the Ravens backed out. The Rams have made this a lifestyle, trading three first-round picks across separate deals involving Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie
Only 4 Titans players make Barnwell’s list
Barnwell landed on just four Titans worth at least a first-round pick, defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons (one first-round pick and more), guard Peter Skowroński (one first-round pick), and wide receiver Carnell Tate (one first-round pick), who has yet to play an NFL game.
Rookie defensive end Keldric Faulk landed in Barnwell’s “missing out” category as a player who is close but not quite there
That’s where this roster exercise gets genuinely weird.
When you start asking who on this Titans roster could develop into first-round-pick trade value over the next few years, the answers are thin and require very specific things to play out
The Keldric Faulk question
Faulk has position value working in his favor because edge rushers command premium trade compensation. But he’s not a prototypical sack artist in the mold of Parsons or Garrett. He’s the “big end” in Robert Saleh’s defense, similar to John Franklin-Myers, and that archetype doesn’t typically generate first-round-pick trade interest.
I think Faulk will be a very good NFL player because of how perfectly he fits Saleh’s scheme. I just don’t know if his style of play will ever warrant that level of value
JC Latham and Jermaine Johnson are the real tests
JC Latham should be on this list. A top-10 draft pick who plays tackle, left or right, should carry first-round-pick trade value. But he hasn’t lived up to that yet. The encouraging part is that Latham is only 23 years old, and offensive linemen typically hit their prime later than most positions, much like quarterbacks. The cerebral nature of the position, the experience required, and sheer brute strength all develop over time. Latham has runway, but he has to prove it
Jermaine Johnson’s path is alive but far tighter. He’s 27, two years removed from an Achilles injury, a former first-round pick without the production to match, and entering his fifth-year option with only one season left under contract after being traded from the Jets when Saleh took the Tennessee job.
For Johnson to reach first-round-pick trade value, he would need to explode this season, put up 8-to-10-plus sacks as the Titans’ best edge rusher, earn a contract extension, then do it again at 28. Back-to-back 10-plus sack seasons would create that value at 29 or 30, but the window is razor thin
Where does that leave the rest of the roster?
Veterans like Calvin Ridley are easy “no’s”. Tony Pollard is nearly 30 on an expiring running back contract.
Femi Oladejo is a second-round pick with too many unknowns. Anthony Hill Jr. and Cedric Gray don’t play premium positions. Kevin Winston Jr. plays safety, and safeties don’t carry that value unless you’re Kyle Hamilton. Wandale Robinson, a 5’8 slot receiver isn’t getting that type of trade deal
Cornerback Cor’Dale Flott is the one name I’ll add to the conversation. He’s only 24, already signed a three-year deal, and plays a premium position. Flott is basically the cornerback version of JC Latham but with more experience and a contract already in hand.
Alontae Taylor, at 27, faces the same tight-window problem as Johnson, and corners tend to have shorter primes than edge rushers
This is what happens when you draft horribly for three straight years. From the 2023 class, Skoronski carries first-round-pick value per Barnwell. Will Levis does not. Tajae Spears does not.
The Titans have a roster full of necessary building blocks but precious few homegrown players trending toward elite trade value.
Four guys on the list, a handful of long shots behind them, and a whole lot of ground still to make up
Bill BarnwellCam WardCarnell TateespnJeffery SimmonsKeldric FaulkNFL Trade DeadlinePeter Skoronskitennessee titansTitans
