Titans plan to start JC Latham out at left tackle

After the Tennessee Titans selected JC Latham with the No. 13 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, the first question that immediately came to mind was: where will he end up?

Latham played right tackle in college, but many experts believe he can play on the left side at the next level. A smaller contingent also believes he could end up at guard.

But general manager Ran Carthon made it quite clear how the team views Latham from the jump.

“We’re gonna start him at left tackle. He’s played right tackle at Bama. I know he’s practiced at left tackle, taken reps there, so it’s not foreign to him,” Carthon said, per Terry McCormick of Titan Insider. “He’s gonna start off at left for us.”

Head coach Brian Callahan added that he believes Latham can play on the left side, but what’s most important is that the Alabama product ends up at one of the tackle spots because of the team’s needs.

“There’s a precedent,” Callahan said. “Guys have played right and played left and made the switch. It’s not super uncommon. We had a comfort level with the player and the athlete and what he’s capable of. Look, having him go to left and start out there, and if he doesn’t feel right and he doesn’t look comfortable there, we can move him back to right. You need tackles, period. So it doesn’t really affect us either way. He’s just a really strong, powerful, big athletic human. There’s not a lot of guys that look like him on earth. We like that.”

The good news for the Titans is that they have one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL in Bill Callahan to help with the transition, which is a huge reason for optimism that the switch won’t be an issue.