The most important player the Titans should hope is still on the board in the Second Round is somebody they have no interest in drafting

Jaxson Dart in Round Two is good business for the Titans

Easton Freeze Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) warms up before the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
© Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of the most underrated spots in the NFL draft is at the beginning of Round 2. While these picks aren’t actually any more special than the others, they’re uniquely easy to leverage for trades and are pretty exciting from a narrative standpoint.

No matter who ends up being a first round pick, there are always at least a couple prospects who “slip” into Round 2. There’s value in these prospects that some consider 1st Round talents who can be gotten at a discount. And so in the roughly 20 hours between the end of Day 1 and the beginning of Day 2, the phone lines are open as the teams with the first couple picks on Friday field offers to come up.

The Titans have pick 35, the 3rd pick of the Second Round. without a Third Round pick, the gap between 35 and 103 (their first 4th Round pick) is a brutal one. A trade-back to acquire two picks later on Day 2 could be the ideal move, but every draft trade takes two to tango. So who could best entice a team to send a pair of top-100 picks to the Titans for 35?

There are plenty of players who could fit this bill. The question for Tennessee with many of them will be how badly they want to move back, as sticking and taking the player could be equally enticing. Whether it’s a receiver like Luther Burden, or an EDGE like Donovan Ezeiruaku, that temptation will be real.

But what if it’s a quarterback? This could be the best case scenario for Tennessee, as they’ll already have their QB of the future in Cam Ward. The next two in line—according to consensus—are Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart. While a fall for Sanders appears to be in the cards, a fall all the way to 35 feels extremely unlikely.

But as for Dart, he appears to be right in that range. A borderline 1st rounder, he’s been in about half of the prominent national Round 1 mocks lately. For him to be on the board at 35 would provide the Titans with an opportunity to try to trade down with a slight QB tax to boot.

Titans fans should be rooting hard for as many top QBs to be on the board at 35 as possible.