Brian Daboll shuts down a question that Titans fans shouldn’t have really been asking in the first place

In his introductory press conference, OC Brian Daboll made it clear what role JC Latham will be playing on his team.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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The Tennessee Titans introduced their new offensive and defensive coordinators to the world on Wednesday, and new OC Brian Daboll spoke about a handful of the players on his offense. He’s still in the process of learning everybody and getting to know his personnel, but he has a decent grasp from scouting the team during the interview process as well as scouting individual players in recent drafts.

The conversation was dominated by his affinity for and belief in Cam Ward, naturally. You can read about all the things he had to say regarding his new QB right here. But I asked him about what else he sees on this offense that he has going for him, and one of the young players he singled out was JC Latham.

Brian Daboll praises JC Latham, confirming him as a tackle

JC Latham is a starting offensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans.

He has been since he was drafted seventh overall in 2024, switching from left to right tackle after his rookie season. At the tail end of training camp last summer, he suffered a hip injury that put him on the shelf in the final lead-up to opening day. He started in the Titans’ season opener in Denver, but left in the third quarter after tweaking that soft tissue injury he’d spend the preview couple weeks rehabbing.

Things were off to a tough start in the young tackle’s second season. Everybody had come into the year excited to see him take a Year 2 leap, having switched back to the side he played at in college and getting himself in impressive shape over the offseason. One poorly-timed hip injury derailed all of that.

The train eventually got back on the tracks after returning in Week 6, but not before a stretch of games in the middle of the season where he looked real shaky out there. It was during this time that some media and fans started to come out of the woodwork to reignite the “move Latham to guard” conversation.

I felt that was ridiculous then. After the way he finished the year, I think it’s doubly ridiculous now. And when Brian Daboll talked about him on Wednesday, he didn’t hesitate to call out the position he’s going to continue to play in this offense.

“JC (Latham) is a big, strong—I like JC” Daboll put plainly, with enthusiasm in his voice. “I think he’s a good piece there to have at right tackle.”

Latham’s play stabilized down the stretch. The rookie QB he was playing with got better at not putting undue strain on the pass protection, his teammates on the OL began to gel, and he shook the rust off from having to heal on the bench for so much of August and September. Plenty of draft analysts had him projected as a guard in the pre-draft process, and I think those priors are going to continue to follow him until he firmly proves himself as an NFL tackle.

But there just aren’t many people built like him, who can move like him, and are as strong as him. He’s a very rare breed. And I’m bullish on what he can do in Brian Daboll’s offense in Year 3. Fingers crossed he stays healthy this time.

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