Grading The Pick: The Tennessee Titans Draft OG Fernando Carmona No. 142 in the 2026 NFL Draft
The Titans finally addressed the offensive line on Day 3 of the draft by selecting an interesting SEC prospect. But have they meaningfully addressed their issue in the present?
The Tennessee Titans finally got around to addressing their needs along the offensive line in the fifth round, selecting Arkansas guard Fernando Carmona at pick 142. This was a mounting point of anxiety and unrest for fans, who came into draft weekend thinking the Titans might spend a more premium pick on shoring up Cam Ward’s protection. They get to it later than expected, bringing into question just how quickly they think Carmona could be ready to contribute.
Grading Fernando Carmona to the Titans
At 6’5″ 325lbs, Carmona comes out of Arkansas as a fifth-year senior with proven durability and experience under his belt. He’s played 3,200 snaps of tackle and guard between his time at San Jose State and Arkansas. If you’ve been following along with the trend in GM Mike Borgonzi’s selections, you aren’t going to believe this: He was a team captain. We’re close to writing it in pen that college captaincy is a hard-line requirement to join this team!
Carmona is a fine NFL athlete who plays with a mean streak. He told us in his first media availability that he had to adopt a mindset of nastiness when he made the transition from tight end to offensive line coming out of high school. The Titans OL room has been criticized in the past year by some for lacking a sense of nastiness specifically, with key leaders such as Peter Skoronski and JC Latham being more soft-spoken “gentle giant” types. Carmona is an injection of that roughness around the edges some fans may appreciate.
Carmona played left tackle in college before bumping inside to left guard. The Titans have their most pressing needs at right guard and center at the moment, but Carmona told us he has been training both sides of the line to be prepared for however his next teams wants to use him. He told us his meeting with the Titans pre-draft went great and he was so excited they chose him that he already couldn’t even remember what was said when he got the call from the war room.
The incident in Carmona’s past that is going to be brought back up as he transitions to the NFL is this moment from the 2024 in the Liberty Bowl. He was caught on camera deliberately stomping on an opponent’s ankle as a pile was uncovering after the whistle.
He wasn’t afraid to address it with us in our first conversation. He said it’s a moment he wasn’t proud of and has been embarrassed by in the year-plus since it happened. He’s had to grow from it and has worked to prove that it’s not who he is as a person or as a player. Obviously, the Titans front office was satisfied with his answer on it. With their bar for character and leadership being as high as it is, I’d image this is something he won’t take with him to the pros.
This is a tough pick to grade because of the upside potential and opportunity cost involved. The Titans passed on some other bigger OL names on most people’s radar who were still available: Sam Hecht, Beau Stephens, Chandler Rivers, and Billy Schrauth were all higher on the consensus board. Carmona is a promising prospect to last in the NFL as a long time, but most likely projects as a swing interior lineman that sets a nice floor of depth. Does he have actual starter upside? And if so, how quickly could he achieve it? This feels like a Jackson Slater situation at best: discussing him winning a starting job in Year 2. For now, the Titans still seem to have a hole to fill. And that’s why the grade for the team is on the lower end.
Grade: C+