NASHVILLE — Not much has gone right for the Tennessee Titans (1-6) in 2026. Right tackle JC Latham has been the exception, and his breakout through seven games is the most encouraging development of a rough season in Nashville.

Latham entered the year with fair questions surrounding him, but is providing positive answers.

JC Latham arrived with a lot to prove

The Titans selected Latham with the 7th pick in the 2024 NFL draft out of Alabama.

He was drafted under a different general manager and a different head coach. Like left guard Peter Skoronski before him, the question coming into 2026 was whether Latham could take a real step forward in his third season. So far, the returns have been excellent.

Tennessee has spent years talking about its future instead of its present.

Jon Robinson’s 2020 draft picks never panned out. The 2022 collapse followed, along with the AJ Brown trade and Robinson’s firing. Robinson’s attempt at a competitive rebuild failed, and so did Ran Carthon’s. Now the Titans are on their fourth iteration of a rebuild, with general manager Mike Borgonzi, coach Robert Saleh, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and a new coaching staff trying to figure out what they have.

The pairing of offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo with Daboll has been wonderful for the entire unit. Latham looks like the biggest beneficiary.

Former offensive line coach Bill Callahan may deserve some credit for laying groundwork. His track record works just about everywhere except Tennessee, which says plenty about how things have gone here.

The numbers back up JC Latham’s jump

Latham has fought through adversity and injury to become one of the best right tackles in football.

Per Pro Football Focus, Latham owns a 76.5 overall grade through seven games. That is nearly 10 points higher than his best mark in either of his first two seasons as a starter, when he lined up at left tackle (68.0 last season and 67.8 as a rookie). PFF ranks him as the 20th best tackle in the NFL, left or right.

The penalties have dropped in a huge way, too.

Latham has been flagged for only five accepted penalties in 2026. Last season, he tied for the league lead with 14 accepted penalties (15 total, with one declined).

Over 398 snaps at right tackle, Latham has allowed one sack, zero quarterback hits, and seven total pressures, per PFF. He has played every offensive snap.

PFF grades are not the final word on any player, and the coaching staff’s evaluations may differ. Still, they offer a clear picture of how far Latham has come. His technique has improved, and it showed against Cleveland in Week 7.

The Browns field one of the best young defenses in football, and Latham was a force of nature against them.

Tennessee posted a season-high rushing total, and running back Tony Pollard scored three rushing touchdowns. Running right might be the Titans’ best play right now.

Latham isn’t the reason Tennessee is 1-6

Latham was disappointed in the postgame locker room after the loss to the Browns. Here’s what he said about the offense’s shortcomings:

“I mean, you can talk a lot about everything. I mean, you know, we— like I just said, we didn’t score on the one. I mean, you know, we turned it over. Um, we didn’t have enough efficient run. You know, we had a 3 and out and the Patriots got us to fall back. You can point out so many things just from an offensive standpoint. Um, that’s every game, win, lose, or draw. There’s always things you can look at to get better at, and it magnifies in a loss.”

He’s right. Everything gets magnified in a loss.

What I respect about Latham is simple. He put the work in, physically transformed himself, and talked all offseason about meeting the standard and playing with more physicality. Nothing about a 1-6 team is dominant, but Latham has backed up his words.

The Titans are 1-6 for a number of reasons, and the offensive line isn’t one of them. If you asked me before the season where Tennessee’s biggest weakness would be, I would have pointed to the offensive line. In five of the last six years, I would have been right. Latham, Skoronski, and the rest of the group are proving that wrong every week.

Provided he stays healthy and his play holds steady, Latham is the Titans’ right tackle of the future. That answers a question Tennessee has been asking since Jack Conklin left in free agency six years ago.

Now the Titans just need better quarterback play from Cam Ward. That is a different matter entirely.