The Tennessee Titans traded safety Amani Hooker and a fifth-round pick  to the Buffalo Bills at the deadline. The return was impressive, and Tennessee now owns the Bills’ second-round pick. GM Mike Borgonzi now has five picks projected to be in the top 66 selections of the 2027 NFL Draft after the Hooker and Jeffery Simmons trades.

The 1-7 Titans now are without their two best defensive players with nine games left in the season. The Titans ongoing “rebuild” came under heavy questioning Wednesday with Borgonzi at the press conference podium. 

Next week crosses the four year mark from the last time the franchise has won back-to-back games, which saw the Todd Downing DUI arrest emerge from those wins. Since then, the Titans are a completely different franchise with a 13-53 record since Nov. 17, 2022. The 66 regular season games previous to that line of demarcation was 43-23 (ironically going back to Nov. 18, 2018, which was four years to the date before the DUI).

The fanbase is a combination of furious, exhausted, and apathetic. The two best players are now gone for draft capital that can only sell more future hope. So for Borgonzi, the third GM since Nov. 17 of 2022… You BEST not miss.

Why Mike Borgonzi’s draft margin for error just shrank

The trade changes the types of players Borgonzi can draft. Tennessee now holds a haul of picks in the top three rounds of the 2027 draft.

Tennessee Titans projected draft picks as of Nov. 12, 2026, which is fun to toy with on the A to Z Sports Mock Draft Simulator.

• Round 1, Pick 2
• Round 1, Pick 28 (Chicago Bears)
• Round 2, Pick 35
• Round 2, Pick 63 (Buffalo Bills)
• Round 3, Pick 66 

Three of those five players need to be impact players right now as rookies. Not in Year 2. Not in Year 3. Right now.

Look at how Borgonzi has used Day 2 (rounds two and three) so far. He has gone after high-ceiling players whose floors are a little dirtier, players you have to clean up, find a fit for, and give time.

Defensive end Femi Oladejo was the “Year 2, Year 3, this guy’s going to be a beast” pick. Then he broke his leg six games into his rookie year. That’s tough.

Safety Kevin Winston Jr. came with the Nick Saban endorsement that he would have been a first-round pick if he hadn’t torn his ACL, and the Titans landed him in the third round. Cool. But he’s way too boom-or-bust right now. He can’t stay healthy, and he plays reckless, dive-bombing himself into ball carriers way too often to live long enough to play healthy downs.

Linebacker Anthony Hill has been an instant-impact guy as the 60th overall pick as a rookie. So on Day 2, Borgonzi is one for three on instant impact players.

The one place Borgonzi gets leash for a developmental prospect

There is one exception. The back of the first round is the only spot where I’ll give Borgonzi leash to take a developmental prospect.

Tennessee did exactly that with Carnell Tate and Keldric Faulk: an instant-impact pick paired with a late first-rounder who was a “Year 2, Year 3, this guy’s going to be worth it” bet. The Titans have that setup again for both 2027 and the 2028 NFL Drafts. They hold a very high pick of their own and a back-of-the-first-round pick from the Chicago Bears (via the Jeffery Simmons trade).

That means they could go get a Colin Simmons type, then draft a developmental left tackle who isn’t starting in 2027 but becomes the long-term starter. A first round pick has the luxury of a team-5th-year-option on the rookie contract. That’s why I’m “okay” with the philosophy of drafting Faulk in the late first round. He has time to grow into his frame to become a force on the Titans defensive line. 

Meanwhile, Carnell Tate won NFL offensive rookie of the month for October, after Hill Jr. won the NFL defensive rookie of the month in September. 

But pick 35, pick 63, and pick 66? Those guys have to play right now, even if it’s in a specific role they excel in to become a positive asset to the team. 

What the Titans could do with the Buffalo pick

In my most recent Titans mock draft, I had the Titans taking Kentucky defensive tackle Tavion Gadson at 63. He won’t replace Jeffery Simmons, but he can be a high-end rotational piece as an explosive, off-the-ball defensive tackle with three sacks already for the Wildcats this season. If he plays a legitimate amount of snaps on Robert Saleh’s front, absolutely. Then he can keep growing into a bona fide dude against the run and the pass.

I also gave the Titans the 6-foot-5 playmaking safety Kingston Lopa from Cal in that mock, for the record, at pick 35.

What if the Bills’ second-rounder becomes a Week 1 bell-cow running back? If Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy slides because of his injury situation, sure. Florida RB Jadan Baugh will be long gone by then.

That could play out. It’s a big if.

Titans have the 2016 blueprint

An A to Z show viewer Wednesday sparked a Titans history memory for me when asked whether one elite player, two starters, and two flops out of five top-67 picks would make this a success. Yes. In the grand scheme of the draft, getting three starters, including one elite player, out of five picks is batting well above draft average.

The Titans have lived it to kick off the Jon Robinson era. In 2016, Tennessee drafted Jack Conklin (8th), Kevin Byard (64th), Derrick Henry (45th), Kevin Dodd (33rd), and Austin Johnson (43th). One day-one starter (Conklin) and arguably two elites (Henry and Byard). By those guys’ fourth year, the Titans were in the AFC Championship Game.

Other things had to break right for that run. But Borgonzi has given himself the capital to get it rolling. Now he has to go do it.