3 next first-round quarterbacks the Titans can ruin thanks to DeAndre Hopkins trade

The Will Levis experiment has failed in Tennessee. Yes, the Titans have A LOT going wrong for them this season, but Levis has undoubtedly been the penultimate failure for them. So bad, that they decided to beef up the best team in the league. 

The Titans needed to get rid of DeAndre Hopkins because he didn’t deserve to waste away however many years he has left in the NFL with the Titans.

Levis had two receivers that should have been talented enough to produce for him and the offense and Tony Pollard in the backfield to ignite the run game. But Levis has played terribly this season. And if it wasn’t for Deshaun Watson’s historically bad year to go with his historically bad contract, Levis might be shunned even more. 

So it begs the question: Who’s the next quarterback the Titans can ruin in the upcoming draft? There’s quite a few candidates so let’s dive into which quarterback could have the unfortunate task. 

3 next first-round quarterbacks the Titans can ruin next season 

3) Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

I rank this last for a couple of reasons. I could see Deion Sanders and his son pulling an Eli Manning and forcing themselves to a team that best suits Shedeur that isn’t a dumpster fire. Though that’s typically what teams inside the top 5 are. The one thing a rookie quarterback needs is a top receiver target and with Hopkins gone, not having someone like that does more harm than good in year one. 

Shedeur Sanders has played exceptionally well this season so I think if he doesn’t stink as a rookie it has little to do with the system and more to do with just how good he truly is. 

It seems like a situation where if Sanders does land in Tennessee, he could be on a similar trajectory as Bryce Young. He won’t adjust well and the Titans won’t help develop him enough quickly for him to make an instant impact. 

This year with Colorado, Sanders has been one of the best passers in college football, throwing for 2,591 yards and 21 touchdowns with six interceptions.

2) Jalen Milroe, Alabama

The Titans could easily ruin Jalen Milroe just by drafting him. He might be the least NFL-ready quarterback of the currently first-round, mock draft selections. While Milroe has looked good for the better part of his career in Tuscaloosa, there’s something about how this season has gone that has me cautious he’s ready to lead a struggling team and certainly a team like Tennessee. 

Nothing good would come from drafting Milroe unless they had no choice. Would be worth even looking at jumping up higher in the draft for more options if they can. This doesn’t seem like a good fit at all. The Titans took Marcus Mariota back in 2015 and that experiment failed too. 

This reminds me of that and would seem more desperate than ideal. 

Since Alabama’s win over Wisconsin, Milroe has just one game with multiple touchdown passes and that was against Georgia. That was also the game in which he threw his first interception. He’s thrown at least one pick in every game since except for this past week. 

The Alabama offense has been of concern as of late and Milroe is definitely part of that. You’re supposed to get better as the season progresses and it looks like he’s starting to regress rather than get better. 

Alabama quarterbacks haven’t played well in the NFL lately. Tua Tagovailo has been the best Bama quarterback to play well in the league – for this example we’re not counting Jalen Hurts since he left the Crimson Tide for Oklahoma.

The Titans need a quarterback that doesn’t need much work and Milroe seems like more of a project – kind of like how Levis is now – than a quarterback that’s polished. 

1) Cam Ward, Miami

Cam Ward seems like the most NFL-ready quarterback of this draft class. But Tennessee has shown it doesn’t do well with dual-threat quarterbacks. They need a true pocket passer. Ryan Tannehill was able to succeed in Tennessee, at least during the regular season, largely because the system around him was more catered to his play style. 

Mariota’s best season was in 2019 where he threw for over 3,400 yards and had over 300 rushing yards. But he never quite took the Titans to that next level to be playoff contenders. If Ward ends up in Tennessee this is giving similar vibes. 

Coming out of college, Mariota was arguably better than Jameis Winston and was fresh off a Heisman trophy win. But Winston being more of a pro style quarterback probably gave him the edge. With Sanders being more of a pro style quarterback as well, that’s what will probably push him to being a top pick over Ward. Though Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels are proving the league is shifting. 

Ward eerily reminds me of Mariota. This season, he’s lighting up defenses, throwing for 2,746 yards with 25 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He can run as well as throw with 186 rushing yards and three touchdowns this season. Ward’s trajectory has him as one of the first two quarterbacks taken in the 2025 draft. 

That means Tennessee has a chance to get him. If they do, getting rid of Hopkins means Ward’s job of turning around the Titans that much harder. Ward may be good enough to not have his career ruined by Tennessee. But landing with the Titans will only hinder his potential.