Penn St defensive back Kevin Winston Jr during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium Tanner Pearson-Imagn Images

The Tennessee Titans are building their team from the ground up, and that began with their haul in the 2025 NFL Draft.

They had the No. 1 overall pick to help them out, and that granted them a quarterback to be a pillar for the team in Cam Ward.

Ward and the rest of the rookies coming to the Titans have Pro Football Focus writer Bradley Locker thinking that Tennessee had the best performance out of any team in the AFC South in the draft.

"Sure, the Titans may get an inherent advantage by owning the No. 1 overall pick. But that selection coupled with what Tennessee added throughout the draft figures to serve as a formative group for years to come," Locker wrote.

"Cam Ward (91.7 PFF passing grade, 6.3% big-time throw rate) offers a considerably higher ceiling under center than Will Levis. Tennessee built around its new gunslinger with Gunnar Helm (72.4 PFF receiving grade) and Elic Ayomanor (74.3 PFF receiving grade, 72.7 PFF pass-blocking grade), and each could start as rookies. On defense, the Titans recognized their limited talent at multiple levels by nabbing Oluwafemi Oladejo (73.8 PFF overall grade, 78.6 PFF run-defense grade) and Kevin Winston Jr. (89.2 PFF overall grade in 2023)."

"Admittedly, the AFC South didn’t generate a set of four phenomenal classes, but the Jaguars, Colts and Texans all selected players who should mitigate holes. Although the Titans are still a long way away from contending, their 2025 draft class offers optimism."

It wasn't very hard for the Titans to "offer optimism" with their rookies because they can only get better. The team's rookies may not amount to much outside of Ward, but it's something different, and anything that isn't the product put on the field last season is a win for the Titans.

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