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This is why it never made sense for the Tennessee Titans to seriously consider linebacker Sonny Styles with the No. 4 pick.
The Titans snagged linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., with the No. 60 pick in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft on April 24, trading up nine picks and giving away a fifth-round pick to do so. It's unfair to compare anyone to Styles, a once-in-a-generation athlete with the production to match. But let's indulge the side-by-side tale of the tape just for fun here:
Again, Hill isn't Styles. But he's frankly not as far off as the downgrades from Carnell Tate or Keldric Faulk who the Titans would've been able to pick at No. 60 had they gone a different direction in Round 1.
"He is the prototype linebacker in this defense ― long, fast, violent ― that we always talk about," Titans GM Mike Borgonzi said of Hill. "He's a tremendous kid. Great football character."
Borgonzi stopped short of identifying what Hill's role will be in a defense that returns linebackers Cedric Gray, Cody Barton and James Williams Sr., from 2025. With the Titans transitioning from a 3-4 base to a 4-3 base defense, all the roles are new, whether a player's returning or otherwise. But Borgonzi commended Hill for his instincts, for his history as a green-dot communicator in Texas' defense and for his rare pass rushing skills from the middle of the field.
If there's one thing the Hill pick signifies, it's another example of Borgonzi's valuing the individual on draft night. The Titans have glaring holes at center and right guard, and as a result of the Faulk and Hill trades, don't pick again until the fifth round. The seemingly-logical choice in trading up from No. 69 to No. 60 would've been to do so to fill a need.
Instead, the Titans traded up to pick a player who fit the identity they're attempting to build. It took Hill all of five seconds into his introductory Zoom call with local media to drop coach Robert Saleh's mantra of "fast and physical." He knows what the Titans like, and he seems to be the mold of what the Titans like. So the incremental upgrade over Barton took priority over drafting to plug a hole, just as was the case when the Titans picked Faulk in Round 1 despite already being flush with big, long, versatile run stoppers on the defensive front.
Can the Titans get away with not drafting for need for the rest of the draft? Probably not. For QB Cam Ward's sake, finding a pro-caliber center has to be a priority, and this draft class is luckily fairly stacked there. But still, 70-plus picks from Hill to the early fifth round is a long time to wait. Borgonzi didn't rule out the possibility of another trade, but at that point the Titans are giving up an awful lot of capital by moving up three times.
In short, the Titans are drafting like a team that only cares about finding the right guys at the right time, even if the right guys at the right time aren't the right guys to address the Titans' problems at this time. It's a confident move, one that has to be grounded in a real belief in the process the Titans subscribe to. But it's also got a real risk of backfiring, because even if Hill turns out to be great, if an unaddressed hole turns out to be a problem, there'll always be the question of why the hole was never addressed.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Titans accomplished on Day 2 of NFL draft with Anthony Hill Jr trade
Continue reading...
The Titans snagged linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., with the No. 60 pick in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft on April 24, trading up nine picks and giving away a fifth-round pick to do so. It's unfair to compare anyone to Styles, a once-in-a-generation athlete with the production to match. But let's indulge the side-by-side tale of the tape just for fun here:
- Sonny Styles: 6-foot-5, 244 pounds, 4.46 40-yard dash time, averages 78 tackles per season, averages 7 TFLs per season, 2.2% missed tackle rate in 2025, 15 QB pressures in 2025, 47 run stops in 2025
- Anthony Hill Jr.: 6-2, 238 pounds, 4.51 40-yard dash time, averages 83 tackles per season, averages 10.5 TFLs per season, 4.5% missed tackle rate in 2025, 16 QB pressures in 2025, 30 run stops in 2025
Again, Hill isn't Styles. But he's frankly not as far off as the downgrades from Carnell Tate or Keldric Faulk who the Titans would've been able to pick at No. 60 had they gone a different direction in Round 1.
"He is the prototype linebacker in this defense ― long, fast, violent ― that we always talk about," Titans GM Mike Borgonzi said of Hill. "He's a tremendous kid. Great football character."
Borgonzi stopped short of identifying what Hill's role will be in a defense that returns linebackers Cedric Gray, Cody Barton and James Williams Sr., from 2025. With the Titans transitioning from a 3-4 base to a 4-3 base defense, all the roles are new, whether a player's returning or otherwise. But Borgonzi commended Hill for his instincts, for his history as a green-dot communicator in Texas' defense and for his rare pass rushing skills from the middle of the field.
If there's one thing the Hill pick signifies, it's another example of Borgonzi's valuing the individual on draft night. The Titans have glaring holes at center and right guard, and as a result of the Faulk and Hill trades, don't pick again until the fifth round. The seemingly-logical choice in trading up from No. 69 to No. 60 would've been to do so to fill a need.
Instead, the Titans traded up to pick a player who fit the identity they're attempting to build. It took Hill all of five seconds into his introductory Zoom call with local media to drop coach Robert Saleh's mantra of "fast and physical." He knows what the Titans like, and he seems to be the mold of what the Titans like. So the incremental upgrade over Barton took priority over drafting to plug a hole, just as was the case when the Titans picked Faulk in Round 1 despite already being flush with big, long, versatile run stoppers on the defensive front.
Can the Titans get away with not drafting for need for the rest of the draft? Probably not. For QB Cam Ward's sake, finding a pro-caliber center has to be a priority, and this draft class is luckily fairly stacked there. But still, 70-plus picks from Hill to the early fifth round is a long time to wait. Borgonzi didn't rule out the possibility of another trade, but at that point the Titans are giving up an awful lot of capital by moving up three times.
In short, the Titans are drafting like a team that only cares about finding the right guys at the right time, even if the right guys at the right time aren't the right guys to address the Titans' problems at this time. It's a confident move, one that has to be grounded in a real belief in the process the Titans subscribe to. But it's also got a real risk of backfiring, because even if Hill turns out to be great, if an unaddressed hole turns out to be a problem, there'll always be the question of why the hole was never addressed.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Titans accomplished on Day 2 of NFL draft with Anthony Hill Jr trade
Continue reading...
