How Tennessee Titans can find their Jason Kelce, Richard Sherman or Antonio Brown in 2024 NFL Draft

Let's not ignore the obvious here: Most Day 3 NFL draft picks end up as footnotes, forgotten lines at the bottom of media guides and Wikipedia pages.

But every so often, the Philadelphia Eagles find Jason Kelce in the sixth round. Or the Pittsburgh Steelers land Antonio Brown in the sixth round. Or the Seattle Seahawks luck into Richard Sherman in the fifth round.

The Tennessee Titans need help at cornerback, receiver and interior offensive line. Finding their versions of Sherman, Brown or Kelce on Day 3 of the NFL draft is a one-in-a-million type proposition. But using those players as our templates, let's try to find those home run-caliber candidates in the 2024 class.

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The Richard Sherman type: Syracuse CB Isaiah Johnson

Sherman went into the NFL as a 6-foot-3 corner out of Stanford who didn't have the top-flight speed associated with being able to keep up in man coverage, but was smart enough and functioned well in zone. Now there's Johnson, a 6-3 corner who spent three years of college in the Ivy League at Dartmouth who lacks top-flight speed but is smart. He graded as Pro Football Focus' sixth-best cornerback in zone coverage last year among players in this draft class.

The combine similarities here are uncanny, too.

Johnson isn't all that high on anyone's draft boards. He isn't ranked among the 588 players in the online consensus class rankings or among the 32 corners graded by Walter Football. But if the idea is to bet a long, smart corner who has the potential to develop into an imposing presence in zone despite not being an overwhelming athlete, Johnson is the fit.

The Antonio Brown type: Arizona WR Jacob Cowing

Speaking of historical footnotes: Brown had a really bad combine. His 40 time would've tied for the third-slowest among receivers at this year's event. His vertical leap would've been this year's second-worst. Brown's whole appeal was the fact that he just flat-out produced in college. Athleticism be darned, he got open, caught passes and scored touchdowns.

The player who reminds me of that is Cowing, the Arizona receiver who put up huge numbers at UTEP before transferring into the Pac-12. Cowing is undersized at 5-8, 168 pounds, but as Brown did at Central Michigan, he catches balls at an astounding volume.

Cowing ran a lot better at the combine than Brown did, beating his time in the 40-yard dash by two-tenths of a second. But speed shouldn't be the primary draw for Cowing. Production should be. If the Titans are looking for a slot option who can thrive on underneath routes and he falls into the fifth round, there's a good fit and plenty of potential.

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The Jason Kelce type: Wisconsin OL Tanor Bortolini

There's a lot to like about Bortolini. He ran the fastest three-cone and 20-yard shuttle times of any lineman at the combine, as well as the second-fastest 40-yard dash time. He started at tackle, guard and center at Wisconsin, a school that has churned out its fair share of top-tier linemen. He has good enough size, performed well in pass protection and has one heckuva mullet.

Plus, there's the geeky side. As Underdog Fantasy's Josh Norris points out, there's a remarkable connection between offensive linemen who run well in the 20-yard shuttle and long, successful careers. Bortolini just ran the third-fastest shuttle by any offensive lineman since 2010, clocking in at 4.28 seconds. One of the two people who outran him? Kelce.

The Titans need starters and depth pieces on the interior offensive line. Veteran help should be coming by way of free agency, but taking a chance on Bortolini in the fourth or fifth round also makes sense.

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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Seeking Titans' version of Jason Kelce, Richard Sherman in NFL draft