INDIANAPOLIS – Titans coach Brian Callahan met with reporters here at the NFL Combine on Tuesday.
Callahan spent 15 minutes at the podium, and then another 15 minutes during a spillover session with local media.
Here's a look at some of the hot topics from the sessions:
-Callahan was asked about some of the qualities he's looking for while evaluating quarterbacks in this year's draft.
He discussed decision making, timing, accuracy, and arm strength.
But the thing that matters most when it comes to quarterback play, per Callahan:
"Being able to perform under pressure," he said. "That's what ultimately, for a teammate, that's what you are hoping for, a guy who can go get the job done when it has to be done. … If you're a great leader as a football player, but you don't perform when it matters, it's hard to connect. You need guys who can perform and can do their job when it is really challenging and everyone knows they have to be great. Those are the things that separate players in this league. So ultimately, if you're looking for a characteristic, performance under pressure I think is probably up there."
-Receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is one of the team's players scheduled to become a free agent next month.
Callahan said he wants him back.
"I would love to have Nick back, and I expressed that to him when we left," Callahan said of his final meeting with NWI at season's end. "Markets are going to start to unfold here, and we'll see where all that lands. But certainly would love to have him back.
"There are a handful of guys (with expiring contracts) that I would love to have back, that are key contributors as teammates, leaders and players."
-The Titans, and other NFL teams, are allowed to conduct 45 formal interviews at the NFL Combine.
Callahan said between those and the informal interviews, from scouts to coaches, the team plans to talk to all the quarterbacks in some fashion here at the NFL Combine.
-Callahan was complimentary of running backs Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears and their performances in 2024, but he indicated the team could look to add another player at the position.
"I'm happy with those guys," Callahan said. "But I do think there's room to continue to add there. See if you can't find a different style runner that maybe complements those guys. We'll see what that looks like. There's a lot of different sizes and shapes that those guys come in."
-Callahan raved about Colorado's Travis Hunter, a player he thinks can play on both sides of the football in the NFL.
"Yeah, that's very realistic," he said. "I think he's a unique player, that there's not a whole lot of other players you could compare what he's done. There's not many guys that have played that many snaps on both sides of the ball. And you watch his tape and you see his ability to play both at a very high level. So, yeah, I think anybody that you talk to about him is going to say the same thing, that he's got the ability to play both. And I think you're going to find out where he fits if you were to get him. But he's got a really unique ability to do a lot of different things.
"… I would say you probably start him, he probably starts at corner. And then you find ways to interject him into the offense as he gets more comfortable, he plays more and more offensively. But I think corner is probably his starting point, in my opinion, you might get varying opinions on that. And I think he's got a real role as a receiver."
-Callahan said he sees quarterbacks Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders in the same bucket as draft prospects.
"They're both worthy of the conversations that they're in right now," he said. "They're both good players. I think they've earned the right to be in the conversations they're in. As far as where I see them and how I stack them, that's for me. But I do think they're worthy of those conversations. There's some other good players in this class too. And I do think that one of the things that's most important is that you never make an assumption when you're in this process. And you treat every prospect, whether you think they're the first pick or the 200-and-something pick, that you go through that evaluation phase with the same intensity and thoroughness that you would regardless of where you think they fall. And so you have an accurate evaluation of all the players, where the class stands, and how you stack the class. That's also really important because there's evidence over the years that there's a lot of players that in those later rounds that end up being impactful players. And so you just make sure that you do your due diligence on all the positions from the top of the class to the back of it. So you have a great feel for where those guys might fall."
-Callahan said there's no guarantee the Titans will take a QB with the first overall pick.
"We're going to find the best player for us, and whatever that looks like," Callahan said. "There are a lot of scenarios out there, and there's really good players at the top of this draft I think, at a couple of different positions.
"So that's our job from now until the draft: What is the best thing for us as an organization? If that ends up being a quarterback, then I'll be thrilled about it. If that ends up being something else, I'll also be very excited about it."
-Callahan said if the team finds a player who best solidifies the offensive line as a left tackle, the team wouldn't rule out moving JC Latham to right tackle.
"I can't tell you the likelihood of that happening, but certainly wouldn't box ourself in to not signing a good player because we have a guy at left tackle," Callahan said. "How do we find the best two tackles we can find? If we have to move him, we'll move him."
-Callahan said he's pretty much done putting together his coaching staff for 2025 after the recent addition of Dylan Auterieth as defensive quality control coach, but he didn't rule out another addition at some point. "We're 99 percent set with where we're at," he said.
-Callahan said the offseason program will begin on April 22.
