2026 Nfl Mock Draft Roundup Titans Choose Defender At No 1

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Jan 12, 2026, 8:41 PM

2026 nfl mock draft roundup titans choose defender at no 1

Week 11 didn't disrupt the NFL hierarchy. Many of the favored teams or those with better records than their opponents finished the week with another victory. A narrow defeat, thanks to a last-minute field goal, kept the Tennessee Titans from fighting for win No. 2 on the season. Tennessee remains the lone one-win team left in the NFL and on track to hold the No. 1 overall pick for the second year in a row.

The Titans took quarterback Cam Ward No. 1 overall this past April, the team's first No. 1 overall pick since the days of the Houston Oilers back in 1978. After a decades-long break, they may have the top pick in back-to-back years, becoming the first franchise to do so since Jacksonville in 2021 and 2022. So what should the Titans do? They have a potential quarterback of the future in Ward and this isn't a strong enough quarterback class that makes a team trading up immediately obvious.

They could have their choice of non-quarterback positions in a draft rife with defensive talent. Edge rusher is the common choice given the positional value. You have to go back to the 2013 NFL Draft to find the last non-quarterback and non-edge rusher to be taken No. 1 overall. That likely won't change in 2026. Copyright 2008-2026 Drafttek.com.

All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy Neither Drafttek.com or www.drafttek.com are affiliated in any manner with the National Football League. Nor any National Football League Team, or any NFLPA player. It took a game-winning field goal as time expired but the Houston Texans handed the Tennessee Titans their fifth loss in a row in Week 11 action of the 2025 NFL regular season. Tennessee returned from the bye and played well, especially on defense.

Houston managed just 75 yards on the ground all game as the Titans held strong in the trenches. As we enter the second half of the regular season, the Titans are looking forward to an offseason of change. It's been months since coach Brian Callahan was fired and the franchise will be looking for his replacement. That'll be a compelling job, though, as 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward is an enticing talent to build around. The best way to build a contender around him is via the NFL draft.

After Week 11's slate of games, the Titans are projected to have the No. 1 overall pick once again – one of their eight picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. What could they do with all of that draft capital? The 2026 NFL Draft class offers a lot of depth at multiple positions. Linebacker, interior offensive line and defensive line are all full of quality players. Teams can find rookie starters on Day 2 of the draft at those positions.

A rising wide receiver and cornerback class also offers options for teams that may miss out on the top prospects in Round 1. 2026 NFL mock drafts have the Tennessee Titans taking a different path than many expect. With the No. 1 overall pick locked in, the Titans aren’t hunting quarterbacks. Instead, experts predict they’ll target elite edge rushers to transform their struggling defense. The team selected Cam Ward at No.

1 in 2025. Now they’re focused on building weapons around him. The Titans’ 2026 draft strategy has become crystal clear. Most respected mock drafts from USA Today, ESPN, and CBS Sports predict Tennessee will prioritize defensive line prospects. The team needs pass rush dominance to compete. Experts are split between two prospects.

Keldric Faulk, Auburn’s elite edge rusher, gets plenty of mock love. So does Rueben Bain Jr. from Miami. Both bring power, speed, and production. Faulk plays at 6-3 and 275 pounds. He dominates in both 4-3 and 3-4 defensive schemes.

“Bain is the popular choice and a safe bet thanks to his mix of power and productivity. But Faulk presents the kind of physical dominance the Titans desperately need.” Here’s the thing: the Titans just invested their 2025 No. 1 pick in Cam Ward. That signals quarterback stability. The team has their franchise QB now.

So naturally, they’ll address critical holes. Let's help the Tennessee Titans get better. The 2025 NFL season has three games remaining before the playoffs begin, so the 2026 NFL Draft order is hardly set. The Titans (2-12) figure to be picking somewhere in the top five, and still have a punching shot at the No. 1 pick. But let's not get bogged down too deep into the details just yet.

Instead of working through draft order scenarios and strength of schedule tiebreakers, let's familiarize ourselves with a couple of names who make sense as potential targets, examine positions where it'll make sense for the... Here is a way-too-early swing at a seven-round mock draft for the Tennessee Titans, with the draft order set thorough Week 15. It's easy to do a disservice to Bain here. We can talk about how the best move is for the Titans to trade back and acquire more picks. We can talk about how Bain's shorter stature and shorter arms make him a tough sell as a top-five pick off the edge. We can talk about how measurements and testing are likely to push him down boards, and the Titans might be better served picking a tools-ier prospect like Ohio State's Arvell Reese.

Let's instead say this: Squint while watching Bain's tape and it's easy to see a player not all that different from L.A. Rams standout Jared Verse. He plays with power, but he can dip around tackles with speed and bend in an impressive way. He plays well against top competition and he way hyper productive throughout 2025. The Titans need a powerful, versatile, game-changing presence off the edge, and while Bain maybe doesn't have the A1 potential of recent top-five picks like Aidan Hutchinson or Will Anderson Jr., he's an automatic... After a short detour in which we broke down the top prospects in The Game, we’re back to the divisional-focused mock drafts this week with a deep dive into the AFC South.

The one-win Titans are clearly in need of a roster rebuild while the Texans, Colts and Jaguars are surprisingly all competing for playoff spots and duking it out for the division title. The differences are just as stark in terms of the draft, where Tennessee is currently in position to "earn" the No. 1 overall selection for the second consecutive year, whereas Jacksonville and Indianapolis lack first-round picks. Here are early projections for the entire division's selections on Days 1 and 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft. First round, No. 1 overall pick: Arvell Reese, LB/Edge, Ohio State

Eight of the past 10 picks at No. 1 overall have been quarterbacks, but that isn’t likely to be the case in 2026. While his individual statistics and won/loss record in Tennessee suggest otherwise, last year’s top pick Cam Ward has made steady improvements this season and looks like he could be the Titans' long-term answer at... Furthermore, with all due respect to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Alabama’s Ty Simpson and the rest of this year’s potential quarterback crop, no signal-caller this year has played well enough to justify another team trading... By the time you reach Week 17 of the NFL season, just as many teams are eyeing the 2026 NFL Draft and free agency as they are thinking about the playoffs. Heck, even some playoff teams, already have one eye on the NFL Draft, knowing a Super Bowl run isn’t in the cards.

But with the New York Giants currently holding the No. 1 overall pick, draft drama is already brewing as multiple teams position themselves to trade up for a quarterback. The New York Jets and Cleveland Browns are the obvious options, as they should look to jump ahead of the Las Vegas Raiders. But what about sleeper teams like the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Rams? They might have even more incentive to trade up for their choice of Fernando Mendoza or Dante Moore Jr. One of them does exactly that in our latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft, which projects the entire first round.

It's become undeniable that the Tua Tagovailoa era is over in Miami. But with it looking like Mike McDaniel could be the one who sticks around, the Dolphins need surety at quarterback and Quinn Ewers hasn't shown those signs yet. It's time to make an aggressive trade, and Fernando Mendoza would be perfect in this offense. His decisiveness, plus arm and mobility would reinvigorate the Miami attack and, though it'll cost likely multiple first-rounders, it'd be worth it to reset this franchise's trajectory. The race for QB1 between Mendoza and Dante Moore has gotten closer throughout the year, but the Raiders should happily take whichever quarterback falls to them at No. 2.

2026 Nfl Mock Draft Roundup Titans Choose Defender At No 1

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