Joe Alt is the son of thirteen year NFL veteran John Alt, a two-time Pro Bowler who, like his son, played offensive tackle. And ever since Alt's standout sophomore campaign for the Fighting Irish, the widespread assumption has been that the 6'9″ 321-pound second-generation offensive tackle would be among the top picks in the NFL Draft whenever it was that he decided he was ready to depart Notre Dame and head to the NFL. After his Junior season, Alt determined that the time to turn pro was now.
Just as the Detroit Lions were fortunate that Penei Sewell fell to them during the 2021 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans could potentially soon find themselves in the position where the best offensive lineman prospect in this year's NFL Draft falls to them with the 7th overall pick. Of course, this all hinges on a potential run on quarterbacks and pass-catchers in the first six picks in the NFL Draft, and as we saw just three years ago, there's a distinct possibility that this is the way things will play out on April 25th. And if it is, then all signs point to the Titans selecting Alt, who along with Sewell, is one of just two sophomore offensive tackles to be named an All-American since at least 2010.
Alt has been penciled in as the #7 pick in the mock drafts of most experts and analysts since the college season ended. He's held that spot for so long on ESPN's Field Yates' mock draft that earlier this week, Yates recently joked on a conference call that, “I’ve been mocking them (Tennessee) with Joe Alt for so long that I’ve now convinced myself there’s a zero percent chance it actually happens, right?” (h/t John Glennon of The Nashville Post).
So what happens if Tennessee's Plan A is off the board before the Titans have the chance to select him? Well, according to another ESPN Draft expert, the Titans Plan B could mean moving out of the 7th pick altogether if Alt isn't there.
“Tennessee brought the big left tackle in for a pre-draft 30 visit and met with him at the combine,” per Matt Miller of ESPN. “Sometimes it's easy to connect the dots, and this pick feels like a foregone conclusion as long as Alt is still on the board when the Titans pick. But what if he's already gone? That's where things get interesting. I'm told the Titans would consider trading back and perhaps targeting Penn State's Olumuyiwa Fashanu or Taliese Fuaga.”
Fashanu and Fuaga, along with JC Latham, Tyler Guyton and Amarius Mims are the other offensive tackles that most draft experts see as 1st round prospects, so if the Titans were to potentially miss out on Alt and move off of the #7 pick, they would theoretically have a few bites at the apple to find their presumptive starting offensive tackle.
The Titans have already had a busy offseason under new head coach Brian Callahan, who comes to Tennessee after a five-year stint as the offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals, replacing Mike Vrabel, who led the Titans to three consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since the franchise moved from Houston to Nashville. In addition to Callahan, the Titans have also added Tony Pollard — in for franchise icon Derrick Henry, who will be playing next season in Baltimore — Calvin Ridley, L'Jarius Sneed and Chidobe Awuzie among others in the offseason.
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