The Tennessee Titans were the heaviest-run team in the NFL in 2023, before star running back Derrick Henry became a free agent and signed with the Baltimore Ravens, his current team. Henry was arguably the best player in his position at the time, and the Titans wanted to add more firepower to that room.
Former general manager Ran Carthon made a big admission about his plans to pair Henry with one of the best running backs in the league at this moment. Tennessee is years away from contention right now, but it could have had a different fate had Carthon carried out his plans.
Cam Ward is now the present and the future of the AFC South franchise, but the picture could have looked a lot different for them after the 2023 draft.
Ran Carthon wanted to pair Jahmyr Gibbs with Derrick Henry
During a recent edition of the “With The First Pick” podcast, Carthon revealed he had mapped out a way to select Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round of the 2023 draft.
“My dream scenario was to be able to trade back, and in some scenario be able to trade back, pick up an additional second round pick, and then package the two second round picks and trade back into the bottom of the first to take Jahmyr Gibbs,” Carthon said. “Because I thought just adding a player with that type of explosiveness makes you instantly explosive on offense. And you talk about a one-two punch of Jahmyr Gibbs and Derrick Henry at the time, that would have been a problem.”
Gibbs was instead selected by the Detroit Lions with the No. 12 overall pick. The running back is one of the best in the league at this moment, creating a terrific duo with veteran David Montgomery.