Tennessee Titans first round pick JC Latham posted near perfect career at Alabama based on advanced stats

JC Latham may have surprised some Tennessee Titans fans as the selection at pick seven overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, but it shouldn't have. The Titans and general manager Ran Carthon may have just landed the most physically dominant and proven winner in every facet of the blocking game based on the advanced stats among all tackles in the class. JC Latham truly posted a near perfect career in his time at Alabama, and will now hopefully continue that dominance as he plugs in as the future of the Titans offensive line.

But what makes him so special as an offensive tackle? And what can Titans fans expect from the elite talent of JC Latham who has ranked firmly among the elite at his position since he was just 15 years old?

JC Latham, OT Alabama

Latham began his football journey by leading his high school football team in Wisconsin to a state championship when he was still just a sophomore. Amid that special season he started garnering national attention from every recruiting service and media outlet out there, sparking his transfer to IMG Academy in Florida. For those unfamiliar, IMG Academy is the standard for high school sports in the world, having already sent 18 players to the NFL Draft in the last six years even before Latham was selected. Latham extends their streak with a first round NFL Draft pick to five years.

When Latham arrived to Alabama as a consensus top five recruit in the entire country everyone knew he would be special, but no one expected him to absolutely dominate as quickly as he did. As a true freshman he stepped onto the field and played about 150 snaps at right guard for the Crimson Tide, never surrendering a single sack.

As a sophomore Latham's legend only grew. He played nearly 900 more snaps in 2022, this time at right tackle, and never surrendered a sack that was his responsibility, constantly blocking defenders into the ground. He posted a 99% pass block efficiency rate according to Pro Football Focus and a 99th percentile pass block win rate among all offensive tackles in the nation via multiple additional charting services too.

Latham was so unbelievably dominant that you can essentially count the total number of "bad" plays from his entire Alabama career on one hand. One came on a sack that he allowed amid a monsoon against South Florida last year (with a horrible backup quarterback playing that game). The three others that come to mind for many came against Georgia and Michigan in the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff last season. But if you want to understand just how special JC Latham's career was at Alabama just watch Bill Belichick talk about him in the post below.