After trading up nine spots, Tennessee lands a high-impact linebacker in Anthony Hill Jr., adding speed, production, and a perfect schematic fit for Robert Saleh’s defense.
The Tennessee Titans made yet another trade on Friday night, just as the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft was coming to a close.
The Titans moved up nine spots, trading picks 69 and 144 to the Chicago Bears for pick No. 60.
The 144th overall pick was one of three fifth-rounders the Titans held, and they ultimately weaponized it to improve their position and go get their guy at another position of need.
With the 60th overall pick, the Titans selected linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. out of Texas.
With Hill, it’s the production that jumps off the page first and foremost. In his three seasons at Texas, he recorded 249 tackles, 31.5 tackles for loss, 17 sacks, and eight forced fumbles. He led the SEC in tackles for loss and forced fumbles during the 2024 season, and he continued to impress throughout the pre-draft process by running a 4.51 in the 40-yard dash at the combine.
You couldn’t ask for a much better fit in Robert Saleh’s defense or for what the Titans have needed to add at linebacker.
Hill is a green dot guy who’s exceptional at diagnosing plays, getting downhill, and disrupting opposing offenses. He’s fast off the snap with good change-of-direction ability and overall agility, and he plays just as fast as his 40 time would suggest.
Is he the best linebacker in coverage? No. But that’s not what the Titans are going to ask him to do a ton of in this defense.
Robert Saleh needed a weapon. He needed speed. He needed a disruptor. And the Titans are getting all of that in Anthony Hill Jr.
Now, of course, there will be questions here because the Titans did not address the interior of the offensive line, which, in my opinion, was their biggest need heading into Day 2 of the draft. But this team has multiple holes to fill, and one of them was finding a linebacker to play next to Cedric Gray next season—particularly an athletic, sideline-to-sideline presence who can get downhill and help fill run gaps when the Titans deploy their wide-9 defensive front.
With only one pick on the board for the night, the Titans were never going to address every need. But this is a selection I think Titans fans should be pretty fired up about.
Hill should be an immediate contributor on defense and a piece Robert Saleh can deploy all over the field for years to come. There’s a reason he was a freshman All-American and a finalist for the Butkus Award last year.
Anthony Hill Jr. makes the Titans defense far more complete.
