JC Latham played 1,753 snaps in three years at Alabama. A big, whopping zero of them were at left tackle.

Meet the Tennessee Titans' new left tackle.

"We’re going to start him at left tackle," Titans general manager Ran Carthon said Thursday night, minutes after selecting Latham with the No. 7 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

One year after drafting All-American left tackle Peter Skoronski in the first round and bumping him inside to guard, the Titans took a first-round right tackle and move him to the left side. They're confident in his traits. His 6-foot-6, 342-pound frame. His power. His ability to anchor himself in pass protection. His athleticism that led coach Brian Callahan to say: "There's not a whole lot of guys who look like him on Earth."

Latham played left tackle in high school, as the best linemen often do. But he flipped to the right side when he got to Alabama out of courtesy to upperclassman and eventual top-10 pick Evan Neal. Neal headed to the NFL after Latham's freshman year, but Alabama passed the left tackle baton to Tyler Steen, the Vanderbilt transfer who became a third-round pick in 2023. Heading into Latham's junior year, Alabama brought in five-star recruit Kadyn Proctor, who immediately produced as a freshman All-American at left tackle, with Latham staying on the right side.

"There’s a precedent. Guys have played right and played left and made the switch," Callahan said. "It’s not super uncommon. It’s happened before. We have a comfort level with the player and the athlete and what he’s capable of. Having him go to left and starting out there, look, if he doesn’t feel comfortable there and it doesn’t look natural, we’ll move him back to right. Like I said the other day, we need tackles, period."

JC Latham: Tennessee Titans OT history

Latham is quick to point out this won't be the first time he has switched positions. Or the second, for that matter. When he transferred to IMG Academy in Florida after his sophomore year of high school in Wisconsin, he was a defensive end. And a good one at that, ranked the No. 8 overall prospect in his class by Rivals.com. But he got to IMG, arguably the nation's premier college feeder program, and had other talented defensive ends in front of him.

So, just as he'd later do because of Neal, he saw an opportunity and changed positions.

"I was the No. 2 player in the country, No. 1 at my position, after two seasons," Latham said. "One of my closest friend’s family tells me that success is when preparation meets opportunity. I hold that near and dear to my heart. I apply that as soon as I get into the building and get to work."

But can he play left tackle for the Titans? Quarterback Will Levis was bullied, bruised and battered from his blind side as a rookie, and his predecessor Ryan Tannehill dealt with the same level of punishment for the year and a half prior. The Titans allowed a higher pressure rate on pass plays than any team in the NFL in 2023.

The team is clearly investing in and building around its passing attack with Levis, receivers Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins, dual-threat running backs Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard, high-priced center Lloyd Cushenberry III and Callahan's experience as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. Finding a left tackle was the last step, and arguably the most important one.

GRADE: Grading the Tennessee Titans pick of JC Latham at No. 7 in 2024 NFL Draft

But as Callahan sees it, the Titans didn't explicitly need a left tackle. They needed a good tackle. And that's how they see Latham.

"He almost expected (to move to left tackle), which is the attitude you want guys to have," Callahan said. "I think he possesses the requisite traits to do it. There's not going to be too many guys that are going to turn down a chance to play on the left side, either. They all think they can do it. So I think he's fully capable of it."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Titans say JC Latham is their left tackle, even if he wasn't Alabama's