INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee Titans coach Brian Callahan didn't leave too much room for interpretation in his assessment of modern football.

"I’ll always lean, when all things are equal, guys who can score touchdowns tend to make more of an impact," Callahan said Tuesday at the 2024 NFL scouting combine.

Offensive tackle and wide receiver are two of the Titans' biggest needs heading into April's NFL draft. They're also the two positions general manager Ran Carthon singled out as the deepest in this year's draft class. The Titans hold the No. 7 overall pick, putting them in prime position to snag a cornerstone blind side protector or a field-stretching outside threat.

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Callahan has faced a scenario like this before. He was offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021 when they held the No. 5 pick and were confronted with the options of picking either tackle Penei Sewell or receiver Ja'Marr Chase. Cincinnati viewed both as All-Pro caliber players. Tasked with a win-win scenario, the Bengals opted for the receiver and landed one of the league's best.

The Titans' situation now is clearly similar to the one the Bengals faced three years ago. But it's not a perfect comparison. As Callahan points out, the Bengals were in Year 3 of their rebuild compared to the Titans heading into Year 1. Chase and Sewell were viewed as roughly similar prospects, something that might not necessarily be the case for this year's first-round talents.

And while this year's tackle and receiver classes are considered deep in the second, third and fourth rounds, the 2021 class produced 29 receivers and tackles in those rounds, and only one has made a Pro Bowl.

Nevertheless, Callahan's words about appreciating guys who can score touchdowns are hard to ignore.

"I think there’s an element of explosiveness, of speed, that we can add that would help us," he said.

Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., Washington's Rome Odunze and LSU's Malik Nabers are all projected top-10 picks at receiver. Ten other receivers rank between 20th and 60th on the consensus NFL draft big board, which averages player rankings from more than 1,400 mock drafts and big boards across the internet. That's not even mentioning the dozens of receivers about to hit free agency, including stars like Michael Pittman, Marquise Brown, Calvin Ridley and Curtis Samuel. With upwards of $90 million in salary cap space available, the Titans have the freedom to improve their receiver room with veterans, too.

One player who seems to be off the table, though, is Bengals receiver and former Callahan pupil Tee Higgins. The Bengals have placed their franchise tag on Higgins, an occurrence Callahan told the media he had expected.

"Tee’s a great player. I love him as a human. I love him as a player," he said. "Really fortunate to have been around him for those years and see him grow into what he’s become today. But I didn’t think he was just going to walk out of Cincinnati."

Short of trading for Higgins, the Titans are going to have to improve at receiver on the open market. After all, that's the best way for Callahan to find more guys who can score touchdowns.

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: Brian Callahan hints at what he thinks is Tennessee Titans' priority