For the Tennessee Titans, it’s down to either USC defensive tackle Leonard Williams or Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota after signing pass-rusher Brian Orakpo and re-signing pass-rusher Derrick Morgan this morning in moves first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and The Tennessean’s Jim Wyatt.

The back-to-back deals take the Titans out of any legitimate running for the draft’s best pass rushers, like Florida’s Dante Fowler Jr. or Nebraska’s Randy Gregory, and could mean that they’re either ready to “complete” their defensive line with the addition of Williams or that they may be adding defensive free agents to free up their draft picks for a franchise passer.

Either move could make-or-break the current Titans regime.

For Williams, the idea would make a ton of sense. They’ve invested an incredible amount of money in Orakpo and Morgan, and nothing makes edge rushers more successful than a stout defensive tackle that can create some interior pressure and “press” the pocket, allowing for more room one-on-one on the outside.

Yet, though Williams could play just about anywhere one wants to put him on a defensive line, defensive ends in a 3-4 like the Titans typically aren’t pass-rushers in quite the way a 3-technique tackle would be in a 4-3 defense.

Houston Texans’ defensive end J.J. Watt is, of course, the big exception to that rule, but most 3-4 ends are a lot like the stud already in Tennessee—Jurrell Casey, who is a lunch-pail type guy who was the Titans’ best player in 2014 even though he only picked up a handful of sacks.

The addition of Williams would give the Titans a five man “rush unit” (three down linemen plus two edge rushing linebackers) of Williams, Casey, nose tackle Sammie Lee Hill, Orakpo and Morgan. That’s a pretty fantastic start to a defense that still needs lots of help in the defensive backfield and on the inside of the linebacking corps, and it gives the Titans an identity they haven’t had as well as something that can win them ball games.

They still don’t have a passer, though.

The conflicting argument here is that the Titans defense with the addition of Orakpo will already be better in 2015. The tandem of Mike Martin and Ropati Pitoitua aren’t Leonard Williams, but they held their own in rotation last year. That place on the field isn’t where the Titans suffered their defeats.

If Williams isn’t the pick, Morgan could put his hand down in pass-heavy rush situations (defensive coordinator Ray Horton has plenty of experience having linebackers do this) and put Kamerion Wimbley in the lineup, which makes a solid “rush unit” as well.

As good as with Williams? No, but that’s not the point.

Ask the Tampa Bay Buccaneers how things have gone since building around defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, or the Detroit Lions with Ndamukong Suh. Both of those men were better pre-draft prospects than Williams and neither team vaulted to the top of the NFL by adding them. How about the St. Louis Rams with their fantastic defensive line or even the Titans back in the Albert Haynesworth days?

Passing on Williams gives the Titans a chance to upgrade their quarterback position. Mariota may not have had the best Pro Day in the world, but the Titans are clearly interested, and if Teddy Bridgewater’s draft stock taught us anything, it’s that you don’t discount years of tape based on a shaky workout.

This is why the Titans will continue to do more than just due diligence on Mariota between now and the draft. Maybe they decide he’s not the guy, and that’s fine. But, they need to decide if either he or current quarterback Zach Mettenberger is their franchise passer before they go taking a defensive tackle—no matter how good he is.

There’s a quaint little false narrative that always pops up in times like this—do you take the “better” player or do you take the quarterback. For the Titans, though, that’s not how this works. In an NFL “war room,” plenty of disagreement will be had about who the “better” player actually is. Some scouts will have Mariota rated more highly, and some will favor Williams. Some will knock Williams’ first step while others knock Mariota’s deep ball.

This is how the process works.

What the Titans must decide is which player helps them win games more in 2015 and beyond, and their recent free agency moves jut whittled that list down to two.