As the New York Jets get set for Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans, the biggest task is straightforward: win. The harder part is figuring out exactly what they’re walking into, because Tennessee’s offense is still something of a moving target with a new coaching staff and Brian Daboll now in the mix.
That uncertainty is what makes this matchup interesting. The Titans are bringing in a new voice after firing Brian Callahan during the 2025 season, and the attention will naturally drift to Robert Saleh’s first game against the Jets since his 2024 firing. But the real question for New York is how Daboll will shape the offense around Cam Ward, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, after a rough preseason and his pairing with the former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator and New York Giants head coach.
The Jets don’t know exactly how Daboll will deploy his personnel in Week 1, but his track record with the Giants offers some clear clues.
The strongest one is 11 personnel. Daboll leaned on it heavily during all four of his seasons in New York, with the Giants finishing above the league average every year. The usage got especially high in 2023 and 2024, when the Giants were in 11 personnel 71.05% and 73.38% of the time, compared with NFL averages of 62.28% and 61.06%.
That matters here because Tennessee’s current receiving group fits that kind of setup. The Titans added veteran Calvin Ridley, fourth-overall pick Carnell Tate and $70 million free agent signing Wan’Dale Robinson, who followed Daboll from the Giants. That combination points toward plenty of three-receiver looks, even if those snaps don’t always mean the same thing.
And that’s where the challenge for the Jets starts. A lot of 11 personnel can spread the field, but it can also create space for Daboll to use motion, test coverage early through the air and then run the ball against lighter boxes. It’s not a package that automatically screams pass, and New York can’t treat it that way.
The other formation worth watching is 12 personnel. Tennessee used two-tight-end looks on just 16.53% of its snaps last season, which ranked 25th in the league. The Giants, meanwhile, were seventh at 32.53% during Daboll’s time there, nearly doubling the Titans’ rate.
That gap suggests Tennessee may be ready to use more of it now. The Titans signed former Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger in free agency, and he overlapped with Daboll for all four of his seasons in New York. They also have Gunnar Helm, a 2025 fourth-round pick who is expected to make a Year 2 jump after catching 44 passes for 357 yards in 16 games as a rookie.
12 personnel can create a lot of different answers for an offense depending on how the defense responds. And in this game, that response will be shaped by Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, who is entering his first season as the team’s defensive play caller.
For New York, the key is simple: don’t get fooled by the surface look. Three receivers on the field does not automatically mean a pass is coming, and two tight ends does not always mean a run is coming. Daboll has shown he’ll use both personnel groupings with flexibility, and Bellinger in particular is a name to watch because of how he was used with the Giants.
He lined up all over the formation there - mostly inline, but also in the slot, out wide and in the backfield. That kind of versatility is part of what could make Tennessee’s offense harder to read than it looks on paper.
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