The Tennessee Titans have been tagged with an ugly label, but the case for putting them in the NFL’s bottom tier is thinner than it looks.
Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm placed the Titans among just six teams in his “tankers” group while ranking all 32 clubs in four tiers. His reasoning centered on the quarterback spot, where he wrote, "There's excitement surrounding the Titans if Cam Ward takes a step up," and added, "you can't definitively say any of them [these teams] are completely set at the position."
That’s where the argument starts to wobble. Cam Ward may need to improve, but the rookie he was last season had a brutal setup and still managed 15 touchdowns and 3,000 yards. That’s a pretty sturdy foundation for a player who was dropped into what the source described as arguably the worst scenario in the league.
The supporting cast around him also looks better now. Ward was sacked a league-high 55 times last season, but the Titans are expected to have an improved offensive line, plus multiple new receivers and a different, more stable staff on the sideline. Those are the kinds of changes that can make a real difference for a young quarterback trying to take the next step.
None of that turns Tennessee into a playoff lock. There will be bumps, and no one is calling this a finished product. But the direction is clearer than the “tanker” label suggests, especially with Robert Saleh building what the source describes as a promising defense in the offseason.
There’s also an argument that Tennessee stacks up better than some teams placed above it. The Falcons still have not named a QB1, while the Saints are also rolling out a second-year passer with numbers similar to Ward’s. If quarterback uncertainty is the main test, the Titans don’t look like the league’s softest spot.
Saleh didn’t come in and try to tear it down. He chose to build around the passer already in place, and he said he was ready to stake his job on the quarterback’s success. That tells you exactly how the Titans want to operate.
This is Ward’s team, and with that identity in place, Tennessee has a real shot to catch people off guard.
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Titans Still Have One Roster Weakness Free Agency Could Easily Fix
The offseason work around the Titans has already started to take shape, but one issue remains hard to ignore: the tackle depth behind Dan Moore Jr. and JC Latham. Tennessee has James Hudson III and Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson in reserve, yet the group still looks thin enough that one injury could quickly force the conversation from planning to scrambling, which is never where a team wants to be heading into a new season.
Brian Noteboom fits the kind of move that could quiet that concern without changing the top of the depth chart. The veteran tackle has experience on both sides of the line and spent 2025 with the Baltimore Ravens, making him a reasonable low-cost option for a roster that simply needs more insurance up front. He is not being viewed as a player who would come in and start, but for Tennessee, the appeal is in having someone who can help stabilize a spot that still looks vulnerable. [Read more 🡒]