The Tennessee Titans are heading into 2026 with a clear plan for one of the most intriguing pieces from their 2025 draft class. Cam Ward is expected to make the sophomore leap at quarterback, but the buzz doesn’t stop there. Kevin Winston Jr. is also in line for a much bigger role, and the Titans are making room for him to step into it.
Winston’s path to this point has been shaped by the injury that pushed him down the board in the first place. Tennessee took him with the 82nd pick in 2025 after moving back in a deal with the Seattle Seahawks and picking up a third-rounder. He was still working back from a partially torn ACL he suffered at Penn State, which helped explain why he was still there that late.
That recovery slowed his rookie year right out of the gate. Winston missed the start of the 2025 season before eventually getting into 10 games. Even with the disruption, he showed enough to leave the Titans encouraged about what comes next.
This offseason made the team’s intentions even clearer. Mike Borgonzi moved on from starting safety Xavier Woods in a cost-cutting move that created a little extra cap space, but the bigger effect was opening a lane for Winston to take over opposite Amani Hooker. Tennessee didn’t do much else to reshape the safety group, either.
The one notable addition was veteran Tony Adams, who is reuniting with head coach Robert Saleh. Adams already knows the defensive system well from his time with the New York Jets, and that familiarity should keep him in a supporting role as the third safety.
Winston’s rookie numbers were modest - 34 tackles and two pass breakups - but the traits are what have the Titans excited. He brings a physical, well-rounded game, with the ability to hold up in coverage and make his biggest impact near the line of scrimmage. That kind of profile fits well next to Hooker, who is at his best hunting for takeaways.
The Titans clearly believe Winston can grow into more than just a starter. They see a player with the tools to become a multi-year fixture and possibly something even bigger. Saleh is hoping Winston turns that promise into production and establishes himself as a star in his 2026 defense.
In Other News...
Former Titans Star Just Became Another Painful Football Reminder
The latest reminder of footballs health toll does not come with a game recap or a roster move, but with the kind of news that forces old conversations back to the surface. For Titans fans, it lands especially hard because Chris Johnson once represented so much of the franchises recent past, and now his announcement adds another painful chapter to the sports long-running reckoning with neurological and degenerative disease.
What makes these stories sting is not only the human loss, but how quickly public attention tends to move on once the headlines fade. ALS and CTE still hover over football as unresolved problems, even as the conversation around them grows quieter, and the NFL has often been able to benefit from that fatigue while offering more polish than lasting commitment to research, prevention and care. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Face Tough 53-Man Calls As Camp Battles Heat Up
Training camp is about to put the Titans roster math under a microscope, with rookies due July 23 and veterans following five days later. Until then, the club is working through a projected 53-man roster that mixes established names with younger pieces at nearly every position, a reminder that some spots already look settled while others are waiting for pads and live reps to sort them out.
The biggest questions are tucked into the depth chart and the back end of the roster, where a few position groups still feel fluid enough to change quickly once camp opens. Quarterback, receiver, the offensive line and several defensive spots all carry some real competition, and the Titans will have to make tough calls before cutdown day arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Titans May Have Just Found Their Next Offensive Line Cornerstone
With rookies reporting soon, the Titans are starting to look hard at the next layer of their roster-building under general manager Mike Borgonzi, and Peter Skoronski sits near the center of that conversation. The former first-round pick has improved across his first three seasons, enough to draw national recognition from ESPNs interior offensive line rankings and to put him in the conversation as one of the more important pieces on Tennessees offense.
For a team trying to stabilize its front, Skoronskis rise matters because it changes the long-term picture at guard. The Titans already have one major investment on the books in Jeffery Simmons, and with Skoronskis fifth-year option already picked up, the question is no longer whether he belongs in the plans. It is how soon Tennessee decides to lock him in for the next phase of the rebuild. [Read more 🡒]