The Titans did not get much help from their ball-hawking in 2025. Tennessee finished with just six interceptions, a total that tied for second-lowest in the league with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. Only the New York Jets had fewer, and they somehow ended the year with a historic zero.
Cody Barton, a veteran linebacker, wound up leading the team with three picks. That was a bit of a surprise, since turnover production has never really been his calling card. Xavier Woods and Roger McCreary were the other Titans to intercept passes last season, and both are gone now.
That lack of playmaking was part of a broader problem. Tennessee also ranked 23rd in passing yards allowed, which helps explain why the secondary has been overhauled.
Woods was released at safety, Kevin Winston Jr. has moved into the starting lineup, and the Titans brought in Alontae Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott to start at boundary corner. Marcus Harris is expected to handle the nickel spot, while Tony Adams and Joshua Williams were added as well.
There’s a real chance one of those newcomers ends up leading the team in interceptions. Taylor has only four career picks across four seasons, and Flott has three career interceptions, one in each of the last three campaigns.
Still, the safest bet is Amani Hooker. The veteran safety had a strange 2025 season, finishing with zero interceptions after posting a career-high five in 2024. Over seven seasons, the former Iowa standout has 12 career picks, and he looks like the best candidate to reclaim the top spot in Tennessee.
Hooker also had to deal with a secondary that kept changing around him. He expected to have Jarvis Brownlee, L’Jarius Sneed, and McCreary alongside him, but by midseason two of those players had been traded and the third was back on IR again.
This time, the setup should be better. Hooker is expected to have more stability at corner, and the Titans are excited about pairing him with Winston at safety. New head coach Robert Saleh will also lean on an aggressive front seven featuring Jeffery Simmons and John Franklin-Myers, which could help create the kind of rushed throws that turn into turnovers.
Tennessee needs that to happen. The defense produced only 14 takeaways last season, tied for fourth-worst in the NFL.
With so many new faces in the secondary, the Titans are still looking for answers, but Hooker remains the most likely name to top the interception chart in 2026. A bounce-back year feels like the expectation.
In Other News...
Titans Suddenly Have A Make-Or-Break Decision On Femi Oladejo
Femi Oladejos second season is arriving with a different kind of pressure than most young edge rushers face. The Titans have spent the offseason rebuilding the defensive end room, bringing in multiple veterans and draft additions, and that has turned what once looked like a development year into a real competition for snaps. Oladejo is still viewed as a player with upside in Robert Salehs rotation-heavy scheme, but the path to meaningful playing time is no longer clear.
The bigger concern is that Oladejo is trying to make that jump after a rookie year that never really got off the ground. He was limited by injury, did not record a sack, and was not a physical participant during OTAs and minicamp because of an undisclosed issue, which only added to the uncertainty around his role. Saleh has been upbeat about what Oladejo can bring to the defense, but in a room this crowded, optimism alone will not guarantee him a spot in the weekly plan. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Fans May Already Be Seeing Why Carnell Tate Went No 4
The Titans used the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Carnell Tate to give Cam Ward another dynamic option, and early signs suggest the move was about more than just adding depth to the receiver room. Tate already showed strong chemistry with Ward during offseason workouts, which is exactly the kind of early connection Tennessee hoped would help its passing game take a step forward.
Carnell Tate has also been drawing attention from analysts as one of the most promising rookie receivers in the class, and the hype around him is starting to feel less theoretical by the day. If that chemistry carries into the regular season, the bigger question may not be whether Tate fits, but how quickly he forces his way into the center of the offense and quiets any lingering doubts about his ceiling. [Read more 🡒]