Offense 

Quite clearly the talk around this offense has to start with the new QB in town with Cam Ward (Miami). While Ward may have not been the most highly regarded QB prospect we’ve ever seen he was certainly worth taking a chance on at #1 and should quite easily improve this room from what they had last year with Will Levis and Mason Rudolph. Ward is a unique prospect at the QBposition and while he may lack the high end traits that other high picks at this position have possessed in the past he has a great feel for the game and is clearly a leader as he stepped into that role at three separate schools throughout his college career. As special of a talent Ward is he does have some flaws he needs to clean up in his game especially with footwork and falling into habits of holding onto the ball and trying to be a hero far too often on a play to play basis and while he was special enough to pay that off in college he’ll need to button up his mechanics and be more urgent at the NFL level. While I expect there to be some up and downs throughout his rookie year I believe in him too much not to find more success than not and fully expect him to revive this Titans franchise who haven’t had a QB with this much talent in a long time. I believe Ward is someone that can lead a franchise and while I don’t know that he possesses the traits to be an elite guy one day I absolutely think he’ll be a quality starter and end up being somewhere along the current Baker Mayfield/Kyler Murray level of player for this team.

As for the supporting cast around their new #1 pick I was actually surprised how much of an improvement they were able to make across a really poor roster last season. The RB room largely staying the same wasn’t all that surprising as they have two solid backs with Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears but Spears has struggled with health and I view Pollard as a RB that needs to be in a rotation rather than a stand alone starter so while it’s not a concerning room I would have liked them to add one more guy aside from their 6th Round pick Kalel Mullings (Michigan). I do like Mullings and I believe he’ll find a spot on the 53 man roster as more powerful back to use in short yardage situations but I thought they could have used a more solidified vet. You also have largely the same TE room with Chig Okonkwo and Josh Whyle with Chig having some really nice upside and is a solid starter and Whyle is a fine backup but they added Gunnar Helm (Texas)who should be a solid target for Ward and will give them a after the catch threat as well but he needs to add some size/strength to hold is own as a blocker. 

Onto the WR room which is a very interesting group of guys. They pretty much remodeled this entire room with Calvin Ridley being the only solidified piece still here from last season. In FA they added Van Jefferson and Tyler Lockett which should give them a decent floor as a starting group but isn’t exactly ideal for what you’d want around a rookie QB. In the draft and UDFA process is where they really added some interesting talent and it’ll be interesting to see how many of these guys can push for starting spots over these established vets they added. They added Elic Ayomanor (Stanford) who should find a starter role sooner rather later as a big physical X  because they don’t really have anyone aelse on roster to play that role, they also added Chimere Dike (Florida) who should develop nicely behind Tyler Lockett and Calvin Ridley as that off the ball Y WR that uses his speed and athletic tools to create separation and my favorite about Dike is his ability to run dagger routes on the backside of formations, he’s awesome at that. Along with everything else they went into the UDFA process and signed Cam Ward’s favorite target in college last season  with Xavier Restrepo (Miami) who famously tested very poorly in the pre draft process but I could see him carving out a role as slot option for them that finds his success in short downs and distances due to his connection and relationship with Cam Ward. Overall it’s a solid group but they’re lacking any true difference maker in the room and it’ll be up to one of these young guys to find a role and establish themselves in their rookie seasons if they want to find an answer to that this year.

Onto quite possibly my favorite part of this offense and certainly the biggest improvement this team saw over the offseason and that’s the offensive line. While the Dan Moore Jr contract was steep to say the least when you get over the number attached to his name he is a solid LT and when you pair that with being able to move JC Latham back to RT like he played in college it’s hard to be mad at the signing. Along with Latham moving back to RT you add Kevin Zeitler in FA as well which takes your starting right side of your line from Nicholas Petite-Frere and Dillon Radunz last season to now having Latham and Zeitler which can’t be understated as an upgrade. You pair those additions with Peter Skoronski who has been up and down at G but shows flashes of really solid play and Lloyd Cushenberry III at C who’s one of the more underrated guys in the league and all the sudden you have a solid line put together and while it may not be a special group when you compare it to last season it’s almost unbelievable the transformation this group took. My favorite was they didn’t stop there and they added some solid vets as depth pieces with Olisaemeka Udoh who’s a serviceable swing T, Blake Hance who can play snaps in a pinch, and on top of that they added Jackson Slater (Sacramento State) in the draft which I loved because he has G and C flexibility which makes your depth even that more versatile. You take all of those additions and you add in the fact you have one of the best OL coaches in the league with Bill Callahan and I can’t help but feel that this group will blow last years OL room out of the water in terms of performance. It’s not the flashiest group but when you account for how bad they were last year and the fact you had to improve this group for your new rookie QB you have to feel great about this offseason and how they handled this group in particular.

Defense 

As for the defense I think they did a great job of building around the few solidified starters they did have last offseason which should allow them to be much more flexible and actually find an identity which I thought they lacked last year. DC Dennard Wilson is one of my favorite coaches in the league and I really believe that he’ll get this group of guys playing at a higher level than a lot of people think next season as he didn’t have much of chance last year considering the roster.

That all starts with the IDL which was one of the few groups along this defense that didn’t need to added to or adjusted this offseason. With Jeffery Simmons, T’Vondre Sweat, and Sebastian Joseph-Day up front you know exactly what your getting and that’s elite run defense paired with Simmons ability to wreck game plans with his overall dominance up front. While I thought they could have used one more player that could give them something more pass rush wise this IDLgroup should once again be the strength of this defense and it’s up to the rest of this defense to round into form and find their identity along side them. 

The group I feel has the best chance of finding more success than last season is this secondary. While this group was up and down last season so was this whole team do I genuinely like the talent they have back here even if it isn’t the biggest names or full of stars. While L’Jarius Sneed had a bit of a down year I still believe in him being a solid starter at outside CB for you at the very least and Roger McCreary while inconsistent at times is one of my favorite players in the league and I believe has the ability to be a great Slot CB for them moving forward. While I like Sneed and McCreary I do have questions as to who they’re going to be playing opposite of Sneed on the outside. While Jarvis Brownlee Jr is an interesting piece I view him as more of a run defending Slot CB option for them but that’s where the problem arises as they don’t really have another option on the outside other than moving McCreary out there which could work but I personally would rather him play his best spot and that being the slot. Outside of those two they only have Amani Oruwariye who is a fine depth option that can play a few snaps here and there but any more than that and he becomes a liability and their 6th Round pick Marcus Harris (Cal)who certainly has the athletic traits and balls skills to make him an interesting piece but coverage wise he’s very raw and makes quite a few mistakes and in my opinion needs time to develop to give him a fair chance out there. Where this group gets really promising for me though is with this S room. Amani Hooker may not be the biggest name but he’s super solid and very consistent in all phases for them and when you add Xavier Woods in FA all the sudden you have a really solid vet tandem on the backend of your defense. Where it gets really exciting for me though is if they can get their 3rd Round pick Kevin Winston Jr (Penn State) on the field and healthy because when he is I believe he’ll be a true game changer for them. Winston Jr is an outstanding run defender who rarely misses tackles, triggers downhill fast and aggressively but keeps his technique sound, and has the athletic traits to be more in coverage than he was in his short college career (only started one year). There’s some work to be done with his game and improvements to be made in coverage especially but he has the mindset, character, and traits that I believe will get him to his best play sooner rather than later, especially with Dennard Wilson coaching him up.

While I feel really good about the IDL and I like the majority of the secondary the ILB and Edgegroups do give me some hesitation as far as what this team can accomplish. Bringing in Cody Barton to sure up your Mike ILB spot is a solid move and should give them a decent starter to have out there but after him it’s just a lot of question marks. You have Otis Reese IV who is slotted in as the second ILB right now and I can’t say that makes me all that hopeful for this upcoming season and to be honest I think one of these depth guys give you a better chance at a capable ILB for next season. Whether that be Cedric Gray, Amari Burney, or who I personally feel best about Anfernee Orji they’ll hopefully be able find someone to be serviceable for them at that spot next to Barton, although I can’t say I’m exactly hopeful for how it will turn out. 

Now onto this Edge group and while I feel better about this group of guys than I did the ILBs and compared to what they had last year it’s an improvement it’s not exactly an exciting group either. Bringing in Dre’Mont Jones and Lorenzo Carter in FA gives you two quality Edge guys that can provide some pop as pass rushers along with Arden Key but none of those guys are nearly consistent enough in my opinion to be true starters like they are here. They were able to add Oluwafemi Oladejo (UCLA) in the 2nd Round as well and he’ll give them a nice Edge piece as he’s a quality run defender and has flashes of using power rushes to get pressure but needs to develop more of a plan and refine his game if he wants to develop into a true threat as a pass rusher. While it’s a solid group that gives them more flexibility and depth than they had last year it’s far from what you’d want as an edge rush to pair with this really talented IDL. Overall it just limits their upside as teams will be able to focus their blocking assignments on Jeffery Simmons and dare everyone else to consistently beat one on ones which will force the hand of DCDennard Wilson to become more dependent on games up front and blitzes to create pressure in high leverage situations. 

Overview 

• This Titans team quite honestly looks more competitive and ready to be a tough out than I had thought going into this. They did a great job at rounding out this roster with their first full season + offseason and it makes me feel a lot better about what direction they’re headed in. There’s still a lot to prove as I was underwhelmed with HC Brian Callahan’s performance last year but it’s hard to blame him when he had legitimate unplayable holes at multiple spots on his roster so while it’s only this regime’s second year it does have a bit of a prove it feel to it as they are not in a position to make any excuses. Ultimately while this roster has improved drastically from last season I believe they’re still a year away from being where they want to be roster wise but I do expect them to be a competitive 6-8 win team that you don’t want to see down the stretch as their young guys round into form. I could see a world where Ward comes out of the gate better than we all thought and they push to be over 500. but I think he’ll need a first year to “smooth out some of his edges” and get a feel for how much he can get away with at this level. If you’re a Titans fan you should feel much more confident in where your team is heading now even if it’s not perfect this  year.