The ESSENTIAL Football Show 2025 Cap Space: $28.3 million
2026 Cap Space: $118.6 million
2027 Cap Space: $170.0 million
2026 Draft Picks: Own Picks, Rounds 1-7
Perhaps the best word to describe Brian Callahan’s first season as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans is befuddling, with everything from on-field decisions to front office reorganization drawing outsized attention for the wrong reasons.
However, if you set aside how they got here, and focus on where the Titans are in the present moment, it seems like a pretty good place to be in Year Two of the Callahan era. There’s no guarantees - that’s the nature of things for the team picking first overall - but Tennessee’s offensive infrastructure is reasonably well developed given that the team was in a position to draft quarterback Cam Ward.
The Will Levis experiment blew up in a big way - as alluded to with the “befuddling” reference earlier, Cam Ward might not be a Titan were it not for Levis’s spectacular ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - and if the Titans hadn’t wound up with Ward, we might have spent the offseason questioning whether Tennessee had made a catastrophic mistake in drafting offensive tackle J.C. Latham over quarterbacks Michael Penix, J.J. McCarthy, and Bo Nix.
Fortunately for the Titans, they did get Ward, and while the rookie won’t step into an All-Star lineup, Tennessee’s roster should be good enough to assess what they have in the first overall pick. If things do work out, the Titans will enter the 2026 offseason with foundations laid across their offensive and defensive lines, a significant amount of cap space, and their full complement of picks.
In other words, if Cam Ward is the guy, it’s wheels up on Tennessee’s current roster build.
Quarterback
Starter: Cam Ward (1st Rd)
Backups: Will Levis, Brandon Allen, Tim Boyle
Running Back
Starters: Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears
Backups: Julius Chestnut
Wide Receiver
Starters: Calvin Ridley, Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson
Backups: Treylon Burks, Elic Ayomanor (4th Rd), Chimere Dike (4th Rd)
Tight End
Starters: Chig Okonkwo, Josh Whyle
Backups: Gunnar Helm (4th Rd)
Offensive Line
Starters: Dan Moore, Peter Skoronski, Lloyd Cushenberry, Kevin Zeitler, JC Latham
Backups: Jackson Slater (5th Rd), Oli Udoh, Jaelyn Duncan, Blake Hance, John Ojukwu, Sam Mustipher
Offense Overview
College film is not an area of focus for me, but it’s easy to watch a few minutes of Cam Ward breakdowns/highlights and understand why the Titans were excited to draft him with the first overall pick. He possesses many of the traits desired in a modern quarterback: the athleticism to extend plays or run for a first down, easy arm strength, and a willingness to take the more difficult, downfield throw when multiple options are presented.
As Ward transitions to the NFL level, the key question is whether he can operate in the timing and rhythm of an NFL offense. Two rookies from last year’s class illustrate how the traits are typically secondary to the mental process; in Denver, Bo Nix’s traits, particularly his arm talent, looked somewhat suspect while Nix was adapting to the NFL game, but once he started to get comfortable running the operation, his ability to make big throws down the field, and consistent throws in the short area, started to show up.
Another example is Chicago’s Caleb Williams, who showed in the preseason he had more than enough physical talent to thrive at the NFL level. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate to the regular season; there were moments when the talent was evident, but the overwhelming take I got from Williams’ rookie film is that he never got comfortable running things on a down-to-down basis, which showed up in some of his chaotic pocket movement and spotty accuracy.
If Tennessee’s offense is going to have the structure Titans fans are hoping for in Ward’s rookie year, it needs to start with the offensive line, which has been the primary focus of the Callahan regime. This group was disappointing in 2024, particularly given offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s pedigree, but with a significant upgrade in talent, it’s reasonable to be optimistic they can get this flipped.
Dan Moore’s average annual salary of $20.5 million to play left tackle raised more than a few eyebrows, but given the number that Jaylon Moore got from Kansas City, it’s not a debilitating number. You can point to moments like Moore’s matchup with Trey Hendrickson in Week 18 as evidence he’s unlikely to contend for All-Pro honors, but Moore is generally a solid player at the position, and should allow the Titans to upgrade two spots on the line for the price of one.
As to that, J.C. Latham’s rookie film showed a player with overwhelming traits who has some things to figure out at the NFL level. Latham will move back to his college position of right tackle, where he should be more comfortable; regardless of how it happens, Tennessee’s upside as a line depends heavily on Latham, as his traits give him the upside to be one of the better run-blocking tackles in the NFL. (Tennessee other building block, left guard Peter Skoronski, has settled in as a solid player with good mobility at the position, but doesn’t stick out as having the traits to develop into a field-tilting presence). That said, there is a gap between Latham’s athletic potential and his rookie season results, particularly in pass protection, where he showed vulnerabilities to getting beat both inside and out.
The other X-Factor along the offensive line is the health of center Lloyd Cushenberry, who suffered a season-ending knee injury after signing a hefty contract in free agency last year. If Cushenberry returns to form, and new right guard Kevin Zeitler shows he has one season left at 35, this could be one of the more complete units in the league.
At the skill positions, there is less reason for optimism; receiver Calvin Ridley is a “plus” receiver rather than a true number one, but given the state of the receiver acquisition market during the 2025 offseason, the Titans should be happy to have Ridley on board. If nothing else, it seems like he will always be able to generate separation on out routes; from his early days playing across from Julio Jones, Ridley has always run those routes as well, or better, than anyone else in the league. The Titans also have some pop (if not size) in the backfield with Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears, while Chig Okonkwo remains in place as a “move” tight end.
Unfortunately, the talent pool runs a bit dry after that; maybe Tyler Lockett has one more productive season in him, and Van Jefferson can chip in as a complementary piece, but it’s a challenge to imagine how the Titans are going to distribute their targets this season. Unless you’re still holding out hope for Treylon Burks, Tennessee’s fourth-round picks, Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Duke, will be worth keeping an eye on; several things would have to happen, but if Cam Ward does hit, and the veteran options fall through, there could be an awful lot of opportunity for a receiver who shows they have the talent to justify the targets.
Defensive Tackle
Starters: Jeffery Simmons, T’Vondre Sweat, Sebastian Joseph-Day
Backups: Abdullah Anderson, Keondre Coburn, Cam Horsley (UDFA)
Edge
Starters: Dre’Mont Jones, Arden Key
Backups: Oluwafemi Oladejo (2nd Rd), Cam Horsley (UDFA), Lorenzo Carter
Linebackers
Starters: Cody Barton, Otis Reese IV
Backups: Cedric Gray, James Williams
Safety
Starters: Amani Hooker, Xavier Woods
Backups: Kevin Winston Jr. (3rd Rd), Mike Brown
Slot
Starter: Roger McCreary
Backups: Marcus Harris (6th Rd)
Outside CB
Starters: L’Jarius Sneed, Jarvis Brownlee
Backups: Darrell Baker Jr., Gabe Jeudy-Lally
Defense Overview
The Tennessee defense starts up front with Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat, who formed one of the NFL’s most dominant tandems in 2024. Simmons remains a well-rounded, borderline All-Pro presence on the interior, with the power to overwhelm offensive linemen and the fluidity to slip by them, while the big-bodied Sweat was arguably the most immovable player in the league from the day he stepped on the field.
Unfortunately, a great foundation for a run defense isn’t of any great use when you are constantly playing from behind, which took some of the shine off Simmons and Sweat, but that could change in 2025 with a different formula on offense, as well as the addition of Dre’Mont Jones to man the edge across from Arden Key. Jones is not exactly a dynamic edge rusher - Tennessee will need to hope for some quick development from second-round pick Oluwafemi Oladejo if they are going to have consistent juice off the edge - but Jones can certainly set the edge, which will (hopefully) allow the Titans to handle the run game from the trenches.
The back end of the defense is less promising; the safety tandem of Amani Hooker and Xavier Woods is solid, but not dynamic, and barring a big jump from Otis Reese, the linebacker room looks underwhelming with the second-year Reese slated to start next to Cody Barton.
At cornerback, Jarvis Brownlee looked like a great value as a potentially solid starting outside corner drafted in the 5th round, it would take a significant jump for him to become an impact player at the position, and the same could be said of Roger McCreary, a former second-round pick entering the final season of his rookie deal.
The most obvious area for improvement on the back end would be a return to form for cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who struggled to match the standard he had established during his time in Kansas City during his first five games with the Titans before a quad injury cut his season short. It’s certainly possible - I was a big fan of Sneed’s game, both in the slot and on the outside, since his rookie year with the Chiefs - but there’s no guarantees given how last season went.
Overall Outlook
Tennessee’s roster still has some very clear holes, particularly at the skill positions on offense and in the back end of the defense.
That said, Tennessee’s problems at the end of their last era were rooted in the offensive line, and clear efforts have been made to resolve that issue. If Cam Ward develops into the quarterback the Titans hope he will be, the organization is well-positioned to aggressively build around him over the course of his rookie contract.
It was a down year at wide receiver in the NFL Draft, bucking the recent trend, but all reports indicate that should reverse itself in 2026. The Titans could surprise this year - look no further than last year’s Washington Commanders - but the key goal is to establish a proof-of-concept around their rookie quarterback. If Tennessee’s roster is competitive in 2025, there’s plenty of reason to hope they will squeeze the most out of Ward’s rookie contract window in the years to come.