Last season, the Titans finished 6-11 and last in the AFC South. It was mostly a disappointing season in the Music City, and that clearly wasn’t good enough for owner Amy Adams Strunk and the fans. So, this roster is featuring almost an entire new band for 2024-2025. They chose to move on from Head Coach Mike Vrabel after his sixth season, a surprising decision to some after decent success in past years and an overall record of 54-45. Last season in Tennessee, there were a few questionable roster decisions (not trading Derrick Henry, for one), some iffy-at-best QB play between Ryan Tannehill (QB37 last season) and Will Levis (QB33 last season), and for the first time we felt like Coach Vrabel’s team was taking a step back rather than a step forward. 

So, they hired Brian Callahan, who was most recently the OC for the Bengals and prior to that was the Quarterback Coach for the Raiders, Lions and Broncos. He brings high offensive pedigree and the ability to groom a young QB in Levis. He also hired his father Bill Callahan, who brings 46 years of coaching experience with 25 years in the NFL. Dad will be the O-line coach and will surely be a massive support system for his son in his first year at the helm. Brian Callahan’s offense mostly excelled in Cincy with Joe Burrow leading the way, so it will be interesting to see what he can get out of Levis in his second season. Tennessee obviously wanted someone like Callahan in the building to groom Levis and get more out of this offense that finished 28th in points and 27th in yards last year. The only acceptable way to go is up and this group is poised to propel themselves into the top-half of the league in offensive efficiency.  

We weren’t totally sure what direction the Titans would take this offseason as they moved on from Vrabel, Tannehill and long-time star RB and face of the franchise, Derrick Henry. They started the offseason with a ton of holes and even more cap space. So far, they have been more aggressive than I expected, spending a ton of money to help fill those holes on the roster.  This offense suddenly has a chance to be exciting, especially if Levis can take a sophomore leap. On offense, they have now signed WR Calvin Ridley, RB Tony Pollard, QB Mason Rudolph, OL’s Lloyd Cushenberry and Saahdiq Charles and most recently, veteran WR Tyler Boyd, who played for Callahan in Cincy. Then, on defense, they added LB Kenneth Murray, CB Chidobe Awuzie and traded for Chiefs star CB L’Jarius Sneed. Now, they may have slightly overpaid some of these guys, but they had the money to spend and this team is going to have a whole new vibe because of it.  Boy, did they need it. Still, however, after all those big-name acquisitions, they have the second most cap space remaining in the league, which means they have some work to do developing the other guys in the building.   

They did draft fairly well this year, particularly in the first two rounds, adding two guys at premium roster spots: OT J.C. Latham at #7 overall from Alabama and DT T’Vondre Sweat at #38 out from Texas. Both guys are studs and will play a lot immediately for this Titan team. With Coach Callahan’s background, it’s not surprising at all he wanted to build through the trenches in his first draft as a head coach. I’m sure his dad was sprinting to hand in the Latham card on day one of the draft! The Titans are quietly having one of the best off-seasons of 2024 and I did not expect to say that three months ago. They will certainly still battle depth issues at almost every position group, so it will be interesting to see what kind of leap this team can take in the stacked AFC. They likely still miss the playoffs, but they might be in the mix for a wildcard spot if they can get to 9 or 10 wins, and they are already way more relevant than last season.      

Writer’s Season Win Prediction: 7-10

Even with the strong offseason so far, there really isn’t one position group I would consider clearly above the rest of the team, but the jump they made at WR (and overall pass catchers) has been exceptional. They retained WR’s DeAndre Hopkins (WR22 last season), Treylon Burks (WR123 last season), Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (WR80 last season) and TE Chig Okonkwo (TE21 last season). That group wasn’t really getting it done, so they went out and spent on Calvin Ridley (WR18 last season) and Tyler Boyd (WR49 last season) as FA’s and drafted Jha’Quan Jackson in the 6th round, who played at Tulane with Titans RB Tyjae Spears, and will compete with other wideouts Kyle Phillips, Mason Kinsey and Kearis Jackson for the last roster spots. Spears (RB34 last season) and Pollard (RB14 last season) are also both excellent route runners for RB’s and have great ball skills. 

This will provide Levis and Coach Callahan with a number of weapons and it’s a stark difference compared to the group from last season.  It also puts Ridley and Hopkins both on the outside, where they should be, Boyd will start in the slot where he thrived in Cincy for a number of years, and it bumps Burks, Westbrook-Ikhine and Okonkwo into roles that are better suited for them right now in their career: as secondary options who will be competing for snaps. I imagine we will see a lot of Spears and Pollard together as well, with one or both lined up out wide. They really lacked speed and explosive plays downfield last year and this group should really help that. Levis took over half way through the year last year and showed an ability to drive the ball downfield a lot better than Tannehill ever could. It’s exciting to think about bombs from Levis to Ridley and/or Hopkins, as well as long screen plays or wheel routes to Pollard and/or Spears. Should be a fun fantasy season in Nashville. Let’s go Titans!

This Tennessee team will have some glaring weaknesses this year, especially on defense, but it will give some young guys opportunities to step up.  They did their best to address it where they could this offseason but their biggest weaknesses on offense remain OL (right tackle) and TE and then on defense, EDGE, LB and S are the major gaps. As mentioned, they drafted Latham to be the left tackle, leaving Dillon Radunz, Nicholas Petit-Frere and Jaelyn Duncan as their options on the right side.  None of them will likely be long-term options so they will have to piece it together as the season goes along here.  At TE, there are still some real questions about Chig Okonkwo as a player, although he is an insanely talented athlete, and behind him they really do not have another option.  They will probably look to add someone here before the season kicks off.  

The defense, even with the additions of vets Sneed and Awuzie to start at DB, has a number of gaps. Jeffery Simmons will lead the DL with rookie T’Vondre Sweat under his wing, giving them an awesome duo to stop both the run and pass.  But they will likely struggle this upcoming season, especially at LB and Safety, as they enter the year ranked in the bottom five of the league. 

As much as I don’t want to be repetitive, the focus this year is Will Levis: his growth overall, his connection with pass catchers, lineman and running backs, his relationship with Coach Callahan and ability to lead this team. He showed some strong flashes in a few games last season, with some nice throws to Hopkins for long touchdowns, but there is a lot of room for improvement. So far, it seems the guys on the team are drawn to him as a leader, as he played well under pressure for a rookie. Last season, they were almost exactly 50/50 run vs. pass plays, but the offense is no longer predicated on riding the workhorse that is Derrick Henry.  Last year, we knew that on first or second down (or both) that Henry was getting the ball and that made it difficult for the Titans to productively and consistently move the ball down the field. 

They will be much less predictable with play-calling on early downs, which means they will be throwing the ball more. Their pass catchers last season finished with a total of 476 targets, which was tied for second-to-last in the NFL. Callahan’s offense in Cincy last year threw 591 total targets to their pass catchers and that was with Burrow injured for most of the season.  Now, Levis gets a way better OL to protect him, along with a more productive, experienced and reliable receiving core. They will be trying to get these speedsters the ball in space as much as they can, which will produce more explosive plays and make them harder to defend. In theory, this will all lead to a more efficient offense in 2024, so look for this Titans squad to get out of the basement in total yards and points. If they can be in the top half of the league in offensive efficiency, and at least be competitive on defense, they will surprise people this upcoming season, but it all depends on Levis’ growth.        

Titans Strength of Schedule Rank: 27th

Fantasy Playoff Games: Bengals, Colts, Jaguars

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