From Ass to Filler, 2026 Titans Preview

In Week 4 of 2025, TEN lost 26-0 to Houston, fell to 0-4, and rookie QB Cam Ward declared:

We Ass

Two weeks later, 1-5 TEN fired head coach Brian Callahan (4-19 over two seasons). From there on, Tennessee assed its way to a 3-14 record, 0-6 in the AFC South.

2025 was ugly and terrrrible. The Week 5 win against Arizona, which snapped a 10-game losing streak, was so fluky that it created no goodwill for Callahan. With good reason: Callahan’s time management, in comparison, made the Iggles-Era Andy Reid seem like the love child of Chronos and Marvel’s the Watcher. By October, I stopped having alkyhol before AND during Titans games. But when TEN became mathematically eliminated in Week 13 (1-11), I took to whisky and milk cocktails. As the holiday season down here in PR starts after Halloween, I added cinnamon for extra debasement / Xmas cheer.

Also, goddammit, ’25 TEN set an NFL home losing streak record (ELEVEN, broken after beating the Quit-Mode Chefs in Week 16). Roster quality (45%) and coaching (Id.%) made the team a freakin’ disgrace. Fellow ass Jets and Cards also went 3-14s and 0-6 in their respective divisions but, of course: both the Jest and Birdcano  lost twice to a 2025 Super Bowler, while TEN couldn’t fucking get one (ONE) division win against QB Davis freakin’ Mills.

For 2026, the Titans cleaned house and brought in a troika of former head coaches: Robert Saleh (as head coach, I’m fine with it), Gus Bradley (Defensive Coordinator, good hire), and [takes off and places glasses on table, slams palms on face, shakes head and drags hands down…]

And Brian Daboll, excuse me,

. Aah, better.

Brian Daboll, whose B.O. surely has a pepper-spray base, is the new Tennessee Offensive Coordinator. I’m not a fan #FokinObvio. For self-care, Imma start again, this time going all “If you don’t have anything nice to say…”  etc. etc. Daboll, famously, was in the Bills staff after QB Josh Allen was drafted. After a coupla seasons, Daboll became Coach of the Year as a rookie HC with the Jints, while running TEN’s old Erotic Smashmouth offense with Daniel Jones and Saquon. Which I remember watching, because Giants games have always been on TV regardless of whether they suck or merely stink.

For ’26, the Titans season depends on two factors. First, the defense. TEN has DL Jeffery Simmons, who’s my favorite NFL player right now. Simmons was drafted by TEN in 2019 and this June signed his third NFL contract, which was an extension to the original extension. Simmons plays to destroy and humiliate. In short,

For 2026, TEN signed DL John Franklin-Myers, formerly Donks Woo! I’m confident that the Tits will have a strong front line on D. The rest of the defense, I’m afraid, is some standouts plus bodies. This is where I light a candle for new DC Gus Bradley.

The second factor is the offensive line, let me rub my temples.

Okei.

LG Peter Skoronski signed an extension (second NFL contract), and he’s legit (proof: Baldinger). TEN signed Dan Moore as LT last year and he had a better season financially than on the field. At RT is JC Latham. In 2024, TEN drafted Latham in the 1^st round, a RT from Alabama. As a rookie, Latham was the Titans’ starting LEFT Tackle, because then-OL coach Brian Callahan was anointed as a genius by the media. Although, to be fair, the years following the Covid lockdown was a madcap time in general.

For ’25 TEN moved Latham for RT and, OK: he suffered several injuries. Methinks  Latham is a 2026 #BustWatch. The center is a new signing, Austin Scholttmann, who came from the Giants. And TEN signed Cordell Volson at RG, from CIN. Rookie Fernando Carmona, Jr. drafted ion the 6^th round this year, is a contender for the spot.

TEN drafted WR Carnell Tate, signed WR Wan’Dale Robinson from CAR, and kept WR Calvin Ridley on the roster. 2^nd year receivers Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike (KR, PR, 2025 yards-from scrimmage leader) round out an objectively fine squad. RB Tony Pollard returns for TEN, one of only two running backs to exceed 1,000 yards in the last four seasons. He is my second favorite player on TEN: 100% professional, always falls forward. RB Tyjae Spears, if healthy, can rise to be the cream of the FF waiver wire after Week 2.

And then there’s Cam Ward. I saw him play last year and on “Quarterback” on Netflix. I’m ashamed to say that “Quarterback” did not improve my impression of Ward.

The Netflix show featured four QBs, and these are my tl dr impressions of each: :

• Joe Flacco – professional veteran, righteous adult and family man

• Jayden Daniels – a cypher with an Apache-grade Helicopter Mom

• Baker Mayfield – a John Starks inconsistent “star” undergoing a reality-show douchectomy (mixed results)

• Cam Ward – a kid

In “Quarterback”, what stuck out to me about Ward was how natural he seemed around children. Ward went to an elementary school to play dodgeball and played two games with and against 4^th graders and lost both. Ward seemed pissed about it, which is laughable.

Ward did work a lot in the TEN facilities, which is something amply reported and also seen on the show. He seems to be serious about his NFL career and becoming a top performer. And for all his effort and dedication, Ward is good at boundaries.

On the few times that former HC Brian Callahan appeared, Ward engaged the coach as a peer, not as a mere soldier. Since HC Callahan Jr. was a ninny over his head , pffft yeah Cam! Also, in the show, Ward took other kids on a Xmas shopping spree. Upon entering a mega store, Cam told the kids he’d pay for everything. A kid then asked about a PS5 and Ward said “I’m not buying you a PS5”.

I see great things for Ward, and not only on the killing-infantile-dreams arena. Guy knows what he wants, works for it single-mindedly, and proved to be an able 2-minute QB whenever the cowards who coached the Titans in ’25 let him do it (in first halves).

Predicción: I am positive about the ’26 Titans, a taek which is only 31% the Beefeater talking. This is my success benchmark: TEN being mathematically alive for playoffs by Week 15. It may happen, I will watch; sober or otherwise.