With the Tennessee Titans’ bye landing pretty much in the middle of the season, let’s do a midterm report card on where things stand in Robert Saleh’s first season at the helm.
Obviously, with the Titans at 1-7 on the season, there won’t be many guys on the honor roll for a team that has been the worst in the league over the past couple of years and might be hard-pressed to even match the three wins they scored in 2024 and 2025.
Without further ado, let’s assess the Titans through the first half of 2026.
Quarterback: D
Cam Ward is coming off the best game of his NFL career just before the bye, hitting 26 of 40 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns in a loss at Cincinnati. It was the first 300-yard passing game in Ward’s 25 career starts, and the Titans have to hope that it signifies growth for the 2025 first overall pick, whose career has been vastly underwhelming to this point.
In fact, the recency of his best game is probably the only thing that kept Ward from getting a failing grade for the first half of the year. Even with the good game to close out before the bye, Ward still has only six touchdown passes to five interceptions and is averaging just six yards per pass attempt, all numbers that place him toward the bottom of the league in nearly all categories.
Running back: B-
Again, recency bias could be creeping in here, but Tony Pollard has again kicked it into another gear with back-to-back 100-yard rushing games after the rushing attack had struggled through the first six games.
Pollard would probably be bordering on an A, if it was just him who was being evaluated. The problem is that no one – not Tyjae Spears, not Nick Singleton, not Michael Carter and not Julius Chestnut (who in fairness hasn’t been given a look beyond special teams) – has distinguished himself as a capable complement to Pollard.
Spears has been given ample chances but can’t stay healthy or find consistency. Singleton has often been inactive because coaches don’t trust him in pass protection.
Wide receivers: C-
Carnell Tate, the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, has been far and away the Titans’ top receiver, even though he is far from a finished product. Tate was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October and leads the club with 413 yards on 34 catches.
Wan’Dale Robinson, brought in as a safety valve and because of his familiarity with Brian Daboll’s system, leads the Titans with 35 catches but hasn’t brought much more than that, averaging just a shade over seven yards a catch.
Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor have flashed as second-year guys, somewhat similar to how they did a year ago as rookies. Ayomanor has been OK as a downfield guy, and Dike, if he can repeat what he did at Cincinnati, could give Ward a run-after-catch option.
Calvin Ridley has struggled, with drops on the few occasions that he has been targeted. The Titans were reportedly shopping him at the deadline, but the return might not be much. The best thing about this group is that most of them are young and have potential to improve.
Tight ends: C
Gunnar Helm finally saw the football come his way in the last game, getting five of his 17 receptions on the year against the Bengals. Helm has solid hands and good size but doesn’t offer a lot in terms of yards after the catch.
Still, that is more productivity than the other tight ends have provided. Daniel Bellinger has nine receptions, but doesn’t offer much in the way of explosiveness.
David Martin-Robinson plays a minor role on offense, but is ahead of Kylen Granson, who has been inactive most weeks.
The one area where the tight ends are doing excellent work is in blocking. They are staying on the field in pass protection to help the tackles when needed or to chip before going out on their routes. Their contributions as blockers in the run game have also been solid.
Offensive line: B
This is the most pleasant surprise on the entire roster. Line coach Carmen Bricillo has brought a fresh approach to a patchwork unit that features two high draft picks in left guard Peter Skoronski and right tackle JC Latham
Elsewhere, left tackle Dan Moore has been more stable than last year and the Titans are giving him help at times when necessary.
Also, Austin Schlottman, who came with Bricillo from the Giants, has been better than most expected, and waiver pickup Atonio Mafi, thrust into action when both Fernando Carmona and Jackson Slater were hurt in the opener, has been pretty solid.
Depth is thin here, but the Titans have done a decent job of mixing and matching with a group that has already exceeded expectations, especially in pass protection.
Defensive line: B-
The grade is largely based on the play of one man who is no longer here – Jeffery Simmons was having another monster season at defensive tackle, and individually was an A+ player. However, the Titans shipped him to Chicago for a pair of first-round picks, something they deemed necessary to accelerate their rebuild.
In the first game without Simmons, defensive end Jacob Martin picked up the slack with a three-sack game. Martin has been this year’s version of Dre’Mont Jones, a hired gun journeyman who has made a nice contribution.
Beyond that, the Titans need John Franklin-Myers and Solomon Thomas to pick up some of the slack for Simmons’ absence. Nazir Stackhouse and Timmy Horne have been serviceable in the middle as run stuffers.
End is where the Titans also need more. Other than Martin, who has been a nice find, the Titans need Jermaine Johnson to be more of a disrupter, and they need young ends Keldric Faulk and Femi Oladejo to start living up to their draft statuses.
Linebackers: C
Rookie Anthony Hill started off well in the middle and was named Rookie of the Month for September. Since then, he has had his ups and downs as a typical rookie. Cody Barton is a savvy veteran, but is also a bit limited. Still, he remains the primary option as the second linebacker.
The puzzling part is that Cedric Gray, who missed the season opener due to a four-wheeler accident, still has not been able to secure a full-time role a year after being one of the NFL’s leading tacklers. Gray is starting to get more reps, but still feels he has only a part-time role.
Depth here consists of special teams ace James Williams and Dorian Mausi, who is coming off an injury.
Cornerbacks: D+
Free agent pickups Alontae Taylor and CorDale Flott left a lot to be desired early in the season. Taylor wound up getting benched and then moved back to the nickel position after two weeks on the sidelines, while Flott started slowly, but has started to come around of late.
Joshua Williams stepped in to start in Taylor’s outside spot and has been decent. Marcus Harris, who was playing pretty well, could end up being the odd man out among the cornerbacks because Taylor played well against Cincinnati once he went in after Harris injured his ankle.
Safety: C
The Titans would have made the honor roll here before trading the position’s honor student, Amani Hooker, to the Buffalo Bills this week.
Granted, no one is blaming Mike Borgonzi for this, because he got a second-round pick in exchange for sending Hooker and the Titans’ fifth-rounder to Buffalo.
Hooker was playing at a high level with five interceptions, including three of Joe Burrow just before the bye week.
Beyond him, what is left is serviceable, but lacks sizzle with Hooker now gone. Kevin Winston has been OK, but still has some problems with tackles. Tony Adams has been a decent backup and will now presumably start, leaving Terrell Burgess as depth.
Special teams: C+
Kicker Joey Slye has been darn near automatic, hitting 12 of 13 field goal tries this season for the Titans.
Punter Tommy Townsend has been solid but has not had the big impact in flipping field position that the Titans had hoped for when they brought him in from the Texans. Still, Townsend has a big leg, and though he suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the Cincinnati game, he still has the ability to give the Titans an edge in field position.
On returns, Chimere Dike has put his early-season fumble problems behind him, and the Titans need more big plays from him in the return game like he delivered as a rookie. James Williams and Julius Chestnut have been leaders on the coverage units and combined to block a punt earlier this season against Indianapolis.
The biggest bugaboo for the Titans special teams units has been penalties, which have been very costly, especially on kick returns.
Terry McCormick also covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com