In case you haven’t heard, the Tennessee Titans are getting ready to try again to draft and develop a franchise quarterback.
It’s something the franchise has tried to do on a semi-regular basis ever since Steve McNair was dealt to Baltimore in 2006. It comes around every few years here like a Rolling Stones tour or a cicada invasion.
The reason the Titans do this every so often – as they zero in on Cam Ward of Miami with the first pick in the April 24-26 NFL Draft – is that for all their searching they still haven’t found a starting quarterback with staying power despite numerous attempts to do so.
There is an old NFL saying that missing on a quarterback sets a franchise back about five years in terms of success. And, if you connect the dots of past Titans drafts, you can see the trail of failure that has gone from Vince Young to Jake Locker to Marcus Mariota then eventually to more recent struggles from Malik Willis and Will Levis in back-to-back drafts.
Taking Cam Ward with the first overall pick in the draft is not going to fix what is wrong with the Tennessee Titans in and of itself.
You could have put Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen on the 2024 Titans, and I’m still not sure they could have made the playoffs.
Simply put, the Titans have way more holes than one player can fix. So the best thing they can do is be patient, give Ward and the coaching staff a chance to develop over time and keep using this draft to rebuild the team.
O-line still needs work
The Titans have eight picks overall but will not have a third-round choice because it was sent to Kansas City last year in order to obtain cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Not having pick No. 66 at their disposal hurts, given that they need all the draft capital they can get. But what’s done is done, and new general manager Mike Borgonzi will have to maneuver his way through the draft to find some talent to add to a threadbare roster.
There are very few positions in which they don’t need either an upgrade or added depth.
But they are trying for the third consecutive year to fix the offensive line, having added Dan Moore and Kevin Zeitler at left tackle and right guard, respectively. But they still need better depth all across that line because rarely do the same five players make it through a 17-game season without someone getting hurt.
No quarterback realizes his potential without quality receiver play. The Titans have exactly one receiver who can somewhat be counted upon – Calvin Ridley. And even he had his ups and downs and inconsistencies last season, taking about half the year to finally get on the same page with Will Levis.
Beyond that, with Nick Westbrook-Ikhine departing in free agency and Treylon Burks being injured and unproductive, the Titans don’t have many targets for Ward. A receiver or two in this draft, including one in the second round at No. 35, wouldn’t be a bad idea.
This draft is said to be deep for running backs and tight ends, and the Titans could certainly use some additional resources at both spots, even if those players aren’t immediate starters. A third day pick at each spot is not out of the question.
Defense needs help, too
On defense, only cornerback, provided Sneed is healthy and not running afoul of the league for a recently reported off-field matter, is not a pressing need, though one more corner for insurance wouldn’t be a bad move.
Finding a quality edge rusher is a must, but those are hard to come by unless teams spend a pretty high pick to get one. With the Titans seemingly set to take Ward, it means they will bypass Abdul Carter of Penn State, who probably is the one impact pass rusher in this draft. Addressing that in round two or three (with a trade) or a third-day selection is really a crapshoot.
At the other defensive spots – inside linebacker, defensive line and safety – the Titans need extra bodies, preferably some who can start or be in a rotation and also help on special teams.
Honestly, the club still has many more needs than eight draft picks can yield.
So, as Titans fans get excited about the thought of Ward becoming a franchise quarterback, they must remember the process is likely to be bumpy and will take some time, just because of the current state of affairs with the roster.
Now what?
If and when they call Ward’s name as the top overall pick in the 2025 draft, they would be very wise to not repeat the failures of Titans quarterbacks past.
Ward, despite his heroics at Miami, is not without issues. He is a playmaker, seems to have a good acumen for the position and possesses physical talent. But it will take some time and many growing pains in order for Ward to find success.
Contrary to what has happened with Houston’s C.J. Stroud and Washington’s Jayden Daniels in the two previous seasons, don’t expect Ward to come in and set the league on fire right away. First off, he is likely to experience some of what Levis found last year – that this roster is not exactly rife with playmakers or protection.
There might be some ugly moments for Ward as he learns the rigors of playing the quarterback position in the NFL and runs for his life trying to escape a sack.
The Titans need to learn from past mistakes and be patient with Ward, Callahan and the coaching staff.
Owner Adams Strunk must exercise discretion and not be impulsive. She and president of football operations Chad Brinker need to give Callahan time to introduce his system to Ward and let him learn to operate it while having a full deck to work with. That means continuing to upgrade the line, the receivers and even the defense so not everything will be on his shoulders.
If the Titans want Ward to succeed, then they should want Callahan and his entire offensive staff to succeed. They cannot afford to send Ward down the same path that helped to ruin Locker, Mariota and Levis by pulling the plug on the coach so quickly in the process.
Callahan still learning
There will be plenty of responsibility for Callahan, as well. As he goes through the assessment of Ward, he must remember lessons learned with Levis last season.
He offered an interesting evaluation at the NFL Combine that seemed to indicate he had learned from the Levis situation.
“I’m very careful with being able to proclaim you can fix something,” he said in February. “There’s definitely some things you can improve, that are coachable, that are ‘fixable.’ But you also have to be very mindful of what it is you’re thinking you can fix.
“I think you have to guard against that ... because as a coach, you’re always very confident that I can fix that. You can’t fix every issue every player has. But are there things you can work with? Because whatever it is you think you can fix, can you deal with it if you can’t fix it to the way you need to?”
Ward’s unorthodox style has even drawn some comparisons to Patrick Mahomes. It will be on Callahan and his staff to refine Ward, not repair him. That, too, was something Callahan referenced at the Combine.
“Some things you would look at Mahomes coming out of college and you’d be like, `Man, we got to fix that,’ but ultimately it ends up being what’s one of his superpowers as a quarterback, the ability to create and do things off the structure,” Callahan said.
Now, with a new pupil looming in the wings, can Callahan adhere to his own advice and will the Titans brass allow him enough time to make it work?
If so, perhaps Ward can finally stop the quarterback revolving door from spinning so often in Tennessee.