The Tennessee Titans are off on summer vacation and won’t return until training camp begins in late July. Coach Robert Saleh and GM Mike Borgonzi have spent half a year reinventing the Titans depth chart in Saleh’s image, making position changes in an attempt to create depth and playmaking dynamism after back-to-back 3-14 seasons.
To bridge the summer break into the season, The Tennessean is looking at each Titans position group individually and evaluating the big questions that will determine how the Titans’ 2026 season goes. We start with a look at Cam Ward and the Titans’ quarterbacks.
Viewed in a vacuum, Cam Ward’s rookie year was rough. He ranked 31st among 33 qualified quarterbacks in passer rating, completion percentage and adjusted net yards per attempt, 32nd in total quarterback rating and last in touchdown percentage, yards per attempt and success rate. The data looks different if you consider just the second half of the season after Ward started to adjust to pro ball ― across the last eight games of 2026 Ward ranked a much-more-respectable 19th in passer rating ― but the truth that Ward has a long way to go before he lives up to his No. 1 pick expectations is unavoidable.
So what would a leap forward look like for Ward? Well, let’s start simple. Even in those last eight games, Ward only averaged 5.8 yards per attempt. His intended air yards per attempt, a metric that looks at how far downfield receivers are when targeted, was the NFL’s third-lowest among returning starters. The previous regime’s insistence on Ward “taking what the defense gave him” led to one of the league’s most risk averse passing attacks and one that seldom leaned into Ward’s strengths. A more productive Ward is a Ward who is enabled to take more risks downfield. More precisely, a more productive Ward is one who isn’t conditioned to classify downfield strikes as risks.
But don’t oversimplify it. The 2025 Titans offense was also constrained by talent and depth issues at wide receiver. Out of the 91 wideouts who were targeted 40+ times in 2025, Titans receivers Chimere Dike, Elic Ayomanor, Van Jefferson and Tyler Lockett ranked 79th, 80th, 84th and 91st in yards per route run. Free agent add Wan’Dale Robinson, by contrast, ranked 23rd and No. 4 pick Carnell Tate ranked sixth among Power 4 receivers in 2025 by the same metric.
Ward’s got a better supporting cast, and figures to play in a scheme more conducive to letting him loose. From there it’s up to Ward, because throwing farther doesn’t automatically equate to success. Ward ranked 29th last year in adjusted deep ball completion percentage and only posted a passer rating of 79.9 when given 2.5 or more seconds to throw. Ward’s a master at extending plays, but the stats don’t reflect someone who does so consistently enough for that strength to be anything more than a once-or-twice-a-game party trick.
Consider the comparisons between Ward and Caleb Williams, his predecessor among No. 1 picks. Williams, like Ward, played a turnover-averse rookie season on a bad team. Williams’ average completion as a rookie actually traveled fewer air yards than Ward’s, and his on-target throw rate was lower. Then Williams took a massive step in Year 2 following a coaching change that seemed to embrace Williams’ strengths in a more direct way and allowed him to attack the field more vertically. This growth came even as Williams’ on-target throw rate got worse as a result of the throws he was attempting getting harder.
The Titans will go as Ward does. He’ll need to improve the technical aspects of his game to justify his role. But if the Titans did a good enough job of insulating him with supporting talent and building a beneficial scheme, he’s got plenty enough skill as is to make a significant leap.
Titans depth chart: Quarterbacks
*new to the Titans in 2026 in italics*
- Cam Ward
- Mitchell Trubisky
- Will Levis
- Hendon Hooker
More Titans quarterback questions: A speed read
- Are the Titans going to trade Will Levis? It’d be a shock if they don’t try, but it takes two teams to make a deal.
- Is Hendon Hooker going to make the team? As a fourth QB, almost certainly not. As a third QB, that depends on which younger, higher-upside prospects make it to the market after training camp.
- Is Mitchell Trubisky a good enough backup? Yes. Trubisky’s a huge upgrade over Brandon Allen, and an upgrade over what Mason Rudolph was in 2024.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Unpacking Titans quarterbacks starts with Cam Ward’s offseason improvement
