The Tennessee Titans return to action on Sunday for an AFC South showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars. These two teams are on completely different trajectories right now. The Jaguars are a bonafide Super Bowl contender, while the Titans already have one eye towards a very important offseason.
From this point on, every win should be celebrated as a sign of progress while every loss ultimately gets them closer to potentially landing a true blue-chip prospect in the coming draft.
In fact, that’s our first major storyline of the three at hand today: Watching out for replacements and upgrades via the draft process has officially begun.
Early draft season is upon Tennessee
The obvious name everybody is going wild over is Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith. He’s clearly best prospect in the draft at a position of need. Unfortunately, they’ll have to lose a lot more games to have a realistic shot at getting him inside their building.
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates with wide receiver Carnell Tate (17) during the first half of the Big Ten Conference championship game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 6, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that reuniting Smith with WR Carnell Tate could potentially be a franchise-altering moment, especially if QB Cam Ward keeps progressing the way that he has as of late. If the Titans miss out on Smith, they’ll still have several intriguing options at other major areas of need.
Pass rushers Colin Simmons (Texas) and Dylan Stewart (South Carolina) are the two likeliest options given their gaps along the edge. But Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore also happens to be one of the best cornerback prospects in recent memory, so he’ll be in the conversation as well.
The wild card to keep your eyes on is LSU T Jordan Seaton. He’d be a clear upgrade over LT Dan Moore Jr. both short and long term, and it would give the Titans three top-11 picks along the offensive line, including two bookend tackles on each side. That’s the type of pick that can help your young quarterback take the next step, but truthfully, any of those five players would be a welcome addition to the team next spring.
Of course, Week 10 won’t be the only game before draft day that helps narrow down the Titans’ choices. Beyond draft buzz getting louder, we’ve got two more in-game stories to keep an eye on.
Robert Saleh vs. Liam Coen
As you may recall, these two coaches don’t exactly see eye to eye. Prior to last season’s 49ers contest against the Jaguars, Titans HC Robert Saleh was asked as defensive coordinator to talk about what makes the Jaguars such a difficult opponent offensively.
Saleh proceeded to talk about how the Jags had essentially created a unique sign stealing system in which he emphasized that nothing was being done illegally. Despite that clarification, Jaguars HC Liam Coen clearly didn’t appreciate the then-Niners DC bringing that up, and it all boiled over once Jacksonville beat San Francisco 26-21.
Coen appears to blow Saleh off after the game, which then led to an exchanging of words between the two coaches.
At one point, the Jaguars head coach can be heard saying “Keep my name out of your mouth”. Saleh then proceeded to follow Coen as the two continued to shout at each other until the two were eventually separated.
“Keep my name out of your mouth,”
Liam Coen and Robert Saleh exchange after Jaguars win. Saleh used the phrase “legal sign stealing” in news conference last week in reference to Coen. pic.twitter.com/yYcjm1oHIP
— Action Sports Jax (@ActionSportsJax) September 29, 2025
Both Saleh and Coen have since downplayed the event, but this will be the first time the two of them meet as head coaches of two teams that don’t like each other to begin with. This budding beef between the two head coaches undoubtedly adds a new layer to an already heated rivalry, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out on Sunday.
How will Cam Ward follow up the best game of his career?
This is arguably the Titans’ biggest storyline to watch on Sunday. Ward is coming off the first 300-yard game of his career, and many are curious to see whether that was a sign of everything starting to click, or is it simply an unfortunate anomaly.
The Jaguars enter this game as the 22nd-ranked pass defense (per FOX Sports), allowing an average of 229 passing yards per game. On paper, this could be a matchup Ward may be able to exploit, especially if Tate is somehow able to play.
Topping 300 yards again would certainly be helpful, but what we really wanna see out of Ward is his improved ball placement, decision-making, processing speed, and overall aggressiveness to be on full display once again.
Nobody is expecting him to be perfect; mistakes are inevitable for any young QB. But how Ward responds to those low moments will be critical for the Titans’ chances on Sunday and going forward.
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