{"id":889797,"date":"2026-05-13T04:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/889797\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T04:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T04:15:18","slug":"where-do-the-titans-fall-using-the-athletics-nfl-projection-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/889797\/","title":{"rendered":"Where do the Titans fall using The Athletic’s NFL Projection Model?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the days count down toward the NFL schedule release, the excitement around the Tennessee Titans<\/a> continues to build. Well, at least for those familiar with the organization and the massive overhaul it undertook over the offseason.<\/p>\n

For others and some outlets outside of the Titans\u2019 bubble, there is more trepidation, and it is more of a wait-and-see approach, which, after back-to-back 3-14 seasons, does make sense. Austin Mock of The Athletic is the latest to weigh in with his NFL Projection Model<\/a>, and he sees very little movement this offseason.<\/p>\n

No. 27 – Tennessee Titans<\/p>\n

Quarterback Cam Ward<\/a> and the interior defensive line are the only spots that excite me. And any excitement over Ward is largely based on his status as a former No. 1 pick entering his second year. He wasn’t particularly good last season, but he was in a horrible situation, so a major upgrade remains possible in 2026. The Titans desperately need rookie Carnell Tate to follow in the footsteps of other recent Ohio State receivers and contribute early.<\/p>\n

Outside of that, the rest of the roster ranks below average.<\/p>\n

While Mock does point out the excitement surrounding Cam Ward and the new defensive line, his overall assessment feels a bit off from the reality of 2025. Yes, Ward struggled early, but he took off after Brian Callahan was fired, and the Titans\u2019 offense started playing at a high level down the stretch, and Ward was a lot better than his numbers, at first glance, on paper would indicate.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

On top of that, the other additions on defense, especially at the cornerback position, should allow the new-look Titans\u2019 defense, built around Jeffery Simmons<\/a> and linebacker Cedric Gray<\/a>, to take a significant step forward in 2026.<\/p>\n

There are some questions that must be answered along the interior of the offensive line, which is a valid reason to be a bit skeptical before the team takes the field, but as a whole, there is no doubt the Titans are moving in the right direction, and there are many reasons to be excited.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Where do the Titans fall using The Athletic’s NFL Projection Model?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the days count down toward the NFL schedule release, the excitement around the Tennessee Titans continues to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[127,2240,9198,7,10563,6,526,394,2411,4045,527],"class_list":["post-889797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennessee-titans","tag-cam-ward","tag-carnell-tate","tag-cedric-gray","tag-football","tag-jeffery-simmons","tag-nfl","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-tennesseetitans","tag-the-titans","tag-titans"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116565332766022734","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}