2025 Draft Guide: Tennessee Titans

Coaching History: Last Three Years

Head Coach: Brian Callahan (TEN ’24, CIN ’22-23)
Offensive Coordinator: Nick Holz (TEN ’24, JAX ’23, N/A ’22)
2024 Record: 3-14

Team Summary

The Tennessee Titans have struggled over the past few years, and it is easy to point to QB as the reason. Following Ryan Tannehill’s decline in 2022, they drafted Will Levis who hasn’t been able to limit turnovers during his two years with the team. However, the team addressed QB in the NFL Draft by selecting Cam Ward with the 1st Overall Pick. While rookies rarely come in ready to lead a team in year one (Jayden Daniels not withstanding from the 2024 Draft), Ward has the tools necessary to help turn the team around.

The Titans tend to play in “11” personnel, spreading the field with three WRs to try to open up the field for the running game. Despite having 3 WRs in the game frequently, only Calvin Ridley exceeded a 12% target share. The Titans were T-11th in target share to both RBs at 19% and TEs at 25%. They hope to get contributions from several rookie WRs to help fill in their depth behind Calvin Ridley, and they brought in Tyler Lockett via Free Agency to bridge the gap and give Cam Ward another reliable veteran target.

The Titans actually have a pretty concentrated distribution of touches, with Tony Pollard dominating the rushing work and Ridley dominating the receiving opportunities. If the offense is able to improve from the dreadful performances of the last few years, it could actually pay dividends with their key players finishing well ahead of ADP.

2024 Ranks (2023 Rank)

• Points: 27th (27th)
• Yards: 26th (28th)
• Passing Attempts: 23rd (30th)
• Passing Yards: 26th (29th)
• Passing TDs: 16th (29th)
• Rushing Attempts: 16th (20th)
• Rushing Yards: 19th (17th)
• Rushing TDs: 25th (11th)

2024 Positional Market Share

Tony Pollard maintained a 3:1 attempt advantage over RB2 Tyjae Spears. While the coaching staff likely want to get Spears more involved this year, Pollard actually performed well ranking 6th in the NFL with 2.76 YACo/Att (min 10 games & 100 carries)

Calvin Ridley was far-and-away the WR1 garnering a 23.7% target share. The only other notable targets were TE Chig Okonkwo at 13.8% and RB Tony Pollard at 11.2%.

Depth Chart:

• QB: Cam Ward, Brandon Allen
• RB: Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears, Kalel Mullings, Julius Chestnut
• WR: Calvin Ridley (Z), Elic Ayomanor (Z), Tyler Lockett (Slot), Van Jefferson (X), Chimere Dike, Xavier Restrepo
• TE: Chig Okonkwo, Gunnar Helm, Josh Whyle
  • Bold – Fantasy relevant
  • Highlighted – Priority target

Player Breakdowns

Cam Ward has a bright future ahead of him. While he should only be rostered in 2QB leagues for 2025, if he pops early in the season, he may be worth picking up for streaming purposes. He can scramble when needed, but I would expect Tennessee to limit his exposure to hits, emphasizing the running game, play action and encouraging him to get the ball out of his hands quickly.

Pollard seemed to regain his form in 2024, despite dealing with poor blocking. His blocking should improve, and with a rookie QB under center, the team will likely lean into the running game to take pressure off. While the plan may not be for Pollard to carry the ball nearly 60% of the time, Tyjae Spears is already dealing with a high ankle sprain, which opens the door for Pollard to lock down a workhorse role out of the gate. Adding to his appeal, Pollard is a solid receiver out of the backfield, and could easily improve on his 11.2% target share from 2024 if he isn’t splitting time with Spears early on. Look for Pollard to comfortably finish as an RB2, smashing his ADP as RB28.

Spears enters his third year in the league having endured terrible injury luck across his first two season. The hits seem to keep coming, as he suffered a high ankle sprain that will sideline him for the remainder of the preseason. If he can get onto the field, he is an extremely elusive runner and would be serviceable if given an opportunity to carry the load in the event of a Tony Pollard injury. Given his likely slow start to the season as he recovers from injury, leave him on waivers except in the deepest leagues, but keep close tabs to stash him when he regains his health.

Ridley proved last year that he’s still got plenty left in the tank, carrying Tennessee’s abysmal passing game. His stats weren’t helped by Will Levis’ inaccuracy, but he continually got open down the field. He should have additional competition this year, with intriguing rookies and savvy veteran Tyler Lockett in the fold, but he should still be the clear top option in the passing game. If Ward’s accuracy is a significant improvement over Levis (it is!), Ridley may surprise with how well he produces for fantasy despite turning 30.

Ayomanor was a ‘PAC-12 After Dark’ cult favorite pre-draft prospect. However, the Cardinal receiver slipped to the 4th Round of the NFL Draft. Despite the slide, he still proved he can carry a team’s passing game as the only legitimate threat, and in the NFL, he’ll get the chance to start off as a Flanker rather than a Split End. If he can clean up the details, he could be serviceable for fantasy in the back half of the season as he settles into the offense and carves out his role.

Lockett joined Tennessee after years of success in Seattle. Known for his savvy route running, Lockett should be a key option for Cam Ward in the middle of the field to help beat zone coverage. He may not have all of the physical traits that he had in his younger days, but he should still be good enough to wind up 2nd in targets. You could do worse for a depth WR option, and his ADP leaves him nearly free (WR77).

Chig Okonkwo is an undersized, but very fast pass catching TE. While his numbers were underwhelming in 2024, finishing as TE21, he didn’t eclipse a 60% snap share until Week 8. He continued to be inconsistent, but he also only had a 57.6% route participation rate. Indications from training camp are that this year, Okonkwo will be closer to a full time player. In his 4th season, getting increased playing time, with what should be an improved QB situation; he is worth taking a flier on late as a streaming option if you miss out on the elite TE options early in your draft.

More Draft Guides