Titans Offense Lands Wild Prediction

Week 1 of the NFL regular season is finally here. The Tennessee Titans impressed with their 2-1 preseason record, though they went 3-0 in 2024's preseason. Don't let it fool you, but things do indeed seem to be on the rise with Cam Ward leading the charge.

Ward is coming off a 4,313 yard season at Miami facing the toughest competition of his career. He threw for an astonishing 4,648 yards back in 2021 at Incarnate World before later transferring to Washington State.

Should the No. 1 overall pick echo those numbers, he could become only the second QB in Titans history to have a 4,000 passing yard season. It's far from impossible, but it is certainly a lofty goal for the rookie.

All things considered, it was no surprise to see ESPN's Turron Davenport call the Titans' offensive line their biggest strength. He called out HC Brian Callahan as their biggest concern, which says everything you need to know about the state of this team heading into the 2025 season.

On paper, Ward is going to have ample time to get the ball out of his hands. Should he so choose, he'll be in a prime position to use his legs as well. In his five-year college career, the 23-year-old finished with 20 rushing touchdowns. Of the 469 career rushing yards he had, 204 of those came last season with the Hurricanes.

Obviously, the team wants to prioritize his long-term health, but a top O-Line will certainly suffice. Seth Walder is on Davenport's side as the sports analytics writer issued a bold take on Ward's rookie season.

"Ward will have under a 5% sack rate. That would be a nice building block to his NFL career, and tough to do if the Titans are usually losing. But Ward was better than average at avoiding sacks last season with Miami (4.3% sack rate), and I like the Titans' additions to their offensive line," Walder said.

Avoiding sacks in college is one thing, but doing so in the NFL is another. While he only played a few drives in each preseason game, it is a promising sign to see that Ward was only sacked once. The Minnesota Vikings took down Ward for a sack that only lost the team three yards.

Last season, Tennessee had a 6.34% sack rate. Only nine teams had a number lower than them with New England leading the way at 4.99%. Ward's ability to leave the pocket trumps that of Will Levis, who was the team's primary QB last season.

The last time the Titans had a sack rate under 5% was in 2020. That year, they were one of four teams under 4%, finishing at 3.54%. Other than that, they haven't been under 5% since 2011 (4.52%).