Titans Should Improve in Key Area on Offense

The Tennessee Titans are hoping to be better on offense in the upcoming season, and taking Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick should help with that.

Ward offers a lot of upside as a five-year college starter, but he does something better than incumbent starter Will Levis that should help the Titans' ability to perform better.

"While sacks aren't as bad as turnovers, taking even one on a drive dramatically caps an offense's ability to score. When teams went an entire possession without being sacked in 2024, they scored touchdowns 26.4% of the time and averaged 2.3 points per drive. If they took at least one sack, they scored touchdowns only 8.3% of the time and averaged 1.1 points per possession," ESPN's Bill Barnwell wrote.

"The gap was even larger for the Titans, who scored only two touchdowns on 45 possessions in which they gave up a sack, a 4.4% clip. Unfortunately for Brian Callahan's team, starter Will Levis had a habit of taking sacks. His 12% sack rate was the worst in the league for a quarterback who started at least 10 games. Adjusting for era, it was the 12th-worst sack rate for any passer who started at least 10 games in any season since 1950.

"Considering that Mason Rudolph had a 4.6% sack rate behind the same offensive line, the majority of the pressure issues have to be pinned on Levis. Enter No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, who was much better at avoiding takedowns at Miami. Last season, he had an above-average 4.3% sack rate. His sack rate when pressured was 14.5%, also better than the national average."

There are certainly a lot of factors that went into the successes and failures of Tennessee's offense, and while reducing the sack rate won't solve everything, it will make things significantly better.

If Ward can stay upright in his rookie season, the Titans should be in position to score more, and hopefully see their win total increase as well.