“It can’t possible get worse, right?”
These have been the famous last words of many a Tennessee Titans offensive line watcher the past handful of seasons. It’s been painful. For viewers, that pain has been emotional. For the players, I’d imagine a lot of that pain has been physical. The Titans past few offensive lines have gotten a lot of guys crushed back there, and they’ve played a big part in losing a lot of games.
Each offseason, adjustments are made. Coaches are changed. Big swings in free agency and the draft promise to turn things around. But a couple times in a row now, it’s been a lot of false hope. So when you see and hear about this year’s tweaks, and people like me are saying this group has the potential to be the best in Tennessee since Vrabel and Henry’s peak, you’re probably inclined to roll your eyes. Fool me once!
Well, I’m here to convince you to buy in anyways. I understand the deeply ingrained skepticism you likely have at this point. I share it. I even went on local radio last week and said “I shouldn’t open my mouth about this offensive line until they play games, because I think they’re going to be pretty good… maybe really good.” But it’s time to stop cowering from this take. It’s time to say it with our chests: the Titans offensive line is going to be a lot better. Perhaps more importantly, we expect a lot better. And that expectation is well-founded. Let’s walk through some of the reasons why it’s ok to be loud and proud about increased expectations up front this year:
Significant OL Improvements
The most important part of this OL bump comes down to tackle play. I shouldn’t have to tell you this if you’ve been watching the Titans the past 3 seasons: it’s been so very bad. There has been at least one tackle on this team at all times that needs constant babysitting, and it is a brutal life trying to live that way in the NFL. For much of this span, both positions have needed tending to. And if you don’t have at least once serviceable NFL tackle, brother, you’re adrift at sea.
This year, Tennessee enters with two tackles who should both clearly be tall enough to ride the ride in this league. I go into detail on that with an OL expert linked here, if you’re interested. JC Latham is the most talented athlete to grace this roster at the position since Taylor Lewan. He’s moving to RT where his coaches believe he could be more natural, he’s undergone a physical transformation designed to set him up for his best work, and he’s poised to make the Year 2 leap. I don’t think anybody takes issue with having moderately high expectations for Latham this season. His new counterpart on the other side, however, might be a different story.
Dan Moore feels like the latest in a string of veteran “fixes” at tackle that have all failed this team. But I don’t actually think the situations heading into their two tone debuts are very similar at all. let’s take a look at the facts for each of these four recent Titans tackles:
Before becoming the Titans starting left tackle in 2022, Dennis Daley played a total of 930 tackle snaps from 2019-2021. The majority (677) of them came 3 years before becoming a Titan, when he had his best season by PFF grade: a 57.5. Then in 2023, Andre Dillard was brought in to be the starter at LT. from 2019-2022, he totaled just 651 tackle snaps. His most and best in a season was 2021, with 337 reps and a 69.6 PFF grade while playing in that fantastic Eagles OL room. That was two seasons before becoming a Titan. In 2022, he played just 4 tackle snaps before becoming the Titans starter. And then in 2024, Nicholas Petit-Frere became the starting right tackle. He’d logged just 1052 total tackle snaps in 2022-2023, with the vast majority (937) coming two years before becoming the starter. His career high PFF grade was a 52.3.
Enter Dan Moore in 2025, who is coming off a career-best 2024 season. He had a PFF score of 67.2 and logged 1127 snaps at left tackle, more than the career-totals of the previous three tackles mentioned. Go one layer deeper, because I think this does matter some, that’s 839 more snaps the year before becoming the Titans starter than the previous three tackles combined. From 2021-2024, he logged 4422 total snaps at left tackle. That’s over four times any of those other guys.
So is Moore the most average tackle in the league? Probably. Could he be the weakest link on this OL? It’s certainly possible. But is it crazy to maintain a moderate level of expectations for him on this big contract he just signed? I don’t think so at all.
And then there’s the interior offensive line, which I think should be a real strength for this team. They not only have clear starter-level talent, but also pretty strong depth. At RG, free agent addition Kevin Zeitler could absolutely come in and immediately be the Titans best lineman. He’s 35 years old, but was PFF’s 3rd ranked guard in all of football last season after starting 16 games. And at LG, Peter Skoronski quietly finished down the stretch last year as arguably the best pass blocking guard in the NFL. If he picks up where he left off with that momentum, he should make for a fantastic partner on the left side for Dan Moore.
Easily my greatest concern remains at center simply because of the health uncertainty for Lloyd Cushenberry. I wrote about that in a lot more detail linked here, but needless to say I’m not certain his return from an Achilles repair will be all smooth sailing. If it isn’t, though, I have a baseline level of faith in Corey Levin to step in and keep his head above water in the meantime, just like he did at the end of last year.
All told, under the tutelage of OL legend Bill Callahan—who is still the coach of this unit, and is still in-fact an expert in this department—this offensive line should be much better than we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. It’s ok to think that. It’s ok to expect that. Ever heard of “the soft bigotry of low expectations”? Is the dismissive, patronizing assumption that a group is capable of less merely because of their background. Don’t make that mistake with this Titans OL. History should have nothing to do with what they’re expected to do this season. Don’t hold them to a lower standard because of it.
