NFL analyst predicts the Titans to make the playoffs with Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders following the footsteps of Jayden Daniels
Are the Titans the next Commanders?
NASHVILLE – In 2024, the Washington Commanders took the NFL by storm, bouncing back from a 4-13 season in grand fashion to finish 12-5 and appear in the NFC Championship Game.
Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels quickly established himself as one of the league's future stars. He also proved that a rebuild in the modern NFL can be short lived if you build a foundation and get the right guy under center.
That's the goal of every NFL team that underachieved in 2024 – Become the next version of the Washington Commanders. Recently, NFL and college football analyst Emory Hunt of CBS Sports made the argument for why the Tennessee Titans are next up.
Hunt, who called his shot with Daniels and the Commanders this time last year, boldly predicted that Tennessee would be in the playoffs in 2025 with Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward at quarterback.
"Last year at draft time I said that the Washington Commanders would go to the playoffs based off them drafting Jayden Daniels," said Hunt, before giving his prediction for the Titans to have the same fate.
"I like Tennessee because, that roster to me is not bad at all. They just need a quarterback. They have two solid receivers, a really good tight end, a collection of tailbacks, and defensively the front seven is really good. On the back end, they were banged up a lot last year and will get a lot of those guys back healthy," Hunt argued. "The template has been put in place. The foundation is set. Any quarterback you add, Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders makes this team a playoff team."
It probably goes without saying given the impact he expects these rookie QBs to have, but Hunt is higher on this year's quarterback class than most of the draft analysts out there. He spends a lot of time watching college football and prospect tape and has Sanders rated higher than he did Jayden Daniels during the pre-draft process.
Titans have work to do
I definitely would agree that Sanders is a much better prospect than he gets credit for. In the right system, he'll thrive as early as his rookie season. But overall, I can't say I'm in alignment with Hunt's prediction for the Titans. I think Tennessee has a lot more work to do than he thinks.
The right side of the offense line is a problem. They have essentially no edge presence on defense. With Nick Westbrook-Ikhine entering free agency, Calvin Ridley is the only starting caliber wide receiver under contract at the moment. Inside linebacker was a revolving door in 2024 and could not be a bigger question mark moving forward.
In theory, these issues could all be fixed in one offseason if a team was aggressive enough. But everything we have heard from the Titans and new GM Mike Borgonzi leads me to believe that Tennessee will be less aggressive and more selective than they have been in the past. I don't think they're concerned about making a "worst to first" type of jump in 2025. I think they want to continue supplementing their foundation and acquire assets to have sustained success.
I'm all aboard the Shedeur Sanders train. But if Titans fans go into the 2025 season with expectations that they'll repeat the Commanders' magical run, I'd bet they come away disappointed.
Tennessee Titans are currently a top five NFL team in the area that counts most for the 2025 offseason and are set up for success
Titans are positioned well in 2025.
