The Tennessee Titans shocked the football world on Tuesday, firing general manager Ran Carthon after only two seasons. Head coach Brian Callahan remains in place, and the team with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft is now in an interesting position. Even Deion Sanders weighed in on the personnel change. 

It's hard to know what spurred the change, but the Titans are clearly using this moment to realign their front office and coaching staff. Callahan may have wanted to build his offense in a different direction than Carthon, and that revolves around how to use the top selection.

We're looking at Callahan's offense and how the top three quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft could fit. Here's how Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, and Drew Allar could fit in Tennessee.

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Deion Sanders reacts to Titans GM Ran Carthon now that Shedeur could get drafted by Tennessee

Deion Sanders reacts to Ran Carthon firing.

The first thing we need to do is conceptualize the play style Callahan has employed with the Cincinnati Bengals and Titans as the offensive coordinator and head coach. Having Joe Burrow in Cincinnati may have dictated some of his tendencies, as it's well-established that Burrow does not like playing under center and using play-action. But it's still important to see tendencies with routes and concepts.

From 2019 through 2023, Callahan's offenses had an average play-action rate of 15.4%. He had two years over 20%, so there's some fluctuation based on game flow. Levis averaged a play-action rate of 23.5% in 2024, so Callahan slightly increased that amount away from Burrow, but not in a meaningful way.

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Over that same time period, almost 48% of Burrow's throws were considered short from 0-9 yards. Medium (11-19 yards) made up 16%, and screens and deep shots accounted for the rest. Of course, there's a lot that goes into these metrics, but they're generally stable regardless of the surrounding cast Burrow had.

Levis took more medium (21.3%) and deep shots (12.6%) than Burrow but was also much more productive targeting downfield than taking short attempts due to accuracy and issues reading defenses. What does this all tell us? Callahan can adjust to his talent but often likes chasing chunk plays without a ton of play-action.

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Here's the case for and against each of the top three quarterbacks to fit with Callahan in the 2025 NFL Draft class.

Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

I think Sanders is the best quarterback in the class overall and, therefore, the best fit anywhere that needs a new signal-caller. His scouting report reveals more insight, and his fit, in particular with Tennessee, appears clean. An efficient passer who hunts big plays with great effectiveness and playmaking, Sanders plays similarly to Burrow despite not being as dominant of a pocket passer.

Let's look at the tendencies. Sanders' two years at Colorado featured play action rates between 26.6 and 27.9%. 31.8% of his attempts were of at least 10 yards, remarkably more aggressive than Burrow, but in line with Levis. He massively improved upon his turnover-worthy throw rate at Colorado from Jackson State from 2.1% to 1.3%. 

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Visually, Sanders looks different than both passers. He's slimmer and has a good but not great arm. Sanders is fluid and flexible, maneuvering outside of the pocket, but is a pass-first presence. It's not an accident his adjusted completion rate is at least 6% higher than his peers, either.

Sanders is incredibly smart and sees the field extremely well. Callahan should love his field vision, discipline, and accuracy. He might not love his average traits and size, though.

Cam Ward, Miami (FL)

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The biggest riser of the season was Ward. Whether it's because he hunkered down and committed to maximizing his impressive physical traits or something clicked mentally, Ward imposed his will in most games. Physically gifted at 6-foot-2 and 223 pounds with a strong arm, Ward is an x-factor.

There are plenty of bone-headed moments, though. His 3.1% turnover-worthy-throw rate should be as terrifying as exciting as his 9.8 average yards per target rate is. He's a big play merchant willing to extend plays and bank on his arm.

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It's a risky style to play, and Callahan should be concerned as to whether it's too reckless for his blood. Ward's creativity vastly outpaces Levis's, but his lack of fear and discipline is like Levis's worst trait. When it works for Ward, he looks amazing, but there have always been stretches where he doesn't look capable of surviving for long.

I'd compare Ward somewhere in the realm of Sam Darnold and peak Deshaun Watson. Does Callahan want that much of a wanderer? Or, can he pull a Kevin O'Connell and reign Ward in ala Darnold in Minnesota?

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Some characteristics of Ward's usage point toward that potential existence. He took part in play-action plays on 28.6% of attempts at Miami in 2024. His marks at Washington State varied more, but that was a vastly undermanned team without an identity. He used play-action on 30.1% of passes in 2022 and 16.2% in 2023.

Ward's passing depth might be more indicative of the dichotomy of Ward. He can get into mindsets and stick with them. He'll happily pad stats with check-downs before turning the aggressiveness up to 100 and force throws that can either change the game positively or negatively.

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While 16.5% of Ward's passes were beyond 20 yards in 2024, a whopping 25.1% were between 10-19. That leaves about 52% either behind the line of scrimmage to nine yards. Ward had the most success going short or deep, totaling 25 touchdowns with only one interception.

These numbers are quite different from Washington State's spread. 60% of his throws in 2023 were under 10 yards, and only 11.7% were beyond 20 yards. He was even less aggressive in 2022, so there's been a huge uptick in aggression over the years.

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Is that good? In some regards, yes. But it doesn't really translate to Tennessee. If the Titans go with Ward, it's because he won on the whiteboard, and they feel his physical traits will allow him to win in any situation and scheme.

Drew Allar, Penn State

Right now, Allar is not even in the 2025 NFL Draft class yet. He's yet to declare, and a strong finish to the College Football Playoff could persuade him to make the leap. Considering he's losing his top back and pass-catcher, plus Penn State's inability to land high-end receivers in the transfer portal, I think he should declare and lock himself into being a top-three pick.

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The 6-foot-5, 235-pound pocket statue is a much different option than Sanders and Ward. Lacking the quickness and creativity of his peers, Allar is a hyper-efficient and ball-control quarterback with a powerful arm. He's much like Joe Flacco but without the interceptions. Only 20 years old, it's easy to see why teams will like Allar given his self-improvement in decision-making and accuracy.

He's improved his average depth of target while barely increasing his turnover-worthy-throw rate, threading an important needle. But he also went a month without making an NFL-caliber high-end throw, per PFF's tracking. He has to be more aggressive, though it's understandable why he plays so conservatively; his receivers struggled to create space and finish at the catch point.

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Taking a game manager No. 2 is risky but wouldn't be franchise-crushing. The concern here is how Allar fits Callahan, though, and I don't see it. With a play-action rate of 29.4% in 2024, his career year, and a whopping 56% of attempts below 10 yards, he's far from what Callahan has worked with before.

Allar could work for Callahan if this was all merely the product of a bad environment. Tyler Warren is an awesome tight end, but the Titans will give Calvin Ridley and likely more weapons that will be much better than Penn State's options. But that's a projection. Is Callahan willing to bank that much on things we have never seen before?

Verdict

There are quality selling points for Sanders, Ward, and Allar. However, given the structure of Callahan's previous work, Sanders is safely the best bet to be an easier transition. We know franchises need to have the proper support for any quarterback to find success, so the Titans must carefully curate their roster and scheme to get the most out of whoever they favor in the 2025 class.