ESPN’s Bill Barnwell released his annual ranking of all 32 NFL teams by wide receiver, tight end, and running back groups, and the Tennessee Titans landed at 25th. 

That’s a significant jump from dead last in 2025, but it still undersells what Cam Ward’s supporting cast has become under offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. 

Barnwell’s methodology focuses on projected 2026 performance, weighs wide receivers more heavily than running backs or tight ends, and zeroes in on each team’s top five contributors. The framework is sound. The problem is the information powering it.

The Titans climbed seven spots from last year’s dead last ranking, and jumped over teams with legitimate talent. The Carolina Panthers, who boast the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, sit at 28th. The Buffalo Bills landed 29th. The Cleveland Browns, after adding several skill-position pieces, came in at 30th. Tennessee sits right behind AFC South rival Houston, which checks in at 24th. 

The ranking is defensible on paper, but Barnwell’s evaluation relies on six-month-old information, and a lot has changed inside the Titans’ building since January.

Barnwell’s blind spot starts with Chim Dike and Elic Ayomanor

Barnwell acknowledges that Carnell Tate, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Calvin Ridley project as the three starting wide receivers. He predicted last summer that Tennessee’s receiving corps could feature three new starters in 2026, and he was close. 

Ridley returned on a restructured deal, Robinson arrived in free agency, and Tate was the 4th overall pick. Where Barnwell loses the thread is beyond that top three.

“Of course, if the three wideouts don’t perform, there’s not much behind them.” Barnwell said. “Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike were overmatched in starting roles a year ago.”

That’s not inaccurate about last season, but Barnwell apparently didn’t catch the mountain of documented offseason content available, including from our guy Turron Davenport of ESPN, who attended the same Titans practices in May and June that I did. Both players look different.

I said on our A to Z morning show Thursday that if there was a “most improved” award for Titans OTAs and minicamp, I would have given it to Dike. He looks like someone the coaching staff plans to use as a weapon, not just a depth piece. 

Ayomanor looks to have developed into what I’m calling a “progression receiver.” He won’t have plays drawn up for him, but he’s reliable as a second or third option in the passing progression on a given play. He runs the full route tree, he’s physical at the catch point, and he blocks in the run game. That kind of player logs a ton of snaps even without gaudy target numbers.

Gunnar Helm’s role change could unlock a breakout

Barnwell notes the Titans replaced Chig Okonkwo with blocking tight end Daniel Bellinger and “nominal receiving tight end” Gunnar Helm, who averaged just over eight yards per catch as a rookie. This just proves that Barnwell is missing the entire point of the Titans roster flip.

Bellinger’s signing allows Helm to be freed up from the dirty work and puts the second-year tight end in position to thrive as a pass-catching weapon. From what I’ve seen this offseason, Helm has filled out his frame and looks primed for a significant jump, particularly in the red zone. He could finish near the top of the team in touchdown catches. 

If Barnwell is counting Bellinger as the tight end in his top five over Helm, that’s the wrong call.

Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears remain undervalued

Barnwell mentions Tony Pollard but doesn’t give him much fanfare. Pollard is the only running back besides Derrick Henry with four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons to his name. That level of consistency deserves more respect than it receives nationally.

Tyjae Spears doesn’t appear in Barnwell’s piece at all. Availability has been the knock on Spears, and that’s fair. But from what I’ve seen at OTAs and minicamp, Daboll has schemed some creative wrinkles involving both Spears and Dike that could be really fun to watch. Just stay healthy, Tyjae. 

Carnell Tate is not Emeka Egbuka

“If Tate looks like Emeka Egbuka did as a rookie with the Bucs last fall, the Titans should be just fine,” Barnwell wrote. 

I know from my conversations with A to Z Sports’ Evan Winter, who covers the Buccaneers, that Egbuka hit a rookie wall. The older Ohio State WR didn’t score a touchdown in the final eight games after he scored six in the first nine games of his rookie season. 

I don’t think Tate will. He’s a different type of player with a different type of skillset, and I expect him to perform as an immediate No. 1 wide receiver for Ward.

The Titans have a logjam of eight or nine players who could regularly catch passes or run routes for Ward this season. That depth is a positive for the Titans, not the opposite, and it’s what Barnwell’s five-player set up fails to capture. Tennessee’s skill-position group has a chance to be one of the sneakier, more talented supporting casts in the league if Daboll sets it up correctly. 

Barnwell isn’t fully wrong with 25th ranking. He’s just working off a stale snapshot while the picture keeps sharpening.