The Tennessee Titans have leaned into youth this offseason, but the reliability question looms over every position group. Where do you draw the line between a proven veteran’s steady floor and a young player’s electric ceiling?

In the first practice after roster cutdown day, head coach Robert Saleh was asked about the urgency in getting this young, talented group ready for Week 1 and how to balance the leash to allow for growth, but prioritizing winning as the schedule flips to the regular season.

“A coach always wants a veteran out there because they know what to do, they’re where they’re supposed to be, but they’re not exactly running the 40 they used to run when they ran at the combine,” Saleh began. “A scout wants the young guy because they’re as fast as shit, they’re explosive, but a coach is afraid of them because you have no idea what you’re going to get play-to-play.”

“So the objective is how quickly can you get that young guy to play like that veteran while he’s still running the 40 he ran at the combine, right? And the best way to do that is to give them reps. And we’ve got a young group, an explosive group, there’s a mixture of some really cool veterans that are still in their prime on this team and the hope is that the combination of veterans pulling the young guys with them, we get to that point of elite speed very quickly.”

The starting safety tandem of Amani Hooker and Kevin Winston Jr. gives us the perfect lens to examine that balance across the entire Titans team heading into the 2026 season.

Amani Hooker and Kevin Winston Jr. represent each side

Hooker is a pro’s pro. He’s a proven veteran, a reliable player, a past team captain, and a leader in the locker room. If Titans fans don’t recognize how much say Hooker has in that locker room, take what you think it is and add to it. 

He is that well respected. But we all know he’s never been the RAS score freak athlete. He’s never been the guy who jumped off the page or made a spectacular play. He’s a smart player, a gritty player, a tough player.

Then you have Winston. All over the place, an amazing athlete. RAS score, elite status. He hits, flies, runs, jumps. Aggressive mindset. But he might run really fast the wrong way and the Seahawks running back breaks a 69-yard touchdown, or Elijah Arroyo walks into the end zone untouched in a preseason game, or Winston grabs an interception the next drive that gets wiped off by a penalty that probably should have been called. 

It could be boom-or-bust Kevin Winston alongside Steady Eddie Amani Hooker early in this season.

Titans linebacker room shares the same trait

The defense has plenty of examples beyond safety. Move up a level to linebacker, and you find Cody Barton paired with Cedric Gray or Anthony Hill Jr. It’s the same dynamic with a veteran alongside a young player everybody should be excited to watch grow and develop with more experience.

Both veterans, Hooker and Barton are necessities on defense for what they bring to the table. They also need competent players around them. Hooker was wearing too many hats last year. He was having to get guys signed off the street, elevated from the practice squad, starting at corner or starting next to him. That’s got to be a headache of a year for any safety, and it made him look bad because his own responsibilities were the last thing he took care of after getting everybody else set up first. Barton was in a similar situation, but Gray has more experience relative to Winston. 

Which of the Titans young talents can cross the reliability barrier soon?

Saleh’s answer on this topic comes down to one word: reliability. Coaches want veterans because veterans are reliable.

When can some of these young players cross that barrier? 

They have to at some point this season. Cedric Gray is probably the first one to cross it because he has the most experience, even though it’s only his second year as a starter. Quarterback Cam Ward is another obvious candidate, but the standard of reliability at the quarterback position is the highest bar to clear.

I think we’re overlooking one guy in second year receiver Chimere Dike. You might think of him as wide receiver 5 on this team, and that’s true. But if we look at Dike from the perspective of a return man, the conversation changes.

The return man has become more important and more impactful in today’s NFL. The Titans gave up a lot of touchdowns and field goals last year, which meant Dike returned a lot of kickoffs. Even if the Tennessee defense is better this season, they should be forcing more punts, which still means more Dike.

When you talk about reliability, a return man needs to be reliable and trustworthy because he is making decisions that impact everything else. 

Do I field this punt? Do I fair catch this? Do I let it drop? Do I return it? Do I let this ball bounce in the end zone on a kickoff? Do I field it on the hop? Do I let it go out of bounds? If it doesn’t go out of bounds, we’re screwed. 

The mental decision-making aspect of the kick returner position is something we haven’t talked enough about because it’s a nuanced thing.

I think Dike is one of the more reliable of these 18 young players (going into year three or less) in the two-deep of the depth chart because he is a good decision-maker with the ball in his hands. As a scheme-up, open-field pass catcher in a limited role, I think he can make a difference too.

If enough of Tennessee’s young players cross that reliability barrier quickly, this roster has the speed to surprise people across the league. If they don’t, the veterans won’t be able to stabilize everything around them, and the Titans could unfortunately be in a recently familiar spot of uncertainty.