Silver Lining Of Titans’ Collapse Vs. Saints: draft order update narrows where Tennessee will pick Cam Ward’s new help in 2026

The Titans’ draft picture just got clearer with one game left to play.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) greets New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) after the loss at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025.

The Tennessee Titans looked like the better team for the first half-and-change against the New Orleans Saints in Week 17. But their second-half offense began to stall, and their severely depleted defense became extremely porous.

They led by as many as 13 points, maintaining that lead all the way until there were seven minutes left to play. But Saints QB Tyler Shough completed a touchdown pass to Kevin Austin Jr. to go up 27-26, and the Titans couldn’t score again.

This would have been a pretty devastating loss had there been any serious stakes. But for the Titans, the stakes were intangible progress vs. slight draft-order shifts. I do look forward to when you can feel the weight of a game in Nissan Stadium again.

Here’s how the picture has shaken out ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft with one game left to play:

Titans improve draft pick with painful home loss to Saints

The Titans came into Week 17 with the fifth pick in the draft, and will leave it holding the fourth. They leapfrogged the Browns, who got their fourth win of the year in a nasty home victory over the Steelers.

The Giants and Raiders will have another win between them by the end of the day Sunday, but neither will fall below the Titans due to the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. Speaking of which, the only reason the Titans don’t fall back down to fifth is because of the .001 difference in SOS between them and the Cardinals.

That’s liable to shift in the final week, and the rooting guide to maintain the Titans’ lead is attached below.

So dust off your Bengals, Falcons, Cowboys, Dolphins, and Packers pop poms for the regular season finale.

Should the Titans beat the Jaguars in Week 18, the worst they could be picking is seventh. Wins by the Commanders at the Eagles, Browns at the Bengals, or Cardinals at the Rams next week would cushion the potential fall from the fourth pick even more in the event of one more Titans win.

As for improving from the fourth pick, they would need a Raiders win at the Chiefs, or a Giants win vs the Cowboys (pending the result of Vegas-New York in Week 17), or a Jets victory at Buffalo. None of those games will be expected to be close. The odds remain highest that the Titans pick fourth or fifth, depending on how their SOS shakes out with the Cardinals.

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