NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans are 1 week from opening Robert Saleh’s first training camp as head coach, and quarterback Cam Ward’s offensive line remains the roster’s most glaring vulnerability.

General manager Mike Borgonzi addressed several positions this offseason, retooling the defensive line, upgrading the secondary, and adding weapons at wide receiver through the 2026 NFL Draft and free agency.

The Titans’ offensive line, however, still lacks the depth required to protect Ward through a full 17-game regular season. One spot in particular demands attention before Week 1: swing tackle.

The starting tackles carry real questions of their own

Right tackle JC Latham enters his third season without having proven himself as a consistent week-to-week performer.

A hip injury hampered Latham from Week 1-on during his rookie year. He missed time, battled through it for most of the season, and drew heavy penalties even in games where he played clean football. A man of Latham’s size dealing with a hip issue is going to produce uneven results, and the Titans’ schedule threw difficult pass rush groups at him regularly. Latham was not bad. He was not good, either.

Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. arrived on a 4-year, $80 million deal after the Pittsburgh Steelers let him walk. Moore is largely a product of his circumstances. On a good offensive line, he can be average. On a bad one, he will be bad. Tennessee has not had a viable left tackle situation since Taylor Lewan’s knee injury during the 2020 season, which effectively ended Lewan’s career even though he has never officially announced retirement. Moore represents an upgrade over what the Titans have fielded since, but he is not a solution that elevates the group.

Swing tackle depth could determine Cam Ward’s Year 2 trajectory

The real concern sits behind both starters.

Tennessee’s swing tackle candidates include Austin Deculus, Amiel Wagner, Ryan Hayes, and Brandon Crenshaw-Dixon, a UDFA tackle out of Florida who saw time last season purely because of attrition. Deculus is the most experienced of that group, but when he had to start for the Los Angeles Chargers, the results were poor. PFF graded him with a 33.1 in pass blocking and a 46.9 in run blocking. Those grades are not gospel, but they paint a clear enough picture. This is not a player with much to stand on.

Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo arrives with Brian Daboll’s offensive staff, and perhaps he can squeeze more out of this group than you’d expect. Even in New York, though, the Giants had Andrew Thomas at left tackle. They had better raw material to work with than the Titans do. Left guard Peter Skoronski is the best player on this line, but one player cannot make up for four less-than parts around him. Skoronski can perform at an extremely high level and the unit can still fail if the players beside him do not pick up their games or the scheme does not find ways to help them.

There is also the Ward component. The second-year quarterback held the ball too long during his rookie season hunting big plays. Not all 55 sacks he absorbed were the offensive line’s fault. Ward did himself some harm. But the line did not help him overwhelmingly, either.

The math is simple and unforgiving

Assuming both starting tackles will stay healthy for a full 17-game slate is unrealistic. The Chargers went through this with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt last season, and both are higher-level players than Latham and Moore. For the Titans, the problem is amplified because the starters were not the best to work with in the first place.

Should either Latham or Moore experience any setback, the Titans will be forced to rely on a swing tackle group that has done nothing to inspire confidence. That makes this the single most important position battle of training camp.

Ward may become a great player at some point in his career. He will never get there with the kind of offensive line talent Tennessee has put in front of him through his first two seasons. The Titans open the regular season against the New York Jets, and that defense will test every weak point this line has to offer.

Training camp opens next week at the team’s practice facility. All eyes will be on this offensive line from the first padded practice forward.