NASHVILLE — If you had to bet on one Tennessee Titans unit to be special in 2026, you would bet on that defensive line. That’s the message coming out of training camp this week, and new defensive end Jacob Martin put it in the bluntest terms possible after Thursday’s full-pads practice.

“What they do is, they’re going to find ways to go in there and eff s**t up,” Martin said.

Keep the linebackers clean. Allow them to move and play freely in space. Bring individual intensity on every snap. That’s the defensive line’s job description under new coach Robert Saleh, and it’s the one area where Tennessee has a legitimate chance to be a special football team in 2026.

Robert Saleh’s system is built to unleash the Titans’ defensive front

The Titans defensive line is no longer configured the way fans remember it. Femi Oladejo is no longer a linebacker in any capacity. He’s a defensive end. Martin, despite wearing No. 57, is a rush end. Jeff Simmons and John Franklin-Myers anchor the interior. Jermaine Johnson provides a more prototypical defensive end presence. The organization added Keldrick Faulk in the draft and signed multiple free agents to build a deep rotation up front.

Saleh’s philosophy centers on pressuring the quarterback with a four-man rush. That means zone-exchange concepts where a linebacker rushes while a defensive lineman drops into coverage, something Titans fans saw during the Harold Landry and Bud Dupree era with players like David Long, Jayon Brown, and Logan Ryan. The structure is designed to create four-man pressure without always sending four down linemen, keeping the defense in its preferred zone coverages and focusing on disrupting quarterback vision.

The Titans are platooning their defensive linemen right now, giving each group roughly three snaps per series. That rotation keeps legs fresh and allows the coaching staff to maximize the talent they’ve assembled.

Jeff Simmons could reach a level none of us have seen

The most compelling reason to buy stock in this defensive line is what Simmons could become in a system built to feature him.

Simmons set career highs across the board last season despite the Titans finishing 3-14. He recorded 11 sacks, three forced fumbles, three passes defensed, 39 solo tackles, and 21 quarterback hits in only 15 games. His previous sack high was 8.5, set during the 2021 season when Tennessee earned the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC before losing to the Bengals. Of his 42.5 career sacks, 11 came in a single year without much help around him.

There’s reason to believe Simmons could be even more effective this season. He won’t have to shoulder as much of the run-defense burden with the reinforcements Tennessee brought in. Saleh maximizes the abilities of his defensive linemen better than any defensive coach who was available to the Titans this offseason. Simmons is leaner than he’s ever been and just as strong as he’s ever been.

If the Titans get the best version of Jeff Simmons — one none of us have seen yet — we’re talking about a season that could result in another first-team All-Pro nomination. Simmons is not a Hall of Fame caliber player at this point. He would need about five more seasons like the one he just had to be considered a lock. But he is the best player on this football team by any stretch of the imagination.

The defensive line is the only buy-low opportunity on this roster

The quarterback situation features a Cam Ward who appears to be ascending, but it would be tough not to be ascending from a 3-14 season. I don’t believe him to be special yet. The wide receiver situation offers some intrigue with Carnell Tate, but that has been one of this franchise’s most cursed positions. Tate could break the curse, but we need more concrete evidence before investing heavily.

The defensive front is the play. Franklin-Myers, Johnson, Martin, Oladejo, Faulk, and the rest of the rotation are all here to complement Simmons and bring the mentality Martin described on Thursday. Saleh’s system is structurally designed to put these players in position to wreck game plans. When this group is healthy and rotating on all cylinders, that defensive front has a real shot at being the most disruptive unit in the AFC South.