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2026 Tennessee Titans Fantasy Preview: Can Cam Ward develop under Brian Daboll?
The Titans were in a complete rebuild last season, totaling three wins after drafting Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick. A tumultuous start to Ward’s tenure led to an in-season head coach firing, just six weeks into general manager Mike Borgonzi’s reign. Tennessee will now reset again with Brian Daboll coming in to coach Ward and improve an offense that was one of the worst in the league last season.
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Rotoworld Staff ,
Nowhere to go but up for Cam Ward and Brian Daboll
Last season saw the Titans trailing frequently in games, leading to the tenth-most dropbacks in the league. However, it’s never a good sign when the offense is also No. 31 in dropback EPA per play and total yards per game. Very few, if any, offensive stats favored the Titans last season.
Hiring Brian Daboll to oversee Ward’s development in the Titans offense is a step in the right direction. Despite a lack of success with the Giants, Daboll was successful as offensive coordinator with Josh Allen and company in Buffalo. It will be very difficult to do worse than the Titans offense last season and a reset with Daboll is a step in the right direction for the team to have more production and fantasy-relevant players.
Passing Game
QB: Cam Ward, Mitchell Trubisky, Will Levis WR: Carnell Tate, Elic Ayomanor WR: Wan’Dale Robinson, Chimere Dike WR: Calvin Ridley, K.J. Osborn TE: Gunnar Helm, Daniel Bellinger
An inefficient rookie season saw Cam Ward rank among the worst in the league in several metrics. Among 37 quarterbacks with at least 250 plays last season, Ward ranked no higher than No. 30 in EPA per play, sack rate, and success rate, ranking last with 5.9 yards per attempt. Ward entered an unstable Titans offensive environment, with a lack of top playmakers and Brian Callahan getting the boot after Week 6. The final three full starts of the season gave Ward something to build on, tossing six touchdowns and zero interceptions. Now he gets an improved skill player group and a formerly successful offensive head coach in Brian Daboll. It can’t get worse than a bottom-dwelling season, can it? A lack of rushing upside caps his ceiling but the arrow is pointing up for Ward to improve upon his fantasy QB3 finish last year and push into the QB2 tier.
The good news for Ward is a new No. 1 wide receiver is on the way. Carnell Tate went No. 4 overall in this year’s draft, after three years at Ohio State. Ward and his teammates are already praising Tate’s ability to win in man coverage and make catches in traffic. With polished route running, size, and contested catch skillset, Tate profiles as an efficient outside receiver at the NFL level. A 76.1-percent catch rate on 17.2 yards per reception his last college season shows his ability to consistently win downfield. The Titans sorely missed a consistent perimeter threat, and Ward now gets an alpha receiver in Tate. Despite his rookie status, Tate can be penciled in for 100 targets in 2026 and fantasy WR3 viability.
109 seconds of Carnell Tate winning downfield pic.twitter.com/atVWDcMbYN
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) March 11, 2026
Daboll brings Wan’Dale Robinson over from the Giants to be the Titans’ slot receiver and PPR cheat code. The 25-year-old is coming off back-to-back seasons of 140 targets and 90 receptions, though 2025 was the first season of his career crossing 10 yards per reception and 1,000 yards receiving. With a more vertical element to his game and having spent the past four seasons in Daboll’s system, Robinson is well set up to produce in Tennessee. Ward should be able to find him in the flat and in favorable matchups out of the slot. Robinson brings upside in PPR leagues and can comfortably be a WR4/FLEX play for fantasy purposes.
The rest of the Titans’ passing game contains pieces from last year’s skill group. Calvin Ridley will be 31-years-old coming off a broken fibula injury. He has value as a vertical threat and will likely start opposite Tate on the perimeter, but is not the viable fantasy option he was years ago. Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike are coming off high-opportunity rookie seasons. Ayomanor has size, though he caught just 41-of-89 targets for 515 yards last season. Dike is a speedy receiver who caught 48-of-74 targets for 423 yards and carried the ball 11 times for 18 yards. He adds a gadget element to the offense and is First-Team All-Pro return man. Out of these three, Ridley is the best bet in redraft leagues in the WR6 range. Dike is the next best bet with added touchdown opportunities from kick/punt returns, but neither Dike or Ayomanor need to be rostered in 12-team redraft leagues unless one of the three wideouts ahead of them suffer an injury.
At tight end, Gunnar Helm played behind Chig Okonkwo as a fourth-round rookie, catching 44-of-55 targets for 357 yards and two touchdowns. He primarily operated as a receiver with developmental blocking abilities. Daboll brings over Daniel Bellinger from New York to supplement the position, but Helm projects as the primary receiver at the position. He is worth taking a swing on as a low-end TE2 for fantasy purposes.
Running Game
RB: Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears, Nicholas Singleton OL (L-R): Dan Moore Jr., Peter Skoronski, Austin Schlottmann, Cordell Volson, JC Latham
The running game was technically the better part of the Titans offense, ranking No. 27 in rush EPA per play. Tony Pollard dominated the Titans’ back field snap share while Tyjae Spears missed the first four games of last season. He saw at least 17 opportunities (carries + targets) each game but gav...
Cam WardCan Brian DabollThe TitansWard’sMike Borgonzi’sTennesseeBrian DabollWardTennessee Titans StatsRankPointsTotal
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