The New York Jets get their season underway against their former head coach’s new team, as they will face Robert Saleh’s Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday afternoon. Both teams were 3-14 in 2025.
The Jets have won four of the five meetings between these teams since 2013, including a 24-17 win in their last matchup in 2024 which saw rookie Braelon Allen scoring two touchdowns including the late game winner.
Let’s break down the Titans’ roster going position by position:
Last year’s first overall pick, Cam Ward, didn’t do too badly as a rookie given his lack of a supporting cast. He passed for over 3,000 yards and had 15 touchdown passes and two more on the ground.
However, he completed under 60 percent of his passes and never passed for more than 265 in any game, although he was over 250 five times. He was also the most sacked quarterback in the league.
While Ward looks to take a step forward this year, Mitchell Trubisky waits in the wings. The veteran has 57 career starts, although only seven of those came over the past five years.
In the Jets’ final game of 2025 in Buffalo, Trubisky came off the bench and threw for four touchdown passes, so his confidence will be high if called upon.
The Titans’ offensive line is built around the veteran Dan Moore at left tackle and two recent first round picks on the right side. Peter Skoronski, the right guard, was a first round pick in 2023 and right tackle JC Latham was the Titans’ top selection in 2024. These three were mainstays last year, missing just five games between them.
At center, former Giants backup Austin Schlottmann comes in as the new starter. He has 18 career starts but never more than four in a season, so this is his first chance to be a full-time starter.
The other starter is a rookie - fifth round right guard Fernando Carmona. The Jets will no doubt be looking to test the 316-pounder.
The two starting tackles gave up eight sacks each last season and Latham led the team with 14 offensive penalties, so there are potential flaws. Pro Football Focus recently ranked the starting group as as a bottom-five unit.
Tennessee also has a new-look bench, headlined by the veteran James Hudson, who has 19 career starts. Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, Garrett Dellinger and Jackson Slater were all rookies last year and started just one game between them. Sixth round rookie Pat Coogan, the number two center, rounds out this unit.
Tony Pollard was a bright spot last season, as he rushed for over 1,000 yards with five touchdowns and added 33 receptions for Tennessee. He’ll provide a good test for the Jets’ reinforced defensive front.
Behind Pollard, Tyjae Spears is the third down back. He caught 45 passes last season but averaged less than four yards per carry and six yards per catch.
Julius Chestnut had a minor role last season and the Titans drafted Nicholas Singleton in the fifth round to add to this group.
The Titans’ wide receivers should be dramatically improved this season. They brought in Wan’Dale Robinson in free agency, drafted Carnell Tate with the fourth overall pick and will get a healthy Calvin Ridley back after the veteran was limited to six starts and 17 receptions last year.
Robinson reunites with new Titans offensive coordinator in Tennessee and the former Giants head coach will know how to get good production from him due to their time together with New York. Robinson caught 92 passes last season, and surpassed 1,000 receiving yards.
Ridley has obviously been a thousand-yard receiver in the past and Tate is expected to be one in the future, so Ward has much better weapons at his disposal this year.
Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike can now move back into reserve roles, which may suit them better, although they combined to catch 89 passes last season.
At tight end, the Titans lost Chig Okonkwo, their leading pass catcher from last season, so they’ll need Gunnar Helm to step up. Helm had 44 receptions last year but averaged just eight yards per catch with two touchdowns.
Another ex-Giant, Daniel Bellinger, will also bring production to this group but David Martin-Robinson is more of a role player and Kylen Granson is a journeyman with just one touchdown in five seasons.
The defensive line looks very familiar, as three of the starters and one of the reserves were recent Jets under Saleh.
Jermaine Johnson will play his first NFL game since being traded against his former team, with John Franklin-Myers, who already played well in two games for the Broncos since leaving the Jets, lined up inside.
The other starting edge is Jacob Martin, who is with his seventh team since the start of the 2021 season, but coming off a bit of a breakout year where he had a career-best 5.5 sacks. Martin is reunited with Saleh, whose Jets traded him for a mid-round pick swap midway through his only year with them.
Tennessee’s other starter is their talisman defensive tackle, Jeffery Simmons. The four-time pro bowler is coming off an all-pro season where he racked up 11 sacks.
One more ex-Jet comes off the bench in the form of Solomon Thomas, who is joined by former 49ers starter Jordan Elliott, recent waiver claim Nazir Stackhouse and fifth round rookie Jackie Marshall in providing depth on the interior. Thomas can, of course, also play outside.
The backups on the edge include the Titans’ second first round pick, Keldric Faulk and two reserves from last year in Truman Jones and Oluwafemi Oladejo. Oladejo was a second round pick but had no sacks in six games as a rookie.
The Titans’ linebacking unit is led by Cedric Gray, who had a team-high 164 tackles last season and wears the defensive headset. Tennessee will need to play without Gray this week though, because he hasn’t cleared concussion protocol following a recent UTV accident.
In Gray’s absence, the Titans will lean on veteran Cody Barton to anchor this unit. He had 81 tackles, 11 pass breakups and three interceptions as a starter last year.
As for who will replace Gray’s role, Saleh downplayed it by lauding the depth of their unit. In particular, he said he was interested to see how second round pick Anthony Hill will develop, so the rookie might get an earlier than expected shot at a full-time workload.
The other options are Owen Pappoe, who started two games in three years in Arizona, and James Williams, who is listed as a starter but was in a rotational role last season.
Tennessee will also elevate Mohamoud Diabate from the practice squad for additional depth. Diabate started 18 games over the past three seasons with the Browns.
Tennessee signed L’Jarius Sneed to a massive contract in 2024, but that hasn’t worked out and he was released in March, forcing the Titans to restock their cornerback position.
They raised eyebrows by signing Cor’Dale Flott and Alontae Taylor to free agent deals worth $15 million a year and over $17 million per year respectively, so it will be interesting to see whether either or both can live up to that in the long run.
Marcus Harris returns in the slot, while Amani Hooker and Kevin Winston will start at safety. Hooker had 81 tackles and eight pass breakups as a starter last year, while Winston started six games as a third round rookie.
Another ex-Jet, Tony Adams, provides depth at safety, along with journeyman former third round pick Terrell Burgess.
In terms of depth at cornerback, Jaylon Jones started every game for the Colts in 2024 and had 100 tackles and 12 pass breakups. In addition, Micah Robinson was poached from Green Bay’s practice squad last season.
The Titans should have a solid kicking game with kicker Joey Slye, punter Tommy Townsend and former pro bowl long snapper Morgan Cox.
Slye missed eight kicks last year but he has a big leg, as he made nine field goals from beyond 50 yards and one game-winner.
Townsend takes over as Tennessee’s new punter after four years with the Chiefs and two in Houston. His net average last season was his lowest since his rookie year, though.
Tennessee has a dangerous return game, led by the all-pro Dike, who had two punt returns for touchdowns last season and led the league in punt return average and all-purpose yards. Robinson is listed as the backup on punts with Chestnut as the backup kickoff returner.
In kick coverage, their most productive tackler last season was Chestnut. Harris and Robinson would be logical candidates to be their primary punt gunners.
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