Sometimes it is hard to remember that the Tennessee Titans' front office is living by the "draft-and-develop" mantra.
While Mike Borgonzi has shown that he isn't afraid to use free agency to aggressively patch holes with young, talented players who can be long-term answers, the goal is to create a sustainable roster filled with the right mix of veterans and ascending prospects.
Knowing that, the Titans plans on the offensive line make more sense than many initially believed.
Why you shouldn't write off the Tennessee Titans' offensive line in 2026
Right now, the current projected offensive line for the Titans from left to right is Dan Moore, Peter Skoronski, Austin Schlottmann, Cordell Volson, and J.C. Latham. While there are a couple of decent players, that offensive line as a whole isn't exactly inspiring.
However, when you look at the room as a whole, you can see what the Titans are thinking, and this OTC article did a great job pointing out what the front office is doing. When you look at the 10 most valuable offensive linemen on the roster, the Titans have four veterans and six players on rookie contracts.
Assuming that a Skoronski deal will happen before the season, that would put them at an even five veterans (Skoronski, Moore, Schlottman, Volson, and Andre James) and five players on rookie contracts (Latham, Jackson Slater, Fernando Carmona, Pat Coogan, and Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson).
When you break it down further into position groups, you have one veteran tackle with two rookie-contract tackles, and four veteran interior linemen with three rookie-contract interior linemen. Purely in terms of layering players in a way where you can have a stable group of starters and a young crop of players developing behind them, the Titans have done an excellent job.
This should lead to aggressive and competitive training camp battles in a few weeks. How much can Slater and Coogan push Volson and Schlottmann, respectively, for spots on the starting offensive line? Can Crenshaw-Dickson develop into a decent third tackle, or is that something that the Titans need to address before the season starts with a possible reunion?
While this line won't blow anyone away on paper, that OTC article successfully points out that this offensive line is only the 25th "most expensive" offensive line in the NFL after quantifying contracts for young players.
The team could have done more to improve the top end of the depth chart along the offensive line, and this front office could still add more offensive line talent if they wanted to; never say never. However, if they don't, it is because they believe that these position battles are important and that one of the young players might be able to beat out someone like Volson, where they might not be able to beat out an older veteran like Kevin Zeitler.
Is this the best thing for Cam Ward in 2026? Probably not, but this team needs to know if any of these Day 3 investments can be something in the NFL, and they seem to be willing to bet that the drop-off isn't so bad that it will do any damage to Ward or his development.
Borgonzi has earned enough trust over the past two years to hear him out, but if this doesn't work out, expect the team to overcorrect in a major way after 2026, similar to what they did at the cornerback or wide receiver positions this offseason (multiple high-priced veterans or a high-priced veteran and a highly touted rookie).
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