The Washington Commanders were among the worst teams in the league last season. They went 4-13, the second-worst record of the campaign. They earned the No. 2 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, hired a new general manager and head coach, and drafted a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels. On Saturday, those same Commanders upset the Detroit Lions in the divisional round to advance to the NFC Championship Game.
The Tennessee Titans must find inspiration in swift Washington Commanders turnaround
The Titans are in a similar spot, having earned the No. 1 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft after enduring a 3-14 campaign. They recently hired a new general manager in Mike Borgonzi. Borgonzi, like Commanders GM Adam Peters, was among the hottest candidates in the league at time of appointment.
Borgonzi, paired with president of football operations Chad Brinker, must decide how to utilize the top overall selection. Don't be shocked if Daniels' immediate success nudges them to draft a quarterback, with Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders qualifying as the top eligible options. The Titans will be coaching Sanders at this year's East-West Shrine Bowl.
Daniels was considered a better QB prospect than both, but few envisioned him enjoying this kind of success so quickly with a franchise in transition. He wasn't even the first quarterback drafted in his class, coming nowhere near receiving consideration over Caleb Williams at No. 1 overall. The Titans would likely draft Daniels in the 2025 class, but it's a fair reminder that consensus opinions mean little when projecting next-level success.
Daniels is the driving force, but the Commanders made other offseason changes. They turned over a significant portion of their roster, but you may be surprised to learn the Titans spent $11 million more than the Commanders did in first-year cash last offseason, and $80 million more in fully guaranteed money. Though Washington signed several mid-tier free agents who've had an incredible impact this season, there was no L'Jarius Sneed or Calvin Ridley-like investment. It sums up why Ran Carthon was fired, and Washington's Peters is earning Executive of the Year consideration.
The Commanders didn't overspend, they simply made better decisions than Tennessee did. Peters even inherited an offensive line as bad or worse as Tennessee's 2023 and 2024 units, but good acquisitions, paired with better quarterback play, has their offensive line playing like the league's most-improved unit. The Titans began that process by adding JC Latham and Lloyd Cushenberrry last offseason. Another one or two good offseason additions could have Tennessee's OL claiming something similar in 2025.
The Titans can't, and won't, replicate everything Washington did in the offseason. They appointed a new head coach, an experienced one in Dan Quinn, who in turn hired a home-run offensive coordinator in Kliff Kingsbury. If the Titans draft a QB, they'll be entrusting their second-year hot-seat coach Brian Callahan to develop that quarterback, and hopefully, position him for instant success. There's also no indication that Callahan plans to move on from his OC, Nick Holz, who doesn't call plays anyway.
The biggest change in Washington occurred in ownership, where the Josh Harris-led group replaced the previously incompetent and troublesome Dan Snyder. Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk isn't going anywhere. With the word "dysfunctional" now being attached to her name after firing a HC and GM in consecutive offseasons, she's now tasked with steadying a rocky ship she played a large role in deflating by exercising patience and placing trust in the executives she's appointed, Brinker and Borgonzi. She'll need to be more hands-off than she's been in recent offseasons, allowing her hand-picked leaders to execute a plan to quickly restore the Titans.
The Titans can't replicate Washington's blueprint, because their changes involved ownership and the head coach. But among the most important steps taken was hiring a quality GM and drafting an outstanding rookie quarterback. The Titans hope Borgonzi is their Peters. Brinker and Adams Strunk deserve credit for landing the best potential candidate. The latter is the bigger question, whether or not Borgonzi sees Ward or Sanders having a Daniels-like impact.
Washington's 2024 campaign is live-action proof that even the most daunting rebuilds could be accelerated through good decision making. Perhaps there's no Daniels in the 2025 NFL Draft class, but his form is precisely why the Titans will analyze Ward and Sanders with terrific detail over the next few months. Borgonzi could restore the Titans to prominence with the right offseason moves.