Since the bye week, the Tennessee Titans have been on the rise, and anyone who has watched them can see how much better they look.
It can be hard to quantify the growth of everyone, so let's focus on the growth of future franchise quarterback Cam Ward. Here are his stats before the bye:
9 games: 57.6% completion, 1,760 yards (195.6 yards per game), 5 TDs, 6 INTs, 14.4 points per game
Here are his numbers after the bye:
7 games: 62% completion, 1,357 yards (193.9 yards per game), 11 TDs, 1 INT, 24.5 points per game
That is a radical transformation, and the whole point of this season was to confirm that Ward could be the quarterback of the future for the Titans. You would think that getting that confirmation would cost the Titans valuable draft positioning, but it turns out that it might not hurt them as badly as you think.
Titans possess opportunity to move up 2026 NFL Draft order in Week 18
As it stands right now, the Titans will pick between No. 2 and 7 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. With a Titans loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18, that range shrinks down from the No. 2-5 range.
The Jaguars have everything to play for Sunday, so there is no reason to think they will pull any punches against the Titans in their home finale. If the Titans lose, then their final draft status will come down to a few things.
First, they need to hope their slim S.O.S. tiebreaker advantage over the Arizona Cardinals remains intact. If the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns, that guarantees that, but if the Browns win, then the Titans want two of these four teams to also lose: New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, and New England Patriots.
If that happens, the outcome of the Titans' first-round pick will be between No. 2 and 4 overall.
Where they pick in that range is simple; they move up a pick with a Giants win and/or a New York Jets win. On paper, it may look difficult to see either team winning, but the Giants are playing a Dallas Cowboys team that is planning on only playing their starters for part of the game, while the Jets are playing a Buffalo Bills team that will almost certainly rest their key starters. Either team could push to finish the season with a win, and each win would help the Titans.
If the Titans can navigate all of that, they would end up with the #2 pick in the draft. While that won't give them the king's ransom they could have gotten for the #1 pick, they would still have a chance to make a blockbuster trade.
With the Las Vegas Raiders almost certainly set to draft a quarterback with the #1 pick, the next quarterback will be up for bid if the Titans are on the clock at No. 2. The Jets, Browns, and Cardinals could all be gunning to add either Dante Moore or Ty Simpson once Fernando Mendoza is drafted, and that could create the perfect trade-down opportunity for the Titans.
It is a lot to think about heading into the final game of the season, but the Titans have done a fantastic job proving that their young team is tangibly growing without completely cratering their draft capital. Fans get to have their cake and eat it too, and might just end up walking into the offseason feeling incredibly optimistic about the future of the franchise and the resources they have to work with in 2026.