The Tennessee Titans enter the 2026 NFL season vastly improved on paper, being one of the heaviest spenders this past free agency and addressing some major holes in the draft. One of the areas that is still weaker than hoped, however, is the offensive line, causing many to be concerned.
Nobody is worried about Dan Moore and Peter Skoronski holding down the left side, but the center and right guard spots are the positions fans are concerned with. Even JC Latham, who is the definite starter at right tackle, was dealing with an injury during mandatory minicamp, which is bad news considering how last season went for him.
It is not entirely by design that the Titans ended up in this situation, as free agency left them with fewer viable options than they expected to have. That being said, they still did not address the offensive line again until Day 3 of the NFL Fraft, suggesting that they see something in their unit that many do not.
Tennessee Titans projected starters up front yield a functional group
The Titans have had nothing but problems on their offensive line for the majority of the 2020s, but last year felt like the first in awhile where they actually fielded a playable group. For all the valid concerns going into this year, there is a good chance that they will stay out of liability territory once again.
Dan Moore fits this description perfectly, as he was signed to be nothing more or less than an average left tackle, which is exactly what he was in 2025. Peter Skoronski is an elite left guard and could receive a contract extension any day now, so barring injuries, the Titans can go into 2026 having no concerns about Cam Ward's blindside.
Center, as mentioned, is where the worries begin, but Austin Schlottmann is the clear frontrunner for the starting job and appears to have no real competition in his way. He is a veteran who is familiar with Brian Daboll and offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo, and looked just fine when he played last year.
The decision makers in the building almost certainly see Schlottmann as at least an average starter, which makes sense given the evidence surrounding him. Lloyd Cushenberry was not even that for the better part of 2025, so the Titans may have actually upgraded at the center position going into 2026.
Right guard is the one spot on the offensive line where there is real competition occurring. It looks to be between Cordell Volson, who is a league-average NFL starter, and Jackson Slater, who is a fifth round pick from 2025 who has proven nothing in the league. Right guard might feature truly below average play.
The other question is at right tackle, whether or not JC Latham can stay healthy, but as long as he does, you can count on him to be at least average, or maybe even truly good. Robert Saleh did not make it seem like Latham's offseason injury was serious, so until proven otherwise, you can assume Latham will be out there.
When you piece it together, the Titans should have average-to-good play at the tackle spots and league-average play at center. Even though they might be below average at right guard, they have an elite left guard, so that should mean their guards should be above average, and that the overall offensive line should be slightly above average.
Things could still go poorly even if those projections play out because one weak link can derail an offensive line, but it helps when that biggest weak link is not at a true premium position. It is not even on Ward's blindside either, so it is not something the Titans simply cannot overcome.
While they don't want to just be ok with an average offensive line being part of their long-term future, it also takes several years to transform it from being terrible to great. They have to make incremental fixes year-by-year to truly improve it.
Additionally, you have to factor in Bricillo's reputation and performance as a strong offensive line coach, which should mitigate some concerns for the Titans. When you consider every apsect of the picture, it is understandable why Mike Borgonzi did not spend legitimate prime assets to address this group and is ok taking the aforementioned risks.
Add us as a preferred source on Google