Last year, the Tennessee Titans' offensive line wasn't good, but what is worse is that they weren't physical enough.
Without going as far as to call them soft, there were too many times when defenders took liberties with running backs or Cam Ward, and they weren't even confronted about it. Maybe most egregiously, Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair had a late hit on Ward that was suspension worthy, and the offensive line was too busy jogging to the sideline to do anything about it.
Frankly, that is pathetic, and with that attitude, the 2025 line was always doomed to fail. However, current happenings in training camp show that this offensive line may be ready to break away from that discouraging trend.
Tennessee Titans offensive line looks tougher in training camp than it was a year ago
We saw right tackle JC Latham fight Jeffery Simmons at practice. Rookie blocker Fernando Carmona is writing the best story after his preseason showing the San Francisco 49ers, and Austin Schlottman's musings on camp fights being the expectation because that is what passion looks like; those are the words and actions that speak to a change in the personality of this unit.
On Monday, Latham went into detail about what happened in his fight with Simmons. The gist of it was simple. Simmons and Tyjae Spears are great friends, so they give each other a lot of grief. Latham had a certain allowance for their jawing, but as an offensive lineman in charge of protecting the backs, there is a line where Latham has to step in and defend his offensive teammate regardless of Simmons' and Spears' friendship.
Relationships aside, once you step between those white lines, the offense and defense are competing with one another. If you step over that line, Latham will take it upon himself to uphold the "standard" as he called it.
That is exactly what you want, and that's the type of personality traits the Titans have wanted to see in Latham from the beginning.
Mix in the feistiness and physicality that you have seen from the interior offensive linemen, and you have an offensive line that appears built to inflict pain on opposing defenses.
Are they going to be the best or the cleanest group? No, probably not, but at the end of the day, offensive line play is about creation and prevention. Can you create holes for running backs and time for the quarterback, and can you prevent your defender from making the play? Want-to is half the battle, and the Titans appear to have more toughness up front.
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