Good morning, Tennessee Titans fans. It's Sept. 4, I’m Nick Suss and this is Talkin’ Titans. Here’s what we’re discussing today:
- It's time to share your voice
- The youth movement is here
- What I'm most excited to see
How you feeling, Titans fans?
The most important thing to know right now is that it's time to breathe. Football is just about here. The Titans play a game next weekend. Nothing they do between now and then is likely to change their fate. This is the team the Titans are rolling with, and all the months of speculation and coverage informs how we feel about that.
So ... how do you feel about that? I've got five simple questions that I want to ask you all, and you can feel free to reply via email (nsuss@gannett.com). I'll compile our answers, as always, for our season preview newsletters next week.
- On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is want-to-throw-up terrible and 10 is giddy-with-uncontainable-glee great, how do you feel about the Titans right now?
- Which of the following phrases describes how you feel about the Titans heading into Week 1 of 2026 compared to the start of the 2025 season: Significantly worse, mildly worse, about the same, mildly better, significantly better?
- How many years do you think Robert Saleh will be the head coach of the Titans?
- How many games do you think the Titans will win in 2026?
- What year do you think the Titans will make the playoffs next?
A quick news item to discuss
Robert Saleh confirmed this week that rookie Fernando
Carmona Jr., will be the Titans' starter at right guard in the opener. The fact that Carmona won the job, and did so outright by playing above his status as a fifth-round pick, is a huge win for the Titans. If Carmona blossoms into an above-average starter, it'll be a huge win for both GM Mike Borgonzi and the scouting staff, and OL coach Carmen Bricillo and the developmental staff.
I've become fond of writing about the idea that the team you see in 2026 will, essentially, be the team you see in 2027, and the 2027 team is going to be the one with expectations on it. Year 1 in a new stadium. Year 2 under Saleh's regime. Year 3 for Cam Ward. That should be the year the Titans start seeing real results.
So Carmona's value is going to be huge this year, stepping in as a rookie and potentially playing well. But if we're already forecasting ahead to 2027 when the stakes get a little higher for this Titans rebuild, having a Year 2 guard playing next to a right tackle in JC Latham who'll be in Year 4 and playing for a potential big contract, that's a lot of well-motivated beef.
Ranking the games
This first month of the Titans season is loaded with storylines. By the time the Titans are getting ready for Week 5, they'll already have played games against Saleh's former team, OC Brian Daboll's former team, the team that symbolized the end of the Vrabel-Robinson era in Nashville and the team that employs arguably the greatest player in Titans history.
So before we get too into the nitty gritty, here's how I'm ranking the narratives from least fun to most fun.
- No. 4: New York Giants ― This'd be a lot more fun if this was the Gabbin' Giants newsletter. But there's just not as much of a reason for Titans fans to care about how the Giants feel about Daboll.
- No. 3: Philadelphia Eagles ― Everything's been miserable in Titansland since the 2022 loss in Philly that marked the end of Jon Robinson's GM tenure and accelerated the downward spiral into being the league's worst team. Even if A.J. Brown's not there anymore, the memory of that trade defines what the Titans have become.
- No. 2: Baltimore Ravens ― Derrick Henry's the defining player of modern Titans football. He figures to be the first Hall of Famer truly raised by the Tennessee Titans. Seeing him on the opposite sideline is surreality that can't be compared.
- No. 1: New York Jets ― It's a perfect Week 1 narrative. Your new head coach gets to exorcise some demons against the team that's never been as good as they were when your coach was deemed not good enough. The two rosters are littered with players who've switched sides. And it's the start of something new for the Titans. What a game to look forward to.
Thanks for reading! Click through the links below to read more Titans coverage. If you have ideas or questions, email me at nsuss@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Preseason survey time!
