Quarterback Cam Ward did not have a great performance his rookie year. The hope was that he would look better in the preseason and be fun to watch in the regular season. He did not look great in the preseason and if that is an indicator of how Ward is going to play in the regular season for the Tennessee Titans, it is going to be a long season.
Ward’s preseason performance seems to be a major factor in ESPN’s Ben Solak ranking the Titans as one of the least watchable teams in the NFL this season, only better than Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. Here is what Solak had to say about Tennessee’s ranking:
“No team has lost more watchability stock over the preseason than the Titans. I was excited to see sophomore Cam Ward play his first season under
former Giants coach and new Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, but Ward has looked overwhelmed in the new offense through two games of exhibition ball. Of course, the full offense is never really on display in the preseason, so I still harbor plenty of hope. But the bloom is off the rose, at least temporarily.
Robert Saleh's defenses will always be engaging (I'm a big believer in Jeffery Simmons' sleeper candidacy for Defensive Player of the Year) in that they are fast and physical. With a slew of offseason additions, it might be a better group than folks anticipate. I watched Saleh's first head coach tenure with the Jets -- a great defense failed by a struggling offense -- and have no interest in watching the poor man suffer the same fate a second time, if that's how the cards fall in Tennessee.”
How tolerable Titans games are truly rests on Cam Ward. It is entertaining to watch a good defense, but a poor offense quickly outweighs it. Tennessee has the weapons to get points on the board with wide receivers Calvin Ridley, Wan’Dale Robinson and rookie Carnell Tate out of Ohio State. But that is not going to matter much if Ward cannot get them the ball, and based on the preseason, there are not a lot of reasons to be confident in Ward’s ability to run the offense.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Where do the Tennessee Titans rank in ESPN's watchability rankings?
