Cam

Ward

Davenport points out that Brian Daboll ran RPOs on 12.6 percent of their plays last year, fourth-most in the league, and notes that Ward had a lot of success running them in college at Miami. We don’t know that Ward is an upper-tier NFL athlete in space, but every bit of rushing production could help him for fantasy football purposes. Perhaps being in a scheme he’s more familiar with could help as well. Ward, who sprained his AC joint in the Titans’ Week 18 loss to Jacksonville, does not currently have a timetable to return to the field but Titans GM Mike Borgonzi said he was “doing well.”

With Joe Brady landing the Bills head coaching job, Daboll is resigned to take over as OC for head coach Robert Saleh’s Titans. Daboll, who served as Bills offensive coordinator before becoming Giants head coach, will be charged with molding second-year QB Cam Ward following Ward’s uneven rookie year in which he was among the NFL’s most inefficient passers. Turning Ward into a viable starting NFL quarterback will be Saleh’s priority for 2026 as he tries to establish a winning culture for a team that has struggled mightily in recent years.

Daboll is reportedly prioritizing the Buffalo job after serving as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. If the Bills pass him over, Russini said Daboll will likely join Robert Saleh as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator. Daboll would be tasked with helping Cam Ward become an NFL-viable starter quarterback after a disastrous rookie season in which he threw 15 touchdowns and seven picks over 17 games. Ward was among the most inaccurate passers in the league.

Though Smith technically remains the Steelers OC, he’ll be elsewhere in 2026 after head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down on Tuesday afternoon. Smith served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2020, creating a dominant run-heavy offense quarterbacked by Ryan Tannehill. If the Titans bring back Smith as the team’s head coach, he would likely install a similarly run-first offense around QB Cam Ward. Probably it wouldn’t be a great development for Ward’s fantasy prospects in 2026 and beyond. Smith’s Steelers offense in 2025 ranked 18th in EPA per play. They had the league’s sixth highest rushing success rate.

Kingsbury’s work with young quarterbacks is certainly a selling point for both the Giants and Titans after Kingsbury’s success with Jayden Daniels in 2024. Kingsbury’s Washington offense was surprisingly efficient in 2025 despite the team missing Daniels for much of the regular season. Washington’s offense in 2025 was somehow 16th in EPA per play. They were ninth in offensive success rate and 12th in yards per play, ahead of postseason teams like the Broncos, Panthers, Eagles, Chargers, Jaguars, and Steelers. Kingsbury would be a boon for either Jaxson Dart or Cam Ward in 2026 and beyond.

It’s good news for the Titans quarterback. While exams revealed an AC joint sprain in his shoulder, no surgery will be required. It’s the best-case scenario for the quarterback who will turn 24 in May. Ward will be under the tutelage of a new coaching staff next year as he looks to improve his accuracy.

Ward’s unorthodox delivery was hotly debated last winter ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, when Ward, 23, went first overall to the Titans. His mechanics have been shaky at times in his miserable rookie campaign in Tennessee. “While beauty is in the eye of the beholder with a QB’s delivery, there are some around the NFL who are concerned his accuracy will have a ceiling if he doesn’t refine his mechanics,” Howe said. One NFL evaluator who spoke to Howe said Ward’s scrambling ability could compensate for his inaccuracy over the long haul (Ward ranks 31st out of 33 qualifying quarterbacks in completion rate over expected). “The great equalizer is his ability to scramble and make plays,” an NFL executive said. “Who knows if he’ll ever be strong on schedule. It’s hard to know how much it’s sustainable to make plays off schedule outside of the offense.” Perhaps a new coaching staff can clean up Ward’s iffy throwing motion ahead of the 2026 season.

Despite taking another loss, Ward once again looked much better than he did in the first three months of the year. He threw multiple touchdowns for the fourth week in a row and didn’t throw a pick for the third straight week. Ward almost made a mind-bending throw in the Titans’ penultimate drive. He stepped up through the pocket and dove forward while throwing to his left, finding Tyjae Spears in the flat. Spears took off for a long gain, but the replay showed Ward’s knee hitting the ground just before the ball left his hand. Ward’s physical attributes have never been the issue, but his decision-making isn’t always on point. That was on full display when he didn’t notice Saints EDGE Chase Young running him down behind the line of scrimmage. Young simply took the ball out of his hands and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown. Still, Titans fans will take the bad with the good. Ward has worked his way into the QB2 ranks heading into the final week of the regular season.

Ward’s third straight two-score start was his second straight without a turnover. It constitutes genuine progress even if Ward was facing a Chiefs team that looked like it would rather be anywhere else. Ward spread the ball around, finding six different pass catchers for at least two grabs and four for at least three. Also taking fewer sacks of late — just six over his past four starts — Ward is both playing faster and cutting down on his negative snaps. He is also developing connections with several young Titans skill players, even if this is a group in desperate need of another talent infusion. Ward could continue his progress in Week 17 against a competitive, if hardly shutdown, Saints defense.

Ward has become a more efficient game manager as the season has gone on, which is a compliment to the rookie based on how the beginning of the season went. He eluded rushers in the pocket, extended some plays with his legs, and threw the ball away instead of taking unnecessary shots downfield. His touchdown throw to Gunnar Helm in the first half was a frozen rope, but he also missed a wide-open Van Jefferson for a potential 40-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Ward remains inconsistent, but this Titans offense is not as giving to opposing defenses as it had been earlier, which is a step in the right direction. We’d like to see them let Ward take a few more shots down the field, considering they’re 2-12 and fully in development mode. Perhaps next week, against a Chiefs team that was just eliminated from the playoffs, would be the right time.