5 Reasons the Jaguars Will Trounce the Titans in 2026

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Over the next few days, we will take a look around the AFC South and make the case for why we think the Jacksonville Jaguars are the clear-cut best team.

To start the series, we might as well start with the team that is the furthest away from the Jaguars: the Tennessee Titans, who have not defeated the Jaguars since the finale game of the 2023 season -- a game that featured Mike Vrabel, Doug Pederson, Derrick Henry, and Ryan Tannehill.

So, why will the Jaguars be so clearly ahead of the Titans during the 2026 season? Here are a few of the best reasons.

Robert Saleh's Staff

gus bradle — Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Gus Bradley runs drills during the Titans Rookie Camp Day 1 at Vanderbilt Health Football Center in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, May 1, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

This one feels obvious. While the Titans have celebrated their infield single with the hiring of Robert Saleh as head coach (a mistake the Jaguars nearly made the year before), it is tough to find his staff very inspiring. It starts at defensive coordinator, with Saleh bringing on an old Jaguars friend in Gus Bradley. Saleh will call the defense, sure, but any unit Bradley has touched has been torched by Trevor Lawrence over the years, and this one is unlikely to be any different.

Then there was his offensive coordinator hire: Brian Daboll, who just got fired by the New York Giants probably two years or so too late. Daboll is still riding off the name recognition he got when he coached Josh Allen in Buffalo, but that also happens to be the last time he oversaw an offense that wasn't near the bottom of the NFL.

Allen isn't coming with Daboll to Nashville, and Bradley won't do much to help Saleh stop Trevor Lawrence and Liam Coen. Compare this to the Jaguars' staff, which has two future head coaches at the coordinator spots, and there is a big gap here.

The QB Difference

I like Cam Ward a lot as a quarterback. I thought he was the only semi-decent prospect the 2025 class offered, and I think he got dealt a really rough deal by being drafted to a rudderless Titans franchise that was led by one of the worst head coaching hires in recent NFL history with Brian Callahan. With that said, there is no denying the massive difference between Ward entering his second season and Trevor Lawrence, who is entering his sixth season and could be better than he has ever been.

Ward is talented and does have a better (albeit still below-average) supporting cast around him in 2026. But by the numbers, he was one of the least productive passers in the NFL a year ago, and it would take an all-time leap for him to come close to Lawrence, who was an MVP finalist a year ago and should have an even more explosive season in 2026. With this big of a gap at the quarterback position, the Jaguars are simply living in a different world right now than the Titans.

Their OL

The Titans' offensive line is ... not great. Dan Moore was absolutely brutal with the Steelers but, for some reason, was still signed to a massive deal with the Titans before he once again had a struggling season. Then there is J.C. Latham, who has been used as the NFL's highest-paid turnstile by Josh Hines-Allen in each of the last two seasons. The Titans simply do not have the pieces along the offensive line to stop a pass-rush led by Hines-Allen and Travon Walker.

Cam Ward got hit way too often last season, and the Titans simply have not made enough progress to prevent it from happening again this season. With the rate the Jaguars were able to get after Ward a year ago, it is hard to see a scenario where he is not running for his life from the Jaguars and their defensive line again this season.

Who is Great Aside From Simmons?

Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (98) knocks down a Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) pass during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. Nfl Jacksonville Jaguars At Tennessee Titans | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Titans have one of the NFL's truly elite players in star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Simmons has routinely dominated the Jaguars, and the last few Jaguars-Titans games have almost looked like 1-on-11 affairs. With that said, just take a look at the Titans' roster outside of Simmons. There is simply a massive lack of other great, blue-chip players, and there might even be a lack of players who are simply "good" instead of great.

No top defenders, no other pass-rushers, no top blockers, no skill players that scare anyone until Carnell Tate proves himself. This Titans roster has been rough for a few years now, but years and years of draft misses have come back to haunt them, and they are lacking the talented pieces that they would need to compete with the likes of the Jaguars and the Houston Texans in the AFC South during the 2026 season.

Mike Borgonzi Might Be Pretty Bad!

Lastly, I am not sure where the confidence should come from that Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi actually has the Titans on the right path. Borgonzi, to this point, has simply seemed way in over his head with the scale of the Titans' rebuild and his moves this offseason point much more toward a general manager who is feeling the heat to improve.

Despite this year's free agency crop being one of the worst in recent memory, Borgonzi and the Titans were massive spenders. They did so by signing elite players like Wan'Dale Robinso (four years, $70 million), John Franklin-Meyers (three years, $63 million), cornerback Alontae Taylor (three years, $58 million), cornerback Cordale Flott (three years, $45 million), tight end Daniel Bellinger (three years, $24 million), and Mitch Trubiski (two years, $10.5 million). That is, uh, not quite a great list of players.

As for his draft picks, it is obviously too early to speculate on their 2026 crop but the 2025 class brought in a second-round edge rusher in Oluwafemi Oladejo who had just two quarterback hits, a third-round safety in Kevin Winston who only disrupted two passes, and a few backup skill players. He drafted a solid move tight end and return man though which is nice, I suppose.

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