Daboll’s Titans Are Doing the Exact Opposite of What Every Other Team Is Copying

The Brian Daboll Titans offense is already turning heads this offseason, and not because it copies what everyone else is doing.

Robert Saleh walked into his first year as Titans head coach and made one of the smartest calls possible. He handed Brian Daboll complete control of the offense. Saleh is a defensive coach through and through. He knows exactly where his expertise ends and where someone else’s begins. That autonomy shows up in everything happening at OTAs right now.

Daboll spent the spring installing his system. The early returns look nothing like the zone-based, tight-end-heavy blueprint that has taken over so many teams.

Daboll’s Scheme Refuses to Follow the Copycat Script

Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay changed the league years ago. Their outside-zone, play-action systems became the standard. Most teams still chase some version of it.

Daboll’s offense sits in a different lane. It is multiple. It is versatile. It does not live and die by zone concepts, though it can borrow them when the situation calls for it. The foundation is timing, route stems, and creating conflict for linebackers and safeties. That approach traveled with him from Buffalo to the Giants and now to Nashville.

Saleh has already said publicly that he likes how different it looks from most of the league. He should. In a copycat sport, the teams that zig while everyone else zags usually find an edge.

The Rest of the NFL Is Going Heavy at Tight End

Last season the Rams ran 13 personnel — three tight ends — on roughly 30 percent of their snaps according to Sumer Sports tracking. That number was more than double the next-closest team. Pittsburgh checked in at 13.2 percent. The copycat wave started immediately.

The Rams doubled down this offseason by drafting another tight end in the second round. Houston and Jacksonville both spent high picks on the position. The Jaguars’ front office even carries McVay DNA through GM James Gladstone.

Suddenly every team wants multiple tight ends who can block and create mismatches.

The Titans went the other direction.

Titans Invested in Weapons Cam Ward Can Actually Use

Tennessee selected Carnell Tate fourth overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. They signed Wan’Dale Robinson to a four-year, $70 million deal to reunite with the coach who developed him in New York. Calvin Ridley, Chimere Dike, and Elic Ayomanor give them one of the deeper receiver rooms in the AFC South.

That is not an accident. It is a deliberate roster construction.

Daboll’s Giants offense from last season used 11 personnel on 60.46 percent of snaps. They went to 12 personnel 32.53 percent of the time. Only 5.07 percent of their plays came out of 13 personnel. Those numbers tell you exactly what kind of attack he wants to run.

The previous Titans staff under Brian Callahan and Mike McCoy used 12 personnel on just 16.53 percent of snaps despite having Chig Okonkwo and Gunnar Helm. They rarely threatened defenses with two tight ends on the field at once.

Daboll changed that math the moment he arrived.

Daniel Bellinger and Gunnar Helm Fit the New Plan

The Titans signed Daniel Bellinger in free agency. Another former Giant. Another Daboll reunion. They are counting on a sophomore jump from Gunnar Helm. Together they give the Titans the two-tight-end personnel Daboll actually wants to use.

They still lack the depth to run 13 personnel with any regularity. That is fine. Daboll never relied on it anyway.

What they do have is the personnel to stay in 11 personnel for long stretches and sprinkle in 12 personnel to create different conflict for linebackers. That is exactly how you attack a league that is loading up on big bodies in the box.

This Setup Is Built for Cam Ward’s Growth

Cam Ward already has a relationship with Daboll that dates back to pre-draft meetings and dinners with his family. That trust matters. Ward is entering his second season with better weapons, a clearer scheme, and an offensive coordinator who has full authority to call what he sees.

The Titans are not trying to turn Ward into a Shanahan-style quarterback. They are giving him rhythm throws, intermediate options, and the ability to attack the defense horizontally and vertically with three receivers on the field. That matches his strengths.

You can feel the different energy around the building already. OTAs have that focused, purposeful feel when a new coordinator has the freedom to impose his vision and the roster finally matches it.

The Copycat League Just Got a New Counterpunch

Most teams are still chasing the Rams’ 13 personnel blueprint. The Titans are doing something else entirely.

They are betting that a young quarterback with live arms and a loaded receiver room can create more problems for defenses than another jumbo package. They are betting that Daboll’s multiple, timing-based system will look different enough to create real advantages in 2026.

Saleh made the hire. He gave Daboll the keys. Now the Titans get to find out what happens when an offense refuses to follow the herd.