Let's get straight to the heart of the only question that ever really matters about an NFL team: Are the Tennessee Titans any good?

Here are the facts: This offseason, the Titans fired the third-winningest coach in club history and replaced him with a first-time head coach/quarterback whisperer to position second-year passer Will Levis for success.

They committed to pay roughly $235 million to free agents, plus another $76 million to pry a player off the franchise tag from the defending Super Bowl champs. They used two top-40 picks on frankly gigantic humans to beef up their lines. Fifteen of the 31 players who started at least five games for the Titans last year aren't Titans anymore.

They are certainly a different team. But, like — are they any good?

"I think that we’re going to be a really competitive football team," Titans coach Brian Callahan told the media Tuesday. "To put a number on wins or losses or expectations, a lot of it still remains to be seen. We have a lot of work to do to get to that point."

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It's early, sure. The Titans just reported for training camp Tuesday. They'll practice for the first time as a full unit Wednesday. The first preseason game isn't for another 18 days. Cut day is more than a month out. It's fair for Callahan to reserve judgment on the exact quality of his team.

But that won't stop the broader football world from passing judgment on the Titans. And the judgment thus far is bleak. ESPN's Football Power Index predicts the Titans will finish with the league's fourth-worst record. Vegas has the Titans tied for the league's second-worst Super Bowl odds. Bleacher Report has the Titans ranked 26th in its preseason power rankings, and The Athletic has the Titans ranked 24th. In his game-by-game projections for 2024, ESPN's Mike Clay gives the Titans a better than 50% chance to win just once.

People thinking the Titans will be bad doesn't mean the Titans are doomed to the league's basement. There are tangible, practical reasons to think this team will be better than the 6-11 record it posted last year. Levis should take a step forward. The offensive line and receiving corps should be much stronger. The secondary is significantly better. The coaching staff and front office have modernized their approach to fit league trends.

And there's that buzz word: collaboration. It's what Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk specifically said she was looking for after firing Mike Vrabel. It's what Callahan and GM Ran Carthon say comes naturally in their relationship. It's the big theoretical difference-maker that could align the team's goals with the front office's vision and coaches' expertise to build a winning team. Maybe.

"It’s not going to be one of those pissing matches, if you will," Carthon said Tuesday. "Everyone we’ve brought here, we’ve brought here together. Whatever decision is made is going to be made in the best interest of the team and not a power thing between me and Brian."

So, checklist time: Players? Theoretically better. Schemes? Theoretically better. Team vision and alignment? Theoretically better.

Time to apply the "Duck Test." If the players are theoretically better and the schemes are theoretically better and the alignment is theoretically better, then the team is theoretically better, right?

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Callahan's not ready to make any declarations. Asked what his barometer for success looks like in Year 1, he offered the easiest platitudes: efficiency, technical soundness, competitiveness, aggression. That's not far off from a geometry teacher saying his ideal square is flat with four sides and four right angles.

So let's go back to that all-important question and finally, hopefully find our straight answer.

Are the Titans any good? Let's see.

"The best part about (the season) is we get to put pads on and go play football and get to show people whether we’re up to the task or not," Callahan said. "I think our guys are. I’m excited to see that."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Will the Titans be any good? Brian Callahan defines success for 2024