Offensive mastermind Brian Daboll joins Robert Saleh’s staff to unlock Cam Ward’s potential, sparking questions about whether the former top pick can replicate Josh Allen's elite development.
The Tennessee Titans are still a few months out from the season opener against the New York Jets on Sept. 13.
Although it won't be at MetLife Stadium, it'll still be a reunion of sorts for head coach Robert Saleh as he faces his former team.
It'll also be a chance to see how much young quarterback Cam Ward has improved now that he has a year of NFL experience under his belt. To help Ward in his progression, Saleh added former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll to his coaching staff.
Daboll will be the offensive coordinator, but his specialty is working with promising young quarterbacks like Ward. Daboll coached the likes of Josh Allen as the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator.
Last season, Daboll worked with Jaxson Dart until he was fired later in the year. Daboll has a proven track record with quarterbacks.
ESPN's Dan Graziano still wondered if Daboll could do the same thing for Ward. In his latest ESPN article, Graziano asked a question about every NFL team.
For the Titans, it was what Brian Daboll will be able to do for Cam Ward? Graziano reminded everyone how the Giants wanted to trade up with the Titans in the 2025 NFL Draft to pick Ward.
Now that Daboll gets to finally coach him, Graziano wonders if he can get the most of Ward.
"The former Giants coach who spearheaded the team's draft pursuit of Dart in 2025, Daboll is now Tennessee's offensive coordinator," Graziano said. "As such, he is tasked with the development of Ward, who was the No. 1 pick in that same draft and showed a lot of promise in his rookie season. The Giants had the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft and made an effort to trade up for Ward, but the Titans weren't selling the pick. But now Daboll gets to work with him anyway. Tennessee's hope is that Ward makes the kind of jump Allen did early in his career when Daboll was offensive coordinator in Buffalo, or he has the kind of season Jones had in Daboll's first season with the Giants. The Titans added a lot to their disappointing wide receiver room in the hopes of building something quickly around Ward. Daboll's résumé tells us he should be able to identify Ward's strengths and weaknesses, designing a playbook that helps him thrive as early as this season."
While Allen is the biggest success story on Daboll's resume, there are some disappointments.
Most recently, Dart was benched halfway through the 2025 season in favor of Jameis Winston. Before Dart, there was the Daniel Jones experiment.
Daboll took over as the Giants' head coach in 2022, with Jones as his starting quarterback. Jones threw for 3,205 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in Daboll's first season.
He then tore his ACL in 2023 and played only six games before being benched in 2024 for Tommy DeVito after struggling that season.
Fortunately for Ward, the Titans gave him extra help this offseason, which isn't something Daboll had the luxury of with the Giants last year.
Wan'Dale Robinson joined the team in free agency. He received a lot of attention last season with the Giants after Malik Nabers suffered a torn ACL. He now has Calvin Ridley and rookie Carnell Tate to take the pressure off of him.
Ward now has a competent receiver room after his starters at the beginning of last season were Ridley, Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson.
Can Daboll get a second year leap out of Ward? He has the tools to do so.
