The Tennessee Titans released their first unofficial depth chart ahead of their first preseason game, which comes on Saturday afternoon against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
Of course, this depth chart is not set in stone and will undergo changes as training camp and the preseason progress, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t at least some things to glean from it.
For anyone who has been following training camp closely, there weren’t many — if any — surprises. However, that won’t stop us from going over some of the highlights.
Before we get started, a look at the unofficial depth chart in its entirety, just in case you missed it:
Just a note in case there’s any confusion: when there are two lines of names at a certain spot, you start from left to right on the top line, and then go from left to right once again on the second line.
Now, the takeaways.
Not all the rookies are buried
It has become a custom during the Mike Vrabel era for the Titans to bury their rookies on the bottom spots of at least their first unofficial depth chart, but that is not the case this year.
Peter Skoronski is listed in his starting spot, and guys like Tyjae Spears and Josh Whyle are in front of veterans (Spears is not ahead of Hassan Haskins, which is at least mildly interesting). Jaelyn Duncan isn’t the last player listed at left tackle, but he also only has a rookie behind him.
Anyway, you get the idea.
The returners
We’ve seen a slew of names in competition for both punt and kick returner during camp, but we might finally have some insight into how that’s going.
Kyle Philips tops the depth chart at punt returner, followed by Mason Kinsey and Tyjae Spears. Kinsey would need a miracle to make this team, so we can assume it’s between Philips and Spears right now.
While Philips showed flashes of being an effective punt returner in his rookie season, he also had an issue with fumbles. Clearly that hasn’t scared the Titans away from considering him for the job again this year.
Chestnut is tops at kick returner, followed by Haskins and Spears.
I don’t have Chestnut making the roster in my latest projection in favor of Tennessee keeping Haskins, Spears and Jonathan Ward behind Derrick Henry.
Maybe the Titans will keep a fifth back or drop Ward entirely if Chestnut can really show out as a returner (he did average 21.5 yards per return in 2022), but I’m not sure he has the return skills necessary to do that.
I also don’t think Tennessee will carry a fifth.
Ward, who is listed ahead of Chestnut at running back, has stood out more in training camp and is a better and more experienced special teamer, which is vital when considering who will get the fourth running back spot.
The Titans have other return options in Spears and Haskins to go with should Chestnut get cut. Haskins in particular was actually a pretty effective returner in 2022 (21.8 yards per return), and Spears has the skill set to be good there, as well.
Dr. Gibby listed as a starter
All offseason long, Monty Rice was projected to be the starter next to Azeez Al-Shaair, but as training camp has progressed it has become more and more apparent that’s no lock, as Gibbens has been getting a ton of reps with the first team and, by all accounts, has at least held his own.
Now it looks like it might be Gibbens’ job to lose. His emergence as a favorite to start is one of the bigger surprises of the offseason.
Malik Willis ahead of Will Levis
This certainly isn’t surprising given Willis was announced as the No. 2 quarterback going into training camp, but it’s noteworthy nonetheless considering how talked about this competition is.
The two signal-callers have been pretty even in terms of their respective performances in training camp, which is actually great news for Levis considering Willis already has a full year under his belt.
However, Levis still has some work to do if he wants to supplant Willis for the No. 2 job. How these two do in preseason will be the deciding factor in who wins the backup role.
Chris Hubbard at right tackle
The expectation has been the Titans would start Andre Dillard at left tackle, Peter Skoronski at left guard, Aaron Brewer at center and Daniel Brunskill at right guard, which is exactly how things turned out here.
Right tackle is really the only question mark upfront, but that also fell how I expected in the wake of Jamarco Jones being released, with the Titans listing Chris Hubbard, who has the most experience by far of the right tackle candidates, as the starter there.
Now, that doesn’t mean Hubbard is locked in by any means, but he is no doubt the frontrunner at the moment.
Elijah Molden listed at safety
This is the first time Molden has ever been listed at safety; however this isn’t a total surprise given the fact that the former third-round pick has been getting reps there this offseason.
This doesn’t mean Molden won’t still get opportunities in the slot, though, as we’ve seen the Titans deploy safeties there before, with Amani Hooker being an example.
Tennessee didn’t list a third cornerback spot to show who is tops for the slot job. Roger McCreary has been considered the favorite and is listed as a co-starter across from Kristian Fulton, along with Sean Murphy-Bunting. Perhaps that’s a sign McCreary is the guy, but we can’t say for sure.
Caleb Shudak ahead of Trey Wolff
Again, not something that’s a surprise considering Shudak is the elder statesman in a competition that has been very close between he and Wolff.
It’s still noteworthy, though, as this is one of the bigger competitions going on in training camp. I still think this can go either way and will really be determined during the preseason.
Racey McMath ahead of Reggie Roberson
We can lock in five wide receivers right now with DeAndre Hopkins, Treylon Burks, Kyle Philips, Chris Moore and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine — but there could be one spot up for grabs if the Titans carry a sixth.
Based on this depth chart, McMath gets the nod over Roberson, which would be a surprise since Roberson has been one of the bigger standouts of Tennessee’s entire camp, while McMath has been very quiet.
Alize Mack among top-four TEs
I have the Titans keeping four tight ends in my latest 53-man projection, and Mack was one of those four tight ends for the first time since I started predicting the initial group.
I originally had Kevin Rader in the final tight end spot because of his blocking ability, but Mack has been flashed, leading to his getting the nod.
Mack offers more in the way of pass-catching than the guys behind him, but he’s going to have to prove to be a plus blocker if he wants to cement his spot. The jury is still very much out on that.
