NASHVILLE — When corner Roger McCreary was taken in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, there was no question about his skill set. How he fit in a fairly crowded, young secondary for the Tennessee Titans was less clear.

Through 16 camp practices in Tennessee, McCreary has already show enough to know that he'll play a lot of football as a rookie for his new team.

The Titans beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their second preseason game on Saturday, and McCreary made his debut. While the former Auburn Tiger only played 19 defensive snaps in the exhibition, it was notable to see him take the field on the first play as one of Tennessee's starting outside corners. Consistently high-level practice performances has shown McCreary to be ahead of the rookie curve.

The question is where the Titans coaching staff will choose to deploy him.

Titans corner options are ideal

McCreary, Kristian Fulton, Elijah Molden and 2021 first-round pick Caleb Farley are a strong Top 4 corner rotation for Tennessee.

Ahead of this off-season, the development of Farley was a top the list of story lines to monitor. To Farley's credit, he has shown considerable growth both in practice and game action since his rookie year was done for the year in Week 6. What we are seeing from Farley, thus far, is not a finished product.

McCreary entered the competition playing the position of corner at a higher level.

"(McCreary's) not a rookie. I don’t feel him as a rookie," defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said earlier this month. "He’s poised, he doesn’t panic in coverage, he stays square, he challenges, he’s got a good understanding of what it takes to play man-to-man, and we saw that stuff from his college tape. He’s been able to come in here and translate. He’s been outside, he’s been inside, he’s handled it. I’ve been really pleased with where he’s at. He just has to continue to progress."

McCreary's got a considerable resumé

Where McCreary ends up taking the bulk of his 2022 snaps in the Titans defense is impossible to say.

If slot starter Molden is healthy, it would be an easy case to make for Fulton and the rookie as the Top 2 outside options. Should Molden's health suffer any setbacks, McCreary has been taking snaps inside in his absence and has the speed to play there. Farley on the outside opposite Fulton would make the most sense in that scenario but, at this point, the former first-rounder seems more difficult player to place.

Tennessee's staff will play whomever benefits the most from that particular week's match-up advantage.

Farley's recruitment as a wide receiver in college and transition to corner cost him college reps that McCreary has in spades. A season lost to injury and a global pandemic also kept Farley from developing as a defensive back faster. Meanwhile, McCreary found ways to get on the field for Auburn as a sophomore and claim a starting role for the following two seasons.

While the Titans continue to bring Farley along, McCreary's presence going from luxury to necessity comes at the exact right time.

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Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.