Can you actually win a job in May in the NFL?

That’s a question that a lot of our conversations in the spring revolve around. OTA‘s in the modern NFL are a pretty watered down, simplistic form of football practice. For the most part it’s a way for the new guys to get their feet wet in the system, and for young players to learn the lay of the land ahead of training camp.

But every single day of life in the National Football League is a dog-eat-dog world. Everything revolves around competition. And for a team like the Tennessee Titans, there are a handful of positions that could be up for grabs, depending on how key contenders perform this off-season. That begins, yes, all the way back here in May.

So with that in mind, let’s look at six players who have the most to gain by showing out before training camp.

CB Marcus Harris

The Titan spent big at cornerback in free agency, signing Cor’Dale Flott and Alontae Taylor at the top of the market. But they left the slot cornerback position alone, making Marcus Harris a big winner in March. Harris was a Day 3 pick in 2025, and is now heading into his second year having gotten more experience as a rookie than anybody probably anticipated. The three starting cornerbacks for this team were out of the rotation in the blink of an eye last fall, meaning guys like Harris had to step up arguably before they were ready.

But Harris showed well! So much so, that this new coaching staff has come in and seems to be trusting him to win the slot cornerback position. Even though players aren’t in pads just yet, he can show his field division during OTA’s and mandatory minicamp. If he can demonstrate an understanding of the new system, he can secure himself a starting position in 2026.

WR Elic Ayomanor

Full disclosure, I am known by some as the leader of the Elic Ayomanor fan club. I was a big advocate of him as a prospect in last year’s draft class, and thought the Titans got fantastic value taking him at the end of the fourth round.

He was a Day 1 starter as a rookie, but ended up being a textbook example of a young player asked to do too much. He hit the rookie wall pretty hard. He showed flashes of what he’s capable of early in the season, but fell into the background as his rookie counterpart Chimere Dike started to pop down the stretch.

After a big off-season of change, Ayomanor has gone from a Day 1 starter to fighting for the fourth or fifth wide receiver spot on this team. And yet, I continue to hear his name mentioned by this new coaching staff. He’s somebody that I’m told has had a particularly focused off-season, and there’s a healthy level of intrigue about what he looks like ahead of his second year.

He has the size and strength within his larger frame to be a useful player on a team that doesn’t have a whole lot of big-bodied options to play X. If he can prove to his coaches this summer that he’s taking the leap, he could have a bigger role in this deeper wide receiver room than I think a lot of people are expecting.

LB Anthony Hill Jr.

When the Titans traded up into the back of the 2nd Round to draft former Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr, a lot of people penciled him in as the starting mike linebacker for this team. And while I think that may eventually be what he becomes, I’m not rushing as quickly to write off veteran Cody Barton for that job.

Being an elite communicator is key for the position hill hopes to one day fill, and that requires a high level understanding of your playbook. Linebacker is one of the trickier positions to transition from college to the NFL, and I could see it taking him some time to prove to his coaches that he’s ready for the full-time responsibility.

But if he’s going to prove me wrong, that starts right now. If he can be a leader on this team as most everybody is learning this new system, he could set himself up to really compete for the starting job in August.

RB Kalel Mullings

Kalel Mullings feels like one of the more forgotten men on this roster. He was a Day 3 pick in Mike Borgonzi’s first draft class, but injuries kept him from playing as early as one would hope.

Once the Titans’ 2025 season was fully in garbage-time mode, Mullings returned to play and showed well enough in limited action to be curious about what he could do in a healthy second season. But the Titans signed a veteran running back head coach Saleh is familiar with in Michael Carter, and they drafted another Day 3 option in Nick Singleton. Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears aren’t going anywhere, so it’s hard to see how Mullings is fighting for anything more than RB5. That’s not a position that’s sure to make the initial 53-man roster!

He needs to really wow some folks this summer if he’s going to unbury himself on this depth chart.

EDGE Femi Oladejo

Robert Saleh will not stop mentioning Femi Oladejo. the second year, second round edge rusher had his rookie season derailed by injury. He’s back and healthy now, and this is a massive year for him to show he’s developed.

The good news for Oladejo is that Saleh rotates his defensive line perhaps more than any other coach in the league. No matter how buried on the depth chart it may seem he is, he’s going to get opportunities on game day to prove himself. But setting yourself up to be near the top of the pecking order in the summer is the best way to maximize your chances. He needs to get ahold of this new system quickly, and do what Saleh keeps promising to set him up to do: think less, and rush more.

Every young IOL contender

All right, we’re cheating by naming a handful of guys with this last one. How much can offensive lineman actually do this time of year? Very, very little. Perhaps the least of any position group when it comes to applicable skills. But this competition on the interior is so tight as it is, every little upper hand will matter. Gaining one now will be an advantage come training camp time. Particularly at starting center, proving you have the cerebral capability to be the quarterback of the O-line and help the real quarterback set protections will be key. That’s the kind of thing you can start to show your coaches now, and everybody not named Austin Schlottman or Cordell Volson needs to prove that their younger upside is trustworthy enough to take a shot on.