You can never write off a player this early. There is still most of the summer and an entire training camp for players to showcase improvement and earn their place on an NFL team.

But summer practices are certainly a useful tool for tracking the development and dynamics of every NFL roster. That includes a few who's stock appears to be dropping early. 

OTAs and minicamp help give us an idea of which players could be in for some struggles if they don't turn things around. That concern can be caused by their performance on the field, their health, or maybe just the level of competition at their position.

Here's a look at three Tennessee Titans players I believe saw their stock drop following Titans OTAs and minicamp. Note: Because it can be difficult to accurately assess offensive/defensive line play (both good and bad) this time of year, linemen and edge rushers were not considered for this list.

1. Kristian Fulton, CB

Any negativity about Kristian Fulton this summer has very little to do with his play on the field and everything to do with his health and the vibes around the Titans’ building. 

When on the field, Fulton still has the ability to play like a true CB1. He has demonstrated that time and time again.  In 2022, Fulton held both Davante Adams and Michael Pittman Jr. to just 36 receiving yards in back-to-back weeks and going into a contract season, he'll be penciled in as Tennessee's top corner when training camp rolls around.

But the injury history brings a negative tone to any discussions regarding Fulton's future with the team, and I never got the vibe that there was a ton of internal confidence in Fulton's ability to stay healthy.

At the end of the 2022 season, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel singled out Fulton for his chronic soft tissue injuries and suggested that Fulton needs to find a better way to train moving forward. But rather than taking part in voluntary team workouts this offseason and embracing Vrabel's "build the callus" philosophy, Fulton was away from the team developing a new training regiment on his own.

Could that prove to be the right move over time? Most definitely. Was Fulton saying all the right things when he finally returned to the practice field? 100 percent. Fulton was unbothered by Vrabel calling him out, says he's on the same page as his head coach, and confidently predicted that he'd play a full 17 games this fall. 

That's all good and well, but Fulton is going to have to prove it before anyone's confidence in him will be full restored. When media members asked Titans coaches about Kevin Byard's absence from voluntary OTA's, there were very clearly no doubts or hesitations about Byard being away from the team. Everyone in the building knew Byard would come back ready to go. I never got the same vibes from the responses to Fulton's absence.

I don't think Fulton is one the "stock down" guys that will lose opportunity or have a down year on the field, he's still Tennessee's best corner by a solid margin. But the energy around the former LSU Tiger has definitely shifted heading into 2023.

2. Reggie Roberson Jr., WR

Many Titans fans and football analysts were high on the potential of Reggie Roberson Jr. when Tennessee signed him as an undrafted free agent out of SMU last year. Roberson had a very consistent body of work over five collegiate seasons and the athleticism to be impactful on special teams.

While still a raw talent, Roberson's training camp and preseason performance last fall showcased some real potential. In Tennessee's preseason matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on August 20th, Roberson was the Titans' leading receiver with four catches and 47 receiving yards despite having just 117 passing yards as a team.

Tennessee waived Roberson at the end of training camp, but brought him back to the practice squad in late November and signed him to a reserve/future contract after the regular season.

Titans fans are desperate for a savior in the wide receiver room and while some are hoping to see Roberson get his opportunities on the 53-man roster this season, he might be even further down the depth cart now than he was this time last year.

Rookie wide receivers Colton Dowell, Kearis Jackson, and Tre'Shaun Harrison all had bigger roles in team period during OTAs and minicamp and I thought Roberson struggled a lot with his drops in live reps.

There is an opportunity in this Titans wide receiver room for a number of guys to earn their way onto the 53-man roster, but at present, Roberson is probably somewhere between WR7-WR9. That's not a great spot to be in heading into camp and Tennessee could still add talent to the room in the coming weeks.

3. Caleb Shudak, K

The Titans’ kicking competition is one of the more overlooked storylines at the moment that I think will really ramp up throughout training camp. 

After releasing veteran Randy Bullock this offseason, the Titans brought in undrafted rookie Trey Wolff from NC State to compete for the job with second-year kicker Caleb Shudak.

Shudak joined the Titans following the 2022 NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa. While the original plan was for Shudak to compete for the job with Bullock during training camp last year, Shudak never made it that far after going on the shelf during OTAs with an undisclosed leg injury that landed him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

But even with a serious leg injury, the Titans liked Shudak enough to keep him around during his recovery. He later kicked in one regular season game (Week 12 vs. Cincinnati) when Bullock was out with a calf injury.

Tennessee sticking things out with Shudak last season would typically give me a lot of confidence that they were hopeful he could win the job this season and be their guy moving forward. But from what I saw during OTAs and minicamp, Wolff might be on a better trajectory to win the job this fall.

Wolff has a much more powerful leg than Shudak does. His kicks from 50+ in minicamp probably had the distance to go through from 60. That's a quality Tennessee never had in Bullock and a weapon most fans would really like to see them utilize in 2023. 

Ultimately, this competition will come down to accuracy from 40-49 yards out. That's what special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman refers to as "the money zone" and what Tennessee looks for first and foremost in a placekicker. That's exactly what Shudak should excel at, but after watching Shudak have what felt like some real inconsistencies with his accuracy in minicamp, Wolff might be going into training camp with a leg up, no pun intended. 

Three Titans players on the rise after OTAs/minicamp

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