Three Titans players who have played their way from the bubble to the 53-man roster
For three preseason games every fall, players around the NFL leave it all on the field hoping to play their way onto a 53-man roster. Training camp practice performances turn heads, but it’s usually the gameday production that elevates someone from the roster bubble and helps them make a team. With just one more week […]
For three preseason games every fall, players around the NFL leave it all on the field hoping to play their way onto a 53-man roster.
Training camp practice performances turn heads, but it’s usually the gameday production that elevates someone from the roster bubble and helps them make a team.
With just one more week of training camp and one preseason game to go, here are three Tennessee Titans players that were once on the bubble that I now have making the 53-man roster on cut day.
RB Julius Chestnut
Players like Julius Chestnut are what make the NFL preseason so great. An undrafted free agent out of Sacred Heart University, Chestnut impressed during the 2022 preseason as both a runner and special teamer. Chestnut tallied 106 rushing yards over three preseason games last fall and earned a spot on Tennessee’s initial 53-man roster.
On December 4th in Philadelphia, Chestnut became just the second alumni ever from Sacred Heart to play in an NFL regular season game.
So far in 2023, Chestnut has once again really impressed me as both an offensive and special teams player and has removed all doubt that he should make the Titans' roster once again.
The 22-year-old running back had 98 rushing yards on just 13 carries in Minnesota. That includes a 55-yard touchdown during which he ran 21.6 mph. Not bad for a stout, 228-pound back.
Chestnut is surprisingly shifty and quick for a guy his size and he does all the little things right. He's a willing blocker. He has improved as a pass catcher. He is impactful on special teams.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel named Chestnut a captain for the team's preseason game with the Vikings for good reason.
"He's been a reliable runner for us," said Vrabel about Chestnut on Sunday. "We talked about him being able to continue to catch the football and help and find a role on special teams. And he's a worker, probably one of the best finishers on our football team. When you see guys, receivers and I'm sure you guys watch practice, you'll see ‘36’ hauling ass down the field when he doesn't have the ball, how he plays without football."
OLB Caleb Murphy
Rookie outside linebacker Caleb Murphy seemed like a longshot to make the team when training camp first started, but the tides have turned over the course of this preseason.
The former undrafted free agent signing set the NCAA single-season record for sacks with 25.5 for the Ferris State Bulldogs last season, but was thought to be more of a project pass rusher for pro teams.
It made a lot of sense for Tennessee to stick Murphy on the practice squad and develop him over time. But with the way he has been playing; that may not be possible anymore.
Even as a Divison-II product, Murphy just has a knack for getting after the quarterback. He has three sacks in two preseason games and continues to assert himself on special teams.
"He factors in pass rushing and he continues to try to find a role on special teams," said Vrabel of Murphy earlier this week. "Love his attitude, [Caleb] shows up every day ready to work. Had a great rush in there. Would like to see him try to tomahawk that ball when he spun back in on the second sack. And there's just some few, I would just say, awareness things. Sometimes on a screen or run game, things like that. But as far as rushing, he's shown an ability to win."
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Murphy is still an unfinished product and has some thing to work on. The transition from Division-II football to the NFL is not an easy one. That being said, his ability to win as a pass rusher probably makes him too valuable to lose, and his preseason production might him a candidate to get scooped up onto another 53-man roster if he's waived.
There are definitely one or two spots up for grabs at outside linebacker, and I'd like to see Murphy get one of them.
TE Thomas Odukoya
Tight end Thomas Odukoya has taken his award-winning offseason and turned it into impressive preseason tape.
With Chig Okonkwo, Josh Whyle, and Trevon Wesco locking up tight end roster spots, there's probably room for one more on Tennessee's 53-man roster. In all likelihood, that spot will go to another capable blocker to backup Wesco
If that's the case, Odukoya is the man for the job. After being signed by the Titans as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 NFL Draft as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway program, the 26-year-old dutchman was called "the strongest player on the team" by fellow tight end Chig Okonkwo earlier this month.
"I think he plays strong at the point of attack," Vrabel said of Odukoya on Monday. "I think he, similar to (Trevon) Wesco, he's a big bodied guy that can go out there and try to neutralize some of those edge defenders. Had some really nice blocks on the outside, had one that probably needs to be better down there on the goal line, blocking down and the guy crosses his face."
The offseason hype is real on Odukoya, and as Vrabel pointed out, he's the perfect fit to sit behind Wesco on the depth chart.
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