The Tennessee Titans take the field for the first time in the Robert Saleh era tonight, on the road in Santa Clara to face the San Francisco 49ers in their 2026 preseason opener.

As is the case every preseason, players on the back end of the depth chart have the most to gain or lose in these matches. Really, anybody who isn’t a solidified starter has something on the line. Saleh has said throughout training camp that his starters will play some, and during joint practice on Tuesday he alluded to them playing more than one series. The total amount of play is still to be determined, but all of that will iron itself out in the first quarter before giving way to the players competing for starting jobs, backup jobs, and back-end roster spots.

Here are five players with particularly high stakes that I’ll be watching:

The right guard competition: Fernando Carmona, Jackson Slater, and Cordell Volson

The right guard competition has gone from a two-man race to potentially a three-man race in the past couple of practices. Still, I have my reservations about how much rookie right guard Fernando Carmona can do between now and opening day to prove to his coaching staff that he’s the right man for the job. Tennessee drafted him, and so they would obviously like for him to one day become the starter. But there are two more experienced players in that room in Jackson Slater and Cordell Volson.

OC Brian Daboll and offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo have alluded to the fact that their emphasis on the offensive line is smarts and toughness first, athletic ability second. Understanding what’s going on, having a deep bag of skills, and having well-rounded ability at the position are the things that matter most. The veterans are the ones I still think are more likely to win the job.

That said, Carmona has gotten more run over the last two practices than we’ve ever seen from him! So perhaps I’m wrong? At the very least, the Titans are trying to get a checkpoint in terms of how far along he’s come. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a hefty share of work in this first game, fully in the rotational mix with Slater and Volson. The job really could come down to whoever plays best in these three games. It might be the rare instance of preseason games actually being the deciding factor in a roster competition.

Nick Singleton is making me think about the running back room

Rookie running back Nick Singleton is starting to make me think about changing my mind on the Titans’ running back room. We’ve known this whole time that a healthy Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard are the 1A/1B for Tennessee in the running game. They will handle the workload for the majority of the season if healthy. But you never know with injuries, you never know with age, and with Spears, his availability has become a broken record situation in every offseason of his career so far. I like what we see when he’s healthy, but lately he can’t stay on the field.

If that unfortunately becomes the case again this season, Singleton has shown me enough in the last week or so of practice to think he’ll see the field more than I originally anticipated. He might be developing from an understanding and running back vision standpoint faster than I expected. He’s starting to look in practice like the guy who broke a lot of Big Ten records at Penn State as a freshman, one of the best freshman seasons we’ve seen in recent college football history from a running back. I won’t be surprised if he rips off some explosives tonight if given the opportunity, because that’s the kind of player he seems to be in practice.

WR Xavier Restrepo’s polarizing path to a roster spot

Wide receiver Xavier Restrepo is a polarizing situation because the facts on the ground, no matter what happens on the field, are always going to be working against him. On paper, he is borderline too small and too slow to work in the NFL. His athletic profile is not one you look at on the page and think is anything more than maybe the first guy up off the practice squad. That was the role he settled into as a rookie, seeing a little action when guys got hurt and he had to come in for a couple of Sunday reps.

He’s clearly a locker room and vibes guy. The coaching staff loves him, his teammates love him, and his quarterback loves him given his connection with Cam Ward from college. That’s been a foothold for him as he’s established himself in Tennessee. But even knowing there’s a lot of talent in front of him who are bigger, faster, and more experienced, he just continues to make plays.

In Brian Daboll’s offense, there’s less positional versatility than what the Callahan system emphasized. Guys are playing specific roles (at least so far). If Wan’Dale Robinson is the very specific kind of slot player he is, is Restrepo not his stylistic understudy? That role might be up some Sundays and down others.

Here’s the thing about Restrepo, though: it’s more than just receiver duties. I’m going to be just as interested in seeing how and how often he is utilized on special teams tonight as I am in the receiving capacity. Proving himself as a useful special teamer might be his ticket to that sixth or seventh wide receiver role. If you made me guess today, I still think he’s probably the first guy up off the practice squad and not on the active roster. But I can’t say that’s a sure thing just yet because of how much he has done.

Will Levis needs a fresh start, and tonight could help him find one

I’m going to mention Will Levis here because everything that’s happened in training camp so far has led me to believe it is officially over. He is not going to be kept on this roster. He is not really competing for quarterback 2 at this point. I’ve never seen a guy on a team who is more obviously in need of a fresh start. He still has all the physical talent in the world, but mentally, he and this team both need a divorce. A hard reset is needed badly, and my full expectation is that he’s going to be cut.

What matters for him in these preseason games is putting play on his resume that gets him another job quickly, drumming up interest once he becomes available at the beginning of the season. Some team is going to pick him up. He was a high second-round pick, a talented former SEC quarterback from a pure tools standpoint. Somebody is going to try to see what they can get out of him and give him that fresh start. Performing in this preseason after such a negative training camp narrative is important for the future of his career. I do wish him the best, and I won’t be able to not be intrigued by what I see from him in his new landing spot. I’m always going to think there’s still a chance if he can ever put it together mentally.

K Joey Slye is on the hot seat

Finally, kicker Joey Slye has been shaky so far. In the stadium practice Tennessee held last week in front of fans, he missed a couple of big kicks. In regular camp days, he has missed some as well, so many that the Titans have worked out a handful of kickers in the past couple of days. They haven’t officially signed anybody and haven’t cut Slye yet, but I think every day of his training camp and preseason performance right now comes with a pretty high pulse. He’s on the hot seat.

Slye has to prove worthy of being a guy who was held over from Year 1 under Bones Fassel into Year 2, especially since his punting counterpart was let go this offseason. The Titans chose to stick with Slye, and it already seems their actions dictate that they may be second-guessing that decision. He has to go out there and be nails, proving that a couple of weeks of a slump in training camp are not who he is. Tonight, he has a chance to do exactly that.