Titans’ roster moves ahead of Week 2 are final step in a weeks-long plan, and a risk they might regret if young lineman is lost

If you’re confused by what’s going on here, don’t worry; you aren’t alone, and I’ve got you covered. Here’s an explanation of the Titans roster gymnastics coming to a head this weekend, and why they’re taking a risk now:

Why Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson Was Waived

Crenshaw-Dickson was one of the only UDFA bright spots from this 2025 crop, and it was a surprise seeing him make the initial 53-man roster at the end of August.

I wrote about what exactly was happening with the retention of BCD and the decision to waive veteran Corey Levin that week. Levin was on many final roster projections, including mine, but in hindsight, I should have anticipated him being the team player who would be moved as a veteran pawn if that guy was needed. Oh, and my producer is now handing me our first question from the audience. Let’s take a look:

Sure! Long story short, the Titans had intel on cutdown week that led them to believe BCD was likely to be claimed on waivers if they tried to get him to their practice squad right away. Levin is a vested veteran and isn’t subject to waivers. So he was cut and signed to the practice squad despite functionally still being an active roster player.

He was this team’s backup center all summer as starter Lloyd Cushenberry was working back from his Achilles tear, and cutting him in August didn’t change that. He was always going to be a gameday elevation from the practice squad early on until getting brought back to the active roster for good. That’s what happened Saturday, a bit earlier than I expected… more on that in a moment.

What This Means For Tennessee’s Starting Center

I see we have the next question from our lovely audience:

Good question, Micah. It’s often a good sign of something going on healthwise with an active roster guy when a player at their position is brought up from the practice squad. We even saw that today, with the gameday elevation of RB Jordan Mims. Rookie RB Kalel Mullings was given a doubtful designation on Friday, and this move all but confirms he won’t play this week.

But the signing of Levin isn’t one of these examples. Like I said, his return to the roster was always the plan. Cushenberry came out of his first game back in good shape and is ready to get back out there in Week 2. This leaves us with only one more question: why do this now?

The Risk Mike Borgonzi Is Taking

Here’s a thing I was wrong about: I did not expect them to try sneaking Crenshaw-Dickson down to the practice squad this early. In fact, I was honestly expecting him to be an active roster player all season, but a gameday inactive all season. I just didn’t see anything that would change the risk involved with trying to get him through waivers now vs in Week 4, Week 9, or Week 13.

The initial risk of cutdown day, when every front office is a circling vulture over the scrap heap of every other front office, certainly presented an elevated risk. Everybody was paying attention, and rosters were still in flux. But once everybody settled into the season, the facts on the ground would be the same: teams pretty universally need tackle depth. Badly, in fact. That’s really only going to get a bit worse as the season goes on and players fall to injury.

So I can only guess as to why they did this now. It probably has to do, at least in part, with the tackle situation. With JC Latham down, John Ojukwu needed to be elevated in addition to Corey Levin for this game. Another active roster spot was needed, so they decided now was the time for operation “Sneak BCD To The PS.” I sure hope it works out for them after all this trouble to keep him around.