Two Tennessee Titans starters from last season landed on the “hot seat” list from ESPN NFL Analyst Ben Solak Wednesday morning.

One was fairly obvious, and the other Titans starter on this list would raise a lot of eyebrows across the fanbase.

Every summer the NFL Draft results place veterans across the league on high alert to have their jobs stolen by a younger, cheaper rookie draft pick. Solak listed 15 NFL vets on the hot seat in his post, but he added a little extra spice when he discussed where Titans second round pick Anthony Hill Jr. could create disruption on the depth chart.

Texas Linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. could threaten for two starting jobs

Second year Titans LB Cody Barton is the main target of Solak’s piece about how the rookie Hill can take over one of the linebacker roles in head coach Robert Saleh’s defense.

“Barton played 1,061 snaps last season for the Titans — every single possible snap available to him. And now, he might be out of a job,” Solak wrote.

“He wasn’t terrible for Tennessee last season. His coverage metrics were actually quite good: 53.0 passer rating allowed and only 4.8 yards against per target. But Barton has always been more wily and assignment-sound than he is athletically talented, and the lack of speed impacted his ability to beat blockers to the point of attack and get involved in plays at the sideline. For new coach Robert Saleh, who needs his linebackers to flow fast, Barton’s current legs might be disqualifying.”

Solak continued: “Second-round linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. has that sort of speed, but critically, he was a multiyear signal-caller at the heart of the Texas defense. He seems better suited to slide into Barton’s shoes at middle linebacker than Cedric Gray‘s spot at weakside linebacker, but I would wager both jobs are up for grabs in different combinations as Saleh explores the best version of his roster in 2026. If Barton is indeed shelved for Hill, expect trade calls.”

Barton’s “Mike linebacker” job being up in the air makes complete sense, but the little mention of Gray’s “Will linebacker” spot being included was not expected.

Most view Gray as one of the building blocks in a new-look defense under Saleh after the former fourth round pick in 2024 took a large leap in 2025.

What do the Titans want in their linebacker roles under Saleh?

Saleh has been known as the “linebacker guy” during his time as a defensive coordinator and head coach in the NFL. San Francisco 49ers star Fred Warner is the prototype of what Saleh wants (and honestly any NFL team) in a Mike linebacker in today’s game.

What are the different roles for the Mike and the Will backers in this defense? Answering that question was a goal of ours before the draft via some research. Ryan Roberts and Easton Freeze did a good job of laying some ground work, but the selecting of Hill made us go back to the drawing board.

“You know, one of the things that… I almost feel like it’s easier for the linebacker, especially for the Mike (middle linebacker) in our system, because the range at which we ask them to cover isn’t nearly as much as people think. You know, as we go through OTAs and training camp, he’ll start to get a feel for what he needs to defend on a play-in and play-out basis, which will tighten up his drops and getting closer to where he needs to get to, which will increase his speed, if you will. So I think Cody, Cody’s got great instincts. He’s got great awareness, and he’s proven that over time. So hopefully we can maximize who he was.”

Pre-draft, we thought Gray would be a candidate to slide from Will to Mike, with a season under his belt. That could still be the case. Hill was the Mike and green-dot helmet communicator for the Texas Longhorn defense the last two seasons in college, but Solak and the Titans may see Hill as either a Mike or Will.

Titans defensive coordinator Gus Bradley added more context to the difference between the Mike and Will where communication seems to be the actual tie-breaker.

“We look more like not Mike separate than the will, than the SAM,” Bradley said Saturday at rookie minicamp. “We try to get everybody with similar skill sets: speed, short area, quickness, those things. And then once we take a look at that group, probably the best communicator out of the group is the Mike.”

“In some cases, our defense gives the illusion of space to a quarterback and to an offense, and then we need guys that can eat up that space in a hurry. So that’s where the speed is such a big factor.”

Early Titans linebacker prediction

If I was forced to make an early prediction, I think Barton starts training camp and the season as the Mike and Gray as the Will. Hill does have the best pass rush ability of them all, with 11 quarterback sacks in college, therefore could be used in other gadget ways as he develops.

By Halloween I think Hill makes his way into the starting lineup as the Mike, relegating Barton to the third spot, who still has value on this team with his versatility and professionalism.