Titans’ 53-man Roster Prediction: Insider intel on who makes Cam Ward’s team following final preseason game update, Training Camp

The Tennessee Titans initial roster will begin to take shape this week. The deadline to be down to 53 active players coming on Tuesday at 3pm CST, and the opportunity to utilize their #1 waiver claim status on additions from other teams comes shortly thereafter.

I released my deep-dive 53-man roster predictions at the end of last week before the Titans faced the Vikings in the preseason finale Friday night. You can check out the offense and defense editions of my prediction by clicking on these links for more in-depth roster analysis, but this is the article where you’ll find the whole roster in one place. I’m also making one (and a half?) small changes to my “final” prediction based on things that happened in the last preseason game. Here we go:

Ground Rules

• Bolded players are roster locks
• Italicized players are “placeholders”: Mike Borgonzi is actively looking for somebody on the waiver wire to replace you with
• Players in standard text aren’t placeholders… but the front office is flipping through the brochure of options to replace you with anyways
• Listed order in each room is roughly the projected Week 1 depth chart order unless otherwise specified

Quarterback

1. Cam Ward
2. Brandon Allen

I think Cam Ward’s done enough to make this team, we’ll see for sure on Tuesday though. Fingers crossed! Alongside him, the Titans are only going to keep one backup on the active roster, and it’ll be Brandon Allen initially. The staff likes him enough that I think he’ll probably stick until opening day, but the front office will peek at who gets cut elsewhere anyways. It wouldn’t be shocking to see him replaced.

Running Back

1. Tony Pollard
2. Tyjae Spears
3. Kalel Mullings
4. Julius Chestnut

This is the half-change I referenced in the intro of this article. With Kalel Mullings hurting his ankle in the final preseason game, this room could get shaken up this week. I still don’t expect them to keep more than four. It all depends on whether Spears heads to short-term IR to begin the season, which is in consideration, and when Mullings will be healthy again. His ankle sounds less serious, so maybe he’s back by Denver. Chestnut could be kept just initially and then upgraded on the wire later.

Wide Receiver

1. Calvin Ridley
2. Tyler Lockett
3. Elic Ayomanor
4. Van Jefferson
5. Chimere Dike
6. Bryce Oliver
7. James Proche

The top six in this room are locked up. If they keep a seventh, it’ll be James Proche. He’s earned a spot with his performance in camp, and they could use his punt return ability to at least begin the season. If he’s cut, it’s because the roster math elsewhere made it tricky to keep him. I think he’s retained, but we saw the coaching staff finally give Dike some run in a preseason setting against the Vikings. They hadn’t done that but once before. This was in preparation for the possibility of needing him to return punts much earlier than they were hoping.

Tight End

1. Chig Okonkwo
2. Gunnar Helm
3. David Martin-Robinson

There’s latitude to keep a 4th in the tight end room for special teams purposes, but I don’t expect that to happen. Perhaps a good TE on waivers changes their minds. These three are locks for the initial roster at the very least.

Offensive Line

1. Dan Moore
2. Peter Skoronski
3. Lloyd Cushenberry
4. Kevin Zeitler
5. JC Latham
6. Corey Levin
7. Blake Hance
8. Jackson Slater
9. Oli Udoh

The OL room is where I made my only change from the in-depth roster breakdowns I published before the final preseason game. I’ve taken OT John Ojukwu out, and swapped OT Oli Udoh in. In the initial breakdown, I said that those two were in a real neck-and-neck race, and I could be wrong about which wins out. Well, I’ve changed my mind (probably ensuring I’ll be wrong). Udoh got the first team reps against the Vikings, and I just think they’ll value his ability as a swing tackle in a traditional “we need this backup to last for a game or two” sense. Ojukwu offers more versatility as a weapon in jumbo packages, and that’s a big part of why they’d like to keep him, but that’s more a luxury than a need. The other thing I’ll reiterate from the deep-dive is that they’d like to keep both somehow, though the math probably won’t work. Perhaps both make the initial roster and then one gets swapped out when they pick up guys at other positions. That might be the way to get one to your practice squad safely.

Defensive Line

1. Jeffery Simmons
2. T’Vondre Sweat
3. Sebastian Joseph-Day
4. James Lynch
5. Carlos Watkins

Sweat, Simmons, and Joseph-Day are locks. I feel good about James Lynch making the team as well, he’s a useful player. I think Watkins will stick around at first too, but that roster spot is relatively likely to be a waiver wire target.

Edge Rusher

1. Dre’Mont Jones
2. Arden Key
3. Femi Oladejo
4. Jihad Ward
5. Ali Gaye

Three more locks along the defensive front: Jones, Key, and the rookie Oladejo. Ward was picked up midway through camp for a reason, and Gaye is a useful special teamer. I think both stick initially and then stand to be replaced by newcomers.

Linebacker

1. Cody Barton
2. Cedric Gray
3. James Williams
4. Curtis Jacobs

Noticing a trend? Three locks here: Barton, Gray, and Williams. By the way, how about Cedric Gray with the come-from-behind performance to claim the starting linebacker job? It was an impressive month for the 2024 4th Round draft pick. In the LB4 slot, I’ve got Curtis Jacobs and I am practically guessing on this one. I think it’ll be Jacobs, but I won’t be surprised one bit if it’s not. All I know is that whoever wins the lottery on that seat is probably getting replaced swiftly.

Cornerback

1. L’Jarius Sneed
2. Jarvis Brownlee Jr.
3. Roger McCreary
4. Marcus Harris
5. Darrell Baker Jr.
6. Gabe Jeudy-Lally

They may only keep five in this room. Baker is close to a lock but waned down the stretch of camp, so I think they’ll at least look around for a potential upgrade. And Jeudy-Lally had a good enough showing in the final two preseason games as the 2nd team slot CB to sneak in I think, but he’s not safe from replacement either.

Safety

1. Amani Hooker
2. Xavier Woods
3. Quandre Diggs
4. Kevin Winston Jr.
5. Mike Brown

Quandre Diggs is making this team as a Kevin Winston Jr. cushion, after being brought in as insurance for the rookie in the first place. He’s going to be the third safety in the rotation for a bit, and eventually act as stopgap depth once Winston works back into things. I feel good about Brown making the team as well. He’s the personal protector on punt team, amongst other special teams duties.