Titans Week 1 Depth Chart Revealed: A new rookie starter, final position battle won, key injury timelines, and a risky returner

The Tennessee Titans first unofficial version of the 53-man depth chart came out on Tuesday, and there are five notable takeaways you need to know about ahead of Week 1 against the Denver Broncos:

Elic Ayomanor Is A Week 1 Rookie Starter

Nobody likes an “I told you so” guy. But I’m afraid I have to do that routine here, so I’ll keep it brief: Would you look at that! I told you so about Elic Ayomanor being a Week 1 starter!

I won’t claim to have been the only person riding the Ayomanor train all summer, but I sure was pushing the early starter gospel from the beginning. All joking and gloating aside, while I’m not particularly shocked to see Ayomanor listed as a starter so quickly, it’s still extremely encouraging news for the development of this 4th Round rookie.

His draft profile was that of a higher-ceiling player than his pick reflected due to some medical concerns that haven’t come to fruition (at least not yet). And his combination of skillset and size is one that sets him apart from the rest of the Titans receiver room. He’s got the ability to thrive as a true “X” receiver in the NFL, which is something you couldn’t say about many prospects in April and you arguably can’t say about his teammates in Tennessee. 

It’s 2025, so he’ll be moved around the formation like most receivers are. And just because he has the tools to win as an X doesn’t mean he can’t become a great Y prototype as well. But his involvement in this offense began to really shine through during the week of joint practices in Atlanta, and the coaching staff is wisely setting him up to get a lot of exposure to live bullets early this season. Developing without reps is really hard, but Ayomanor won’t have to worry about that now.

Cushenberry’s Injury Timeline Worked Out

Or should I say, it’s seemingly worked out for now. The Titans went through training camp with Corey Levin serving as their starting center, allowing for Lloyd Cushenberry to continue to rehab his torn ACL from 2024. All along, the team maintained that Cushenberry was still tracking to be available for Week 1. But he didn’t pass his physical to get back onto the active roster until August 11th, and didn’t begin easing back into padded team drills until the final couple weeks of camp. So I remained skeptical until recently.

When the roster deadline lead to the cutting of Levin, it left many confused about his dismissal but simultaneously excited by what it must mean for Cushenberry’s healthy return. His listing as the starting center on this game-week depth chart is confirmation of the team’s timeline being correct: he’s going to play in Denver. As for Levin, well, here’s a whole article from last week explaining what happened to him. The only reason I opened this section with “for now” is that, well, September 7th is still right at the 10 month mark for Cushenberry’s Achilles recovery. It’s one thing to get the green light to play, and another entirely to go do it after such a serious injury and an offseason of very little football activity. That’s a spot I’ll be watching with great intrigue this month.

Gray Defeats Williams In Starting Linebacker Battle

This outcome was really finalized after the preseason finale on August 22nd, but this is the first time the depth chart has acknowledged it as the reality: Cedric Gray is this team’s starting linebacker alongside Cody Barton. He beat out James Williams at the buzzer this offseason.

Watching Gray’s lights come on this month has been really cool. You don’t often see a player flip the switch like that outside of a regular season setting, and so quickly too. It felt like it was overnight this camp that he suddenly started making plays each practice and game. This felt like James Williams’ position to lose for so long this year, and in the final 2-3 weeks of the offseason, Gray swooped in and won the role. Now let’s see how he looks in live action.

Key Special Teams Roles Settled

The Titans made rookie WR Chimere Dike the last man standing in the punt returner competition when they cut James Proche and put him on the practice squad. The rookie is set to be a two-way returner for the Titans out of the gate, handling kickoffs as well.

This feels like a risky decision. I’m not here to say it’s going to go horribly or that it’s going to work out fine. I’m just here to say that I’ll be watching it with great interest. He returned 26 punts at Florida and Wisconsin in his final two years of college, which isn’t a huge sample size, but he was very effective when he did it. This ability was part of the billing when the Titans drafted him in the first place. His focus was primarily on his duties as a receiver in the preseason, though, so we didn’t get to see him do much returning at all this summer. His coaches are confident they’ve seen all they need to see from him in practice to give him the job, but when I asked Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel two weeks ago if he felt Dike would be ready to return in Week 1, he said probably not yet. I guess a lot changed between then and now…

Elsewhere, WR Bryce Oliver is the other starting kick returner. His utility as a core special teamer is making him increasingly invaluable to this roster, and he’s no slouch as an actual depth receiver either. Tyler Lockett is serving as the backup punt returner.

Rookie Kalel Mullings Remains Buried

This last point is just to emphasize the coaching staff’s focus in the running back room. With Tyjae Spears on IR, Julius Chestnut has been elevated to backup running back over rookie Kalel Mullings. This has everything to do with protecting Cam Ward. Mullings was drafted in the first place with rushing upside in mind, but his performance in the preseason left some reasons for worry in the pass protection department. So Chestnut will get more run simply to make sure Ward is kept clean back there.