NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Addressing depth in a big way was not something that would happen for the Titans in 2024. Given the abundance of roster holes, there were front-line positions that weren’t going to be sufficiently dealt with.

Today I ponder players who will play for them whose ceilings we have a pretty strong feel for. It doesn’t make them an un-useful part of this roster. But I do think we know where they will top out based on physical limits and can hope they aren’t asked to do more than those allow.

By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

What do the 2016 Rams have to do with the 2024 Titans? Well, quite a bit actually. Let’s just start with a list of names from that 2016 Rams squad that may be pretty familiar to fans in Tennessee:

• Rams Director of Player Personnel: Ran Carthon
• Rams Defensive Backs Coach: Dennard Wilson
• Rams Linebacker Coach: Frank Bush

That’s before you get to some of the shared history connections like Jeff Fisher, Dave McGinnis, Chuck Cecil, and Gregg Williams or players like Kenny Britt, Rodger Saffold, William Hayes, and Coty Sensabaugh. Not to mention the fact that the 2016 Rams and 2016 Titans made a franchise-altering draft swap that landed Jared Goff in Los Angeles and gave the pick that became Derrick Henry to Tennessee as part of a package that set up the Jon Robinson era for early success.

The intersection between the glory years of the Titans – represented by Fisher, Williams, Cecil, and McGinnis – with the new era featuring Carthon and Wilson is fascinating on its own, but even more

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When Jon Robinson was at the peak of his powers, many who followed the team believed him invincible and became such believers that they joined the “In JRob We Trust” club.

In terms of devotion, this made things difficult for them when things started to go badly.

When Jeffery Simmons, AJ Brown and Nate Davis were followed up as the top three picks in 2019 by Isaiah Wilson, Kristian Fulton and Darrynton Evans in 2020 along with free-agent disaster Vic Beasley and failure Jadeveon Clowney, it was hard for them to be honest with themselves because they had made such a strong declaration of commitment to the man with final personnel say for the Titans.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Three Titans I feel could play better in 2024...

Tyjae Spears

In 100 rushing attempts as a rookie behind Derrick Henry, Tyjae Spears went 10 yards or more 13 times. Derrick Henry went for 10 yards or more on 8 percent of his carries by comparison, so Spear’s 13 percent was an intriguing rate. He also averaged 7.4 yards a catch on 52 catches. This offense is certainly going to be designed with more advantageous reception opportunities for Spears and Tony Pollard. There is a mystery to the Titans backfield post-Henry, but Spears can potentially bring some real juice.

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By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

The 2024 NFL season will be an illuminating one for the Tennessee Titans. Following the rise and precipitous fall of the Jon Robinson-Mike Vrabel era, the franchise has placed big bets on Ran Carthon, Brian Callahan, and perhaps most crucially, Will Levis, as they pivot towards a more modern approach to football on all levels.

While the team will certainly say that their goal is to compete for the division title this season, the bigger picture will begin to be painted by the performance of Levis. As a rookie, he flashed enormous potential in spurts while struggling with an offensive ecosystem that was inhospitable to quarterbacks generally, much less an inexperienced one.

However, he’ll need to show more than flashes in Year Two. Most crucially, his decision-making must improve. Ultimately, concerns around that area of his game were the primary reason for his fall to pick 33 in the 2023 NFL Draft. Callahan believes he can help Levis make that leap from a gunslinger with a tremendous right arm to a bonafide quarterback. As Rich Gannon once told a teenage Callahan, amazing throws have less to do with winning games than amazing decisions.

For the Titans in 2024, Levis’ development is critical as it will set them on one of two paths moving forward. So I want to take a look at what those two paths might look like.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans aren’t on Hard Knocks, again. They were exempt as they have a new head coach, avoiding the preseason behind-the-scenes series on HBO. They and the AFC South are not on “Hard Knocks: In Season.” The league will instead peek in on the AFC North for the final six weeks of the 2024 season. 

And the franchise certainly isn’t raising its hand for a voluntary assignment like “NFL Draft: The Pick Is In,” available on the Roku channel online. Its tagline: "Inside the most dramatic weekend in football. Go behind the scenes of the 2024 NFL Draft with the Bears, Commanders, Cardinals, and Rams in season 2 of NFL Draft: The Pick Is In."

I know some fans would love the exposure, information and insight that would come with the Titans being connected to any of those or anything like them.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Missed time in OTAs and minicamp doesn’t strike me as that important, though for some young guys, it’s not insignificant. 

Missed time in training camp can be a different story.

We know L’Jarius Sneed will not practice every day in training camp and that days off for DeAndre Hopkins are no big deal. For others, an accumulation of missed practices can dramatically impact readiness for the regular season, throwing off their learning curve of the systems of Brian Callahan and Dennard Wilson, the timing of plays, the relationships with the guys playing next to you and more.

Obviously a camp injury to Will Levis or JC Latham would slow development and hurt the Titans.

Here are the other Titans who can least afford to miss training camp time.