5 early winners from Tennessee Titans training camp

Tennessee Titans training camp stars

During training camp, it is so hard to separate the hype from the substance so it can be hard to find out which Tennessee Titans players are thriving right now.

The best way to tell the difference between the things you should get excited about and the things that probably won’t hold up is by looking for the players who are consistently doing well in practice.

There are other important aspects like who the players are going against, what role is envisioned for them, and whether or not they are getting the opportunity to put together strong back-to-back practices.

Still, at the end of the day is all about stacking good practices and making the most of your opportunities. Splash plays here or there are great, but the real impact comes from what these players do most frequently.

Tennessee Titans fans should learn from last year

Last year Julio Jones constantly missed practice, Josh Reynolds failed to take hold of the WR3 job, and the tight ends looked…incomplete. All of those trends held into the season and became big problems for the Titans.

However, Jeffery Simmons was a house on fire, the cornerbacks were very competitive, and Kevin Byard looked like he was ready to break out of his one-year funk. All three things happened and the defense dominated last year.

You could make a list a mile long of players who have had a good play here and there during camp, so instead, these are the players who have consistently been making plays. Whether that means winning one-on-ones, winning during team sessions, or anything else, these guys have just been winning.

1. Treylon Burks, WR

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and OTAs were slightly foreboding for Burks. However, as soon as the whole team was together for training camp, Burks was quick to show everyone why he was considered one of the best receivers in the 2022 NFL Draft.

I have already covered how Burks is skyrocketing up the depth chart which isn’t something that happens often with rookies under Mike Vrabel. That momentum only continued as soon as the players were back in pads on Monday.

On a day where the defense reminded everyone why they should be considered one of the best in the NFL, Burks was one of the lone bright spots.

In route to back-to-back 7-on-7 TDs, Treylon Burks fooled the defense to get open on the first and then lined up at running back and went up over Zach Cunningham to grab the second score.

Every day he is given new things to do and new challenges to face, and he has done everything you could have asked for. Before training camp, I would have said that Burks might be the third receiver in this offense during his rookie year, but right now he looks like he is destined to be a starter in Week 1.

2. Roger McCreary, CB

McCreary was a weird pick when the Tennessee Titans drafted him because there really wasn’t an immediate path for him to start on a defense that featured Kristian Fulton, Elijah Molden, and (presumably) Caleb Farley.

After seeing him in training camp for the first week, it is easy to see why the Tennessee Titans loved him and prioritized his talent over the need at other positions.

The former Auburn Tiger has been physical since the first practice, but when the pads came on and he seemed like he flipped a switch. By most counts, McCreary had 5 PBUs in practice on Monday and he seems like he is going to push someone for a starting spot on this defense.

Is he a slot corner? Will he be more comfortable on the boundary? Do the Tennessee Titans want to use him as a matchup DB on running backs and tight ends like they did with Dane Cruikshank last season? It is hard to say right now, but it is easy to see that he is going to have a role somewhere and when he is on the field he is going to look the part.

3. Ryan Tannehill, QB

2021 was a terrible year for Tannehill for a lot of reasons and critics rarely give him credit for being the only positive part of the offense for about half of the season in a year where they won the top seed in the AFC.

That is why it is great news for him (and for real Titans fans) that he has been on fire during OTAs, mini-camp, training camp, etc.

Over the past few practices, he is the only quarterback who seems to be able to move the offense at all and he is doing it without Derrick Henry who doesn’t really practice during training camp.

Despite an entirely new supporting cast, the passing offense seems to take a big leap forward whenever he is on the field. That shouldn’t surprise anyone when they look at his body of work, but you really have to give him a lot of credit for improving despite the changes around him.

The top three receivers have all changed, so has the TE1, and the right tackle, and again he is working with a backup running back…oh and the passing game is much different this year now that Tim Kelly is taking over that part of the offense.

To take all of that in and to actually have the offense look better than they did in training camp in 2021, is important and it is what the team needed him to do.

4. Chig Okonkwo, TE

In the last slide, I talked about the new faces that Ryan Tannehill is developing chemistry with on offense. Not only has the 4th-round rookie become one of those faces, but Okonkwo is one of the players that Tannehill is most excited about.

Listen to him talk about Chig after Monday’s padded practice:

It is one thing for fans to get excited about a prospect like Okonkwo, I mean he was the fastest tight end at the combine this year and he isn’t a massive project. However, you can see the effort that Ryan Tannehill makes to feature him during practice, and like Burks and McCreary, Okonkwo continues to consistently look a step ahead.

Austin Hooper is an excellent blocker and his receiving ability is what earned him two trips to the Pro Bowl, so he is the unquestioned TE1 in the Tennessee Titans offense. However, the TE2 job is up for grabs and it is going to be a fight between the incumbent Geoff Swaim, the young star in Okonkwo, and Tommy Hudson who is in a put-up-or-shut-up season.

If Okonkwo can continue this development and prove that he can win as a blocker, the sky is the limit for him and he could get playing time early.

5. Jeffery Simmons, DL

Look, the young guys are great and there are a lot of players who could have earned the last spot on this list, but there is only one Big Jeff.

Simmons looks like he is in fantastic shape and he has been incredibly disruptive already. Whether that means outrunning athletic guards like Aaron Brewer and Nate Davis, causing Daniel Munyer waking nightmares that force him to mess up snaps or swatting down a pass from Tannehill that would have been a touchdown to Treylon Burks, he is exactly who we thought he was.

Mike Vrabel has mentioned Simmons as a leader multiple times and it is clear that he is the voice of the next “generation” of Titans defenders.

Tennessee’s defense is in a great spot with guys like Kevin Byard, Zach Cunningham, Denico Autry, Bud Dupree, Harold Landry, and Jeffery Simmons all mentoring guys like Amani Hooker, David Long Jr., Rashad Weaver, and Naquan Jones.

I have said over and over that this group could be special, and if it is special it will be because guys like Simmons lead with their play and their effort speaking louder than words ever could. It is hard to imagine a situation where the Titans let Simmons walk and news on a new deal could come out quickly, but that isn’t something that Simmons is focusing on or pushing.

Instead, he showed up to camp in tremendous shape with two years left on his deal, and he is focused on doing his job and being an elite player at his position instead of being a good player looking to cash in on a half-finished job.