4 Titans selected for The Athletic's second-year breakout team

While a lot of the attention has been on the veteran talent the Tennessee Titans added this offseason, there are also several young players on this roster to get excited about.

Don't just take my word for it, The Athletic just posted a list of second-year breakout candidates across the NFL with 12 players on offense and 11 on defense. The Titans had four players selected, which means that nearly 20% of those breakout candidates play in Nashville.

The first player was quarterback Will Levis, and after an offseason of the national media bashing him, there has been a shift in the narrative. The veteran players have come in and praised Levis on his talent, work ethic, and leadership, and the coaching staff has done the same, which must have prompted some in mainstream media to put in the effort to go back and actually reassess the quarterback they bad mouthed for months.

Levis has been on a few of these lists now and the stars seem to have aligned for him to take a big step this season. The only question is whether or not the offensive line can protect him well enough this year, which leads to the next breakout candidate on the list.

Peter Skoronski earned one of the five spots for offensive linemen, which is encouraging for Titans fans.

Like Levis, Skoronski makes total sense here. While the article mentions that he dealt with an injury early in last season and that he is going to have more help around him, that is just part of the puzzle.

On top of those things, Skoronski also looks more like a guard than a converted tackle this season thanks to an offseason weight gain. In all likelihood, he did that because that is the profile that new offensive line coach Bill Callahan prefers in his linemen, and you're well aware at how good Callahan is at evaluating his players.

With the three-headed monster of DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, and Tyler Boyd at receiver, the running back position has gotten overlooked a little. That wasn't the case on this list, as Nick Baumgardner picked Tyjae Spears as his breakout candidate at running back.

That is a sneaky-good pick because it wouldn't surprise me if Spears had more than 1,000 yards this season despite playing in a pass-first offense and sharing a role with Tony Pollard. Spears is just too dynamic not to make some explosive plays when given a chance, and he showed that late last year when he racked up nearly 250 yards over two weeks.

Finally, there was one shocking choice on the list. If you had to pick another second-year candidate from the Titans, my choice would have been tight end Josh Whyle.

Instead, Baumgardner picked Otis Reese IV, the former Ole Miss linebacker and sophomore UDFA.

It is certainly an interesting choice, but after he and Chance Campbell showed out in the first week of the preseason, this might be a well-timed shout. Reese IV certainly looks like he has earned a roster spot for himself, and the competition at linebacker should put him right in line for a job as a role player in 2024.

The Titans are flushed with ascending talent.