Why the Tennessee Titans offensive line will be a work in progress all season

The Tennessee Titans first-team offensive line played one series against the Chicago Bears starters in their preseason opener. All things considered, fans should be very pleasantly surprised with just how well the starters did, but things went downhill quickly when the backups hit the field.

After watching re-watching the game, I came away struggling to find eight offensive linemen that were going to make the Tennessee Titans roster.

However, as I was going through the process of figuring it out, something occurred to me that needs to be talked about and that is the two proverbial elephants in the offensive line room.

First, Nicholas Petit-Frere (who wasn't great on Saturday) won't count against the Tennessee Titans active roster because he will be suspended.

Secondly, Dillon Radunz is still on the PUP list and while some fans are ready to label him a bust, we have seen that time and time again he steps up and plays well when he is asked to play. Whether the coaching staff throws him in at guard or his natural tackle spot, he does his thing and he would have easily been one of the best backups that the team had on the field on Saturday.

With those two linemen not counting toward the 53-man roster, which Tennessee Titans linemen will survive the cut?

A year of flux for the Tennessee Titans offensive line

Obviously, the starting five are on the list in permanent marker, so this is just a conversation about backups. One backup who actually did stand out in a positive way was rookie Jaelyn Duncan who thrived at left tackle behind Andre Dillard.

With those six, the two linemen most likely to stick on the roster are Corey Levin and Jordan Roos.

I'm not sure Roos is really a guy that Tennessee Titans fans want to see on the field, but the coaching staff seems to like him and he is better than some of the offensive linemen that the Titans have had to start in previous seasons.

Maybe those relationships are enough to convince the Tennessee Titans not to bring anyone else in, but that is still just 8 linemen which is a low number. Teams like the San Francisco 49ers (where new Tennessee Titans GM Ran Carthon came from) usually keep 10 offensive linemen on the roster to start the season.

So even if those eight linemen are on the roster, the Tennessee Titans should still scour the waiver wire to bring in a talented player who didn't fit on someone else's 53.

Between giving that new guy a chance, the returns of Dillon Radunz and NPF, and any potential injuries that the Titans might have to deal with, I think it is fair to say that this offensive line is going to be a work in progress throughout the entire season.