Despite changing coaches, the Tennessee Titans are still one of the more tight-lipped organizations in the NFL when it comes to OTAs and minicamp practices.
Players and coaches are cautious when they discuss where players are on the depth chart and who may or may not be starting, which makes it a little bit more difficult to project what the team will be this season.
One of the areas that has really been a mystery has been the offensive line, specifically on the right side.
Left tackle, left guard, and center
Even though everyone knows that J.C. Latham will be the starting left tackle, the Titans haven't made anything official. Still, we can safely say that Latham is going to be the left tackle, Peter Skoronski is going to return as the left guard, and Lloyd Cushenberry is going to be the anchor in the middle.
Then it starts to get interesting.
Right Guard
The right guard position is up first, and if you went into this article blind, three players have a strong argument to start at right guard.
Daniel Brunskill was the starting right guard last season, and there were times when he was the best lineman on the field. Now, that is a low (lowwwww) bar, but it is still a fact that he was better than guys like Aaron Brewer, Andre Dillard, Jaelyn Duncan, Chris Hubbard, and the post-appendectomy version of Peter Skoronski.
However, Paul Kuharsky asked Brunskill about his role yesterday and Brunskill mentioned that the coaching staff have asked him to be the backup center because he and Cushenberry are the only players on the roster with experience snapping in the NFL.
That doesn't mean that Brunskill is out of the running at right guard, but given his age and his versatility, it is looking like his most useful role is going to be as a backup lineman with experience at center, right guard, and right tackle.
The second candidate is Dillon Radunz. There is a portion of the Titans fan base that will never embrace Radunz because of where he was drafted and because Mike Vrabel never really gave him a chance to start, but he has always been better than the consensus view of him (see the below tweet).
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say-
— Mr. Positivity (@jlomas72) January 2, 2024
Dillon Radunz has been solid (maybe even good) for Tennessee since the #Titans moved him to RT in Week 12.
Among RTs since the move, he is top-5 in run blocking, top-10 in sacks allowed, and top-15 in pass-blocking efficiency.
Despite that strong stretch, both he and the coaching staff have repeatedly said that his future is inside at guard. Over the course of his short career, Radunz has spent a little over 40% of his snaps at guard and he has held up well. Now that he has added some weight, it seems like he is going to have a good shot at winning the right guard spot in training camp.
His main competitor is going to be free agent addition Saahdiq Charles.
Charles has struggled with injuries in his career, but he is a bigger body than Radunz and according to post-practice interviews he has been getting some first-team reps at right guard. Having a bigger body could be a crucial factor because Brian Callahan has talked about the value of having big bodies in the interior of the offensive line that can help solidify the pocket and prevent pushback.
Something else that could help Charles is that it should be easy for him to develop chemistry with Cushenberry because both were starters at LSU in college. Don't underestimate the value of chemistry on the OL, which could be a determining factor in the final decision.
Right tackle
It is hard to figure out where to start this list exactly because Nicholas Petit-Frere should have been a layup for this job. However, he has done just about everything in his power to lose it since he has missed nearly a month of on-field work with an undisclosed injury.
At this point, there isn't an ideal candidate on the roster for this job. NPF is the only option who has spent any real time in the NFL at right tackle, but he has missed a month of physical development that he won't have a chance to get back during the season due to how practices are laid out.
Jaelyn Duncan is the next man up because he participated in minicamp despite missing OTAs, but people don't seem to remember what Jaelyn Duncan was like as a rookie. Duncan was Andre Dillard, Dennis Daley levels of bad in his first season, and he has to dig himself out of a pretty deep hole to convince anyone that he should have a chance to be a starter again.
In an ideal world where everything goes according to plan, Duncan should be a developmental player who has a chance to earn a look in 2025 after a year of development under the best offensive line coach in the NFL.
Another name that has popped up is John Ojukwu, but I expect that to go the same way that it went for Ojukwu last year when Mike Vrabel got his hopes up about him. Maybe he shows something in the preseason that changes my mind, but he feels like a placeholder right now.
Finally, Leroy Watson is a guy who Bill Callahan thought enough of to advocate for Ran Carthon to trade for him before the draft. I think he is on the same track as Jaelyn Duncan, but the difference is that Watson comes with the Bill Callahan stamp of approval and he hasn't dug himself into a hole like Duncan has.
Depth Chart
Piecing all of that information together, my best guess is that a depth chart looks like this:
Starting offensive line:
LT: J.C. Latham
LG: Peter Skoronski
C: Lloyd Cushenberry
RG: Dillon Radunz
RT: Nicholas Petit-Frere
Roles for other offensive linemen:
Daniel Brunskill: Backup center
Saahdiq Charles: Backup right guard
Leroy Watson: Backup tackle
Jaelyn Ducan: Second backup tackle
John Ojukwu: Practice Squad
Until I see Charles finish training camp and the preseason healthy, I have to assume that Dillon Radunz is going to win the job based on his availability as much as anything else. Meanwhile, Daniel Brunskill will probably get a lot of work with the second offensive line as a center, which means that it is going to be hard to earn the starting guard job.
NPF is going to win right tackle because no one else has been strong enough to take it, but I think if you asked the Callahans and the Titans front office if they are happy with their decision at right tackle, they would say that they made a mistake.
Even though Ran Carthon picked Jaelyn Duncan at the top of Day 3 last year, this coaching staff has invested more into Leroy Watson and I think they will have him higher on the depth chart after a shaky offseason from Duncan.
Ojukwu has to show everyone that he is more than just a name on the page and he has to put together some strong tape in the preseason to earn anything more than a job on the practice squad.