{"id":33173,"date":"2025-05-08T07:56:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T07:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/33173\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T07:56:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T07:56:16","slug":"how-many-titans-rookies-will-start-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/33173\/","title":{"rendered":"How many Titans rookies will start in 2025?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tennessee Titans<\/a> made nine total selections in the 2025 NFL Draft<\/a>. General manager Mike Borgonzi entered the three-day event with several holes across his rebuilding roster. Borgonzi did a stellar job landing instant starters, depth pieces, and developmental projects.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obvious that rookie quarterback Cam Ward<\/a> will be a starter in Week 1. He\u2019s an experienced signal caller who the Titans invested the No. 1 selection in. The Titans aren\u2019t going to begin the season with Will Levis, Tim Boyle, or Brandon Allen under center.<\/p>\n

Beyond Ward, it gets a little more difficult to predict which Titans rookies are going to be \u201cstarters.\u201d Second-round EDGE Femi Oladejo<\/a> is a raw prospect after making a 2024 midseason position change from off-ball linebacker to EDGE. The Titans don\u2019t have much at that position, with Arden Key, Dre\u2019Mont Jones, and Lorenzo Carter being league-average veterans on expiring contracts.<\/p>\n

Oladejo possesses a higher floor than he gets credit for, as a long and powerful run defender. It\u2019d be encouraging if Oladejo acclimated quicker than expected. The expectation should be for the former UCLA Bruins<\/a> defender to possess a top-three role in the rotation by season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

The Titans nabbed ex Penn State<\/a> safety Kevin Winston Jr<\/a>. in the third round. Dennard Wilson has Amani Hooker and Xavier Woods at the position. Winston Jr. should be a third safety with a designated role in specific nickel and big dime packages. He projects as a surefire 2026 starter, even if his rookie season role isn\u2019t an every-down one.<\/p>\n

The wide receiver projection is an interesting one. Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett<\/a> will almost certainly be Brian Callahan\u2019s top two wideouts in 2025. Can rookies Chimere Dike<\/a> and Elic Ayomanor<\/a> push for a role in 11 personnel? The other projected pass catcher in Callahan\u2019s preferred formation grouping is free-agent signing Van Jefferson. Dike and Ayomanor could be talented enough to push Jefferson for snaps.<\/p>\n

Fourth-round tight end Gunnar Helm<\/a> is an underrated candidate to play significant snaps. Helm is a true \u201cY\u201d tight end with every-down potential. Josh Whyle, a similar player in the Titans\u2019 offense, has a lengthy injury history at this point.<\/p>\n

That essentially concludes the discussion regarding the Titans\u2019 potential rookie starters. Interior offensive linemen Jackson Slater<\/a> will back up Peter Skoronski and Kevin Zeitler at guard, and possibly Lloyd Cushenbery at center. Cornerback Marcus Harris<\/a> may be the reserve nickel behind Roger McCreary, and linebacker-turned-running-back Kalel Mullings<\/a> will probably be a keynote special teamer and No. 3 back behind Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears.<\/p>\n

By the conclusion of the 2026 campaign, the Titans\u2019 2025 draft class could have produced four or five starters. That\u2019s how you rebuild a roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tennessee Titans made nine total selections in the 2025 NFL Draft. General manager Mike Borgonzi entered the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[739,7,29,1123,723,5037,2412,2047,6,2478,3146,526,394,2415,2414,2416,2411,527,1124],"class_list":{"0":"post-33173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-city","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-front-page","11":"tag-how","12":"tag-in","13":"tag-many","14":"tag-miracles","15":"tag-music","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-rookies","18":"tag-start","19":"tag-tennessee","20":"tag-tennessee-titans","21":"tag-tennessee-titans-depth-chart","22":"tag-tennessee-titans-draft","23":"tag-tennessee-titans-roster","24":"tag-tennesseetitans","25":"tag-titans","26":"tag-will"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114471146889808846","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}