The Tennessee Titans spent Tuesday afternoon trimming their rosters down to an initial 53 before the league’s 3 p.m. CT deadline. On Wednesday, they began rounding out their 16-man practice squad. They’ve already added 13 players to that list, and every single one of them was with the team throughout training camp and for at least one preseason game.
The list so far:
-WR Mason Kinsey
-WR Dez Fitzpatrick
-TE Miller Forristall
-FB Tory Carter
-DL Naquan Jones
-OL Jordan Roos
-LB Jan Johnson
-OL Christian DiLauro
-OL Derwin Gray
-DL Woodrow Hamilton
-DB Jamal Carter
-DB Briean Boddy-Calhoun
-QB Matt Barkley
This list does an excellent job reflecting how general manager Jon Robinson felt about his team throughout the month of August. Kinsey was a fan favorite, and was just edged out for a roster spot by Cam Batson, who is a better special teams player and offers more versatility (has played both inside and outside). The Titans were thrilled to get Kinsey back on the practice squad. Fitzpatrick is an obvious miss, but the team is committed to working through his issues. They hope this is the wake up call he needs. Hamilton and Jones are the two D-linemen on the PS. One of them would have made the roster if not for a final push by the surprising Anthony Rush, who’s been in excellent form as of late. The Titans like Rush more than the average fan realizes.
I can go on and on. Forristall would have made the team as a blocking tight end if they weren’t able to get Luke Stocker back. To add to that point, fellow tight end Tommy Hudson, who made the initial 53, is just a bit more polished than Forristall is. It’s not a surprise. Forristall is a rookie and Hudson is a second-year player, who like Forristall, couldn’t make the team as a rookie. Hudson spent a year learning the system and fine-tuning his skill-set. He’s now been rewarded for the work he put in. The same could happen for Forristall next season.
Roos and Gray are two of the three offensive lineman on this list. They both made a late push to make the team, but the Titans have great depth on the O-line. Boddy-Calhoun and Carter both had strong preseasons, but the special teams ability of Matthias Farley and Dane Cruikshank made them more valuable at the same position. Regardless, Robinson was happy to hold onto both Boddy-Calhoun and Carter for now.
And finally, we get to Barkley. He deserves a ton of credit for coming in and legitimately pushing Logan Woodside for the backup QB job. We gave Barkley very little chance of doing so, but he really did make it a closer battle than many thought he would. Getting him back on the practice squad is a major victory. He’ll likely be the team’s “Designated Survivor” at quarterback this year. There’s value in that.
There will be more moves in the coming days. Robinson confirmed that much himself during a media conference call on Wednesday. The Titans still have nearly 10 players on the Covid/Reserve list. Five of them are starters. A few players will go on short-term IR. Now that they’ve made the team, those players will only have to miss three weeks.
The picture hasn’t been fully painted yet, but everything points to Robinson and Co. being thrilled with the work they’ve done in recent months.
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