Before the Tennessee Titans take the field again for the second week of training camp, let's put a bow on Week 1 with the first edition of our weekly stock report.
The first three practices made available to media were, unfortunately for anyone in the attention industry, fairly mundane. If you haven't seen any big-play highlights percolating across your news feeds in the past few days, it's not because the team is hiding them. The pads haven't come out yet, and the coaches are easing players in with a lot of dinks, dunks and early whistles. No knock on the strategy. No team has ever made the playoffs by hitting on big plays in July and August. But still, hard to wrest excitement from the claws of these practices.
Nevertheless, there's stuff to
talk about. Here are The Tennessean's choices for players, moments and trends that have us thinking stocks are rising and falling.
Tennessee Titans stock report: Training camp Week 1
Stock up: The inside linebacker room
Cedric Gray at times has looked like the Titans' best player on the field. Cody Barton is drawing praise for his communication tactics. Rookie Anthony Hill Jr. is whirring around and making plays. Depth pieces Mohamoud Diabate and Dorian Mausi look like real contributors, and former draft pick James Williams Sr. has a pick to his name. Don't be shocked if this room ends up being a strength come fall.
Stock down: SEC quarterbacks
Will Levis hasn't looked like a world-beater going against No. 2 and No. 3 defenders, a real hit to his claim that he's one of the league's 32 best quarterbacks. And Hendon Hooker has barely gotten any reps at all, stuck in the logjam behind Cam Ward, Mitchell Trubisky and Levis. Not a great look for the "It Just Means More" contingent.
Stock up: Austin Schlottmann
There's no use in pretending the Titans have an ongoing center competition. Austin Schlottmann has held the reins since he got to Nashville, and there has been no indication that that's going to change since the start of camp. Pat Coogan has time, but that also means not to expect him to be Cam Ward's battery mate by Sept. 13.
Stock up: Tyjae Spears
Maybe it's a function of the emphasis on the short passing game early, but Tyjae Spears is having himself another camp to remember. The issue with Spears has always been staying healthy, and that's not going to change. Seeing Spears run in coordinator Brian Daboll's offense, though, it's easy to imagine a high-volume, high-production season if he can stay on the field.
Stock down: Chimere Dike
Chimere Dike's still going to get his reps as a return man, but he essentially has been a non-factor as a receiver through the first week of camp. Elic Ayomanor has looked the part of an NFL receiver so far. Dike's a little bit behind, at least in the early going.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Who's on this week's Titans stock report? Will Levis, linebackers, Chimere Dike and more
