Fernando Carmona dominated the trenches in his preseason debut, showcasing the poise and physicality of a seasoned pro while securing his spot in Tennessee’s competitive offensive line battle.
The Tennessee Titans went in a different direction with one of their starters on the offensive line for their game with the San Francisco 49ers.
The first depth chart of the preseason showed that Dan Moore Jr., Peter Skoronski, Austin Schlottmann, Cordell Volson and J.C. Latham were going to be the starters on the offensive line.
There have been ongoing position battles for center and right guard this offseason. The Titans let go of Lloyd Cushenberry and Kevin Zeitler, meaning that there's going to be two new starters on the offensive line.
Schlottmann and Volson have been the frontrunners for center and right guard so far. Pat Coogan and Andre James are also in the mix at center. Jackson Slater and Fernando Carmona have been competing for the right guard job.
Although Volson was listed as one of the starters, the Titans went with Carmona instead at right guard. It was a really cool moment for Carmona, who grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, so it was good for him to be back in the area.
Robert Saleh fielded questions from the media on Friday once the team had returned to Nashville. He was asked about Carmona, and what impressed him was how comfortable the rookie looked in his first preseason game.
"Yeah, we'll have a discussion about that here this afternoon, but he showed really well," Saleh said. "It's all the same things I talked to you guys about earlier. Just, he's stable in there. He's a great communicator. He's doing a good job holding his own. He's physical. He plays from snap to the echo of the whistle, which we covet. So, he's doing a really nice job."
These definitely aren't qualities you would expect to see from a rookie in his first-ever NFL game, preseason or not. That's because Carmona didn't look like a rookie. He looked like an NFL veteran out there.
Thursday was Carmona's first NFL game, but he had a lot of experience in college.
He got to San Jose State in 2021 and played in one game. He then won the starting job at left tackle and played in all 12 games. He was the starter all of the following season as well.
Carmona then transferred to Arkansas and started in 25 games combined over the two seasons he spent there, 2024-25.
Carmona is sure to have his welcome-to-the-NFL moment eventually, but he didn't have one on Thursday night, which is a good sign.
