One Titans player is turning heads at practice, but a crowded defensive backfield and veteran depth charts leave the former Clemson standout fighting for his NFL life.
The Tennessee Titans have plenty of players who are fighting to make the 53-man roster once training camp concludes.
The Titans now have 90 players on the roster and will slowly trim it down throughout training camp.
With the preseason, there will naturally be injuries. Just ask Jaren Kanak and Jaylen Harrell. Both of them exited the San Francisco 49ers game, and it was later determined that they suffered season-ending injuries.
Even when there aren't injuries, the Titans have still been adding and subtracting players from the roster. When they put Kanak and Harrell on injured reserve, the Titans signed Matt Lauter and Dominic Richardson.
Richardson isn't on the team anymore after being waived.
Recently, the Titans haven't shied away from bringing in more defensive backs. This could be because there isn't much depth at safety or cornerback beyond the starters.
Mario Goodrich was one of the more recent signings. He played cornerback for the Titans during the 49ers game. He has been impressing at practice lately, and was the topic of a question submitted by a fan on Jim Wyatt's Titans mailbag.
A fan asked about Goodrich's odds of making the 53-man roster. Wyatt noted that Goodrich has made good plays at practice, but didn't believe he had a good chance of making the roster.
"Hey Brian. Cornerback Mario Goodrich is who you are referring to, and he has made some plays in camp," Wyatt said. "But I can get to five cornerbacks really quick when adding up guys I think will be on the 53. He has his work cut out for him."
Wyatt isn't wrong. It will not be an easy task for Goodrich to make this 53-man roster.
Alontae Taylor, Cor'Dale Flott and Marcus Harris are probably the most likely starters at this time. If you take them out of the equation, it's an absolute logjam right now at cornerback.
Goodrich will be contending for a roster spot with Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson, Jalen McMurray, Erick Hallett, Micah Robinson, Keydrain Calligan and Corey Mayfield Jr.
On top of that, Goodrich hasn't played a regular-season NFL game since 2023.
He went undrafted out of Clemson in 2022 and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was waived and signed to the practice squad very quickly. He signed a reserve/future contract with the organization in 2023 and was waived and put on the practice squad once again.
He ended up being waived in 2024 after signing his second future/reserve contract with the Eagles. He then spent time with the New York Giants, but got waived during final roster cuts.
Goodrich signed with the UFL's Birmingham Stallions and then joined the Denver Broncos a few months later. He was waived and then signed with the New York Jets before returning to the UFL with the Stallions.
Now, Goodrich is with the Titans in the hopes he can somehow make this roster.
It's not impossible, but it won't be easy for someone like Goodrich to make this 53-man roster.
