Fresh faces flood the roster as veteran departures leave the offensive line in flux. Discover which frontrunners are pulling ahead in the battle for center and guard.
With all of the new faces in the Tennessee Titans locker room, it can be hard to find players who are actually returning in 2026.
There are position groups on offense and defense that will have new starters. At receiver, Wan'Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate are expected to come in and start right away.
Daniel Bellinger will be at one of the starting tight end spots.
On defense, Jermaine Johnson, Alontae Taylor, Cor'Dale Flott and John Franklin-Myers will all start for the Titans. Taylor and Flott will start on the outside at cornerback, while Franklin-Myers is going to start somewhere on the defensive line.
The offensive line is returning some production, but not all.
Peter Skoronski is back at left guard, with Dan Moore Jr. as the left tackle. J.C. Latham is back at right tackle after an injury scare at the beginning of training camp.
The Titans will have two new starters at center and right guard. The Titans didn't retain Lloyd Cushenberry and Kevin Zeitler. Cushenberry was released to free up cap room and to get out of that awful contract that former General Manager Ran Carthon gave him.
In two years with the Titans, Cushenberry never played a full season. He tore his Achilles in 2024 and then missed time last season with a foot injury.
Zeitler's one-year deal with the Titans expired, and he wasn't re-signed. He is still a free agent as of Saturday.
The competitions at center and right guard are underway in training camp. The centers on the roster are Austin Schlottmann, Pat Coogan and Andre James.
At right guard, there's Cordell Volson, Jackson Slater and Fernando Carmona.
Robert Saleh was asked if Schlottmann and Volson were first in line for the open competitions at center and right guard. He responded with a simple "Mhm."
Schlottmann is an obvious choice since he's already familiar with Brian Daboll's offense after the two years he spent with him at the New York Giants. Then there's Coogan, the rookie, who played five years of college football split between Notre Dame and Indiana.
Don't sleep of James, though.
He has played in 106 games with 61 starts during his time with the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders. He has the most experience, but it seems that the Titans are valuing familiarity instead, since Schlottmann has the leg up on the competition.
Right guard won't be an easy decision either.
Volson has more experience than Slater or Carmona. However, he hasn't played much football since his season-ending injury for the Cincinnati Bengals in training camp last year.
Volson has 50 games played with 48 starts.
Slater played in 12 games and zero starts as a rookie last season. Carmona is similar to Coogan in that he played five years of college football with Arkansas and San Jose State.
These battles are obviously subject to change as the Titans go through training camp. So far, Schlottmann and Volson lead their competition.
