Top 5 Tennessee Titans Facing the Most Pressure Against the Chicago Bears

The Tennessee Titans take on the Chicago Bears in their first preseason game of 2023 on Saturday and here are the top five players facing the most pressure when things kick off.

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans head into the start of the preseason with a ton of questions up and down the roster. We will see some heated battles taking place which puts pressure on those involved. Here are the top five Titans facing the most pressure against the Chicago Bears on Saturday.

The Quarterbacks

Okay, I am going to cheat a little bit here with the first three and go with a two-for-one. We start with the obvious in the Titans' two young quarterbacks. Whether folks admit it or not, everyone will be focused on this battle first. 

Malik Willis in his second-season trying to hold off the new rookie in Will Levis. It is about as tasty of a topic as we have seen during a Titans' preseason in quite sometime. More than just entertainment though, this battle has major stakes for the franchise.

The Titans are hoping one of these players emerges as the future starter. Ryan Tannehill is entering the final year of his contract and certainly the Titans would love to see one of the young, and also cheap, quarterbacks be able to start in 2024 rather than giving another deal to Tannehill at double or triple the cost, maybe more.

That can only happen if Willis or Levis are capable and we should be able to see that in this preseason. Most anyone who is invested in the team has a lean to either Willis or Levis, but regardless of who folks may want, the Titans need one of them to step up, no matter who they are. The pressure is on them to become that answer.

The Linebackers

The backup quarterback battle is admittedly intriguing with more long-term consequences, but the battle between the linebackers will have more impact on the 2023 season. We know veteran Azeez Al-Shaair will be the top linebacker, but third-year Monty Rice and second-year Jack Gibbens are fighting for the spot next to Al-Shaair.

If Rice is supplanted by a younger player who went undrafted after Rice himself was a top-100 pick in 2021, it would likely mean he will never reach the level of player you would hope after being drafted that high, at least with the Titans.

That is a lot of pressure on Rice.

Which brings us to his competitor Jack Gibbens. Wrestling the starting spot away from Rice would be huge. It would set him on a path to get life-altering money and career-altering status. If Gibbens wins the spot and proves to be a starting-caliber linebacker, it could change the ceiling of the Titans' defense now and in the future.

The Kickers

Another position battle that may not be as attractive as the quarterbacks, but could have much bigger ramifications for the team in 2023. Caleb Shudak is an incumbent with an asterisk after joining the team as an undrafted rookie in 2022, but never appearing in a game after a preseason injury. 

His competitor is Trey Wolff, an undrafted rookie from this year's class out of Texas Tech. The two have been neck and neck in camp. TennesseeTitans.com reporter Jim Wyatt has Shudak at 40-of-44 and Wolff at 46-of-51 on their kicks so far.

As interesting as how these two kick is how the team hands out opportunity. The Titans may only get a handful of kicks in each game, so how they sort out who takes what will be fascinating to watch and could give us an idea of who is leading the race.

Tim Kelly

Alright, I might be cheating again. I am not going with a player for this one, I am going for the Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly. There was so much heat, and deservedly so, on former offensive coordinator Todd Downing that it is only natural his replacement feel it too.

This Titans offense has been dreadful most of the time since Arthur Smith left after the 2020 season to become the Atlanta Falcons head coach. Some have doubts about Kelly's ability to change that. Not to mention, there were plenty of voices out there that wanted the Titans to hire an offensive coordinator from outside the organization rather than promoting Kelly from within.

Some see Kelly as a Vrabel "buddy" hire and that may be a fair criticism. With all of that noise around Kelly and the offense, Kelly better have some good stuff drawn up on Saturday or his feet will feel the coals before the season even starts.

Chris Hubbard

Finally, I played by the rules with this one. Better late than never. Hubbard was brought in a few weeks ago and was thrust into the Titans' starting right tackle role. The next few things I mention are not Hubbard's fault, but they are realities.

Hubbard was brought in instead of George Fant, who now will be starting for the Houston Texans. Hubbard will be compared to Fant and regardless of how Fant plays, folks will pine for Fant if Hubbard plays poorly. Also, after Jamarco Jones's abrupt ousting, Hubbard is the only starting option the Titans have, adding even more pressure.

Hubbard needs to play well out of the gate as eyes are focused on him already. That is a lot of pressure on a guy who joined the team just a few weeks ago.

Titans Training Camp Stories

• Titans Stadium Video: The Tennessee Titans will be getting a new stadium in the coming years and the team just released an exciting video with new views and renderings of what the project should look like when complete. CLICK HERE
• Titans' D Dominates: The Tennessee Titans' defense continues to dominate training camp and on Tuesday they were able to get two interceptions off of starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill. CLICK HERE
• Fulton Finds Consistency: The Tennessee Titans corner back is looking to develop more on-field consistency by making some changes to his off-field habits. CLICK HERE