The Tennessee Titans are down to the kind of roster question teams hate in late August: what do you do with a player who keeps producing every time the games start counting toward evaluation?
That’s where Julius Chestnut comes in. With a joint practice against the Chicago Bears set for Thursday and the preseason finale against those same Bears on Saturday, the Titans are approaching the point where general manager Mike Borgonzi has to sort out his first 53-man roster roughly 24 hours later. One of the more interesting calls sits at running back.
The Titans are expected to carry four backs. Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears, and rookie Nicholas Singleton look like safe bets. That leaves one spot, and the competition has narrowed around Kalel Mullings, Chestnut, and Michael Carter.
Chestnut has made the strongest case so far. Through two preseason games, he leads all Titans running backs in rushing by a wide margin.
He’s piled up 95 yards on 13 carries, a 7.31 yards per game average, and he’s broken loose for a 34-yard run. He’s also chipped in as a receiver, catching three passes for 24 yards.
This isn’t new for him. Chestnut has developed a reputation for showing up in the preseason and doing exactly this, and that pattern has held again this summer.
There’s also the special teams angle, which keeps him squarely in the conversation. Mullings, a former college linebacker and a sophomore draft pick, has the edge for some because of his special teams upside, but John “Bones” Fassel trusts Chestnut there too.
The Titans’ regular-season backfield is set at the top. Pollard and Spears will carry the load. What remains is whether Chestnut’s experience, his preseason production, and his ability to help on special teams are enough to keep him in the mix as depth.
He could also matter if injuries force the Titans to dig deeper. Chestnut offers short-yardage value, and if Spears were to miss time, he would seem like a more dependable option than Singleton, who is struggling in pass protection.
For Tennessee, the final running back decision is not a simple one. Carter, Mullings, and D’Ernest Johnson are all still in the mix for the same roster spot Chestnut is chasing, and Chestnut has done plenty to make the choice harder.
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