Brian Callahan leaves no doubt about result of Titans' RB3 battle

Just because a player hears their name called in the NFL draft does not automatically guarantee their roster spot. Tennessee Titans running back Julius Chestnut is living proof of that.

The 23-year-old, who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022, had just nine rushes for 12 yards across nine games in his career and saw most of his time on special teams. However, Chestnut was commanding more playing time through his play in training camp and preseason.

The Titans elected to keep three running backs as part of Tuesday's roster cutdown deadline. Going into camp, we knew that the top two spots belonged to 2023 third-round pick Tyjae Spears and free-agent signing Tony Pollard.

It was just a matter of who would win the third running back job, a matter that would need to be settled in three games of live-game reps.

Chestnut emerged from the pack as the best candidate.

"Hassan did a good job," head coach Brian Callahan said via Jim Wyatt of Titans Online , "but Julius was just better at every opportunity that he had. Julius earned it. I feel really good about Julius as our third back."

The Sacred Heart product flashed both as a runner and pass-catcher out of the backfield, accumulating 78 rushing yards to go along with 70 receiving yards.

Chestnut notably led the Titans in attempts (13) and rushing yards (45) in the Titans' preseason Week 2 win against the Seattle Seahawks. In that game, he also accumulated 29 yards through the air on two catches that each went for over ten yards.

Then, there was Haskins, who failed to convince the coaching staff that he was the right man for the job. The former fourth-round pick in 2022 recorded 93 yards on 25 carries as a rookie, but he missed all of his sophomore season with an injury.

Added, Haskins had 18 carries for just 58 rushing yards, or 3.2 yards per attempt, during the preseason. The Titans praised his work on special teams, but he failed to prove that he could do more than Chestnut.

How many carries and what Chestnut's workload looks like over the course of the season will likely be determined week-to-week. However, he certainly looks hungry to carve out a role as the Titans' third running back.