By DREW BEATTY, film analyst
Every year, there is a batch of prospects who are widely expected to be selected on Day Three of the NFL Draft, but instead find themselves slipping into the ocean of undrafted free agents. In this year’s iteration of the post-draft frenzy to grab these players as well as others that flew under the radar of NFL front offices, Tennessee left with a haul of 11 players. With rookie minicamp behind them, the annual UDFA underdog stories that accompany it are sure to follow.
Regardless of how entranced fans become by these UDFA Cinderella stories, the harsh reality is that an overwhelming majority will not make the cut for an NFL 53-man roster. Even with that in mind, there are a select handful of players out of
Tennessee’s UDFA class that I believe have a realistic path to securing a roster spot. This group includes safety Bishop Fitzgerald, wide receiver Tyren Montgomery, cornerback Latrell McCutchin, offensive tackle Rasheed Miller and linebacker Shad Banks Jr.
While I believe all of these players to have been firmly draftable, many of their chances at a roster spot have just as much to do with Tennessee’s instability at their positions as with their ability.
Bishop Fitzgerald
Beginning with probably the biggest name UDFA signing of the Titans’ class, former USC Trojan safety Bishop Fitzgerald was expected to be a mid-to-late Day Three pick by many draft analysts (myself included). Standing at 5-foot-11 and 201 pounds, Fitzgerald was the single-high, center-fielding crux of USC’s defensive backcourt.
While not the rangiest safety of all time, Fitzgerald consistently displays high-end processing speed and a dangerously quick click-and-close from the secondary. He also has an unfortunate tendency to take some catastrophically poor angles in run support, but Fitzgerald makes his money as an instinctive coverage defender.
Tennessee’s core safety rotation of Amani Hooker, Kevin Winston Jr. and Tony Adams is obviously set in stone, but the depth of that room is far from defined. Jerrick Reed and Kendell Brooks are both quality depth options that provide special teams value, but Fitzgerald brings a unique element as a coverage defender that the other bodies in the room do not.
Whether or not Fitzgerald has the special teams prowess to hang onto the 53-man roster remains to be seen, but he has a deep well of impressive tape in coverage and is competing in an unsettled position room. Fans shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if Fitzgerald winds up clawing his way to the fourth safety spot on the depth chart by the end of training camp.
Tyren Montgomery
Tyren Montgomery won in multiple ways at day 1 of Senior Bowl practice 👀 pic.twitter.com/XtDYN4VkAP
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) January 28, 2026
Moving on to another one of the Titans’ most high-profile UDFA signings, former John Caroll wide receiver Tyren Montgomery became a hot name midway through the pre-draft process. In Mobile at the Senior Bowl, Montgomery exploded onto the draft scene by dominating many of the top corners in the draft.
Standing at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Montgomery is an impressive separator with respectable size. While he’s not a high-octane athlete, he wins by being an advanced, developed and nuanced route runner who conceals his intentions and his breaks.
In addition to his athletic limitations, Montgomery also will enter the league as a 25-year-old rookie. Entering camp as a somewhat athletically limited, older rookie in what is a relatively set position group leaves the odds stacked against him making a run at a roster spot.
However, I believe Montgomery to be one of, if not the most talented player of Tennessee’s UDFA class. It’s been some time since the Titans carried seven receivers on a 53-man roster, and the position group of Carnell Tate, Chimere Dike, Wan’Dale Robinson, Calvin Ridley, Elic Ayomanor and Bryce Oliver seems concrete, but if Mike Borgonzi opts to carry a seventh receiver, Montgomery is poised to be the favorite.
Latrell McCutchin Sr.
Pivoting to another secondary addition in the UDFA class, the Titans signed former Houston cornerback Latrell McCutchin Sr., a player who I included in my final predictive mock draft. Tennessee met with McCutchin multiple times throughout the pre-draft process.
At 6-foot-2 and 191 pounds, McCutchin is a lengthy, stout presence on the boundary. Borgonzi has shown a clear affinity for physical, long corners – which fits McCutchin’s profile to a tee.
Tennessee spent a colossal amount of money on the corner position in free agency, adding free agents Alontae Taylor, Cor’Dale Flott and Joshua Williams. However, beyond those new names, the depth at corner is dangerously thin. Even with the plethora of new additions, the Titans’ roster is still in need of homegrown talent, and McCutchin provides a disruptive and physical presence in the secondary. Competing solely with Micah Robinson for the fourth outside corner spot, McCutchin has one of the better chances at a final 53-man roster spot out of the entire UDFA class.
Rasheed Miller
The Titans brought in two UDFA offensive tackles. One is Notre Dame’s Aamil Wagner – who is receiving the majority of the coverage. However, I believe the other signing of former Louisville tackle Rasheed Miller to be more noteworthy. Despite receiving little-to-no pre-draft coverage, Miller has an utterly absurd physical profile. Standing at 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds with near 37-inch arms, he possesses top-end traits. Miller doesn’t have my highest grade of the UDFA class, but he is the UDFA that I’m most intrigued by.
Even in his hulking frame, Miller is a shockingly explosive mover and extremely smooth vertical setter. He also pairs his striking length with a jarring, sharp punch at the point of attack. While many of the traits are enticing, Miller does have a crippling lack of anchor due to a lack of lower-body power.
Miller’s build, while certainly an NFL-caliber frame, is extremely disproportionate. He has an overwhelmingly top-heavy build with a massive upper-half, but a lackluster amount of lower-body mass. However, the potential solution of getting Miller into an NFL weight room and under an NFL squat rack makes his pass protection profile even more intriguing when projecting him to the next level.
In addition to how much developmental upside Miller brings, the Titans’ offensive tackle room is yet another group with a frightening lack of depth. After losing Oli Udoh in free agency, Tennessee’s only swing tackle option remains 2025 UDFA signing Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson. While Crenshaw-Dickson’s (albeit extremely limited) flashes in 2025 were promising, the Titans still have to add more quality depth. While they obviously can’t rely on Miller to be that right away, his traits make him an undeniably attractive developmental option.
Shad Banks Jr.
Moving on to the fifth and final player of this group, Tennessee signed former UTSA linebacker Shad Banks Jr. Another player with a relevant amount of pre-draft pedigree, Banks falls in line with the stereotypical, smaller coverage linebacker profile. At 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, he consistently showcases impressive lower-half fluidity, sideline-to-sideline range and striking downhill closing speed.
The flashes aren’t quite consistent enough yet, but Banks has flashed a clear feel for space and instincts as a middle-of-the-field hook defender. Much like many “coverage” linebackers, Banks tends to evade second-level blocks far more often than he engages and sheds them. While he evades blockers at an above-average level, I worry about his ability to handle NFL physicality and survive more powerful second-level blockers.
Such is the case with many UDFAs; the questions surrounding Banks’ chances at the roster have much more to do with the existing positional group than they do Banks’ ability. With Cedric Gray, Anthony Hill Jr. and Cody Barton as the core three players in the room, the primary linebackers in head coach Robert Saleh’s defense are all but set in stone. Beyond those three, however, Banks' competition boils down to James Williams, new addition Mohamoud Diabate and special teams ace Dorian Mausi.
Once again, Banks will have to inherit a significant role on special teams to wrestle away a roster spot from one of these three, but if he can, Banks has the athletic traits and developmental ceiling to become a noteworthy player far beyond special teams in a Robert Saleh defensive scheme.
As always when covering UDFAs, I feel the need to reinforce the need for tempered expectations. A majority of these players will never find permanent homes on NFL rosters. However, that doesn’t mean the intriguing UDFA signings can’t be evaluated each year, and the Titans’ unique spot in their rebuilding lifecycle has left a multitude of positional opportunities for UDFAs to seize rotational depth spots – and Borgonzi has brought in a handful of alluring undrafted gems.
