Biggest position battles to watch

It’s that time of year again: we are just about past the dead period of the NFL offseason and heading straight into training camp. The Tennessee Titans will hold their first practice on July 27, with all players reporting before that.

Coming off a 12-5 season and a first-round bye in the postseason, head coach Mike Vrabel’s club will look to improve upon their disappointing ending to last season with the playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Unfortunately, Tennessee is faced with more questions than answers at multiple positions on the offensive side of the ball, but competition also forces players to elevate their games.

A.J. Brown and Julio Jones are both gone. Robert Woods was acquired and is expected to be the No. 1 wide receiver on the roster. Beyond that, well, the wide receiving corps. lacks proven talent.

Here’s a look at the key battle that will take place at wide receiver and two more of the biggest position battles to watch in training camp.

WR2: Treylon Burks vs Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Syndication: The Tennessean

Treylon Burks has gotten off to a rocky start in Nashville.

Potential conditioning issues and asthma have limited the first-round pick’s time on the field. If conditioning is part of his practice issues, this wouldn’t be the first is Burks has encountered these struggles.

Former Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman recently detailed the rookie’s past conditioning issues during his sophomore season.

However, the Arkansas wide receiver’s body of work in college provides reason for optimism, as he was still very productive despite the issues.

“I’m just taking it one day at a time and everything else will take care of itself,” Burks said via ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “Everybody is going to have setbacks. It’s just how you come back and attack it.”

On the other side, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is coming off the biggest workload of his young NFL career. Due to injuries on the roster, the Indiana University product finished with 38 receptions and 476 receiving yards, finishing with the second-most yards on the Titans’ roster.

Westbrook-Ikhine, recently dubbed a fantasy breakout candidate in 2022, is suddenly the longest-tenured and, perhaps more importantly, the most trusted receiver that quarterback Ryan Tannehill has chemistry with heading into the year. If Burks continues to struggle, NWI will start the year as WR2.

RT: Dillon Radunz vs Nicholas…