Tennessee Titans winners and losers from preseason finale: Who impressed vs Saints

NEW ORLEANS — The Tennessee Titans finished their 2024 NFL preseason slate undefeated thanks to a 30-27 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The Titans' first-team defense forced two punts on two possessions and the first-team offense put together two scoring drives for 10 points before quarterback Will Levis and his skill players called it a day.

With just a couple of days until the Titans have to cut their roster from 90 players to 53, there were plenty of opportunities for players to make their cases. Here are The Tennessean's winners and losers from Sunday's preseason finale.

Winner: QB Will Levis

Consider this another test passed. Levis ended his day 7-for-8 passing with 118 yards and now has led four scoring drives in four possessions this preseason. Unlike the opener, when he completed five passes all within 8 yards of the line of scrimmage, he was able to test his downfield timing a little more Sunday, connecting with Tyler Boyd on a 22-yard corner route and linking up with Calvin Ridley on a 33-yard completion.

The Saints played hardly any of their big-ticket starting defenders, so this wasn't a perfect analog to what he'll face come regular season. But this was another performance where he bowled down the field, wasn't mired by penalties or turnovers and got out of the game healthy. Checkmark.

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Winner: QB Mason Rudolph

OK, so it was a good day to be a Titans quarterback. Rudolph took two series of reps behind the starting offensive line, a first for him this camp. And all he did was go 8-for-10 with 83 yards in those two drives, getting the team into scoring position both times. He has been stellar on third downs all preseason, and at this point, it seems all but settled that he has beaten out Malik Willis for the Titans' No. 2 quarterback job.

Loser: The Titans roster bubble

It was a chalky Sunday for most of the Titans' competitions. Jaelyn Duncan and John Ojukwu held on to the No. 2 tackle jobs. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Tre Avery held on to the No. 2 outside cornerback jobs. Most of Jha'Quan Jackson's chief competitors for the backup slot receiver and return man jobs didn't play. Julius Chestnut got way more looks than Hassan Haskins. Anyone hoping for fireworks on the last day before Tuesday's roster trim didn't get them . . .

Winners: Thomas Odukoya and David Martin-Robinson

. . . except for at tight end. Martin-Robinson, the undrafted rookie, helped his case with four more catches and flashed the run-after-catch ability that has allowed him to break out in camp. Thomas Odukoya, his chief competition to be the fourth tight end, caught a pass himself and featured in the team's heavy packages with the starters on the field, but his main contribution was a dazzling special teams hustle play to chase down Saints receiver Samson Nacua at the end of a 106-yard return to prevent him from scoring a touchdown.

Loser: The defensive depth

It's unfortunate to see safety Elijah Molden and linebacker Chance Campbell both leave with injuries, especially given the training camp and preseason Campbell has had. With injuries to Cedric Gray, Luke Gifford, Otis Reese IV, Marlon Davidson and TK McLendon in recent weeks, not to mention the ongoing sagas of L'Jarius Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie and Jamal Adams, there's reason to be concerned about how many bodies the Titans will be able to trust and have available on defense heading into the start of the season.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Winners, losers from Tennessee Titans preseason game vs Saints