Just two Tennessee Titans players cracked ESPN's top 10 players at their positions survey heading into the 2024 season, showing the NFL's general lack of confidence in Brian Callahan's squad's top-end talent.

The survey, which polled 80 NFL coaches and executives, catalogued the top-10 players at every position along with some honorable mentions and players who also received votes. Only defenders Jeffery Simmons (No. 4 among DTs) and L'Jarius Sneed (No. 4 among CBs) earned their way onto the mainline lists this year, though center Lloyd Cushenberry earned an honorable mention among interior offensive linemen and skill players Tony Pollard, DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley landed in the "receiving votes" section.

Seeing Simmons' name on a list such as this is a foregone conclusion, and it's encouraging to see Sneed's name that high on the list given the resources the Titans poured into acquiring him this offseason. And it's not as if two representatives on these lists puts the Titans at the bottom of the NFL; eight teams had one or zero players crack the top-10 in their respective positions. But it's still easy to find a few snubs from the Titans' roster who probably could've or should've landed higher.

Cushenberry feels like the most obvious candidate. He finished last season with the second-best pass blocker efficiency rating of any NFL center, and tied for fourth-best among interior linemen with All Pro Jason Kelce. And this came in a season where he predominantly blocked for quarterback Russell Wilson, one of the league's most notorious scramblers who, by virtue of holding onto the ball as long as he does, sets up his linemen to have to hold blocks longer.

The cases for Ridley and Hopkins to make the top-10 receivers list are a little tougher to make. Not because they aren't talented, but because of the glut of talent at their position. Stars like Cooper Kupp, DeVonta Smith, Deebo Samuel and D.J. Moore didn't make the top 10 either. It's probably the toughest position to be considered top 10 at in 2024.

If there are four players who were completely shut out from voting who could end up making NFL execs look silly, they have to be the young faces of the Titans' offensive core. Quarterback Will Levis, running back Tyjae Spears and offensive linemen JC Latham and Peter Skoronski all have huge potential heading into their first or second season and are the logical candidates to make big jumps up these lists in 2025, though they certainly don't have the resumes yet.

The Titans begin training camp on Tuesday and the 2024 regular season begins on Sept. 8 with a Week 1 game against the Chicago Bears.

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: Tennessee Titans football: Who was snubbed in NFL ESPN top 10 ranking?