There's been no shortage of chatter about Will Levis, Calvin Ridley, L'Jarius Sneed and Jeffery Simmons since the Tennessee Titans last played a game. Plenty of talk about top draft picks JC Latham and T'Vondre Sweat, too.

When the Titans take the practice field for the first day of training camp Wednesday, those stars will remain the center focus. But as is the case every year, a tier of forgotten or less-heralded contributors will emerge as camp darlings, the types who battle from the fringes of the roster on to the 53-man squad to start the season with impressive camp performances or by finding a niche none of their teammates can fill.

Here are three such candidates from The Tennessean as the Titans get ready for the preseason.

THE LEAP: If I'd expect a huge leap from any Tennessee Titans player, it's Peter Skoronski | Estes

DT Marlon Davidson

Unlocking Davidson's niche could be one of the keys to making this Titans defense go. The Titans' commitment to defensive line heft is patently obvious; Davidson is one of six D-linemen listed at 300 pounds or heavier. The tradeoff, naturally, is the Titans don't have many more slender options who can line up over offensive tackles and set the edge.

This isn't exactly Davidson's niche. Roughly one-third of his NFL snaps have come as a defensive end. But in a defense designed to allow Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat control the interior, having accountable presences alongside them is fundamentally important.

Davidson impressed in small doses last season, and the former second-round pick has the makings of a training camp stalwart who can use his versatility to carve a role few rotational others on this defense can fill.

LB James Williams

Williams, one of the Titans' seventh-round picks, is a trait-projector's fantasy. He's a college safety (and former five-star recruit) who'd never played linebacker before rookie camp. There are no questions about his aggressiveness or athleticism. But it's yet to be seen if he can — well, play linebacker.

It's hard to imagine there'll be another player who makes a bigger jump between OTAs and training camp than Williams just by virtue of how new everything is for him. Cutting through the congestion at inside linebacker to find a way on to the Titans' depth chart will be a challenge. He could start camp as low as eighth in the pecking order. But his rise can be meteoric if he plays up to his potential. In camp, that starts with translating head-hunting abandon into instinctive pursuit and controlled chaos in the middle of the field.

MORE ON THE DEFENSE: One goal for every Tennessee Titans key defender, from L'Jarius Sneed to T'Vondre Sweat

RB Hassan Haskins

Haskins never really made sense as a regular contributor in the Derrick Henry era because he was never going to jostle significant reps away from Henry. The Titans didn't need two power backs who specialized in thumping between the tackles, especially when Haskins' competition for the role was the best player of his generation at doing exactly that.

Times are different now. Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears are hardly power backs. The Titans' two undrafted rookie running backs both come from Air Raid college offenses. Haskins is in prime position to seize a role as a short-yardage back, especially if he proves as valuable on special teams as he did in 2022. Seeing how Haskins recovers from the injury that kept him off the field from August through January last season will be key, but there's a path toward Haskins being more valuable in the Titans' new regime than he was for the regime that drafted him.

REBUILD TALK: Tennessee Titans copied NFL's best rebuild stories in 1 crucial way, and it should pay off

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: 3 Tennessee Titans breakout candidates in training camp