There's making the most of limited opportunities, and then there's what the Tennessee Titans' first-team offensive line did.

The Titans' starting five only got one drive in Saturday's preseason loss against the Chicago Bears, but what a drive it was. Starting at their own 25-yard line, the Titans drove 75 yards in 12 plays over 7:15, culminating in a touchdown run by quarterback Malik Willis. Four pass plays yielded three completions and 39 yards. Eight run plays went for 41 yards, an average of more than 5 yards per carry. And other than one delay of game penalty, there were no plays that moved backwards.

"We got some pile push. We got some guys cleaning out the pocket. We got some movement," coach Mike Vrabel said Sunday after taking a day to digest the exhibition opener performance. "We were able to run some different plays. We blocked up a gap-scheme play really well. Really well where there was a lot of space in there. They keep improving and progressing but I thought they did exactly what I had hoped that they would."

There's a big, obvious reason why a performance like that is notable. The Titans are introducing four new starters on their offensive line, with the lone returning starter adjusting to a new position. No other NFL team has more than three new starters up front.

Change was inevitable. The Titans' offensive line was putrid last season, allowing pressures on a higher percentage of pass attempts than any other team and ranking fourth-worst in the league at rushing yards before contact for ball carriers.

So the Titans bumped guard Aaron Brewer inside to center. They signed free agents Andre Dillard and Daniel Brunskill to play left tackle and right guard. They drafted Peter Skoronski in the first round to play left guard. And after returning right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere was suspended for six games to start the season for violating the league's gambling policy the Titans signed veteran Chris Hubbard to man the spot.

It was just one preseason drive, but the quintet looked like an improved unit compared to the one the Titans fielded last season. Per Pro Football Focus, only Hubbard surrendered a quarterback pressure among the five while Brewer and Brunskill graded as the team's two best offensive players for the whole game.

The second-team offensive line didn't fare nearly as well. The Bears sacked Willis and rookie Will Levis eight times on the intervening drives, with Pro Football Focus crediting 20 pressures against the reserve linemen. When asked Sunday if he thought the pressures and sacks fell on the linemen for not blocking well, the quarterbacks for holding onto the ball too long or the receivers for not getting open, Vrabel said "Blame 'em all."

It's inevitable that the Titans will have to play substitute offensive linemen at some point this season. Depth is certainly a concern, but the depth should be augmented when Petit-Frere's suspension ends and when Dillon Radunz returns from the ACL injury that has him on the physically unable to perform list.

GOOD, BAD, INCONCLUSIVE: Malik Willis isn't there, but he's better – and other Titans-Bears observations | Estes

But as the line is currently configured and healthy, Vrabel is pleased with what he's seeing so far. The second preseason game is Saturday (7 p.m.) at Minnesota.

"I thought it was efficient," Vrabel said. I thought they did some really good things."

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

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans' revamped offensive line gives reason for optimism