Former Rams quarterback is one step away from starting in Tennessee

Brandon Allen spent two seasons buried on the L.A. Rams bench as the team’s third quarterback, but more than five years later the journeyman finds himself in an unexpected position to backup the first overall pick in the draft by Week 1. That means that if anything happens to Cam Ward between now and Week 2, Allen could find himself starting against the Rams when the Titans host L.A. less than two months from now.

That’s because Will Levis is going to have season-ending shoulder surgery, leaving Allen and Tim Boyle as the only other quarterback’s on the depth chart behind Ward.

Although Ward was handed the starting gig as the first overall pick on a team that was horrendous last season, therefore losing Levis doesn’t necessarily change anything about Tennessee’s plan, he is still a totally inexperienced quarterback who could experience the full spectrum of being in the NFL over the next five months.

If Brandon Allen wins the Titans backup job, that could easily lead to the opportunity to start multiple games this season.

It would not be the first time that Allen has started a game, but he’ll soon turn 33 and he has only started 10 NFL games in his life.

A sixth round pick by the Jaguars out of Arkansas in 2016, Allen never appeared in a game for Jacksonville and was waived at final cuts in 2017. The Rams picked him up and kept him around in some capacity for two seasons but he also never appeared in a game for Los Angeles.

After failing to make the Rams in 2019, Allen caught on with Vic Fangio’s Denver Broncos and started three games that year in place of Joe Flacco, then was later replaced by Drew Lock.

Allen spent the next three years on the Cincinnati Bengals, which is where he met offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, who is now the head coach of the Titans. Another sign that the Titans may not look for a different backup with Levis on IR, given that Callahan has proven in the past that he does trust Brandon Allen. In 2020, the Bengals started Allen five times (and went 1-4) in place of Joe Burrow.

He would only start one more game in the next two seasons.

From 2023-2024, Allen played in Kyle Shanahan’s system, starting one time for the 49ers in 2024 and throwing two interceptions.

Now seven years after Allen seemed to be an inconsequential camp body for the L.A. Rams, he’s a very important camp body for the Tennessee Titans.