Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Is Tennessee Titans' Reign of Terror Coming to an End?

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

The Tennessee Titans have been the kings of the AFC South the last couple of seasons, but they took a major step back late in 2022. Could this be the end of their strong run of seasons and can the Indianapolis Colts capitalize on this? Tyler Rowland of Locked on Titans joins the show to discuss the future of the Titans.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is the Tennessee Titan reign of terror in the AFC South finally over, or is it just starting anew with some of the moves they've made? We're going to talk about that here on Locked On Colts. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked is your daily podcast covering your indianapolis colts part of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Zach Hicks, your film nerd, your favorite film nerd, your favorite half of this podcast. And today I'm joined by not Jake Arthur, who is dealing with some power issues there in Indiana. I'm sure some of you guys live around him, so you understand exactly what's going on.

But instead, I'm joined by Tyler Rowland of Tic Tac Titans, also locked on Titans over there. You guys can follow his daily episode that he has. And Tyler, you and I are very energetic, fun dudes, so I think we're going to have some fun with today's show. We're going to talk all about the Tennessee Titans. And, you know, the Titans took kind of a step back last season they failed to make the playoffs and this was you know what year four or five of mike grable or year three or four what was it what year was it with mike grable last year 2018 was his first season yeah so okay quick math that that would have been uh season five eighteen nineteen twenty twenty one twenty two five yep there we go Used my hands on that one.

There we go, Tyler. There we go. But yeah, no, year five of Mike Vrabel missed the playoffs. It all falls apart down the stretch, but he gains more power, gains more influence in the organization as a result. And they're kind of pivoting towards still continuing that win now window. So to kind of kick this episode off, Tyler, we're going to talk about just the Tennessee Titans at a macro level. You know, we're going to paint those broad strokes first, and then we're going to go to the finer details after that. So starting with just the bigger picture with the Tennessee Titans, you know, what do you see this organization doing going forward? Like what's kind of the near and distant future for this organization right now, because yes, they've made some win now moves. They still kind of leaning into the, yes, we're competitive roster, but it's such a

quarterback league right now. And yes, they took Will Levis in the beginning of the second round, but is that enough to compete in this quarterback league? Like, what do you think about the future of the Tennessee Titans as of right now? You know, what's crazy, Zach, is, and obviously thanks for having me on. It's always fun to have these divisional conversations, the crossovers, all of that. Love it. But I think as much as I talk about the Titans each and every day, I haven't thought about it like this, I guess this analogy. But to me, where some of us see the Titans, and I admit that I'm probably in a group that's closer to maybe some Colts fans

looking at the Titans and what they should do I was thinking hey cut Ryan Tannehill trade Derek Henry if you can go with Will Levis go with Malik Willis before Levis was drafted see if you can get Caleb Williams or Drake May and because there's two ways to do this either you have like that strong roster type build which Colts fans recognize the Colts have been trying to do this. Either you have like that strong roster type build, which Colts fans recognize the Colts have been trying to do the last few years, you know, great defense, run the ball, average quarterback. You can get it done that way. It's just harder than having the elite quarterback model where you just have that guy that, you know, the rising tide lifts all boats. So there's one of two ways to do it at this point, the Titans and the Colts have been trying

to do it the same way for the last few years. And I think rather than thinking that the Titans are going to quit and restart the race and try to rebuild and find that quarterback and go to the bottom of the draft and prioritize youth, let's call it, be more shiny with it. Rather than the Titans restarting the race, Mike Vrabel, in my mind, thinks this is just a pit stop because a tire blew, and that tire blowing was the stupid trade of A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles. The tire blew.

Vrabel took the pit stop, said, hey, we're throwing these tires out. We're making some changes. We may be a little behind, but I can catch us back up as the driver here. So I feel like Mike Vrabel sees this, which is what's most important. I think that the Titans are probably further away than they think in the building. Maybe I'm wrong, you know, but we will see, I guess.

That's the best part about sports is we get our answer. But I just think that Mike Vrabel sees it as more of a pit stop and then getting this thing back on track. And you can tell by the players that he drafted. Will Levis is like Ryan Tannehill. They even kind of look alike, in my opinion. He's just a modern, more, you know, because he's more athletic. He's more built and all that.

He's just Ryan Tannehill all over again. So it's obvious what Mike Rabel thinks that they can do if they just replace some simple parts here and there because he thinks he can continue to drive them to a Super Bowl level team and a Super Bowl level quite frankly and can he do it I guess we'll see I have my doubts but I think that they should have probably prioritized youth this offseason and took their medicine but you know Mike Vrabel was the one in charge and he doesn't think they should do that so big picture they are trying to not go down a couple of steps to go back up they're trying to hover at this mid-level with Mike Vrabel's idea that he can drive them forward

to that perennial level right without having to go back down so that's what they're trying to do yeah and I want to take you back just a little bit, obviously to a very different situation, but the Indianapolis Colts last year, going into last season, they were in that similar boat where they were like, Hey, the Carson wins trade was a major pit stop. I mean, probably a little bit worse than the AJ Brown trade. Even, you know, the tires all blew off on the track and we had to drag the car off and try to push it back out there with a 40-year-old Matt Ryan is what we were trying to do. That's our analogy there in Hindi. But they made a couple win-now moves. You know, they went out and signed Stephon Gilmore. They traded for Yannick Ngakwe. They made some moves for playmakers in the draft, Alec Pierce and Jelani Woods. Like,

that was them kind of pushing all their chips in one last time, just like the Tennessee Titans are doing. And I'm not saying the Tennessee Titans are bound to do what the chips in one last time, just like the Tennessee Titans are doing. And I'm not saying the Tennessee Titans are bound to do what the Colts did last year, where you're, you're just hovering around average. And then Jeff Saturday comes in and just kicks you to the curb. Yeah.

I don't think that will happen. I don't think that, I mean, I don't know. You guys got to bring in Vince Young or so. I don't know. Like who's going to come in and coach the team. But anyway,

yeah, exactly. But like, as a Titans fan, and as a Titans podcast, are you kind of a little concerned seeing a division rival who again, like you said, was going down the same path, kind of seeing your Titans kind of go a similar ish way where it's like, yeah, they're still concerns, but they're still pushing their chips in with a big signing here a big signing they're drafting this this young player like they're still concerns with this roster and the way they're doing things but they're still trying to go the same exact way yeah I think the offensive line is the biggest concern now with the Hopkins signing um but rather than you know getting deep into the weeds on things like that what I would say is I think the Titans tried to get ahead of that with the Will Levis move.

I think that was rather, for better or for worse, Colts fans can say whatever in your car right now, at your house, wherever in your headphones, wherever you're listening to this, you have your own thought on Will Levis right now. Well, if you're wrong, because I think I know what your thought is you out there listening. If you're wrong, you know, the Titans will be sitting in a great spot. So rather than going with, you know, a trade for Carson Wentz or rather than grabbing Phil Rivers or Matt Ryan, the Titans said, we're just going to keep the mid guy. And rather than get him the

help that maybe he needs with a second round receiver or second round tight end or some sort of weather rather than going all in like you're talking about and using all your picks and all your capital to go for that last run the Titans are trying to have their cake and eat it too they're trying to get some people and add so that they can make their last run they're getting guys who were on the bench for their previous teams who might have the ability to be a starter going forward. They're kind of trying to thread that needle between we're doing a last dance with Tannehill and Henry, but we're going to use our second round pick and trade up

and get Will Levis and see how that goes in the future. We're going to draft Tajay Spears, an explosive running back in the third round, even though we have Derrick Henry. We're going to use two of our very high picks to replace guys who may be on the last year of their deal, even if they're key figures to our team. So it seems like what the Titans have tried to do here is kind of do both of those things at the same time.

I've been saying all season, you try to walk down two paths, you'll probably just walk down the wrong one. But with the signing of Hopkins, it's almost like they've done a perfect job of walking both those paths this offseason. But of course, how things play out during the year will tell us how they should be graded ultimately. But on paper, I was a big critic of what they'd done so far this offseason, but you add Hopkins to it now, you give Tannehill and Henry a real chance to compete while at the same time, you did kind of stalk some of those positions with young players who could

potentially work out. We'll see in the future. Yeah, I get exactly what you're talking about there, Tyler, you know, the Titans feel like they're in a very similar situation to the Indianapolis Colts.

The last couple of seasons, especially except that like, you know, the Titans have always been like one step ahead. You know, they've always been one step ahead. They've always been one step ahead, especially with that continuity at the quarterback position and with Ryan Tannehill, who's been a very underrated quarterback the last couple of years. But we're going to keep

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slash Locked On to get up to $200 in bonus bets. That's FanDuel.com slash Locked On. FanDuel, official partner of Major League Baseball. And every day, we have the privilege of having the great Jake Arthur on this podcast, the boots on the ground in training camp. With training camp right around the corner, you want to be tuning in to Locked On Colts every single day because Jake is a grinder. He's going

to be there sleeping at the facility every single night and he's going to be ready for training camp. So make sure you're tuning into Lockdown Colts throughout the whole month of August and this little part of July when training camp starts up. All right, Tyler. So we're segueing this conversation into the 2023 Titans, which it kind of feels perfect for the Titans because they're always about that one year. You know, it's always about that one year. Like you said, they have they have leaned into the Will Levis and building for the future while also being prepared for the one year. But the big signing of DeAndre Hopkins obviously says that they are still thinking win now mode you know DeAndre Hopkins fixes one of their biggest issues which is this wide receiver core look like a high school wide receiver core for much of the all season it was Traylon Burks and a bunch of dudes you know now it's DeAndre Hopkins Traylon Burks and a bunch of

dudes but like does these couple win now signs you know not even just DeAndre Hopkins you got DeAndre Hopkins you got Jamel Dean drafting Skoronski there early in the draft. Those are all kind of ready to play win now type moves. Like you said, kind of in that last segment, does the outlook for the 2023 Titans feel much better than what it was going into last season? Or what's kind of the outlook now, despite the disaster that was the end of last season just one correction i understand how this happened but jamil dean it was sean murphy bunting the other that's what it was tampa bay buccaneers quarterback same team yeah no you're fine same

team super athletes yeah same exact team yes well just so colts fans aren't confused when they see a guy out there against michael pittman or But no, I think, again, like we kind of talked about at the end of the opening discussion, the Titans brought in Andre Dillard at left tackle, former first round pick, back up in Philadelphia. But Philadelphia did have the best offensive line in the league. So maybe he's good enough to be a starter. It was just a great offensive line and he couldn't break through. I have my doubts, a bit of a cynic. but at the same time, hey, maybe it works out.

Maybe it works out. And Sean Murphy bunting, same thing. He had some incredible moments during that Tampa Bay Buccaneers run to the Super Bowl. He had three interceptions. That postseason, he's shown to be a guy who has good ball skills, and, I mean, he can disrupt at the catch point and do things like that, which the Titans sorely needed.

You remember Alec Pierce's four-catch 80-yard performance against the Titans. The Titans consistently got beat in isolated situations last year down the sideline in man coverage. The Titans want to run cover one when the chips are on the table, and they would win the down but lose the play, and that happened a lot on the outside with cornerbacks. So Murphy Bunting should help the Titans there. I think that the expectations this year should be higher.

I think last year was a bit of a shell shock with the A.J. Brown trade, at least in my opinion, my assessment of the reaction. I think that people looked at it last year and they were like, hey, you know, Traylon Burks could take that A.J. Brown role. But I don't think any logical person expected that to happen in Burks' first year with the lack of talent that they had at tight end as the offensive line was aging,

having Aaron Brewer in at starting left guard even to start the year. I just think there were, and then Harold Landry tears his ACL right before the season. You know, I think if you would have taken the temperature of the Titans fan base or the expectations or optimism for the team after that Landry injury, it would have been really low. After the A.J. Brown trade, even lower. So I think just based on a couple of really bad things that happened

last offseason, I don't think the expectations were as high as they are right now after the DeAndre Hopkins signing, because now you know about Chigaconquo. Now, rather than going into the season with older veterans who have been breaking down and getting hurt, you have brand new fresh faces who, even if it's just a new face, it gives people more optimism than, hey, Taylor LeJuan again, he's probably going to get hurt soon. You know, just even if it turns out the same way, just being different people having different opportunities, renewed hope. I think there's much higher expectations for the Titans this season than there were

going into last season just because of, you know, the vibes. Honestly, the vibes are a lot higher right now for the Titans as an organization than they were after that A.J. Brown trade, which was, you know, devastating, honestly. So now there's renewed hope with Burke showing some signs, Okonkwo showing some real signs, Adden Hopkins. There was always faith in the defense, but there's renewed faith in the offense,

not having Todd Downing at the helm, which is just insane that that was a two-year experience. So, you know, there's a lot of change that's happened with the Titans, the new general manager. And because of all that change, plus a better roster in general, I think there's higher expectations and more hope for this season than last season. Yeah, and, you know, I know Indianapolis Colts fans are not super, super optimistic when it comes to the Tennessee Titans. Yeah, yeah. Should be praying on their downfall.

Right, right. All you guys listening are going to be like, nah, the Titans are destined for five wins, destined for six wins. But if I know one thing about Mike Frable, it takes the whole team to collapse for him to get six wins, for him to get seven wins. Honestly, it's why the Colts moved on from Frank Reich in the middle of the season last year is because Frank Reich was kind of the same way. He was going to will that team to six, seven wins, and they would not have got their Anthony Richardson after the season.

So that's why Jeff Saturday was so important to us here in Indy. This is why we love Jeff Saturday. He will go down as a franchise hero. You know what I mean? Like he did his part. He really did to help the team. He helped the team. He knew the assignment.

We're just going to play along with that being the assignment the whole time. Not him actually being like a proposed answer. But getting back to the Titans here, you know, when you have a Mike Vrabel, you have a quarterback that's passable you have some weapons and you know you're gonna have a defense that even if everyone goes down injured you're gonna be competitive and now you have the expectations where like you're not the top dogs in the AFC South anymore you know the Titans have dominated this division for the last couple seasons and you always got like you know the chatter the Colts are coming you know the Colts are coming but like it never really played out like there were some competitive games in

there but for the most part the last couple years the Colts have been little brother to the Titans but now you have the Jaguars the Jaguars or Jaguars whatever I'm supposed to say with that people always tell me I say it wrong Jags you say it either way it doesn't matter Jaguars Jaguars whatever you want to say it there. But now you have them and their superstar young quarterback that everyone's ready to crown. You know, what are you kind of expecting for the Titans in terms of where they place in this division in 2023?

I know you said you're kind of a cynic. You're not super high on this roster compared to most people. But do you see them as a wildcard team? Do you see them surprising and winning the division for the first time when they're not expected to? Like, where are you kind of seeing the expectations for 2023 in terms of where they finish? I think ceiling-wise, the Titans could win one playoff game. I think they could win a game in the wildcard.

And here's the thing, though. I say that, but once you get into the tournament, all bets are off. You know, say the Titans win the division at 11-6, you know, and then they happen to play, like, the Chargers, or they happen to play the Miami Dolphins. Like, it's not inconceivable that the Titans would beat one of those two teams, you know, at home.

It's just not insane that that would happen. Now, you get to the next echelon of teams, the Bengals, the Bills, the Chiefs. That's a different conversation to have, even if things go well for the Titans. I'm not willing to say that they'll beat one of those teams, but they'll at least have a shot if they get in the tournament, they win one game. I think winning one game, one playoff game for the Titans, it would be a successful season no matter what, because the nasty loss to the Bengals when you're number one seed going out against the Ravens, only scoring 13 points when you have this amazing offense, you know, 2019, that was acceptable. Oh,

this team's getting ready to make a run here. The faith was at the highest and faith goes down as you start to lose. So if the Titans could get one playoff win, I think it would be a successful season. And I think they have the talent now with Hopkins to do that. I think what's more realistic is probably 10 and seven losing the first round. But at this point, I do think the Titans will win the division. I think it, it'll go down to that last game with Jacksonville.

Of course, I don't think Jacksonville is going to be terrible, but there are a couple of factors here. The Titans, instead of having a first-place schedule, which they've had the last two years, are now going to have a second-place schedule, which is big in the AFC with the top quarterbacks that I just mentioned. You know what I mean?

And Burrow and Allen and Mahomes. Not playing them is huge. Now, the Titans have some games in there like they do play Cincinnati, but it's not the murderer's row that they've had to deal with the last few years. And at the same time, Jacksonville goes from a last place schedule to a first place schedule. Jacksonville had a brand new coach and a new offense and a new defense last year. Well now teams have a full season to scout from the Jaguars and figure out

what they're doing, what they like to do, how they like to counter things. So I think it'll be tougher on Jacksonville, which will cause, I don't want to say regression, because I think they'll probably finish, you know, 9-8, 10-7 again. But they aren't going to take that huge leap, in my opinion, like the national media thinks they're going to take

because of those factors that I just mentioned. So Jacksonville not taking that huge leap that maybe some people think they're going to take while the Titans just remaining competitive So Jacksonville not taking that huge leap that maybe some people think they're going to take while the Titans just remaining competitive as ever is going to be huge, but it does come down to health. 91 players on the roster in 2021 led the NFL, NFL history. Most players used on a roster last year, 34 players on IR led the NFL. Vrabel beats these guys into the ground. Maybe if they get lucky and stay healthy a little bit until the end of the year,

they'll be able to hold off Jacksonville and take the AFC South back, but they've got to be healthy. And I'm starting to wonder whether it's bad luck or just bad process. You know what I mean? Yep. Coming up guys, we threatened Tyler was showing that clip to Tony Wiggins over at locked on Jaguars,

but, but no, we're going to continue the fun. We're going to talk more about the Colts and Titans robbery and if the Colts are going to remain little brother going forward. All right, Tyler, so we're back and we're talking about the Colts and Titans. Now we're actually bringing it to some Colts talk. I know you guys listening are like, man, why are we talking so much Titans here?

The Colts are kind of behind enemy lines. Yeah, you got to, gotta know your enemy. Right. Right. But like, this is actually how I wanted to leave the segment. So I'm glad you said that. Are we enemies this season?

I know we all root for the Titans downfall. And I know all of us are like, yeah, the Jaguars, whatever, like it's, or Jaguars, whatever,

whatever I'm supposed to say, whatever. They're like Trevor Lawrence is cool. I guess like they're young. They'd never really had anything. So we're cool with them. But the Titans, we don't want them winning anything, even if we're winning two games. So like, I know the animosity is still there, but with the Colts kind of planning this step

back season, like, I don't know, like, what are your thoughts on the Colts going into this season when they're really not that team that the national media is going like, oh, yeah, here come the Colts. They're going to come for the Titans crown this year. Like, what are your thoughts on the Colts going into this year? To me, it's all about how the Colts stars respond. Like, Quentin Nelson gave up, what, five sacks, 31 pressures last year, which was double what he had given up,

or more than what he had given up the previous two seasons combined. There are some injuries, and when you don't have as good a help around you at all positions, it makes it tougher. Shaquille Leonard, you know what I mean? I joke he hasn't been the same since he changed his name, but, you know, the back injury, you worry, is he going to get to that level? I believe in that second game against the Titans last year, I don't want to use the L word and say he was a liability but he just wasn't moving right and I don't think he was helping the team he wasn't ready his back was still but yeah he had

to have the second surgery after that like his back was still a mess at that point so yeah it it was a liability in that game for sure yeah Those two dudes are just tone setters and game breakers. And I think a lot of the optimism around the Colts over the last few years while they were trying to get that last juice squeeze out of the roster is because the roster was so talented. You know what I mean? Because Darius Leonard in the defense and Quinton Nelson in the offensive line and Jonathan Taylor at running back with the weapons.

Like the Colts have more weapons now on the outside, a more dynamic quarterback that when things are breaking down, you can maybe even run and just help you out. You know, even in his raw form of being a rookie, I think there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic, but at the end of the day, because you have a rookie quarterback and Anthony Richardson,

it's only going to be, he's only going to be as good as the cast around him, right? To prop him up in his early stages. So is Jonathan only going to be, he's only going to be as good as the cast around him. Right. To prop him up in his early stages. So is Jonathan Taylor going to stay healthy this year after one year of injury? Quentin Nelson back to form, Darius Leonard back to form.

If those things happen, the Colts are going to be a tough out no matter what. If those things don't happen, I don't even necessarily think it's that big of a deal because the Colts just get to stock the roster more with good picks next year on the timeline with the quarterback. So honestly, the Colts are in, in my opinion, are in like a, like just a free it's a, it's house money this year. If they're good, it's a surprise. And that's good news for Anthony Richardson. If they're not good,

that's better players and picks to stock to help the team grow with Richardson. There really is no losing for the Colts this year. As long as Anthony Richardson doesn't get hurt, just don't get hurt anything long term. And so I don't know. I'm not like worried about the Colts like ruining the Titans season or anything, but I can see him being frisky if a couple of things go right. But either way, it doesn't matter. So it's kind of I don't know.

There's freedom in in that position even if you're not going to like win the super bowl or maybe even make the playoffs you know yeah so again the colts and titans this is why i think this conversation is so fascinating because they were always treading the same line since 2018 really uh except in 2018 the colts had a superstar quarterback the titans didn't and then since then the titans have had consistency at quarterback and the colts didn't like whatsoever but now we had this veering of the two teams where the colts were kind of like it was step in step but it was one step behind still like the colts were just following and picking up like the the whatever you were leaving behind there was the titans. They diverged off the sacred timeline.

Yeah, the sacred timeline. Now we're splitting into two timelines where the Titans are still trying to win with this. I don't even want to say it's an archaic way of football because it's not that old. It's just like early 2000s football. It's not that old, but the Colts are trying to veer into the Mahomesian way of football.

Exactly. They want to be in the Mahomesian way of football. And I have to ask you, just because I think it's such a fun thing and I want to get a clip out of you with it. Are you a little bit envious? Is there a part of you that's envious? Because I know you're a big football guy. You're a big football guy you're a big like modern football guy is there a little bit envious that you want the titans to kind of try

the modern way or like are you still happy with the way the titans are going well i'll just say this that you know we're on the every day or kick shout Shout out to the every dayers. Yes. Yes. Every day. Every dayers have locked on Titans. We'll know that my ideal path for the all season cut Tannehill trade. Henry play Malik. Once they drafted, well, Levis sure play Levis. I guess the real question is now that the Titans signed Deandre Hopkins,

this is going to sound crazier. You know what I mean? Cause I'm like, they got Hopkins. What do you mean? But, but like, are the Titans winning a Superbowl now that they signed Deandre Hopkins, this is going to sound crazier. You know what I mean? Because they're like, they got Hopkins. What do you mean? But like, are the Titans winning a Super Bowl now that they signed DeAndre Hopkins? I think the answer logically is probably no.

Probably no, yeah. So, and Tannehill and Henry aren't getting any younger, so they're going to try it again next year now? Is that, you know what I mean? They're going to give Henry and Tannehill a year extension or something and try it again for two more seasons. And now you get Levis after two years of rookie scale contract. And because he was a second round pick, you don't get the fifth year option. So now you've wasted two years of seeing what he's made of

and getting him game reps. And like, yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I do wish the Titans would have gone for the Caleb Williams, Drake May sweepstakes. I think that is a more logical path to getting back to Super Bowl contention more quickly. The Titans haven't been a true Super Bowl contender since the 2021 season with A.J. Brown and Julio Jones. They were the number one seed. Honestly, Tannehill screwed them. The defense got nine sacks. They ran for over four yards per carry, over 140 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

I mean, A.J. Brown and Julio, everybody makes fun of Julio. A.J. Brown and Julio combined for 200 yards and a touchdown. If you would have told Titans fans that, that that's what they did in the playoff game, they would have been happy before the season. But Julio's just clouded as this terrible move that was made

more for the ramifications than his play, in my opinion. The quicker path, in my opinion, rather than Tannehill, Henry, Hopkins, Burks, the quicker path to Super Bowl contention is getting Drake May or Caleb Williams or even Quinn Ewers. If he has a great season, you never know how this works. He could prove it. These are young guys. They get better. I think something like that.

Or even Marvin Harrison Jr. And riding Will Levis, you know? Even if, like, Levis shows some signs, but they go, you know, 5-13 or 5-12. Great. Draft Marvin Harrison Jr. and add to the young talent. Like, yes, I don't want to say I'm envious of the Colts because I'm honestly more envious of the Texans. I wanted CJ Stroud,

and I had some sourcing from Arizona that if Stroud would have fell to three, the Titans would have traded up. That was really happening. Yeah, I heard that as well. Yeah, that was really happening. But the Texans, for once, made the smart decision. We needed one more stupid decision from Houston.

So I'm more envious of the Texans' situation than the Colts' situation necessarily. But as a general philosophical conversation, yes, I would have preferred the Titans go the path that the Colts finally committed to this year. I don't want them to fire Vrabel per se but you're never accomplishing this path with Vrabel as a coach he's too good same thing with Reich like you said earlier they're gonna drag them to seven or eight wins no matter what so I love Vrabel I would hate to see him not be the Titans coach because I

fear what comes next but yes in my heart of hearts I wish the Titans would have committed to the future and uh gone with these young quarterbacks even if it meant a losing season next year that's what I think gets them to a Super Bowl quicker than the other routes even if it's not guaranteed that's where I would have bet my money definitely man definitely I think it's such a fascinating team to follow this year because again they're they're one step ahead of where the Colts were the last couple of seasons but like I get so many vibes that of last season with the Colts where I was going on podcasts saying you know all you gotta do is get in the dance and then you have a chance you know like just get in that dance you have a chance you know if you win the division you're

just getting as a wild card you always have a chance but eventually it comes to it comes to the point where it needs to break down and obviously the Colts they they put TNT all over it like Wiley Coyote skit or something and just blew it all up last year but as Tyler said we're on every dayers kick right now again training camp is right around the corner and this is the most optimistic we've been about the Colts in years because they have their young quarterback they're moving to the future and we have Jake Arthur who's going to be sleeping in the facility so again every day just make sure you're following at Locked On Colts everywhere for all of your training camp updates and if you don't already follow Tyler at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter he doesn't have the Locked On Titans but it's at Tic Tac Titans you can go on YouTube and

follow Locked On Titans as well Tyler Tyler giving the pessimistic, cynic view of the Titans. I'm sure you guys will actually love him over there at Locked On Titans. And also follow us at Locked On Colts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 on Twitter. Also subscribe to the Locked On Colts podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and

reviews, and we'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow morning.