Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - 2020-2021 Tennessee Titans Awards Show: MVP, DPOY & Biggest Disappointments!!

Episode Date: January 19, 2021

Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, one thing that you may have picked up from listening to this podcast over the last two years is I am an absolute sports junkie. Yes, we sit here every day and talk football and football will always be my first love, but I played a ton of different sports growing up over the course of my entire life. And one thing that comes with that is

a lot of loss. You lose a lot of games. You end a lot of seasons when you don't want the season to end. So what I do remember about the process of a season ending on the last day of the year after that loss that finishes your season, or maybe that win that finishes your season, you turn in your equipment, you have that exit interview with your coach, and then typically you'll take that next week off. That allows parents to not have to worry about rides to and from events. It allows the people participating in the sport to kind of decompress from the emotions of the season. But after that relaxation week, usually early in the next week, it is time for the awards banquet. And that is the motto that we are going to follow on today's Locked on Titans podcast. It is our 2020 Tennessee Titans Season Award Show.

So we're going to start things out with the traditional awards. Most valuable player in my selection for the Titans may surprise you. Offensive, defensive player of the year, offensive and defensive rookie of the year. And boy, were those hard awards to pick a winner for. But after that, we're going to kind of go into some more off the beaten path awards. Talk about the biggest surprise and disappointment on offense and defense. Also going to talk about the most improved players on both sides of the ball. And then at the end, we're going to go position by position and just talk about who the best Tennessee Titans player was

at each individual position during the year. Of course, I have stats, player grades, different things to explain why I made the selection. So excited to dive into the 2020 award show with you guys. But want to remind you, tomorrow on Wednesday's show, we are going to dive into the potential defensive coordinator candidates for the Titans. And on Thursday, we are going to dive into the potential offensive coordinators for the Titans. I know that is a very hot topic.

Had a lot of people ask about that. So I wanted to remind you guys that we are going to be getting into those openings for the Titans in the next two days of our show. Make sure you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream so you do not miss any of those candidates the Titans could be looking at. But as for today, a Tuesday on the Locked on Titans podcast, we got to go through the 2020 Tennessee Titans season awards. Let's get it.

The Tennessee Titans went 11-5 on the season, winning an AFC South championship and hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2008. And along the way, we got a ton of fantastic performances. We got a ton of disappointing performances as well. We got some incredible outputs at certain positions from certain players we didn't expect. And we got some incredible outputs at certain places that we sure as heck did expect to see some outbursts from some players. So let's dive into all of these different awards, and I'm going to start with the biggest award of them all, and that is the Titans' most valuable player for 2020. And as I said in our open, my selection may surprise you.

It is quarterback Ryan Tannehill. I know a lot of you guys are freaking out right now. How can it not be the 2,000-yard rusher? But hear me out. The Titans got better quarterback play over the last two seasons than really we've ever seen before. Steve McNair holds nostalgia in our hearts, but if we look at analytics, if we look at raw numbers, if we look at performance, we look at raw numbers if we look at performance it's hard to argue that Ryan Tannehill isn't the best quarterback that we've seen since the Titans moved to Nashville and in this 2020 season he did struggle in certain places but was just really incredible in others 65.5 completion that was 21st best among qualified quarterbacks in the NFL. And then yardage, he was only 15th best in the NFL

with 3,819. But 33 passing touchdowns, that's seventh best in the NFL. Only seven interceptions, the Titans were one of the lowest turnover teams in the NFL. Seven rushing touchdowns for Ryan Tannehill as well, making 40 total touchdowns on the year, the highest for any Tennessee Titan ever. He had a 106.5 passer rating on the year. That is fifth best in the NFL. And here's really what put me over the top with Ryan Tannehill. Tied for fifth best in yards per attempt, 7.9. People said that he was going to regress mightily. I was one of those people. He did come back down to earth, but still top five in the NFL in efficient passes. Then 13.6% of his throws were bad throws. That actually is third best in the NFL. So Tannehill simply did not make bad throws. Also, you look at player grades from pro football focus. He was tied for sixth best in the NFL at 90.3, but the big ones, five fourth

quarter comebacks first in the NFL, six game winning drives first in the NFL. I mentioned it when we went game by game last week, but every opportunity that Ryan Tannehill had to lead the Titans down the field to win a game, he basically was able to do it. And one time he got the Titans in position to tie the Steelers and the kicker missed it. So, not blaming Ryan Tannehill for those. Ryan Tannehill was the Tennessee Titans MVP this year. And speaking of the player that I know you guys are thinking of, the Tennessee Titans Offensive Player of the Year for 2020 is clearly Derek Henry. 378 carries, 2,027 yards, 17 touchdowns. Heck, he had 1,073 yards after contact. That would still be top five in the NFL if you just did after he was touched.

He had 10 games over 100 yards, three games over 200 yards. So Derek Henry was obviously an incredible player for the Titans, probably the biggest weapon that they had on offense, but without a conductor like Tannehill, none of that really matters, and we saw that in the first six weeks of the season in 2019. So moving forward from that controversial selection there, both of those, the defensive player of the year to me was easily Malcolm Butler. He had 100 tackles by far and away his career high, but that's not necessarily a great thing. But Malcolm Butler was a reliable tackler,

which the Titans didn't have a lot of in their secondary this year. Four interceptions tied for the most on the team. A great job there by Malcolm Butler making individual plays. A lot of his interceptions were not the quarterback made a bad play and threw it to him. No, Malcolm Butler went out there and made a play. I think specifically about that interception on the post over the middle, I believe against the Jaguars late in the season.

I could be wrong about the exact game, but Malcolm Butler made great plays. 14 passes defended on the year. He was the 11th best rated cornerback per pro football focus overall and 11th best in coverage as well. So just right outside the top 10, a bright spot for the Titans in the secondary this season. The only guy in the secondary that the Titans could count on week to week. Then let's talk about the rookies, and it'll go a little bit quicker here because, quite

frankly, neither of these people deserve any kind of award, but heck, we gotta pick somebody. The offensive rookie of the year for me is undrafted free agent offensive lineman Aaron Brewer. Brewer played in 12 games for the Titans, primarily used as a third offensive lineman. We did see that pass thrown to him one time on that third down by Arthur Smith. Man, that was a terrible call. You don't use Aaron Brewer as a tight end when you're not in the end zone so he can fall down and catch it, but that's not Brewer's fault at all. Brewer had 70 snaps in week 11, 21 in week 14, 33 in week 17. He was the primary guy who filled in for Roger Saffold when he had injuries. He had a 76.2 overall grade per pro football focus, had 66.2 in pass protection,

per pro football focus, had 66.2 in pass protection, 81.1 in run blocking. So got to give a lot of credit to Aaron Brewer there for stepping in and helping the Titans keep things together. And as a matter of fact, in the three games that he played his most snaps, the ones I mentioned earlier, week 11, 173 rushing yards, week 14, 249 rushing yards, week 17, 288 rushing yards as a team. So good job, Aaron Brewer, somebody the Titans need to keep around for a while. The defensive rookie of the year, Tyre Tartt. I mean, he only played in seven games, 153 snaps, five tackles, one tackle for loss,

two quarterback hits, one pass defense. But who else is there to pick, guys? Christian Fulton barely played and even when he was healthy the Titans barely asked him to play uh Laurel Murchison only kind of played and Tyre Tartt was better than him anyways Chris Jackson no no so not really anybody else to pick and it's kind of a depressing way to end the first segment but we are going to get into the biggest surprises on offense and defense to start our next part of our conversation in this awards banquet. So excited to dive into that.

Before we do though, I do got to tell you guys about our friends over at betonline.ag. You got the conference championships this weekend, the Super Bowl shortly after that, college basketball, NBA basketball, and the NHL. MLB will be right around the corner. Make sure that you go to betonline.ag today. Sign up for a free account and use promo code LOCKEDON. You'll get a 50% welcome bonus. Don't sit on the sideline anymore.

Get in on the action. Don't forget to use that promo code LOCKEDON to get your 50% welcome bonus with your first deposit. Bet online, your online sportsbook experts. Let's continue this 2020 Tennessee Titans award show. And we just did MVP, Ryan Tannehill, Offensive Player of the Year, Derek Henry, Defensive Player of the Year, Malcolm Butler, Offensive Rookie of the Year, Aaron Brewer, Defensive Rookie of the Year, Tyer Tarr.

So let's move into the biggest surprises of the year on both offense and defense. And on offense, the biggest surprise of the year should be no surprise. And that is wide receiver Corey Davis. And of course, Corey Davis had flashed throughout his first three seasons with the Titans, but there are multiple different reasons as to why he wasn't able to put together the type of season that we saw from him this year. Career highs for Corey Davis, 65 catches, 984 yards, and five touchdowns. He was a fantastic compliment to A.J. Brown.

Corey Davis had five games of over 100 yards, and 49 of his 65 catches resulted in first downs for the Titans. So although I've been up and down on whether the Titans should really try to bring Corey Davis back and I ultimately ended the season and letting him walk, letting him go to somewhere else to get his money and try to replace that with a cheaper veteran or, you know, an early draft pick. But Corey Davis was a big boost for the Titans offense this year. And quite frankly, with Adam Humphreys basically being out almost the entire year the Titans would not have been able to do what they did this year without a

guy like Corey Davis to win one-on-one matchups against the second best cornerback on the other team of course the end of the season didn't go the way that we want Corey kind of disappeared on the Titans at the end of the year and literally disappeared on them in the wild card game despite what we've heard from Mike Rabel. So a disappointing end to the season, but an incredible surprise for Titans fans to see Corey Davis finally put things together for this team. The biggest surprise on the defensive side of the ball, though,

to me, is safety Imani Hooker. Heck, if you told Titans fans going into the season that halfway through the year it would be apparent that Imani Hooker is a better safety than Kenny Vaccaro, a lot of people wouldn't have believed you, and I myself may have been in that camp. I loved Imani Hooker, and I was big on him early in the season. I expected a big leap there. See, I get so excited I can barely talk about it, but I certainly didn't expect him to completely overtake Kenny Vaccaro as the second best safety on this team.

And Imani Hooker had 51 tackles on the year, four interceptions, tied for first on the team in limited snaps. Imani Hooker only played 42% of the Titans' defensive snaps and tied for the lead in interceptions. The guy is a playmaker. Now among safeties that played that amount of snaps he's the 30th ranked safety per pro football focus and overall grade but he's 15th in coverage. That's why Imani Hooker got on the field over Kenny Vaccaro because of his ability in coverage. He's just faster than Kenny Vaccaro, quicker than Kenny Vaccaro, younger than Kenny Vaccaro, and he's not as big of a help in run defense, but Vaccaro's tackle

started slipping at the end of the year anyway, so I expect Amani Hooker to be a full-time starter for the Titans next year, and he was my biggest surprise on the defensive side of the ball. Moving forward to less exciting performances to talk about here, the biggest bust for the Titans on the offense and defensive side of the ball. Number one, on offense, and I know guys, I know that it was injury related. I recognize that. But Adam Humphreys, I mean, the Titans have been paying him $9 million a year, and he made that big catch against the Chiefs in the regular season last year. He had an awesome catch for a touchdown with the Jags last year, but let's be honest. He's got that moment against the Chiefs,

but that's almost canceled out by that drop against the Browns. When the Titans were coming back, Adam Humphreys is supposed to be your lockdown possession receiver. The ball hits his hands, he doesn't drop it. That's what he is paid for. If he's so small and so brittle that he can't stay on the field

because of injuries, and then when he's on the field, he's not taking care of business and doing what we're paying him to do. Well, not my money, but you know what I'm saying. That is as big of a disappointment as you could possibly get. It's a waste of $9 million, and it's a waste of a receiver spot. And the Titans needed a man-beating wide receiver like

Adam Humphreys so bad to counter what teams started doing to them in the back half of the year and having success. That tight man coverage with blitzes. You got to have a guy who can beat man coverage quickly and get open or sit in a hole in a zone quickly and get open against those blitzes. That's not what Corey Davis and A.J. Brown do best. That's why we have Adam Humphreys. And he wasn't there and the Titans offense suffered. So the Titans got to go out and get somebody they can rely on to do that spot who's probably even going to be cheaper than Adam Humphreys. So for me, the biggest disappointment, Adam Humphreys, only seven games in 2020, 23 catches, 228 yards,

and two touchdowns. That sure as heck ain't worth $9 million. So that's my biggest bust on offense. And I know it's injury related, but it is what it is. Let's go to the defense, and this is something that Tennessee Titans fans are familiar with, and that is co-awards. The biggest bust on the Titans defense simultaneously goes to Jadavian Clowney and Vic Beasley, the two high-priced edge rushers.

Now, I have to say, Clowney is less deserving than Vic Beasley. Beasley's a bum, okay? He's probably not going to be in the NFL anymore. Raiders fans lied to themselves about what he could possibly do, just like we all did, guys. So, to me, collectively, the pass rush big free agent signings were the biggest disappointments of the year.

I guess on the offensive side, you could say the biggest bust was Isaiah Wilson, but I mean, I kind of just want to forget him out of my memory, guys. So we're back to the defense. So think about this. The Titans paid $12 million for Clowney, $9 million for Beasley. That's $21 million. They got eight games from Clowney, 19 tackles, four tackles for loss, zero sacks. And I'm not a big box score guy. I advocated for bringing Clowney back, but the reality is the reality. He played in half the season, didn't do a lot. Beasley, five games, three tackles, one tackle for loss, no sacks. I mean, that's $21 million for 13 games, 22 tackles, five tackles for loss, and zero sacks.

I mean, how could you find a bigger disappointment? You couldn't. So moving forward, my most improved player on the offensive side of the ball is right guard Nate Davis. Played in all 16 games this year after only playing in 12 the year before. He was the 10th best guard overall in the NFL in qualified guards, of course, per pro football focus and overall grade. And he was the 7th best run-blocking guard per pro football focus

and run-blocking grade this year with, obviously, qualified guards. It's all based on snaps and everything. But also Davis got a couple all pro vault uh votes or pro bowl votes so people were recognizing that he was a mauler in the run game now I will say Nate Davis does need to improve in pass blocking it's a big area of weakness for him he's really got to work on his pass sets but we knew coming out of college that he was a work in progress with this passing, pass blocking, and he was expected to be immediately a mauler in the run game, and that's what we got. So, very impressed by Nate Davis, really improved this year and became a very, very solid, slightly above average offensive lineman in the NFL. On defense, I know this seems like low-hanging fruit, but you got to go with Jeff

Simmons. Played in 15 games this year, 49 tackles, three sacks, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, three fumble recoveries, or yeah, one forced fumble, and five pass breakups. A great season from Simmons, and I'll tell you the truth though, Simmons' play kind of slipped off there at the end of the year, but in my my opinion that had a lot to do with Jadavian Clowney not being in the lineup and although Clowney didn't produce in the box score this is what I mentioned when I talk about Clowney he makes players around him better because the defense is going to game plan to stop him which gave Jeff Simmons more one-on-one opportunities and we saw him take advantage of those routinely throughout the first half of the season. Similarly for Harold Landry.

So Jeff Simmons, I was incredibly impressed with the way he was able to dominate the line of scrimmage in a lot of these games. And if the Titans put a better front four out on the field, Simmons will be able to take another leap in year three. But incredibly impressed by what he was able to do on defense. My runner up, I did biggest surprise with Hooker, so Hooker could have been the most improved as well. But also I want to give an honorable mention to David Long.

He didn't play as much as I'd hope he played this year, but when he played, he improved himself. So we're going to move forward into the best at each position group in our next segment. Before we do that, I want to tell you guys how you can get the best analysis before you put your bets on BetOnline.ag, and that is by checking out the Locked on Bets podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But I do want to tell you guys about our friends over at rockauto.com.

Rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers online for 20 years. Go to rockauto.com to shop for auto and body parts from hundreds of manufacturers. They have everything from engine control modules to brake parts to tail lamps, even motor oil and new carpet. Whether it's your classic or daily driver, get everything you need in a few easy clicks delivered directly to your door. Rockauto.com's catalog is unique and remarkably easy to use. You can quickly see all of the parts available for your vehicle and choose the brands, specifications, and prices that you prefer. Best of all, prices at rockauto.com are always reliably low

and the same for everyone. Why spend up to twice as much for the same exact part? Go to rockauto.com right now, see all the parts available they have for your car or truck, and make sure that you write LOCKED ON in the How Did You hear about us box. That box is right underneath your shipping information. So write locked on in the how did you hear about us box so they know we sent you.

Amazing selection, reliably low prices. All of the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com well Titans fans let's end this 2020 Tennessee Titans awards banquet by going position by position and just saying quite frankly who the best player at that position was this year for the Titans. And of course, you guys are going to disagree with some of my selections for these awards. You guys are going to think of other awards that I should have done. Send me all of that on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans.

Tag me in a tweet. Let me know how you feel and I'll make sure to respond to you and kind of go back and forth, get your thoughts on things, and maybe you might be able to change my mind. Before we dive into that position by position award segment, I want to remind you guys, the NFL Draft is now right around the corner, and you need to begin getting ready for that with the Locked On Podcast Network. Make sure that you check out the Locked On NFL Draft Show on whatever platform you do stream.

But the first position we are going to look at is maybe the easiest position of them all, and that's quarterback. It's Ryan Tannehill. I mean, Logan Woodside only got a little bit of garbage time run. Ryan Tannehill is the MVP of the Titans for 2020. Clearly the best quarterback on the team. Similarly with running back. Come on.

You guys know who it is. It's Deontay Foreman! Da-da-da! Congratulations! I'm just kidding. It's King Henry. Come on. 2,000 yards.

He's the best running back. But, best wide receiver. There are some people who may disagree with this, but to me, it was A.J. Brown. 70 catches, 1,075 yards, 11 touchdowns. Corey Davis was good, and their numbers are pretty close. But guys, you can't tell me you watched those games and didn't see the difference in what we're looking at here. of you watched those games and didn't see the difference in what we're looking at here. Corey Davis is not A.J. Brown. And the touchdowns, A.J. scored six more touchdowns than Corey Davis. Scoring points matters. If you have two wide receivers with the same stats and one guy with more touchdowns, guess who's better? The guy who scored. Scored points. That's what matters. And not to mention, the individual plays that we saw from A.J. this

year. I mean, barreling through people to get into the end zone. Catching the ball against the Texans at the buzzer in Week 6 to tie the game. The Hail Mary in Week 17, catching that. The play against the Ravens, barreling through everybody in Week 11 to get that win. I mean, over and over and over again, A.J. Brown made spectacular plays to keep this team in it by scoring points. So A.J. Brown, the best wide receiver on the Tennessee Titans, and hopefully for years to come. Best tight end, Jonu Smith. I think Jonu Smith is a tad overrated by this fan base. I do know,

that once Taylor LeJuan got hurt, his production did start to dip because he was asked to do more in the blocking game. So I know, I know that that's a reality. But also, there was a reason that on third downs, third and longs, Ferkser came on and Janu came off. Janu is a limited player, guys. He's not a good route runner. That's an issue. He doesn't have fantastic hands. He's got good hands, but not fantastic hands. And he's not as shifty wiggling. He's got good straight line speed. He's got powerful speed. But he's not going to juke you out and make moves. It's just not his style. He's going to make a cut, get upfield, power through a tackle, blah, blah, blah. But still, although I'm not as high on John Yoo as a lot of people in the fan base, he was clearly the best

tight end on the Titans, not only blocking, but catching the ball. 41 catches, a career high, 448 yards, a career high, eight touchdowns, a career high. John Yoo Smith, awesome job. The best offensive lineman on the Tennessee Titans. To me, this was a clear-cut answer, and it wasn't really that close, and it's Ben Jones. Ben Jones did not allow a sack all year per pro football focus. He was the 18th best overall grade for all offensive linemen, not just centers, for all offensive linemen per pro football focus. And he was the best center overall grade per pro football focus with at least 80% of the highest amount of snaps. So among qualified centers, that's kind of a caveat to everything I say about pro football

focus. It's all based on a minimum snap count, but Ben Jones played a ton of snaps. So everybody should be playing as many as him. If they want to be judged like he did, you should get credit for that longevity. So played a ton of snaps for the Titans, was the heart of their offensive line, the pivot, and he's the conductor out there for everybody. He was a constant for the Titans on the offensive line. Ben Jones, 15th highest rated run blocking offensive lineman out of all offensive linemen in the NFL. I mean, what else could you ask for from your center? He's

one of the top five centers in the entire NFL and doesn't get enough credit the best D lineman I already talked about that Jeffrey Simmons that's obvious for me the best linebacker this is interesting but for me I gotta go with Harold Landry

Harold Landry had 5.5 sacks he ended up with 69 total tackles had an interception on the year and here's my big thing Harold Landry would have done even more in the pass rush if for some reason I've talked about this so much but Shane Bowen man

get the heck out of here how can the Titans have a historically bad pass rush unit and then take their best pass rusher in Harold Landry and drop him back into coverage over 120 times? What? What? Oh, I'm furious about it.

I'm still so mad. I'm so mad about it. Harold Landry's not going to be able to develop his pass rush moves. They're setting him back so far. Harold Landry would be a top-flight pass rusher on a better defense when he's not asked to drop back into coverage 126 times. Just disrespectful. Just negligence. Shane Bowen's probably a bigger guy than me, but I'd thumb wrestle the heck out of him right now. So, so mad. Can't wait till they hire a DC.

Reminder, we're going to be talking about defensive coordinator candidates not long after today's show. So, continuing forward, the last, well, not the last one, but the last traditional position that I want to talk about on defense is the best DB, and that's Malcolm Butler. I already named him the defensive player of the year, so obviously he's the best defensive back on the team. I do want to shout out special teams, though.

Outside of the core special teamers, the long snapper, the kicker, the punter, in my mind, the best special teamer on the team was Amani Hooker. Played over 70% of snaps. I thought Chris Milton did a great job. Nick DeZubnar was okay as well. But to me, the best special teamer on the team, outside of the kickers and the long snapper was Imani Hooker this year. He was the up back. Remember, he had the fourth down direct snap,

got the first down four yards on a fourth and three. So that goes to Imani Hooker. For me, he's going to have to scale back what he does on special teams next year as he gets an increased workload with the actual defense. But outside of that, it's Brett Kern. Brett Kern, even though he missed some time due to a terrible snap from Bo Brinkley, the end of Bo Brinkley, Brett Kern had the 10th highest grade amongst punters per pro football focus. 37 of his punts, 28 of them were inside the 20. So Brett Kern continues to be the weapon for the Tennessee Titans, but that's going to do it for this 2020 Tennessee

Titans award show. Make sure you subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream and follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. The next two days of our show, we are going to be reviewing offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator candidates for the Titans.

You do not want to miss my take and the options available on the hottest topic for the Titans heading into the offseason. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.