Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Burning Roster questions with Jonathan Hutton

Episode Date: May 15, 2019

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you? Doing well. What's going on, man? Not too much, and we have part two with Jonathan Hutton. Jonathan, thanks so much for joining us again. Absolutely. Guys, I'm looking forward to this. This is always a quick podcast for me whenever I join you.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun. We appreciate you taking the time. All right, before we get started, remind you we're right for you to see miracles.com, covering Titans for SB Nation. You can check us out there. You can also follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlamberttn.

I get the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Just search out Locked on Titans, and you'll find us. You can also play us on your smart speaker. Just say, play podcast Locked on Titans. All right, so yesterday we talked about the draft class. If you missed that, go back and listen to that. No reason to miss it. Just go ahead and subscribe, and you'll get the newest shows whenever they come out.

Tonight we're going to talk a little bit about the roster, kind of some burning questions there, and then get a little bit into some of the other stuff, or some of the stuff that Jonathan Hutton does, Titans Radio, Midday 180, all that kind of stuff. So the first question for me, the question that everybody is asking, obviously, Marcus Mariota, this is the real make-or-break season here, and so everybody's wondering what's going to happen with him going forward. everybody's wondering what's going to happen with him going forward. What do you need to see from him this year that would have you feeling confident about them giving him that quarterback, big money, $100 million contract,

whatever it is? One, can he do anything this year that would give you 100% confidence in that? But two, if the answer is yes, then what would it be? Well, first and foremost, I think the evaluation starts with, because everything has started with, health. So that's going to be answer number one for me, is if he goes in and starts missing chunks of the season, then my decision's kind of made at that point

because that's been what has happened year after year. And honestly, if he stays healthy and reaches 2016-level numbers, and I'm just being honest here, after 2016, i was already discussing at what point do you jump out there and try to extend mariota is it right before the contract year is it before you pick up the fifth year option like after after 2016 things were looking up for him and as as things progressed 2017 and then what we saw last year you start to look around and think is this guy gonna continue to just catch the injury bug so

so that's number one uh aside from that there are you know leadership points of emphasis that i think you would look for in any franchise quarterback before you sign on the dotted line for 100 million. But I mean, it's just one of those deals where you just kind of know it where you see it when you see it. And with Mariota right now, I'm just I'm on the fence on whether or not he he's going to get the extension or if he's not. I think the team feels that way to Mariota would certainly have to feel that way. And if you fast forward to next January or February and you still have that feeling, well, you kind of know at that point.

And if he's able to stay healthy and put together a productive season, Titans go to the postseason and make a run, that's all great. That's all bonus. But I think first and foremost, you need a guy who you can depend on and know he's going to be a reliable starting quarterback for you. Reliable as in week to week.

And in this league, you just never know. But there are quarterbacks that you know are going to play week to week and just aren't going to be sidelined for stretches of the season and for me in a franchise qb that's that's 1a on on my list of things that i'm looking for with mario i think he he has the making to be a franchise qb in this league the question is can he be that consistently? The only thing keeping him from that, from my vantage point, has been the injury bug. Less talked about situation here is that

of Derrick Henry. Exploded in the last month of the season. Finally, got back to how he looked at Alabama. He was running with confidence. I'm not sure what clicked with him, but clearly something did. He's due for a new contract after the season.

What do you do there? You know, it's kind of a similar question. What do you need to see from him? I think it's obviously a wait-and-see moment because we've only seen it for a four-game stretch. But that's a really interesting situation as well. Yeah, it is because, number one, the value at running back, where is it not just across the league,

but where is it for the draft and how you implement your back? But, I mean, clearly the emphasis on the running back position in Tennessee is different than it is in markets across the league. Now, you still have your Jacksonville's who want to go with four net. You've got the Jets who just paid big money to lay beyond Bell. I mean, there are teams who want to run the football and run it well and run it many times in a game. But I think the thing that Henry has going in his favor right now is if mariota is back

next year and you give him the extension you know that they want to be a run a run heavy offense an offense that builds through the run that's not to say they're gonna never pass on first down or second down but you get my point like they They clearly want to build the offense around a strong running effort. Henry can be the bell cow. Aside from that, if they don't have Mariota back, they're either going with a rookie or a guy who's going to fill a spot while they groom a rookie. They want a good running game around that too.

So I think that helps Derrick Henry. Henry has said a lot of good things the last two pre-seasons about wanting to be the guy but he played behind demarco murray and then last year he sat with me and pk and chad and said i want to be a featured back in this league and he had this determining a very determined look on his face when he said it. You're like, okay, this guy seems to have this focus and grit. And then the first start of the season happened, first half happened, and you just didn't have it there. They went into the Patriots game, David Flewellen carries.

But Henry also ran well in the second half of that game, and that's where things started to spark. I think if you have the way he ran and the angry mentality that he ran with last year, if he brings that back on a consistent level in 2019, sign him up. I think he's a valuable piece to their roster, with or without Moriota in the fold. I don't think that changes the way they view the offense,

and I think that benefits Henry long-term here. All right, coming up, we continue our conversation with Jonathan Hutton. Guys, remember the days when you were always ready to go? Well, now you can increase your performance and get that extra confidence in bed. Listen up. BlueChew.com. It's blue like the color blue.

BlueChew brings you the first chewable with the same FDA-approved active ingredients as Viagra and Cialis, so you know how they work. You can take them anytime, day or night, even on a full stomach. And since they're chewable, they work up to twice as fast as a pill, so you can be ready whenever an opportunity arises blue chew is prescribed online and shipped straight to your door in a discreet package so there's no in-person doctor's visit no waiting in the pharmacy and best of all no more awkwardness they're made in the usa and since blue blue chew prepares and ships direct

they're cheaper than a pharmacy right now we've got a special deal for our listeners. Visit bluechew.com and get your first shipment free when you use the special promo code LOCKEDON. Just pay $5 shipping. Again, that's B-L-U-E-CHEW.COM, promo code LOCKEDON, to try it free. Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, faster choice, and we thank them for sponsoring the podcast all right so i guess the next question for me is you mentioned on the show yesterday about

possibly still needing to add something on the defensive line we know last year at least reportedly the titans were down to the final two with Ndamukong Suh. Obviously, he ended up choosing the Rams. We have heard nothing of their interest in him this year, if they have any or not. Is that something that you think this team should pursue? I mean, that to me seems like the biggest question mark we have left, at least on the defensive side of the ball, is what are they going to do up front.

I mean, I know they've added a couple of pieces but obviously you're not going to have simmons until some point if at all later in the year is that something uh something that you would explore yes i i would have already been doing that and i'm sure uh if unless there's some insulting comment that sue made behind the scenes last year, there's no indication that happened. All indications were the Titans were his second pick behind the Rams. Unless he made some kind of weird comment that rubbed him the wrong way last year, I'd be back on that train this year trying to get him to Nashville.

I think he fits a lot of what they do up front. Playing him next to Jarrell Casey makes a ton of sense, but they can also move him more outside and use him in different roles, the same way the Rams used Indomitian Sioux last year. And also, you know, a side piece to all of it, bringing Sioux here keeps him out of your division and keeps him off the Colts roster. I'm not saying that's the determining factor and why I would do it, but he makes a ton of sense for Indy up front in that 4-3.

And if he fits both styles, which he does, I'd be all in on Ndamukong Su again if he's willing to do another one-year contract. Because, again, I'm just looking for another piece, a consistent threat week in and week out someone you have to factor in with your game plan and and that's all i would need for a season from indomitian sue to come in and give me what he gave the rams which is somewhere around 60 tackles and he had four and a half maybe maybe five sacks. But again, from the inside pass rush, from what the Titans are getting,

it's Jarrell Casey and then everybody else. Sue would present at least that next threat for you. And that's why I would be back in on that piece. Because other than Indonic and Sue, as you look at this type of, the types of players that are out there, you're out there with a lot of guys like Sylvester Williams. And, again, those are pieces, but no one that's going to truly affect the game.

And Ndamukongsu can do that. He showed that in the postseason last year. I think for me, with this edge group here, that's my biggest question. And, yeah, I think they're okay for this year. But just from an overall roster standpoint, that may be one of the weaker spots on the team. You know, even with Landry,

we still haven't seen Landry put together a full 16 games and be truly impactful there. How do you feel about this group? I mean, Cam Wake is still obviously really impactful even at his age, but outside of that, it's just kind of a hodgepodge of different guys there. They have to have Landry come in and take it up a notch, right? I mean, he needs to hit that gear. Landry played fine, but he wasn't that wow player

that we would have talked about on a podcast last year after they drafted and you looked at Landry and thought there's the spark off the edge that's going to rack up double digit sacks and be the still of the draft

or however you want to determine it he wasn't the player that we saw at Boston College leading the nation in sacks. I get it. But I thought he played consistently well by coaching standards from what they'll tell you. I don't think he is a piece they're worried about.

But he is a piece where we have high standards based on what he's able to bring in the depth that they have behind him and he's got to come in and and be be that guy who's always knocking on the door of the quarterback or at least pushing guys back up towards the middle of that pocket with casey with the inside pressure that they're able to get cameron wake age is going to be a factor with every player at some point in their career. Wake has been able to get over the age factor and be productive in Miami.

I hope he's able to come in and not have to play as many snaps as he did in Miami and is still able to come in and give you some valuable reps game in and game out and be that pass rush threat on third down. And then beyond that, you've got two players with Sharif Finch and Kamalei Correa who one of those two needs to have one of those flash years where we're debating a year from now whether or not to either bring a player back or extend them based on their production value to the defense. There needs to be, you know, we talk a lot about in college of guys taking it to that next level

of their play because of great coaching, coaching getting something out of them. They need to have a Jim Washburn-level coaching ability with one of those two guys. How do they maximize the ceilings for those two players? One of those guys needs to hit in 2019 in a big way. All right, coming up, we will finish up our conversation with jonathan hutton all right so uh obviously you're part of the midday 180 which is i mean i think easily the

best show on especially in the local market here um kind of talk about how all that came together because i know there was it was kind of a time of transition at the station, and then I know you all had live and local middays, you and Chad, for I don't know how long that lasted there. Too long. Yeah, but kind of transitioned from that into what you all are doing now. So kind of talk about how all that came together. Well, I'll just be frank with you.

Had George Plaster not left due to cumulus buying out citadel we would not have midday 180 um because he left um and and he's not bashful about talking about that i'm not speaking out of turn he left because cumulus bought citadel because of a prior deal throughout his his employment history with them and that moved 3 3HL to Afternoon Drive, and that's when Live and Local Middays took place with Chad and I for about what felt like three months. It was probably like five weeks, six weeks, as they looked to try to find the next Midday show.

And it was offered to Paul but with different hosts. I don't even recall what really happened with all of that, but Paul didn't really bite at the chance to do it with anyone else but the show that we currently have. So credit to him for realizing the greatness of the trio. But they approached me after Paul had agreed to help in some capacity. I was all in. I was already doing the live and local middays.

We were not sure about Chad. We weren't sure if Chad was going to go with George because George had left and Chad was the producer for George's show. So we weren't really sure. And really, honestly, Chad would say no one really asked him. There was all these assumptions, but no one really asked him if he was interested. Finally, we did. And he's like, yeah, I'm interested in sticking around here with The Zone.

I'd love to do a show with you guys. And that was the first time, really, that and chad had even really hung out on any long lengthy level i mean they had said hello in passing but i'm not sure how well they knew each other and i i knew paul since since 2005 with titans radio and he and i had always just for whatever reason gotten along and and which not a lot of not many people could say about pk i can and i really don't know why that is We just never really had many disagreements and we just got along. We could, we could get on each other's nerves, but take it like, like in a joking manner, I guess. And not everybody can do that. And I think that's, that's the, the value of the, the trio is, is we can do that and not take it like someone's taking a shot at us or get offended by something someone says in a disagreement. And I'm lucky to work with those two guys because we each put in time and effort

to have a good show on a daily basis. And, yeah, it's been a lot of fun. It's funny how things worked out, but it worked out for the better for the three of us. So thank you, George. I know you're a part of Titans Radio, too. Just an outstanding production. I know for me personally, I try to get Mike Keith on my speaker system and sync it up to my TV whenever I can.

Me and Jimmy are obviously big fans of him. Tell us a little bit about the level of preparation that goes into that and kind of walk us through what goes into a game week. Yeah, I love this question because I don't get it that often, and it's the one aspect that I appreciate more than anything. I started with titans radio in 2005 as an intern for mike keith and larry stone and there is a you mentioned the quality there is a standard that they hold and held and still do uh even though larry is is

owning some stations in cookville and not the executive producer of Titans Radio any longer, there is still a very high standard with the broadcast on a weekly basis. And it starts with Mike Heath setting that tone week in and week out. I now sit behind Mike for the broadcast, which is awesome. I grew up listening to him too, which would make him sound old, but it's a compliment. Like you listen to him and you're thinking, which would make him sound old, but it's a compliment. Like you listen to him and you're thinking,

how many pages of notes must this guy have in front of him? And he normally tries to have, production-wise, a few printouts of just general NFL information. If you were to see the booth, there would be, normally there's either a glass wall on the left or right side, some cases both sides of booths around the league. At Nissan Stadium, there's a glass wall on the right side where he stands, and he'll tape these pages of just general notes. General notes meaning the schedule across the league, offensive, defensive coordinators for every team in the league, and each head

coach. And when they came to those organizations and maybe next week's opponent, their record, who they're playing and what's happening in that game, like that just general info. He'll also have a few rules changes that the NFL has implemented over the course of however many years. But aside from that, and the thing that's so remarkable is when they say he's an encyclopedia, the man knows literally everything because he has studied it for a full offseason and beyond and studies it on a daily basis, and it's all in his head.

It's not like he brings in some huge flip chart. There's a little piece of paper that he'll have in front of him as a reminder for that week's uh opponent but other than that it's all based on memory and just his his knowledge of of the league it's remarkable to watch him do it and then um you know the the weekly production meeting happens normally on a tuesday um Sometimes it'll happen on a Monday afternoon or it'll happen while we're sitting on a bus after the game on Sunday night, getting ready to come back to Nashville, for instance, on a road trip. But it's all implemented starting on Wednesday where we'll go to the locker room, get interviews. And I say we, I used to be a part of that. Now it's Rhett Bryan who heads all of that up as the executive producer.

He'll go to the locker room Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and we'll pull clips and put together features Wednesday, Thursday, Friday afternoon. And by Friday afternoon, the pregame's in the bag. We've got an outline to Coach Mack for what we may be bringing up to him in the first segment. And from there, we're off and rolling, telling the story. And really, that's it.

Mike tries to tell the story week in and week out as if you're listening and you're a diehard Titans fan, you're going to know everything he's talking about. And if you're not a diehard Titans fan, you're still able to follow along as if you're at the game. And I think that's the brilliance of what he does and why he's so phenomenal at his job. It's because he can get both types of fans to fully invest on the call of the game.

And then he implements Coach Mack for the expert that he is because he's been there and done that. It's a thrill to be a part of. I've been on the sideline. I've been behind the scenes, back at the studio on game day as a producer. I've been the intern. And now I'm able to be the game day host,

which was a real thrill for the first season last year. Yeah, that's the last thing I was going to ask you. I know you did. Did you just do the sideline for one year or did you do it for a couple years? I did it for, I'm trying to think, four seasons. I was on the sidelines for four seasons. My first year on the sidelines was Wizenhunt's first year. My first game was Mariota and Winston in Tampa Bay.

That's how I date myself. I date it by who I saw. So that was my first game, which was 2014. Is that right? 2015. Yeah, 2015. saw so that was my first game which is 2014 is that right 2015 yeah 15 and uh yeah it was that was my first year on the sidelines and then from there um up until last year i was i was on the sidelines for every game so my final my final game on the sidelines would have been trying to think about this would have been the playoff loss the new england playoff game yeah which role do you like better i so i like both but this is not this is the honest answer i like

being in the booth because number one i i see the game better from the booth so it helps me i don't have to come home and re-watch the game immediately that the view you have on the sideline is so much different if i were coaching i would want to be in the booth because you see everything and there were you know i'm doing a halftime report and i have to tell the story what happened in the first half and standing on the sidelines a lot of times you don't really see a play play out the same way you would up top i i asked far fewer questions by watching it from from the booth than what i did on the sidelines now on the sidelines i hear and see so much more what goes on in the game plan what players are saying to one another what players are saying to the

officials what coaches are saying to the officials what the officials are saying back to them there is so much more that happens on the sideline that you would have no clue about that i would i i would be able to implement in my daily show with midday so both both play a big factor in why i liked doing it for you know not just for the value of the broadcast because both were fun but uh i i enjoy being in the booth more right now because i see the game better uh it plays out more and and it's just it's more fun for me being in that role for pre-game post-game directing Mike in post-game on on where we can go for for different uh setting the ball on the tee for him I guess I should say and and then being there for the play-by-play call as it's playing out I enjoy that more but being on the sideline had its perks because you're right down in the thick of it,

and you see and hear so much that you can add to the information as you go into the locker room for postgame interviews. I also enjoyed that. I don't get to do that because I'm not on the sideline anymore, so I don't get to be in the locker room postgame. Trust me, I was in there for a lot of losses. That was in Hunt era. There were a lot of, I was in there for a lot of losses. That Wiz and Hunt era, there were a lot of losses,

but it was still a lot of fun getting the reaction right after the game and turning those around. So both have their perks. I thoroughly enjoy being in the booth. Awesome, man. Well, we really appreciate you taking the time that you gave us, and we really appreciate you taking the time to do it. I will always do it. I enjoy the site, and I always enjoy doing the Locked on Titans podcast with you guys.

I appreciate it. Sounds great. All right, so that's Jonathan Hutton. You can follow him on Twitter at Hutton1045. Again, thanks so much for listening. Subscribe to the podcast if you have not already. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm.

Terry's at tlamberttn. So forry and jonathan this is jimmy saying thanks for listening and we will talk to you again later