Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Can Jeffery Simmons Surpass Aaron Donald & Derrick Henry's 2022 Expectations

Episode Date: June 7, 2022

The Tennessee Titans should have been watching closely on Monday when Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald got new money on his contract as young star Jeffery Simmons will be expecting a pay day in the near future. Can Jeffery Simmons take away the top interior defensive linemen spot from Donald?? Also, what should we reasonably expect from Derrick Henry in 2022? Finally, what expected win for the Titans will ultimately be a loss in 2022? Tyler dives in to your questions on today's Twitter Tuesday!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Blue NileMake your moment sparkle with jewelry from Bluenile.com, and LOCKED ON SPORTS listeners get $50 off purchases of $500 or more using code LOCKEDON. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, we are going to talk about what realistic expectations are for Derrick Henry in 2022. Also, we just saw Aaron Donald get a huge payday with the Rams. What are the odds that Jeffrey Simmons can overtake Aaron Donald as the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL this year? And we are also going to look at some undrafted free agents

who have really performed during the John Robinson Tennessee Titans era. So all of that and more on a Twitter Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Titans fans, it is a Twitter Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're going to be diving into your guys' questions, and we have some really good ones going to talk about realistic expectations for Derrick Henry in 2022. We are also going to discuss a big weakness for the Titans' number one division rival that not enough people are talking about. So a ton of great topics coming up on today's show. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

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I am going to be putting out daily Tennessee Titans content all year round. So diving into some of your guys' questions, and where I wanted to start was a question about Derrick Henry, and it comes from Owen, Tim Owen 52. He said, my question goes back to yesterday's video. What would you predict the Tennessee Titans defense to finish top 10 and thoughts and expectations on Derrick Henry? Well, I think that's a great question, Tim, to answer this in reversed order. So my expectations for Derrick Henry, I know that everyone is, you know, talking about his health, the tread on the tires and all that,

but I think one big thing is with the addition of Austin Hooper, having Chigokonkwo as well, the Titans potentially carrying four tight ends with Tommy Hudson, Jeff Swaim, maybe three with Jeff Swaim in there. Either way, I think the Titans will go back to a more tight and heavy approach on offense because it allows them to be more effective and efficient in the run game. And you see the offseason workout videos of Derrick Henry. He's running up hills, doing his traditional freakish type behavior. I guess the question really becomes,

do you believe that Derrick Henry is a break the mold running back, one of his kind, who will bounce back from something like this like most normal running backs won't? Or do you believe that Derrick Henry will not be able to do those things? So it comes down to what you think about Derrick Henry going forward. And for my money, I think Derrick Henry is going to be right around 13 to 1,500 rushing yards, double-digit rushing touchdowns, and being back to being one of the best running backs in the NFL, if not the best hands-down running back in the NFL.

I think the Titans' offensive motion back towards what they were doing in 2019 and 2020 with the tight ends will be important. But I also think Derrick Henry will have that chip on his shoulder as well. So I do believe that Derrick Henry will be just fine. And my expectation is that he is an all-pro running back with 1,300 to 1,500 rushing yards and double-digit touchdowns. As for the defense, I think that the Tennessee Titans defense will be a top-10 defense.

Now, are we talking about points allowed? Are we talking about yards? A lot of people seem to want to focus on yards. But for me, I'm looking at categories like third down defense, which the Titans made massive improvements last year. I'm looking at things like red zone defense. I don't care if teams go up and down the field on the Titans, if the Titans never let them score,

which has been the recipe for Mike Rabel for quite some time. So, yeah, I would love the Titans to be top five in turnovers, top five in yards allowed, dominant lockdown defense, but I just don't know if they care about all of those different statistics. If they're good in the red zone, they're good on third down, they put pressure on the quarterback, and they hold teams down scoring-wise. I mean, I don't think it really matters yardage-wise where they finish. But that's where people seem to focus.

So, yeah, I think the Titans will be top 10 in yardage allowed total. But I would want them to be top five in other categories that I think are much more important. And I surely do think that they can do that. One question I did want to dive into that is topical. We just saw Aaron Donald, the all-world Hall of Fame interior defensive lineman for the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, get a massive raise in pay.

I can't even call it a contract extension. They just gave him a lot more money. It's absolutely outrageous. If you go check out the contract details, it's just dropping here recently. But the question is from Cody Wheat, he says, do you think it is possible that Simmons could equal or even overtake Aaron Donald

as the top interior defensive lineman in the NFL? My question is, or my answer is this year. Yes, I think that's possible. Aaron Donald was thinking about retiring this year. And while I don't think there's any massive drop off in play coming from Aaron Donald, he is coming off of a Superbowl, got a big time payday and Jeffrey Simmons is ascending. Jeffrey Simmons is a monster of a man. And if Jeffrey Simmons, who just attended the pass rush summit for Vaughn Miller that we talked about yesterday, if Jeffrey Simmons were to make that leap into double-digit sacks,

he had, I believe it was two and then three and a half and then comes with eight and a half last year. If he can bump that up to 12, 13 sacks to go along with how he plays in the run game already, absolutely, Jeffrey Simmons can become the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL. Now, is that the favorite? Is it likely? Is that something I'm putting my money down on? No, but I think he's right there as the second or third best interior defensive lineman behind

Donald, and again, if he can make that bump up in pass rush and production and get double-digit sacks, then yes, we're talking about Jeffrey Simmons as the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL. And yeah, as Shannon says in the comments right now, that contract, oh my God, not only for Aaron Donald, but what it'll look like for Jeffrey Simmons if he's able to get in that double-digit sack range. But moving forward here, we got a ton more questions from you guys. There's some really good ones off the bat.

We're going to talk about a big loss for the Indianapolis Colts that not enough people are talking about. We're going to talk about some of the best undrafted free agents of the John Robinson era. Before we get into all that, I do want to tell you guys about BlueNile.com. At BlueNile.com you can celebrate all of life's special moments from creating the custom engagement ring of her dreams to gifting

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Had some good ones in the first segment. I'm ready to dive into even more. Before we do, I do got to ask you guys an important favor. We put together a survey here at the Locked On Podcast Network so we can learn more about listeners like you and what makes your favorite Locked On Podcast your favorites, and then we can make them even better. This is your opportunity to tell us what you like, what you don't like about Locked On Podcast. Go to lockedonpodcast.com slash survey right now to get started. It won't take very long,

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your first listen every day. Continuing to get into your guys' mailbag questions, we have a really good question here from Brett Hader, and he says, Do you think the Colts' loss of defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is being understated by the media? I know Matt Ryan should be more consistent for them, but their defense kept them in many games. I feel like their defense will take a step back without his schemes.

Brett, I think that is an incredibly insightful question to ask. And quite frankly, you're on to something that I agree with completely. Matt Eberflus was a good enough defensive coordinator that he was able to go get a head coaching job in Chicago. Think about Arthur Smith and the Titans offense and the step back the Titans offense took without having the quality of mind and play calling that you got from Arthur Smith. The same thing with Matt Eberflus. You're 100% right. The Colts offense has been up and down for years and that defense has really kept them in games and made them competitive week to week. And one of the big things that made that defense to that level was the turnovers.

Matt Eberflus' defense in Indianapolis created turnovers at an incredibly high rate. And that not only is going to make them a good defense, but that is going to help the offense. It's going to give them great field position. It's going to give them more scoring opportunities. Everything about what that defense did contributed to the Colts being a consistent playoff contender for the last few years, if not a playoff team. So I agree 100%. While everyone's hyped about Matt Ryan and Yannick Ngakwe

and Stephon Gilmore, I get it. Those are all great additions. The Colts are an improved team. But if that defense takes anything, anything close to a step back, well, the Colts aren't going to be the darling that the media is making them out to be going 13-4 and 12-5 and being a Super Bowl team.

They're going to be right in the middle at 10-7, 9-8, 8-9. So I agree with you 100% that it's being understated and from a Titans perspective, looking at the Colts, you got to at least take some solace. Despite the improvements the Colts have made roster-wise, you got to look at that and say, we know personally as Titans fans, how big of an impact losing a head coach level coordinator can be on a team. So good astute observation there. Dale Big Sam says two years ago it was the loss to the Bengals that no one saw coming.

And last year it was the loss to the Texans and the Jets. It's inevitable that there will be one this year. What week do you think it will happen? I agree 100%. Every year, we go through the schedule. I've done this. When the schedule came out, I went through the schedule. I looked at all the games.

I went week by week. I said the Titans are winning this week. The Titans are losing this week. The Titans' record will be this because they're going to win and lose all these games that I think, based on their schedule coming out today. We're wrong all the time. Games that we don't think the Titans will win, they win. Games that we don't think they'll lose, they'll lose. So keep that in mind as I give you this

answer and you all get in the comments and say there's no way the Titans will lose to that team. There's no way. Well, we all would have said the same thing last year about the Jets or the Texans. So keep that in mind. I think a game that the Titans could lose is against the Washington football team. It's on the road week five early in the season.

The desperation may be not there. The Titans are coming off a tough stretch. I do believe week four is a division game against the Colts, so they're coming off an emotional division battle. And one thing football-wise, Washington has a really good front four.

With Sweat, Chase Young should be back, Payne, Jonathan Allen, they have a good front four. So, if the Titans' offensive line takes a step back, well, then the Washington Commanders, I guess they're called now, despite my silent protests and verbal protests of that name, that defensive front against the Titans' lesser offensive line could be a problem.

So that's why early in the season, on the road, they got some playmakers on offense. They really do. But it's the defensive line against the Titans' offensive line that could go south. And if that happens, then that could be an upset that none of us are expecting again. If I would have said this time last year

that the Titans could lose to the Jets or the Texans, you would have called me a fool. So I'm just looking for a game that I don't think that they'll lose. Maybe they will. So that is one that came to mind. Great question there from Dale Big Sam. Another question here that I really like

from Titans Turtle. He said, since the Titans fan base has an unhealthy relationship with undrafted free agents, true, who are your top three undrafted free agent Titans of all time? So that going back, you know, nearly 20 years would have required so much time to dig through. So I want to do the top three undrafted free agents from John Robinson's era. And unless I missed a big one here, I'm pretty happy with these. Anthony Ferkser,

produced in a big way for multiple seasons, had big catches from an undrafted free agent. You can't be mad about what he gave you. Nick Westbrook-Akina. The Titans won the number one seed in the AFC last year, and the second leading receiver on the team was an undrafted free agent

John Robinson found. So, boom. And the last one was tough, because there are a couple of different options I think that are all on the table, but I look at a guy like T.R. Tartt, who has contributed for two years in a row at a valuable position that the Titans didn't have to spend a lot of money at.

So those are the three that I'm going to go with, personally. Continuing, though. Great question, though. I really like that one. Slappy. Good question here. I like this one.

He says, fast forward to 2024 do the titans still have the shanahan zone read scheme and play action as a counter or do they hire a spread offense type coordinator like joe brady bill's quarterback coach yep former offensive coordinator from the panthers to let Willis do what he's already comfortable with. So to me, as long as Mike Vrabel is the head coach, I think they're going to have the run-heavy play-action scheme that they have, and he's going to continue to find people who want to stick with that scheme. He's going to talk about continuity, and he's had success with it already,

and it's a scheme, in my opinion opinion that's not too overly reliant on the quarterback. It's a scheme that it's more the sum of the parts than individual talent. You need individual talent and stars to win but I think it's a scheme that allows for the team to not have a freak quarterback and not have an elite quarterback. It's going to get them as close as possible without that. If Mike Vrabel can get his hands on an elite quarterback, then great. That would be excellent for all of us, of course.

But at the end of the day, the scheme that the Titans have on offense minimizes the need for an elite quarterback if all the other parts are working well. Yards after catch guys who can maximize short touches and easy opportunities. Run game that can keep complementing it. So I think as long as Mike Vrabel is the head coach, they're going to keep the offensive scheme and find people who can continue to run it. But we are going to move forward. You guys are asking some great questions here.

So I'm excited to continue to dive into them. Before we get into the next set of questions you guys sent in, I do want to tell you a little more about BetOnline.net. BetOnline.net is your number one source for all your betting stats and sports info. Find all the latest sports developments, news, and odds, including information about the NBA Finals, the NHL Playoffs, Major League Baseball season,

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of the Locked on Titans podcast. With more of your guys' mailbag questions, I think it's been a great day of questions. You guys really brought the heat today, and I do appreciate that. The Titans are going to be back on the practice field tomorrow with some OTAs, so I'll be having a report for you guys on that. Very excited for that last OTA and then mini camps next weekend, mandatory with all the vets.

And then after that, we got that break until training camp. It's going to be here so quickly and I'm so excited for the season. Make sure that you stay subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast, the number one rated Tennessee Titans podcast on Apple and on iTunes. So I definitely do appreciate all of your guys' support. The show is really going to new heights every single season. And I can't say enough about the listenership and the fan base. Thank you guys all so much.

And again, the questions were great, and I'm excited to dive back into them. Before we do, I do want to tell you guys about the Locked On NFL podcast. You get all your Titans news here with me in under 30 minutes every single day. Get all your national NFL guys about the Locked On NFL podcast. You get all your Titans news here with me in under 30 minutes every single day. Get all your national NFL news with the Locked On NFL podcast free and available on all platforms. And I host the national show on Thursday. So if you guys wanted to check that out, I would appreciate that again. But diving back in here to some of these mailbag questions, Cody Wheat with another great question said, throughout Titans history, there has been a lot of players that fans have really gotten behind. Which of these players did you never understand

why Titans fans seem to act like they were better players than they truly were? And did you have a bad player that you backed in? Cody, there is a chance that I might upset you here or upset some people with my answer, but a player that all the fans really, really loved that I never really fully bought into was Marcus Mariota. So that's a guy. Listen, Marcus won the playoff game first time in over a decade. He had some great moments.

I agree 100%. He surely did. And although he didn't work out completely for the number two overall pick, I still think that what he did for the franchise and getting them to at least a competitive level, he deserves his props. But some people in the fan base act like Marcus was someone who the Titans should have kept around, act like Marcus didn't get a fair shake in Tennessee and didn't have a good cast around him

and didn't have all these things. And I simply can't agree with that. So Marcus is a guy that the fan base is generally higher on than I was. So I know that's going to upset some people. Another guy I want to mention, Logan Woodside, the new roster pirate. There were guys like David Flewellen, Jeremy McNichols.

They're roster pirates. I don't understand how they stayed on the roster for so long. So, Logan Woodside is another guy. I think they're just going cheap at backup quarterback, quite frankly. But I was very happy to see Malik Willis drafted in. So, that if Ryan Tannehill were to get hurt for half a season, the Titans are probably screwed.

But what if he gets hurt for two quarters? What if he gets hurt for two weeks? I don't want the season to be tanked because Logan Woodside is in. At least Malik Willis gives them some high-end upside as a runner early on with some play action potential. So I appreciate that. On the flip side, some guys that I thought were better than maybe the fan base thought they were. Number one, Jackrabbit Jenkins. Everybody says that he was terrible last year and just simply wasn't the case.

The Titans don't have as good of a defense as they had without Jackrabbit. And there were certain moments throughout the year where he was clearly the best corner on the field. Now, Christian Fulton was the best corner throughout the season, absolutely. But Jackrabbit Jenkins was underrated by the team last year. He gave the Titans a really good season for the money that he was paid. Also, I know this is going to get some people, but Jadavion Clowney. that he was paid.

Also, I know this is going to get some people, but Jadavion Clowney, I mean, he wasn't as bad as people act like. I mean, the Titans defense overall was terrible. That year when Clowney was on the field, he was fine, okay? Wasn't worth the money. I get it.

I get it. I agree with that, but just simply wasn't as disastrous as everybody acted like when he was actually on the field. So that's just one that I wanted to throw in there. Next question, though, got some kind of off the beaten path questions here. I'm going to go with Alberto. He says, I know that you don't like the Oilers history link to the Titans, but what uniform uniform combo would you prefer if we have the throwbacks in 2023? The throwbacks are obviously coming back in 2023. It's basically all but been announced.

So for me, just give me the powder blue on powder blue. Just give me the light blue on light blue. I think that'll look sweet. That's what everybody wants to see. White on white, we obviously know looks good, but the Titans' current jerseys look good with white on white. So let's see the light blues accentuated. I'm cool with that.

Next, Tucson Titan says, if you were given the opportunity to take a paid mentorship with the Titans franchise at any position, player, coach, front office, media, etc., what position would you request? Okay, so obviously I would want to be a player if I could, but that's not realistic. So realistically being me where I'm at, number one, I would want to do Mike Keith's job. I think that would be awesome. That would be a great job.

Be a lot of fun, be a blast, all the different little shows and podcasts and then the radio broadcast, all that. I think that would be a heck of a time. All the different little shows and podcasts and then the radio broadcast and all that. I think that would be a heck of a time. And if not that, I would go with a scout. I would like to be like a regional scout just because I enjoy watching film and doing that for a living would be awesome. So that's what I would go with there.

Some food questions. Of course, everybody knows I'm a foodie. So some people threw in some food questions and I appreciate it. Teddy Vegas said, what's your top five casual fast food burgers rate in order one to five. Yes, you will be judged. I'm fully okay with being judged because the reality here is I'm not very well traveled. I'll just admit it. The furthest West I've ever been with Chicago. And I just went like last weekend, uh, mostly just been classic Ohio and mostly just been to Tennessee and Florida, West Virginia, Pennsylvania,

but I've never been west of Chicago. So there are things like, was it Whataburger, In-N-Out, Shake Shack? I've never had any of those, so I can't accurately rate them. What I would say is, for mine, Five Guys is awesome. Red Robin, if you guys are aware of Red Robin, Red Robin is the black and blue burger. It is absolutely delicious. Early 2000s Steak and Shake was fire.

The quality has just completely fallen off. So, early 2000 steak and shake. If you don't want to count it because that's not a reality any more than fine. You can throw it out. Culver's butter burgers are like basically what steak and shake

used to be absolutely delicious. And then I know this is going to be, but I got to go with one of the big three. Wendy's is overall better in my opinion than McDonald's, but McDonald's, quarter pounder with cheese. Listen, the McDonald's quarter pound patties.

We were sponsored with McDonald's last season. That was on. Yes, Red Robin is the best. Red Robin is really good. It's underrated, for sure. But Burger King's terrible, Shannon. No, I don't want anything from Burger King. Burger King's awful. I'm sorry. I can't get down with you on that one. But McDonald's quarter pounders are made fresh and they're

just always really good. I don't know how to explain it. Alright, so sue me. Judge me, okay? I'm okay with it, Teddy. Bring the heat. Eddie says, top three backyard barbecue sides. I'll make your three answers this weekend with the fam. Okay, so I would do mac and cheese,

green beans, and Eddie, make my green bean recipe. Here's what I do. I cut up bacon about four to five it depends on how many people obviously you have but I cut up some bacon and I fry it in a pan I leave the grease in there I dump in Italian style green beans you could use whole green beans as well but you want a bigger green bean a thicker green bean so that it holds up to everything that you're putting in there I cook the green beans with some cut up, small, uh, sliced, thin sliced. Um, so take the bacon out of the pan, leave the grease, throw in the green beans, then throw

in thinly sliced white onion so that it becomes translucent with some garlic as well. Once it's all cooked and it's heated up, what you want to do is you want to throw the bacon back in, Once it's all cooked and it's heated up, what you want to do is you want to throw the bacon back in, and then you want to put in a little bit of either A1 or barbecue sauce, whatever you have a preference for. Mix that all together. You got garlic, you got onion, you got bacon, you got green beans, you got the sweet tang of either the A1 or the barbecue sauce, the smoke of the bacon as well. That's what I call barbecue green beans. Absolutely delicious. So do that with mac and cheese, make baked mac and cheese with the cheese on top, not just in the pot, do baked mac and cheese creamy with that crunchy layer of cheese on top. And then I'm at a toss up between baked beans and then a potato item, whether that be twice fried French fries, whether that be mashed potatoes, whether that be, uh, twice fried French fries, whether that be mashed potatoes, whether that be baked potatoes, roasted potatoes, whatever you want. Uh, either way, if you don't want to do a potato, because I get the Mac and cheese with the pasta, that's a heavy carb. If

you want to do something different, I would go with some baked beans. Me personally, I don't like any kind of potato salad, pasta salad, anything like that. Not a big Mayo guy. So I would avoid that. But if you have like some and you don't want to do really pasta when you're having mac and cheese, so if you wanted to do something a little bit different, do a broccoli salad, but do it with ranch dressing.

I like that. Sounds really good. How about you guys? I'm hungry now. My stomach's growling. I'm getting out of here. Great mailbag segment. Hey, I saw a hater and a troll in the comments, man. I hate when people put people against each other, blah,

blah, blah. Titans content creators. I'll get your piece. I'll get your piece of the pie. I hope everybody succeeds. So, uh,

shout out to the haters. Just making me more happy, uh, to have some, uh, some great listeners like you guys. So thank you guys so much for indulging in my indulging, no pun intended, and my food questions there at the end.

Thank you guys all so much. I'll be back tomorrow to break down Titans OTAs, more football practice to talk about. Can't wait. Thank you guys for tuning in. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.