Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - DeAndre Hopkins BATTLE - Titans v Patriots: Better Coaching, Better Roster and More Comfortability

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

The Tennessee Titans are in a battle for DeAndre Hopkins services and their main opponent is the New England Patriots. Which team has the better coaching and opportunity for Hopkins? Also, which roster is better from the quarterback all the way to the safeties? Finally, which team presents the best off the field answers? Tyler goes through 8 categories to declare a winner!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnfl and when you enter promo code, LOCKEDONNFL, they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO THOUSAND FIVE 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

The Tennessee Titans are a better fit for DeAndre Hopkins than the New England Patriots. I'll explain why on today's 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. Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.

It's time for a tale of the tape. I'm going to go through eight different categories and decide who is the better fit for DeAndre Hopkins, the Tennessee Titans, or the New England Patriots. My money is on the Titans, and I'll get into why in just a moment. Before I do, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Go to birddogs.com slash locked on NFL, and they'll throw in a free custom Bird Dogs Yeti-style tumbler with your order.

I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day as well. Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm going to go position by position through the Titans roster. Look at the best player each position,

some of the dark horses to make the roster, some X Factor players as well. So a lot of content coming your way here in the coming weeks. Can't wait to get into it as well as we lead up to Tennessee Titans training camp. But with that being said, time to get into the tale of the tape. Again, I'm doing a battle here between the Tennessee Titans and the New England Patriots. Eight categories. We are going to start with overall team ceiling.

So between the Titans and the Patriots, which team has the higher ceiling? And for me in this one, and I'm thinking about it with DeAndre Hopkins, if they add DeAndre Hopkins, who has the higher ceiling as a team? And for me, the answer is the Titans. I mean, you look at the division that the Patriots are in,

there is no, even if they add DeAndre Hopkins, there is no logical path for the Patriots being the best team in the AFC East. I just don't see it. I don't see any possible way that they're better than the Buffalo Bills. The Jets are mightily improved with a better quarterback. The Dolphins might get even better now that they have better pieces on the offensive line, better defense in place with a better defensive coach.

I mean, every single team in the AFC East got significantly better, in my opinion, besides maybe the Patriots. I see the Patriots and the Titans as similarly talented teams and we'll get into that later as we dive into their roster composition but to me when you look at the overall ceiling the division the division in itself gives that battle to the Titans. I mean, the Patriots went 8-9 last year, and the Titans went 7-10, one game worse, with a seven-game losing streak and 34 players on injured reserve. The Patriots had their own story. They had their own issues, certainly, but overall team ceiling,

if you add DeAndre Hopkins, I don't see how the Titans aren't the easy win in that one because of the division that they're in and their ability to win that division. I think that one is for the Titans. Now, the next category I want to get into is coaching. And this one, you got to give it to the Patriots. Guys, I think Mike Vrabel is a great coach. I think he's one of the top eight, top 10 coaches in the NFL. But down the list, Bill Belichick is their head coach. He's also their defensive coordinator, and he's proven to be top of the top of the top all time at both of those. Okay? And then on offense, you have Bill O'Brien as their offensive coordinator. Well, who's the Titans' offensive coordinator?

Tim Kelly? Tim Kelly learned everything he knows from Bill O'Brien. That is who gave him the opportunities that he got. That is who raised him as a coach. So I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Tim Kelly is a better OC than Bill O'Brien. I simply don't believe that. I don't.

And let's just cut the crap. Bill Belichick has six rings. I am not going to sit here and tell you guys that the Titans have better coaching than the Patriots. I can't do it. I simply can't. So right now, one-to-one. Overall team ceiling for the Titans.

Coaching advantage for the Patriots. Now we get into the third topic. And for me, it's targets. How much can DeAndre Hopkins get the football? Well, what I did was, I went back and looked at the Patriots and the Titans roster from last year. And then I went and looked at their rosters this year. How many targets are available for DeAndre Hopkins?

And look, the Patriots added Juju Smith-Schuster. The Titans didn't add anybody who's going to take significant targets away from DeAndre Hopkins. So even without Juju Smith-Schuster, I only have the Patriots having about 150 to 160 targets available from last year's team. That doesn't even account for Mike Gasicki as well.

And the Pats throw the ball to the running back more than the Titans. The Titans have 190 snaps available without Austin Hooper, without Robert Woods, without Dontrell Hilliard. The Titans have way more opportunity. Look at the Patriots' top three receivers. They have Devontae Parker.

They have Juju Smith-Schuster. They have Kendrick Bourne. All three of those guys are as good as or better than anybody that the Titans have. I would say better. They're all better than anybody the Titans have outside of Traylon Burks. And we could debate Traylon Burks against all those guys. Really, Burks is a

projection, if we're honest. So, the Pats already, just by the numbers from last year, have less targets available for Hopkins than the Titans. And they have Juju Smith-Schuster. And they have Mike Gasicki, who aren't represented in that number. The Titans have who? Traylon Burks?

Chigga Conquo? And then who? Who would even reasonably battle for targets? And all we're hearing out of Patriots camp is they're going back to heavy two tight end looks with Gasicki and Hunter Henry. Heavy two tight end. Well, you got Juju Smith-Schuster.

You got Devontae Parker. You got Kendrick Bourne. They added Kashawn Butte. I mean, there's way more opportunity and way more targets available for Hopkins in the Titans offense than in the Patriots offense. That's just the truth.

So for me, in round one or through three rounds, we'll say, tail of the tape, I got the Titans winning two to three. Titans have a better overall ceiling with Hopkins on their team than the Pats do. The Patriots have better coaching, and the Titans have more targets available for DeAndre Hopkins within their offense. We're going to talk about the Pats do. The Patriots have better coaching, and the Titans have more targets available for DeAndre Hopkins within their offense. We're going to talk about the rosters next.

I'm going to go position by position through the Patriots roster, through the Titans roster, and talk about who has the advantage at each of those spots on both offense and defense. Plus, we'll focus in on quarterback play as well. Before we get into that, though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you

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don't just have like the style I have on that look like workout shorts. They have khaki shorts available too. I got a light blue one that's going to be great for going out on the boat or going out on the lake, anything like that. So I'm telling you guys, you have to. You have to go to birddogs.com slash locked on NFL. They're going to give you a free

Yeti style tumbler with your order. That's birddogs.com slash locked on NFL for a free Yeti-style Tumblr. I promise you, you will not want to take your birddogs off. Titans fans, let's continue today's tale of the tape edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're breaking down who is a better fit for DeAndre Hopkins

between the Titans and between the Patriots. I did overall team ceiling. I got the Titans winning that one. Coaching goes to the Patriots. And overall available targets goes to the Titans and between the Patriots. I did overall team ceiling. I got the Titans winning that one. Coaching goes to the Patriots and overall available targets goes to the Titans. So two to one, the Titans lead as we head into our second segment segment before we get into it. I want to thank you guys again for making the locked on Titans podcast. Your first listen every day,

Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed, throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now as well. Show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button.

We're going to be doing a position by position roster breakdown as we head towards training camp here in the coming weeks and then of course daily content for you during training camp breaking down everything that's going on with the Titans. But with that in mind, let's move forward here. 2-1, the Titans lead in the breakdown. Now we're going to move into roster composition.

We're going to look at the other players that are going to be surrounding DeAndre Hopkins on both of these teams. Let's start with the quarterback play. Which quarterback is better between Ryan Tannehill and Mac Jones? To me, guys, and I'll be honest, I didn't like Mac Jones coming out of the draft.

So, never been a big fan of Mac Jones. Never thought that he was going to accomplish much. To me, he is like Diet Tannehill. He is like a, he's basically a more popular version of Andy Dalton, in my opinion. I don't see Mac Jones as anything more than a Tua Tunga-Vailoa type quarterback. Maybe like a Derek Carr style quarterback at his best. I think at his best, Mac Jones could end up being a tier three quarterback

in the same tier that Tannehill is in with Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr and players of that nature. I think right now he's a tier four quarterback. He's below that tier. You look at some of the numbers. I don't just want to be arbitrary here. Let's look at Tannehill during his time with the Titans and then Mac Jones in the first two years of his career. And look, it may not be incredibly fair because Mac Jones is the first two years of his career, but Hopkins is going to be playing with third year Mac Jones and he's going to be playing with year 10 Ryan Tannehill. So that's who those players are. We should compare them as such. As such, completion percentage, Tannehill 66.9%. Mack Jones 66.5%. Tannehill.

Yards per game, 225.1% for Tannehill, 219.3% for Mack Jones. Advantage Tannehill. Touchdown percentage. What percentage of their throws turns into a touchdown? 5.5% for Tannehill. 2.0% interceptions. Mac Jones, only 3.7% of his throws turn into touchdowns. And 2.5% of them turn into interceptions. Tannehill, Tannehill.

Yards per attempt. 7.9% for Tannehill. 7.1% for Mac Jones. Tannehill. Winning. 36-19 record. 17 games over.500 for Tannehill. 16-15 for Mac Jones.

One game over.500. Again, I'm not telling you this is a perfect way to measure, but based on who these players have been in their recent situation since Mac came to New England and since Tannehill came to Tennessee. Tannehill's the better player. I think Tannehill's the better player right now as well. So you want to talk about getting the ball thrown to you and who's going to have that job? I would trust Tannehill way before I would trust Mac Jones,

even if I don't think that they're very far off as players. I still think Tannehill is better. He's the older player, more seasoned player. I think he's got more natural ability too. Stronger arm, more athletic, even at his older age. To me, this is a slam dunk, Ryan Tannehill. So Titans are winning four to two. Patriots are ready to come back. Let's look at the rest of the roster for the Patriots. On offense, who has the better surrounding offense for DeAndre Hopkins? For me, it's the Patriots on offense. Who has the better surrounding offense for DeAndre Hopkins? For me, it's the Patriots. You break it down by position.

Quarterback, yeah, I give that to Tennessee. Running back, Patriots have good running back in Ramondre Stevenson, but we're talking about Derrick Henry. So Derrick Henry. Wide receiver, though, I mentioned it earlier. They have Juju Smith. They have Devontae Parker.

They have Kendrick Bourne. They have better wide receivers than the Tennessee Titans to help DeAndre Hopkins. Now, I think that might actually hurt New England, but for the purposes of the exercise, they have better wide receivers. So better quarterback and running back for Tennessee, better wide receivers for New England. Tight end, I got to go with New England as well.

I like Chigakaconkwo a ton. I think he's awesome. I'd probably take Chigaconkwo over either of the tight ends that the Patriots have. But Trevon Wesko, I like Josh Wiley too, but he's a fifth round rookie tight end. They have Hunter Henry and Mike Gasicki.

I mean, Josh Wiley can only hope to become Mike Gasicki. That would be great. And Hunter Henry, I think that combination of those two together is better than Chigaconquo and any other tight end that you pair with them so I gotta go tight ends to New England even though I like Chig better like I like Traylon Burks better than Juju, Devontae or Kendrick Bourne this year

I like Burks as a better player but overall it's the Patriots I like Chigaconquo better than Gasicki or Hunter Henry but overall, it's the Patriots. I like Chigakonkwo better than Gasicki or Hunter Henry, but overall, got to go with the Patriots. And then offensive line, I got to go with the Patriots as well. Trent Brown at left tackle, Cole Strange at left guard, David Andrews at center, Michael Owen Nowu, I think I'm saying that correctly, at right guard, Riley Reif at right tackle. Look, I'm not going to tell you that the Patriots have a great offensive line, but I just trust some of their players

more than I trust the Titans right now. Now, what I will say is I think there is a logical outcome where the Titans have a better offensive line than the Patriots this year. I think that's possible, but you certainly can't bet on that right now. So for me,

wide receiver, tight end, and offensive line are Patriots. With quarterback and running back being Titans, I got to give the edge to New England on that one. So 4-3, the Patriots are making a comeback here. Let's see. Or 4-2? Am I crazy?

Yeah. Overall team, ceiling Titans. Coaching, Patriots. Targets, Titans. That's 2-1. Quarterback play, Titans. That's 3-1. Patriots, 3-2.

So we're at 3-2 here. Now we got to talk about the defense real quick. And I got to go with New England on defense as well. And some of you guys are pulling out your hair right now and I get it. But you look at the numbers, New England's just more consistent of a defense. Defensive line, I'm going with

the Titans. I like the depth on the defensive line for the Patriots. I think these are two really good defensive lines. They got Devin Gottschall. They have Lawrence Guy, Christian Barmore. But they don't have a big Jeff. And the Titans have Thierry Tartt. They have Danico Autry as well.

So the Titans are not too shabby. But I got to go with the Titans on the defensive line because, again, they just don't have a big Jeff. And big Jeff is so much far and away better than anybody they got. That's an advantage for the Titans because the Titans after Big Jeff are still really good as well.

We talk about linebackers, like stand-up linebackers. You got to go with New England on this one. The Titans got a young player in Monty Rice. They're bringing over a free agent in Al Shire. They got Juwan Bentley. They got Jelani Tavai. I just think they have a better starting linebacker group right now. Outside linebackers, this one was hard.

But I went with New England as well. Matthew Judon is better than anybody that the Titans have. Even Harold Landry at his best is basically right there with Judon. And I think Judon is a little bit better of a pure individual pass rusher, where Landry is a little bit better as part of a team and a scheme. Josh Uchi, I like the Titans' edge rush group, but at the end of the day, Arden Key was a rotational backup who is being asked to be a starter now. Rashad Weaver had inconsistencies last year. So I just think that this is another one of those scenarios, like I said, with the

offensive line. I could see at the end of the year, if Harold Landry does come back fully healthy and back to himself, I could see the Titans having a better edge group than New England. But right now, I got to give that advantage to New England. We talk about cornerbacks. That's New England as well. Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones, they drafted Christian Gonzalez in the first round. That's just a better group than what the Titans have with McCreary and Fulton and Sean Murphy Bunting. Guys you can count on there more than the Titans group. So cornerback is New England, which does give them a 3-2 edge on defense.

Safety for me is the Titans. Kevin Byard, Amani Hooker. That's like the best safety duo in the NFL when both those guys are healthy. So that's better than Jabril Peppers and Kyle Duggar and Adrian Phillips for me. So three defensive positions for the Patriots, two for the Titans. That means the overall roster,

the advantage goes to the Patriots. So quarterback play, I give that to the Titans. But surrounding talent on offense and surrounding talent on defense, I give that to New England. So through six categories here, we have a three to three tie. We're going to get into the last few categories

in just a moment. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, going over the last few categories that I want to talk about in regards to the tale of the tape between the Tennessee Titans and the New England Patriots. Let me know down below if you disagree with me on who I have winning these categories, if you agree what you have the tail of the tape breaking down as between

these two teams, who is the better fit for Hopkins in your mind, let me know down below in the comments. But moving into some of the off-field factors. So we talked about some overall team things. Team ceiling, coaching, targets. We talked about the rosters of the two teams, quarterback play, offense, defense. Now I want to get into some things that are off the field for Hopkins. Number one, money.

Okay? And for me, you look at this on paper and you'd say, oh, well, it's the Patriots. The Patriots have $13.2 million in salary cap space. The Titans have $8.3 million. So the Patriots do have more. But it's not like the Patriots have a lot. They're 17th in the NFL in total cap space.

So they're in the bottom half of the league. The Titans are only $5 million less than them. So it's not like a wide berth or anything. And, and, look at the Titans' financial situation in the future. They're in a great spot money-wise

to give Hopkins bonus money that they can spread out into future years of the salary cap. And, and, state taxes. And again, I take my L on this. I underestimated it, but you look at the schedule,

seven games in Tennessee, signing bonus in Tennessee, playing two games in Florida, or three games in Florida, right? Tampa Bay, I'm starting to, Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, right? So three games in Florida, a game in Texas against the Houston Texans. That's 11 of 17 games that the Titans play in a state with no state taxes. That matters. I was wrong. I admit I was wrong. I didn't think about it properly. That matters.

So you talk about money. To me, Hopkins probably wants bonus money more than salary and no state taxes. I know that it sounds crazy, but the money goes to the Titans for me. They have more ability to give him more money in my opinion. And that's why I do think the Titans will sign DeAndre Hopkins. That's why I believe it now. I do. So money to me goes to the Titans, which would make it four to three for the Titans. This is a tight one. And this is what I want to understand. I know if any New England Patriots people jump on here, people who maybe are more pessimistic about the

Titans than even I am, which poor poor guys, poor ladies, whoever. I feel for you if you're more pessimistic than I am. My God. But, even if you're more pessimistic than I am, you have to see this as close. Even if you think the Patriots win the tail of the tape, this is close.

And I get why Hopkins is visiting both teams. This probably is a tough one for them. But what I think sends it home and it gives the Titans the win 5-3. And if you want to give money to the Patriots, then again, that makes it even tighter. But to me, with the no state taxes and the bonus money that the Titans can give,

it's the Titans. But finally, I just did comfortability. You guys have applied to jobs. You've been job hunting before. Maybe unfortunately you haven't been in a position to kind of take your pick of things or whatever. But a lot of you I'm sure have, whether it's coming out of college

or just you decided to leave the company that you were working for because you knew you could get better opportunities elsewhere, whatever it may be. When you're picking a job, if the money is similar, if the money is way better on one side, then you probably do that no matter what.

Let's all be honest. But if the money is similar, the job is similar, the environment is similar, the job is similar, the environment is similar, the commute is similar, I don't know why I struggle with the word similar. You guys got words out there that just, it's a simple word, but for some reason you just struggle through it. Similar seems to be mine.

So I struggle with it all the time. But if everything is relatively the same, don't you pick the job that you just feel more comfortable at? I just like the office environment here better. They got a cafeteria or something, so I want that. There's a workout station. There's just the other little factors. When everything is relatively the same,

the little comfortability and quality of life factors start to matter most. And heck, the last two categories I'm talking about, money and comfortability, those could be the factors that matter the most overall, more important than anything for Hopkins. But think about it. The weather in Tennessee compared to New England for a guy who's from South Carolina and then played for Houston and Arizona, But think about it. The weather in Tennessee compared to New England, for a guy who's from South Carolina and then played for Houston and Arizona,

Hopkins has never been in the Northeast in a consistently cold climate. Why would he want to do that? Much more comfortable. And I'm not going to get too far into it, but where do you think Hopkins would be more comfortable? Boston, Massachusetts or Nashville, Tennessee? Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure Nashville.

Based on just the historical vibes around the city of Boston. That's all I'll say there. But the weather, being in the South, where he's from, where he's used to, and the Bill O'Brien factor, man. Like, Bill O'Brien and DeAndre Hopkins had a bad falling out at the end of their time together in Houston. Bill O'Brien, I wrote an article about this this week on SI,

alltitans.com. Bill O'Brien compared him to Aaron Hernandez in a one-on-one meeting once. Made comments about the mothers of his children being around the facility. Bill O'Brien traded him and said that Hopkins had too much influence in the locker room. These are all quotes.

I'm sorry, but I'm not going back to play for somebody that I don't like that much. My offensive coordinator too, who I got to be around all day, every day, and who's ordering what plays get called and whether I get the ball or not, what routes I got to run. No way.

No way I'm going to work with that guy. Not a chance. Not a chance. So whether it be being close to home, being in the South, the weather, the no state taxes, no Bill O'Brien,

a guy that Hopkins has said he really likes on and off the field, and a guy like Mike Vrabel. I'm sorry, but the Titans win the tale of the tape. It's close. I admit it's close. Shout out to the Patri tape. It's close. I admit it's close. Shout out to the Patriots. It is close.

But for me, you go through all of this, and the Titans are a slim winner, in my opinion. And I do, again, thank the Titans. We'll be signing DeAndre Hopkins. But with that being said, that is going to be the end of our week here. The Locked on Titans podcast and the end of our show here as well.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Be back with you guys next week. And this was Locked on Titans.