Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Derrick Henry Still King for Tennessee Titans, Hassan Haskins is Underrated & Darkhorse RB Candidate

Episode Date: June 20, 2023

The Tennessee Titans are racing towards training camp and it is time to go over the roster and examine each position! Is Derrick Henry still the King? Tyler explains why he is, but why the Titans need to help him this season. Next, Titans second-year player Hassan Haskins is vastly underrated even if he isn't going to run the ball a ton! Finally, Johnathan Ward has a great chance to get a roster spot due to a few key factors!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

is Derek Henry still the king? I think that he is. I'll explain why, plus tell you how the Titans can help him remain there 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. Today we are going to continue our positional preview series as we go position by position through the offense and the defense to look at what the Titans roster has right now as we head towards training camp. We already looked at the quarterback position earlier in the week. Go back and check that out if you missed it. But today we are talking running backs. Is Derrick Henry still the king? I think that he is, but I think there is one specific way where the

Titans can help them. We're also going to talk about an underrated member of the Titans running back group. Then I'm going to give you a dark horse running back to make the Titans roster. Before we get into all of that, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all apps, all year long, and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, where it's your team every day.

Shout out to my everydayers out there listening Monday through Friday. We're going to talk about the wide receiver position tomorrow, probably finish out the week with the tight ends group as well. So we're hitting every single position as we go through this roster preview series before training camp. So make sure that you stay tuned to the Locked on Titans podcast so you don't miss that. Throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you're watching as well. Your support really

helps out the channel and the show is free every day. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But moving right along, is Derrick Henry still the king? My answer is yes. Can Derrick Henry still lead this team to a division title as the engine of the offense? My answer is yes. Now they need to make some adjustments around him. Of course, they're going to need better blocking from the offensive line, which will help have a more dynamic passing attack, which will help Derrick Henry out by lightening some of those heavy boxes that he sees. And it's twofold here. When the passing game lacks explosiveness,

it allows the deep safety to creep up. We talk about eight-man boxes where one of the safeties comes into the box. Okay, yeah, that's tough. But the problem is when the deep safety creeps up even more and the cornerbacks creep up even more and have even more of a disregard for the wide receiver options. I mean, teams were bringing guys off the slot

with literally no worry whatsoever about the Titans countering with the passing game and taking advantage of their aggressiveness. Teams were just, we don't care. We're going to play tight man coverage. We're going to bring everybody up to the line of scrimmage. Everybody is coming up further than they normally would against a different team. So it goes further than just the eight-man boxes. It's the lack of fear of the Titans passing game once they lost A.J. Brown and

when the offensive line just absolutely went to hell. It hurts Derrick Henry as well. It has a trickle-down effect that affects more than just the passing game. And I think that with some improvements in some of those areas, that's really going to help Derrick Henry. But shoot, I mean, last year, 349 carries, 1,538 yards, 13 touchdowns. With all of that stuff that I was just talking about going around with Todd Downing, calling plays. He even had career highs and catches with 33 and receiving yards with 398. But the one thing I'm looking at with Derrick Henry is the yards per carry.

4.3 yards per carry in 2021. 4.4 yards per carry in 2022. That is far off what Derrick Henry was putting up in previous years. In 2018, 4.9 yards per carry. And 4.4 to 4.9 is a pretty big difference. In 2019, 5.1. 2020, 5.4. Derrick Henry was missing the big one last year. Now, whether that's his age and maybe he doesn't have the long speed and the stamina that he had when he was younger, whether that's the offensive line, just not getting the job done and giving him a good enough runway

to get those runs going. We're going to find out. We may find out, but the big one where Derrick Henry stiff-arms a bunch of guys and takes it to the house, we still got good Derrick Henry runs, and we still got good Derrick Henry production, but the yards per carry wasn't there because he wasn't breaking off the long ones like he used to.

So let's see if Derrick Henry can add that back with a little bit of improved blocking. I think he can, but one thing that's really going to help him accomplish that goal is Tajay Spears. I talked about Tajay Spears yesterday when we went over rookie roles. My everydayers will know that was a great episode. I loved going overay Spears yesterday when we went over rookie roles. My everydayers

will know that was a great episode. I loved going over that conversation with you guys, but Tajay Spears I had as an offensive weapon. But look, outside of Spears being used out wide, in motion, all that, they need to be able to give the ball to him as well. Instead of having 349 carries this year for Derrick Henry, how about he has 275? That's four less carries per game. Give those four carries to Tajay Spears. Having Derrick Henry have a true spellback in Tajay Spears will allow him to keep that stamina late into the season. Guys, Derrick Henry's an absolute freak. He's a unicorn.

There's no way around it. But he's an absolute freak. He's a unicorn. There's no way around it, but he's still a human and he's still a running back. Okay. So the Titans can do Derrick Henry a favor and give him the ability to break off more big time runs if they properly utilize Tajay Spears. And at the end of the day, Tajay Spears was drafted in the third round. So the Titans had to have a significant plan for him when they use that valuable of a pick on him. So to me, Tajay Spears needs to be getting 10 to 15 touches a game, maybe even 20 in some games.

Not only will that help diversify the Titans offense, but it'll also help spell Derrick Henry. Not only keep him fresher for years, if the Titans bring him back, but it'll keep him fresher as the season goes along so he can get back to hitting the big one. But I think Derrick Henry is still the king, and I think he's going to show it.

But I think that Tajay Spears being an offensive weapon and a true compliment, not just a scat back on third downs, but a guy who can actually take some carries from Henry and be effective. I think Spears and that element will be critical. And that's why for me, we talk about the running back position as a whole for the Titans. It's Derrick Henry and Tajay Spears that have to perform on offense this year for the Titans to hit their ceiling, for the Titans to have a winning

record, for the Titans to win the division. Again, it's mostly going to be on the back of not only Derrick Henry, who of course will play his part, but Tajay Spears is going to have a lot to do with it because of the ways he's being used in the offense. And again, he can spell Derrick Henry, which in theory could keep Derrick Henry fresher and keep Derrick Henry able to hit those home runs late into the season. So that is how I feel about the standouts, the top guys at the running back position. But there are a lot of other running backs

on this roster right now. One of them is incredibly underrated. I'm going to tell you who that is. Plus at the end of the show, tell you who I think is a dark horse running back to make the 53-man roster. Before we get into that though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode

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of Major League Baseball. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're breaking down the running back position. I'm going to go position by position through the entire offense and defense as we lead up the training camp and just have some fun discussions about all the different things that pop up with each spot. So we talked about quarterbacks on Monday.

Talked about Tannehill. Can he get the job done for the Titans? pop up with each spot. So we talked about quarterbacks on Monday. Talked about Tannehill. Can he get the job done for the Titans? Is this his last dance? We talked about Will Levis. I think he's going to be quarterback too. We talked about Malik Willis as a dark horse to make the roster based on some of the reports from him coming out of OTAs. But we're doing the same thing here with the running backs.

I just talked about the standouts for the Titans with Derrick Henry and Tajay Spears and why Derrick Henry can still be the king. Now I want to get into an underrated running back for the Titans that people, it's not just that people have not talked about this player, but the conversation around this player just is not framed properly with most people. And that is Hassan Haskins. But before we get into Haskins, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Our roster breakdown and positional preview is going to continue tomorrow with wide receiver. We'll probably do tight end at the end of the week. I might do a mailbag actually, but we're going to continue rolling through these positions throughout the next few weeks. Make sure that you stay locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast. It's your team every day, Monday through Friday,

all apps, all year long, always for free. But getting into Haskins here and why I think that he is the most underrated running back on the entire roster, and he's one is the most underrated running back on the entire roster. And he's one of the most underrated players on the entire roster, roster, roster, a lot of Ks. Okay.

Um, but for me, it's because of the special teams value. And what really, I guess, ruffles my feathers, I'll say it like that. Is that not enough people understand the value of a guy like Hassan Haskins. They see that he was taken in the fourth round. He's a running back. He should be running the ball, right? And listen, I understand if you feel that way, but the Titans took Tajay Spears this year

and they already have Derrick Henry. The Titans didn't draft Hassan Haskins because they needed somebody to run the ball a lot, okay? Haskins is a guy who can do multiple things for the team. Think about what Vrabel always says in these interviews and these press conferences. The guy has to carve out a role on this team. He's got to carve out what his spot is on this team. Well,

Haskins is a multi-layered role player. Number one, special teams coverage units. Hassan Haskins had the second most tackles on the Titans last year in special teams coverage situations. He had 13 special teams tackles while Dylan Cole had 14. But I've heard Mike Vrabel in a press conference this offseason say that Hassan Haskins led the team in special teams tackles last year. So the way that the Titans chart things may be a little bit different than the statistics that I was getting. So right there, at least he's either tied for it in the lead or one behind the lead in special teams tackles for the Titans last season. So made an immediate impact on coverage units for the Titans. And the Titans had a better special

teams performance last year than they've had in a lot of years. And a guy like Hassan Haskins had a lot to do with that. Not only was it the second best or best number on the Titans in terms of special teams tackles, but Haskins was tied for 16th in the NFL in total special teams tackles. So he was one of the better special teams players in the entire NFL. If you look at the production and the stats, not only that, but we continue to talk about the special teams value here. 19 kickoff returns for Hassan Haskins last year. That was a team high.

The second closest person only had 10. 19 kickoff returns for Hassan Haskins last year. That was a team high. The second closest person only had 10. Not only that, but 414 return yards on kickoffs last year for Hassan Haskins, which was also a team high, and it was the 24th most in the entire NFL. He had a 21.8-yard average, which was incredibly solid. If you look at the list of guys who actually returned kickoffs consistently. Okay, he was one of the top guys. He had an 86.7 special teams grade. The second highest on the Titans.

The only person above him was Danico Autry who had a 90 special teams grade because he played on 33 PAT block units or got 33 snaps on the PAT block unit. You know what I mean? And that's

all shouts to Danico Autry but Hassan Haskins is returning kicks. He's covering kicks. He's doing a lot more. So to me, Haskins 86.7 is the true top mark on the team. And again, it's not just special teams. We talk about pass protection.

Hassan Haskins has shown he has the ability to grow into a very good pass protection back. He had 33 pass pro snaps last year and gave up zero sacks and only three pressures. three pass pro snaps last year and gave up zero sacks and only three pressures. So he's a guy that I know you think running back, fourth round, this guy should be carrying the ball, gaining yards, scoring touchdowns. But even if Haskins is not a significant factor in the offense in terms of running the ball, The offense, in terms of running the ball, what he provides as a coverage man on special teams units, what he provides as a kickoff returner, as a reliable kickoff returner.

He may not be the ideal starting kickoff returner, but he has that role. He can be a backup kick returner and fill in with injuries and a pinch, all that stuff. You know you can count on Haskins. So kickoff return, one of the best on the team in kickoff coverage or just punt coverage, kickoff coverage, all that stuff, you know you can count on Haskins. So, kickoff return, one of the best on the team in kickoff coverage, or just punt coverage, kickoff coverage, all that. A reliable returner, reliable on pass protection on third downs.

I mean, that is carving out a role. And my final point, again, is some people will say that Hassan, all that that I just described is not worth the fourth pick. And I would say, you don't know how football teams are built. Everybody, oh, fourth round pick, running back,

he should turn into a star. He should, you know, turn into a guy who they're giving the ball to every week. And this, it doesn't have to be that. Would it be great if the Titans got Kareem Hunt in the fourth round? Not directly, but like that type of production from a running back as a mid-round pick. Yeah, that would be awesome, right?

That would be great. But some of these special teams roles that aren't as appreciated by the average fan are very much appreciated by the coaching staff. So if Haskins can fill all of these roles, his value to the team is just as high as if he was a guy who was getting the football consistently. 25 carries for 93 yards last year. That's not great, but it's also not horrific either. So I think Haskins can get, you know,

two to four carries a game. He can play two to four snaps in pure pass protection situations. He can play on every single coverage unit. He can return kicks as well. I mean, these are the type of players who your casual average fan doesn't appreciate or think has that much value. They call him a bum on social media. They call him a bust in the message groups, all that stuff.

But if you really know ball and you understand how important of an impact guys like this can have in these roles as a role player for the team, not every player on the roster is a pro bowler. Not every player on the roster is an all pro. Not every player on the roster can be a superstar that's on TV and making highlight plays. You need guys who chop wood

and carry water on a football team. And that's why all of the Titans late round picks have to have special teams value because that is what they are going to be asked to do. So you ask me, Hassan Haskins is incredibly underrated, obviously nationally, but even by this fan base.

So I wanted to take a moment and talk about Haskins' contributions, what he can be for this team going forward, and just express how important I think that is, even if maybe some of the casual people don't quite understand the impact that those sorts of roles can have on a football team. But we're going to talk about a dark horse who I think can make this roster. And shout out to somebody from the show and every day or from the show yesterday who guessed this in the comments of yesterday's show.

I forget exactly who said it, but you know who you are. Let me know down below. But shout out to that guy. So we'll talk about the dark Horse running back in just a moment. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're talking about the running back group here breaking down the roster as the Titans head towards training camp. We talked about the standouts

at the position with Derrick Henry, with Tajay Spears, how important those guys are going to be to the Titans this year. We talked about the most underrated running back on the team and it's Hassan Haskins. I hope people understand his value after my diatribe there, an impromptu Rollins rant. But now I want to talk about who I think is a dark horse running back

to make the roster, somebody that people wouldn't necessarily pick out as a 53-man roster option. But based on what I'm hearing from what the Titans are doing in practice, what they're doing with the offense, and the pick of Tajay Spears as well, I think this player has a great chance to make the roster, and it's Jonathan Ward. Before I get into it, though, 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 on all apps, all year long, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Throw a thumbs up on the video as well if you're watching.

I appreciate all the support that you guys can give. Show is free, so I appreciate any time you guys do me a favor and throw a like on there. But talking about Jonathan Ward and why I think he is a dark horse to make the Titans roster this year. So, number one, last year, Ward joined the Titans after being with Arizona for two and a half years. He played in three games. He had five carries for 25 yards. He had two

catches for seven yards, relatively unknown. And I wouldn't fault you or doubt you. You could even be a diehard Titans fan. And you probably wouldn't remember seeing Jonathan Ward out on the field last year. That's perfectly fine. But gotten a lot of positive reports about Jonathan Ward out on the field last year. That's perfectly fine. But, gotten a lot of positive reports about Jonathan Ward coming out of OTAs, and this could be just summer practice nonsense, which is absolutely a real thing. But if Ward, who, obviously the Titans brought him on in the middle of the season last year,

and it was after Dontrell Hilliard went down, so I think that they see something in Ward and some versatility there. I think that with the positive reports that we're hearing out of camp, with what we got from Jonathan Ward last year, knowing that he's more of a pass-catching back, more of a scat back, I think that there's a good chance that Ward can make the roster as the primary backup to Tajay Spears. But if the Titans are truly incorporating Tajay Spears into their offense in a major way with all the motion,

two running back sets with him and Henry both out on the field, all of that plus Spell and Derrick Henry like I talked about earlier, the Titans took Tajay Spears with a third round pick. They better plan on using him. And if they plan on using him as much as it seems like, then they need somebody with a similar skill set who can back him up. Because that is not Hassan Haskins.

Haskins is a downhill bruiser with little change of direction, with little wiggle. And while I think that Haskins can catch the ball out of the backfield just fine, he's not a guy who you're going to bring in motion across the formation and run a screen to or something like that, like you would Tajay Spears. But you could potentially do that with Jonathan Ward. I think Jonathan Ward has that skill set that can pair up with Hassan Haskins. And the other running backs at the position, Julius Chestnut,

undrafted free agent Chuck McClellan. I think Chuck McClellan has a little bit of that ability, but I don't think that he's a better player than Jonathan Ward at this stage. And while Julius Chestnut has some ability, and clearly the Titans love Julius Chestnut, I just don't see a place on this roster for him if he's not going to contribute mightily on special teams. When he got the ball last year, I wasn't incredibly impressed with his pop or his burst during the regular season. So you might as well give the ball to Haskins.

But Ward shows something different. He can be, again, that true backup to Tajay Spears, that guy who can come in and help you give some semblance of offense, the way that you build it with Spears in it, even if Spears goes down or Spears gets banged up or anything that happens. So I think Jonathan Ward's direct, I guess, skill set with Tajay Spears

makes it more likely for him to make the roster. And again, positive reports out of camp about Jonathan Ward. So he's obviously putting his best foot forward. One other aspect here is Jonathan Ward played 41% of the Titans special team snaps once he got on the team last year. He played 45% of the special team snaps in 2020 for Arizona, and then 58% of the special team snaps for Arizona in 2021. So he's a guy who contributes on special teams as well.

So if you have that backup Tajay Spears role and you add in a role on special teams, I think the Titans could carve out a spot for Jonathan Ward. And again, I don't think if the Titans get DeAndre Hopkins, if they don't get DeAndre Hopkins, I don't think that the Titans are going to keep a ton of wide receivers this year, which could open up another spot for a running back. But again, this goes, it all comes together. We talk about the

Titans potentially keeping three quarterbacks. That means they might only be able to keep three running backs. That means they might only be able to keep five wide receivers. That means they might only be able to keep three tight ends or eight offensive linemen on and on and on that creates those problems. So we'll be interesting to see how it happens. But for me, Jonathan Ward has a really good chance to make this roster as a direct backup to Tajay Spears and a guy with a special teams role. But with that being said, I do want to remind you guys again that we are most likely, if big news hits and big news happens, guys,

I'm always going to pivot to the biggest story surrounding the Titans of the day. But if nothing pops off during this dead period, then tomorrow I'm going to be back with you guys and I'm going to be breaking down the wide receiver position. It's going to be fun to talk about, 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.