Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Derrick Henry's DOMINANCE by the Numbers, Defensive Statistics, Offense Line Disparity & Rowland's Rant

Episode Date: October 11, 2021

Derrick Henry has carried the Tennessee Titans through the first five weeks of the season. He is performing at a historic level not only this year, but during the last 40 games. Tyler uses surprising numbers to show exactly that. Then, the data trend continues as Tyler dives into some individual performances from Sunday and uses the stats to prove his point. Finally, a Rowland's Rant on Monday's Twitter beef and how we talk about the Titans online.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport 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.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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, it is a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And today's show is a data-driven episode. And our first topic is Derrick Henry's dominance. Of course, just watching him out on the field, it's obvious we are witnessing an all-time talent. But when you add some statistical context,

it tells you just how impressive and historic Derrick Henry's performance through the first five weeks of the year and throughout his career truly has been. So we are going to talk about the King, Derrick Henry, to start off today's show. And then we're going to keep that data theme going as we look at some other individual performances from Titans players. How bad has Rashawn Evans really been this year? How good was the Titans offensive line in Jacksonville on Sunday? I will answer both

of those questions for you and then with all of that data driven conversation to start today's show I am going to end the show with a Rollins rant. I have some things to say about how we evaluate this team, good and bad performances, and I'm going to use David Long's performance on Sunday

as a jumping-off point and explain a beef that I got in on Twitter on Monday. So excited for a data-driven Tuesday episode 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, thank you for tuning in to a Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. This Tuesday show is presented by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices,

all the parts your car will ever need. Visit rockauto.com today and selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Visit rockauto.com today and tell them Locked On sent you. Before we dive into our conversation about Derrick Henry's dominance, do want to thank you for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day.

And if you are new here, make sure that you subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Subscribe to the Locked on Titans YouTube page. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live. Remember, I'm going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round.

You can find the show on any platform and always free. Make sure to check me out on social media, on Twitter, at TicTacTitans. For all of my film analysis, check out the show Facebook page, at LockedOnTitansPod as well. But let's dive into this information. I mean, Derrick Henry has been an absolute stud.

The king, King Henry. He has basically carried the Titans offense throughout this season. So far on the year, he has 640 yards, most in the NFL by over 100 yards. He has seven rushing touchdowns on 142 carries for four and a half yards per carry. He is on pace for 2,176 yards and 24 touchdowns. Obviously, that yardage would break the all-time record, but it's not outrageous to think that he will continue this pace,

if not exceed this pace. We have come to know that Derrick Henry performs better later in the season. So to be out to this kind of start with the rest of the season ahead, I mean, Derrick Henry may go for 2,200 yards with the extra 17th game. So absolutely incredible what Derrick Henry is doing. The 640 rushing yards through five games is the second most through for the first five games in NFL history behind DeMarco Murray, who somehow when he was playing for the Cowboys in 2014, had 670 rushing yards through the first five weeks. So that's insane, but nonetheless, very impressive from Derrick Henry,

especially when you consider the amount of stacked boxes that he is facing. So a stacked box would be eight defenders within the first eight yards, ten yards of the line of scrimmage. And Derrick Henry has had 16, especially on Sunday, 16 of his 29 carries were against a stacked box. And two of his three touchdowns were against a stacked box as well. That's five touchdowns against a stacked box in 2020. That leads the league, after leading the league in stacked box touchdowns the

last two seasons with 12 in 2019 and 10 in 2020. So an incredibly impressive day from Derrick Henry on Sunday, but it's not just his performance on Sunday. It's his career. It's the history here. I mean, Derrick Henry is breaking records and catching up to people in certain areas that we haven't seen done since the 60s, since the 50s in certain cases. of having 100 yards and three touchdowns. He is now tied for third most all time with 100 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the same game. He's tied at five with Adrian Peterson, who may be the best running back of a generation, of my generation, if I'm honest, and Joe Morris, and the only people who are ahead of him,

Sean Alexander, have six of those games and then LaDainian Tomlinson, my personal favorite non-Titans player growing up in my childhood LaDainian Tomlinson had nine of those games so there's reason to believe that Derrick Henry will catch up to

LaDainian Tomlinson eventually on that note, again he's had five games in his career of 100-plus rushing yards and three touchdowns, third most all time. Also, Derrick Henry is the first player since Jim Brown in 1958 to have multiple games of 100 yards and three touchdowns

in the first five weeks of the season. Since 1958, completely unprecedented. The last thing that I want to say here is, Derrick Henry, since he basically broke out against the Jaguars in 2018, the last 40 games that Derrick Henry has played, the last 40 games that Derrick Henry has played, 4,792 yards and 40 touchdowns.

What? I mean, what? 4,792 yards and 40 touchdowns in 40 games? That is the most yardage through a 40-game span of any player ever. Ever. Now, I can't tell you that Derrick Henry is going to have the longevity of an Emmitt Smith or an Adrian Peterson. So I don't know about the all-time records, but you would be hard-pressed to find a stretch

more dominant than what Derrick Henry has done the last 40 games. In fact, statistically speaking, you won't. It's the most yards, rushing yards, through a 40-game stretch of any player ever. Folks, the last thing that I want to say here before we move on to the other performances and add some statistical context there,

Derrick Henry is a Hall of Famer. Derrick Henry is one of the top 10 best running backs to ever live, ever. And by the time this season's done, and by the time next season is done, we're probably talking about a top five running back of all time, first ballot, Hall of Famer, no questions asked, period. Enjoy this.

Enjoy this. Incredible stuff. An all-timer right here with the Tennessee Titans. That's going to do it for our Derrick Henry dominant statistical conversation though. We are going to move forward and talk about some other statistics and add some context there with some player grades, some data to back that up

we're going to talk about a lot of players on defense, talk about the offensive line as well. Before we get into that though, do have to tell you guys about our friends over at betonline.ag, the fastest and easiest way to bet on all the sports action, especially betonline.ag is the number one spot for pro and college football this fall. Their new updated site has a brand new interface. You can see even more odds, props, and contests than ever before. Head to their website, betonline.ag today.

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Vegas casino games, make sure that you take advantage of their amazing offers right now. Go to betonline.ag, sign up using promo code LOCKEDON, betonline, where the game starts. where the game starts. Titans fans, let's dive right back in to a data-driven Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about Derrick Henry and just how dominant he has been not only this season,

but historically speaking and just how impressive this run that he is on truly is. But now let's talk about some things that maybe aren't quite as impressive. And number one, I want to talk about Rashawn Evans. Rashawn Evans has potentially been the worst player on the Tennessee Titans, period. The whole team, the worst.

I mean, you can't rule it out right now. That's kind of where we're at. And let me tell you why. Rashawn Evans was absolutely god awful on Sunday and people who don't break down the film, people who just watch the game and move on can tell you that. But, just to add some context here,

per pro football focus, here's Rashawn Evans' grades, overall grades, per week. Number one, week one, 34.2. That was the worst grade of any defensive starter. Week two, 59.6. Okay, okay. Week three, 31.1.

The worst for the defense, and it's entirely. Week four, 57.1 week 5 25.5 the worst grade of any person offense or defense on the team

period garbage I'm sorry I don't know how else to say it Rashawn Evans is playing terrible I try not to be too mean garbage. I'm sorry. I don't know how else to say it. Rashawn Evans is playing terrible. I try not to be too mean, too vicious, too savage, whatever, but there's no way around this. Rashawn Evans is a major liability for the Titans. I know that we got to give John Robinson his blame for that pick, traded up to get Rashawn Evans. And yeah, Rashawn Evans has had some good moments in his career, especially making stops

on one yard situations on the goal line, fourth and one. But outside of that, terrible in pass coverage. And he's been god awful in the run game this year as well. Truly the worst player on the team. And at this point, why not play Monty Rice? Why not? Why not? What do you got to lose? If you don't want to put Jayon Brown out there for first and second down against the run because of the physicality and his deficiencies, then that's fine with me. But don't put

Rashawn Evans out there anymore. He's a sunk cost. He's not going to be on the team. And I know I was a proponent of let him pass rush. Let him pass rush. But if he was good enough to do that, Titans coaches would probably have him doing that by now. Play Monty Rice. That's all I'm asking for is a big bowl of rice. That's all I want. Moving forward, another guy who didn't have a great game, Dane Cruikshank. I said this a couple weeks ago. Dane Cruikshank. I said this a couple weeks ago.

Dane Cruikshank is not a free safety. He's not. He needs to be a box safety where he's in the box, sub-package linebacker, playing forward, have him coming forward. You don't want Dane Cruikshank going backwards. And it's no coincidence that the three games this year where he played 30 plus snaps as deep free safety, they were his three worst coverage grades of the year. 58.8

38.4 and then 44.5 on Sunday against the Jags. The guy is not going to be able to cover deep. And when we just saw what Buffalo did to Sorensen for the Chiefs when he was playing deep on Sunday night football, the Titans cannot afford to put Dane Crookshank back at free safety over and over again. So I don't care if they got to bring somebody up to play, if they got to play Matthias Farley,

if they got to play Elijah Molden at safety, I don't care. Do that. Dane Cruikshank at free safety is the opposite of what he does well. Hopefully the Titans could get Imani Hooker back. He is past the three weeks minimum that you have to be on IR. Designation to return. Getting a little bit of practice work. Hopefully Imani Hooker is able to be back for the Titans

because if they could have Imani Hooker as their deep safety with Crookshank and Bayard playing up and then rotating in, you know, putting Bayard back at free safety for some snaps as well, that would be ideal. But then Crookshank is not a free safety in the numbers. Back that up. Next, I want to talk about David Long.

So I'm going to talk more about this in the final segment because this created a monster Twitter beef for me, at least, on Monday with David Long. David Long missed a ton of tackles. David Long over-pursued. David Long missed assignments. Now, he wasn't all bad. He did make some good plays and some big plays as well.

But also with his problems in the run game and the missed tackles, he also was targeted six times, allowed six completions for 100 yards. So when you add in the missed tackles, the blown assignments, the over pursues in the run game, being attacked in the passing game. David Long had a miserable day. Now, he wasn't the only one. Danico Autry, Amani Bledsoe played terrible in run defense on Sunday. They were awful. But David Long had a really bad game too.

So I know that he's been the best linebacker on the team and everybody's very excited about David Long. But I just want to make sure that we're being even-keeled here because there are some deficiencies there as well, and they show up on tape. And they showed up big time as the Jags ran the ball down the Titans' throat. And you can't allow that to happen the next two weeks. The passing games of the Chiefs and the Bills are too good to allow them to also have success in the run game. Cannot allow it.

Some positive stuff. Harold Landry is the only player in the NFL with five pressures at minimum every single game this year. So that's very impressive from Harold Landry. Jeffrey Simmons as well got some major praise from Mike Vrabel in his Monday press conference. He just impromptu brought up Jeffrey Simmons to make sure he's getting credit for the pressure he's putting on the quarterback. Both of Harold Landry's sacks on Sunday were a direct result of the pressure of Jeffrey Simmons flushing Trevor Lawrence outside of his spot. So got to give credit to Jeffrey Simmons and the numbers. The data backs that up as well. Jeffrey Simmons had seven pressures against the Jags. That was tied with Aaron Donald for the most pressures of any interior defensive lineman in Week 5.

So a dominant performance from Jeffrey Simmons. That gives him 17 quarterback pressures on the year through Week 5. And that has him at fifth in the NFL. He's got a total of 17 now on the year. Aaron Donald has 28. J.J. Watt has 23. Cam Hayward has 19. And Jeffrey Simmons sits at 17.

So that would be fourth, actually. Fourth place. A really great job by Jeffrey Simmons this year. It hasn't all been great, but for the most part, really making an impact for the Titans defense, especially flushing quarterbacks out to other people, and Mike Rabel pointed that out himself. Also, do want to tell you guys that Kevin Byard

is now the ninth Tennessee Titan or Houston Oiler in history with a fumble return touchdown and an interception in the same game. The last guy to do that was Samari Rowe, just saying his name, the nostalgia. Samari Rowe in 2003. So a historic performance from Kevin Byard who really looked fantastic. And spoiler alert, Kevin Byard's

performance might be my film study article spotlight for this week. Seeing Kevin Byard play his best ball again, absolutely fantastic. Now, I do want to talk about the offensive line, add some context to what happened with them, but we are going to talk about a sponsor first. So we'll talk offensive line and my Roland's rant on my Twitter beef to cap off today's show. Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you guys about rockauto.com.

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Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com Titans fans, let's cap off this data-driven Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We need to talk about the offensive line, and then I'm going to give you guys just a little bit of a Rollins rant on a Twitter beef that I engaged in on Monday surrounding David Long.

So let's talk about this offensive line first. Before we do, just once again want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, make sure to check out the Peacock and Williamson podcast hosted by Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson. They give you a national perspective on all the latest NFL news. It is a great pairing to the Locked on Titans podcast once you get all your Titans info from me.

But let's move forward here, talk about that offensive line. So two things that really stand out. I do an offensive line pressure report every Monday and just want to run that down for you guys here. So Taylor LeJuan had about his best game that he's had in maybe two years, at least his best game of this season. LeJuan gave up zero pressures, gave up zero sacks, and was really good in the run game as well.

So nice seeing Taylor LeJuan pull his game together after the ACL recovery. Roger Saffold did get hurt during the game, but still had a good amount of snaps. Gave up one pressure, but zero sacks allowed. Ben Jones at center, two pressures allowed, zero sacks. The right side has been struggling a little bit in pass protection. Nate Davis especially, two pressures, gave up a sack on the day. Questenberry, two pressures, gave up a sack on the day. Questenberry, two pressures, gave up a sack on the day.

Do have to mention here, Corey Levin, who came in in spot duty for Roger Saffold with Aaron Brewer hurt. Zero sacks, zero pressures. Corey Levin had a pretty damn good day. He did pretty good in spot duty and having Aaron Brewer and Corey Levin as your interior offensive line depth, I feel very, very comfortable there for the Titans.

And with Lamb and Sam Brillo and the second-round pick that we'll maybe never get to see in Dylan Radins, I feel comfortable with the depth on the offensive line. I really do right now. So good job there from the Titans offensive line for the most part, only allowing, and you're telling yourself, hey, that's only two sacks. They gave Ryan Tannehill the credit for that third sack.

But here's what I really wanted to talk about. And this just perfectly explains the Titans' offensive line throughout the year. Look at the disparity between the run-blocking grades for the Titans per pro football focus and the pass-blocking grades. Are you ready? So Taylor LeJuan, like I said, great day overall for him in run blocking, 82.9. In pass blocking, 88.6.

So, a really good day for Taylor LeJuan, especially going up against Josh Allen, who's a really good pass rusher. I see you. I see you, Taylor LeJuan. Good job. But, here's where we have some fun. Roger Saffold, 75.8 in run blocking, 51.7 in pass blocking. Oh,

you want some more? You want some more? Ben Jones, 86.4 in run blocking, 56.6 in pass blocking. That's a 30% drop. Oh, you want more though? You want more? 30% wasn't good enough for you. You want more? All right. Nate Davis had an 88.4 in run blocking. Phenomenal. 37.8 in pass blocking. Oh my God. Nate Davis has truly been absolutely awful in pass protection this year.

And I just don't, I just don't understand why. He looks a little heavy to me. He looks like he's not moving around as well as he did last year to pass off stunts and games and blitzes. He just doesn't look like he's reacting as quickly in pass protection. That's my analysis. Moving forward, David Questenberry, 93.1 run blocking grade.

Whoa! 59.4 pass blocking. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. And then Corey Levin had a 54.7 run blocking grade, so not awesome there, but he only played about 10 snaps, 17 snaps, I think somewhere in between there. He had a 0.0

grade in pass blocking, but I got some intel from somebody that the algorithm that's used, if there isn't a certain amount of data available, then there isn't a certain amount of data available, then they can't even produce a score and it'll produce a zero. So that's not really indication, just kind of a technicality. It is a data-driven Tuesday, okay? Don't give me that look. All right? Don't give me that look. Anyways, moving forward, that's the offensive line. I want to give you guys a quick Roland's rant. And if you don't really care at all about Twitter

beefs and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, then it's been great having you. I'll give you guys a quick Roland's rant. And if you don't really care at all about Twitter beefs and blah, blah, blah, blah, then it's been great having you. I'll see you guys on Rewatch Wednesday to go over the film notes. But if you're interested, on Monday, I got in a little bit of a Twitter beef and I try not to do these things, these back and forths and calling out accounts and blah, blah, blah. But the Titans talk account got offended when I said that David Long had a bad game.

And essentially what it turned into was a psychological fallacy of authority and experience automatically meaning credibility. So what I want to say is experience most certainly can help you. Experience can absolutely be a key factor

in having success or whatever it is that you're talking about. But playing some low-level college football, playing semi-pro football, where you pay for your own pads, gets you no credibility. Everyone that I talk to on Twitter, including myself, none of us are football film NFL technique fundamental experts guys I get up here I tell you about coverages run fits play design route combinations

the things I know and I think that that helps a lot of you guys learn as well but I'm not Brian Baldinger or Greg Cassell I'm not up here acting like I'm Mike Rabel who knows every little aspect of hand placement and footwork and all these different things that are at a higher level of football than I ever got to experience. And being a low-level college football player playing some semi-pro

ball doesn't give you that credibility or expertise either. So when I say that David Long has a bad game and you come at me and you say, no, David Long didn't have a bad game. You never played past high school football. You don't know what you're talking about. Get the F out of my face.

Period. I don't have to be a five-star Michelin chef to know when my steak is overcooked. I don't have to be a mechanic to know when my brakes are out. And if my brakes were out, I'd go to rockauto.com and buy new brake pads and rotors and install them.

The point is, you don't have to be a top-level expert to know what you're talking about. I don't have to have played past high school football to know that David Long had a bad game, to see him get targeted in the past game, to see him miss tackles. And if you're going to come at me and say that I'm wrong about my evaluation

and insult my character, then I'm going to smoke you with film. Because you may not believe me, but you better believe the tape. And guys, people who have been watching this show and listening to my show for a few years, I have never once claimed to be some certified expert on everything football at the NFL level. I take the stuff that I understand and I try to package it in a simple way to help you guys understand

what's going on out on the field. Because maybe you don't have the time to watch the coach's tape for eight hours every week. You don't have the time to watch the coaches tape for eight hours every week. You don't have the time to be on Twitter and catch every stat and every data point. And I bring that to you guys to help all of us understand what the Titans are doing on the field better. So I never claim to be some crazy expert no more than anybody else. Than everybody else. That's never been my pitch. And it never will be.

I'm just trying to give you guys what I understand. And that seems to be working. And it seems to be enjoyable for everybody. Well, not everyone. Some people just don't like it because whatever. But the incredible feedback I've gotten over the last, you know, two and a half seasons now. I'm always going to be working to get better, but man, I played college football. You're wrong. Here's a video. Here's tape. Here's 15, 20 plays of David Long messing up.

And then you're going to insult me. Okay. Alright guys, you want to know? I'm 5'6". Yeah. I'm a little husky these days. Alright? I didn't play college football. I played high school football.

But none of that discredits the work that I put in. The hours and hours and hours of my week that I spend watching the Titans. And I hope that all of you listening realize that just because somebody has a little bit more experience than you doesn't mean that they're 100% right. That's an authority fallacy.

So just remember that when you're having discussions with people about the Titans. Yeah, there's right and wrong sometimes. David Long had a bad game. I'm right about that. But just because I'm right about that doesn't make my opinion better, you know, more credible. I just don't like when people try to argue that their experience completely ruins the credibility of the person that they're talking to.

Experience can be a very valuable tool, but like analytics and data, I'll bring it full circle, baby. Like analytics and data, experience is simply a piece to the puzzle of success and data. Experience is simply a piece to the puzzle of success and knowledge. It is not everything. Now, immediately after I posted the video proving that David Long had a bad game. He's not a bad player.

He's been the best linebacker on the team, but he had a bad game. As soon as I did that, I got blocked. And I don't care because the Titans Talk account had some flirtation with racism in the past and they're literally the worst

Titans account on Twitter. And you guys who aren't on Twitter have no idea what any of this is about and that's fine if you want to check it out at TicTacTitans. But either way, my whole point is, don't let anybody try to tell you that if you haven't had a massive amount of experience that you can't know what you're talking about. Because you can, if you put in the work.

I don't need to be a five-star chef to know my steak is overcooked. I don't need to be a professional mechanic to know my breaks are out. And I don't need to have played college football to know that David Long had a bad game. That's all I gotta to say about that. A true Rollins rant to end this data-driven Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Tomorrow is Rewatch Wednesday. I've already begun a ton of my film notes,

as you guys can already tell. Very excited to share those with you guys tomorrow. 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.