Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Division Crossover Series: Convo w/ Locked on Steelers, Biggest Questions & Key Matchups

Episode Date: May 11, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend. We are back with another week of our division crossover series. And of course, today's episode is brought to you in part by Built Bar. Make sure you are checking out BuiltBar.com using promo code LOCKEDON for $10 off your first box of protein bars. They are delicious.

But as I mentioned, it is another week of division crossover conversations and we are talking to the AFC North this week. Today we will start with Chris from the Locked On Steelers podcast. We will talk a little bit about the Steelers. About the Titans. And then talk a little bit about the matchups. That will be most important in that week 4 contest. Between the Titans and the Steelers.

An absolutely excellent conversation with Chris here. A lot of fun. Excited to bring it to you guys. Make sure that you are subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast on whatever platform you stream your podcast so you can get not only today's conversation, but the rest of the week's conversation with all of the hosts

from the Locked On AFC North podcast. It is going to be a great week of football talk, so make sure that you are locked in to the Locked On Titans podcast. Also, follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. A great conversation with Chris. Had a lot of fun talking about this upcoming matchup.

Ready to dive into it with you guys. Let's get it. Alright, happy Monday to everyone out there. My name is Chris Carter from the Locked On Steelers podcast. We have another edition of a crossover series with the Locked On Titans host, Tyler Rowland, here on the show. We have an exciting show lined up for you guys. We're going to be asking each other questions.

We've got match-up talk going on. But, Tyler, thanks so much for meeting up, man. I think this is the first time we've done a show together. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I took over the Locked on Titans podcast mantle shortly before the beginning of last season, and we didn't have a match-up whatsoever. So, absolutely, it'll be our first one. I look forward to this one and, you know, in week four when we eventually face off here. Let's start off talking about, you know, some of the bigger issues, or not bigger issues,

but bigger talking points with the Titans, and that's Derrick Henry, in my opinion. He's a guy who went ballistic in the playoffs, and trust me, who went ballistic in the playoffs. And trust me, Steeler Nation was all behind what he was doing as a wrecking ball against the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots. So it was interesting watching that. But coming out of last season, it seemed like the Titans found a bunch of success with him and Tannehill. What's the vibe right now with the Titans

and how they're looking to carry that over to the next season? Do you think that they're going to focus a lot on running it through Derrick Henry, or do they think they're going to open up Ryan Tannehill because he had really efficient passing numbers? You know, I think that the goal here is, and it's obvious by the offseason and the decisions that they've made, the goal here is to keep as much continuity with that offense as possible. Something that I've talked about in our previous editions of the division crossover

is the Titans' offense last year was about as productive as it's been in a decade since maybe that 2008 offense. It's not common in the history of the Tennessee Titans to see an explosive offense. So anytime you get something like that and you find some chemistry there, you've got to try to bring as much of that back as possible. And I think while most people, based on what they've seen from the Titans, lean towards, hey, it's all on Derrick Henry. He carries the team. It was actually a perfect blend of both players, Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill, what they do well as football players and putting them into a scheme that fits that. Tannehill is not a stand-up pocket passer like they tried to make him in Miami. He needs to use that athleticism of being a former wide receiver and bootleg and get out of the pocket and utilize play action and movement and things like that along

with Derek Henry who's fantastic at just you know waiting in that outside zone scheme seeing a hole finding a hole finding a cut back lane and making that one cut and then hitting it and getting downfield so they kind of crafted you know offensive coordinator Arthur Smith from the Titans deserves a lot of credit in his first year as offensive coordinator, but he kind of crafted a perfect setup for both of those players to complement each other. So both of them kind of need each other a little bit more than people realize. But yeah, that's the goal is to bring back that offense from last year and hopefully have similar results. Absolutely. absolutely um now the other part about this offense is obviously giving making sure that ryan tennant hill is uh working well with playmakers because you can run the ball really

well but uh if if you're if you're not in a situation where um he's been he's able to go to people he can consistently count on other than hen, then it kind of defeats the purpose of trying to handle said situation. Do you think that there's going to be a big jump from A.J. Brown? Because he looked really, really good in last season. And if not just him, who are some other players you think make them a much more dangerous passing offense that Tannehill could find a flow with? Yeah, well, I think obviously A.J. Brown will take a leap in his second season from a technical standpoint, just understanding how to set routes up, understanding how route combinations look out on the field to defensive back, so how he can kind of set things up. Basically, it's the finer points of running routes and just the

nuances of being a wide receiver in the NFL. So he's going to get more experience there from watching tape and just improving his craft. But one thing about A.J. Brown and the rest of the Titans' weapons around Tannehill and Derrick Henry is they're incredibly difficult to tackle and they're all fast and physical guys. And that works well with the, you know, the philosophy that I was talking about in my previous answer that Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill exceed in that the guys they're drafting and the guys they're promoting to be those weapons fit in that scheme as well. Johnu Smith is still a little-known tight end because he was Delaney Walker's backup for a few years, but he's a very similar type of player to Delaney Walker. He's not one of these big, hulking 6'5", 6'6", tight ends. He's 6'2", and he's fast, and he's rocked

up physically, so he's a difficult guy to tackle. Corey Davis has maybe not lived up to expectations of a number five overall pick, but he's a very physical guy who's hard to tackle, and Davis has maybe not lived up to expectations of a number five overall pick, but he's a very physical guy who's hard to tackle. And then A.J. Brown has shown that he's one of the better yards after catch guys in the NFL. And there are some advanced analytics that point to the Titans group being one of the more difficult groups to tackle in the entire NFL. So I really like the weapons that they're building there because they're not necessarily your typical down thefield threats. But when you get those bootlegs and you run those in-routes, those drag routes, those cross routes across the field,

when you are running that bootleg, you can get guys open 5 to 8 to 13 yards downfield, get them the ball wide open off the play-action space that's created. And then they can do the rest of the damage because they're all very talented after the catch so I think everyone kind of fits together and for the most part the Titans have brought back the entire crew on the offensive side of the ball that that was really making the operation go other than you know Jack Conklin who I thought they got a decent replacement in the draft but to be determined whether or not they can withstand that loss at the beginning of the season but for the most part it's just continuity and carrying things over on offense absolutely uh interesting point there about ryan conklin i will get to that in the

matchup segment um but uh on the other side there is a there is there is a big difference or at least uh on paper uh, on the defensive side. And, you know, they haven't brought back Logan Ryan. I believe he's still a free agent. What's the read of the secondary? Because to me, you know, for the past couple seasons, I looked at that secondary and I was like, man, they got an interesting lineup there. You know, they got, you know, Malcolm Butler, another former Patriot,

Adoree Jackson, Juju Smith-Schuster's former roommate at USC, Kevin Byard, who I've always really liked. What's your read on how the secondary is going to work, and do you think that they're not going to really miss a beat without Logan Ryan? Well, I think that they will miss a beat without Logan Ryan for the simple fact that he was one of the more intelligent football players I think in the NFL his work ethic you know in terms of watching film and his preparation was top-notch and a lot of the guys still in the secondary credit him for kind of leading the charge and how they prepare for games so I think you anytime you lose a guy like that and Logan Ryan was incredibly productive last year, one of the only defensive backs in history to have over four sacks,

four forced fumbles, four interceptions. So he was incredibly productive, and so much nickel was played in the NFL today, and Logan Ryan was essentially a big linebacker in the way that he played football, with the way that he would help in the run game. But the downside of that is he wasn't great in man coverage. He wasn't great in press coverage. He's more of a zone cornerback playing downhill, keeping the offense in front of him so he can come up and make plays or blitzing him off the edge. And quite frankly, as you probably know from having such a good defense in Pittsburgh, the game is going towards press man coverage to deal with these offensive threats in the NFL

and these vertical passing games that rely on quick timing and precision. Press man coverage can disrupt offenses' timing, which is why it's so prevalent in the NFL nowadays to kind of counter that passing attack. So you need more man coverage, press man corners, and Logan Ryan wasn't that. The Titans also lost Jarrell Casey as he was traded to their week one matchup, the Denver Broncos. And a longtime leader in the middle, Wesley Woodyard, is probably not coming back on this team. So the Titans are kind of in a changing of the guard in terms of leadership on defense. But the guy you mentioned, Kevin Byard, is going to lead that secondary.

You're a smart man for liking him uh he's one of the best players in the nfl and one of the little known stars in the nfl he always makes a big play when the titans need it so adding a rookie like christian fulton to the mix who was a press man specialist at lsu along with malcolm butler who catches a bad rap since he came to the titans but when he's on the field other than the first half of the season, when they signed him, he was great. And the Titans' defense completely fell off last year when he broke his arm against the Panthers.

So they're going to need to get him back. But I do think that the one – it's funny how you said you like their secondary because on paper with Bayard and Logan Ryan and Vaccaro and Jackson and Butler, that's one of the better secondaries in the league. But Butler gets hurt. Logan Ryan leaves as a free agent. Now all of a sudden the secondary looks like a little bit of a weakness. So they will need Fulton to step up pretty early on and be ready to play. But also a little known guy who came out of Iowa who was a Titans fourth round pick in 2019, Amani Hooker. He was their third safety last year, which as you know from Pittsburgh, third safety gets a lot of run these

days in the NFL. And a lot of people think that he can transition to a little bit of a slot cornerback role, maybe have a bigger role in the defense as an in-the-box linebacker or a slot defender, not so much a corner. So we will see how they put the secondary together, but I think it's right to ask questions. But with the leadership of Kevin Byard, who learned from Logan Ryan, I think the Titans secondary will be in good hands going forward. Great stuff there, Tyler. We're going to cut to a quick break here. When we come back, Tyler's going to be asking me questions about what's going on with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before we jump into the next part of the conversation, I want to tell you guys about Built Bar.

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Also follow them on Twitter at Built underscore Bar so you're always up to date on their latest offers and flavors. We are back here for the second part of our Locked On Podcast Division Crossover Series conversation with Chris from the Locked on Steelers podcast. I just asked him, or he just asked me some really good questions about the Titans going forward, and we are going to flip that. On the other side, I'm going to ask him some questions about the Steelers, and I think the best place to start has to be at quarterback with Big Ben Roethlisberger, who obviously the injuries he dealt with last year

make him a little bit questionable going into this season. What are your thoughts on where Big Ben is right now? What he can add to the team coming back? And if you think that he can get the Steelers back to division title contention, just returning to health, or if the offense needs more than just Big Ben coming back? No, I think the biggest thing is Ben Roethlisberger. I mean, you look back at the offense and you saw Deontay Johnson was getting among the best separation, according to NextGenStats, of all receivers in the NFL. He led all rookie receivers in receptions. And when you look at the quarterback play, I mean, it was just atrocious at times

where there were wide-open options for both him, Juju Smith-Schuster, James Washington, Vance McDonald, who had the second-best separation among all players according to their next-gen stats last year. To me, the thing is on Roethlisberger. And, you know, it's a big question as to how healthy he will be. No one knows for certain. But there's a lot of confidence

in Pittsburgh because the doctors are saying he's well ahead of schedule. He's never had a full year to rest his body like he's had this past year. It's kind of crazy, Tyler. In Pittsburgh, there's this dichotomy of local reporters talking about Ben Roethlisberger and national reporters because local reporters think that, oh, he stands a chance, maybe

not be the best quarterback in the league, but he should at least get back to a point where he can lead the team. And national reporters think he's done. Get him out of here. He's not good. They need to go sign Cam Newton, Jameis Winston, and Andy Dalton all at the same time. And it's really interesting to see that. But from a Pittsburgh perspective, the Steelers have been adamant from the door that they

are confident that Ben Roethlisberger will return and be healthy. And they're also confident that Mason Rudolph can be a solid number two next year behind him, despite what a lot of people think about that situation. Mike Tomlin, the team's head coach, the team's GM, Kevin Colbert, and the team's president and owner, Art Ruehn II, they've all affirmed that and they've stuck by it since saying all that before the NFL draft, despite everyone saying that they were going to sign all those players or draft Jalen Hurts, and none of that has happened. It's full go here on Ben Roethlisberger, and I've been saying on all the podcasts,

I think the hashtag of the situation is Ben or bust because the Steelers are basically like, is banner bust because the Steelers are basically like, look, we went through this last year. We're going to put all our chips on this bet right here and just bet that he goes forward. And honestly, they don't even need Ben Roethlisberger to get back to the point where they were a top 10 offense with Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell. They just needed to be in the top 16.

If they can be one of the better top half of the offenses in the NFL and the defense is playing at the level it was last year, they will not only make the playoffs, they will be a serious contender in the AFC. Yeah, that's what I was going to bring up in my next question is maybe, you know, Big Ben coming back, he doesn't have to be Big Ben top five quarterback in the league. He can be a glorified game manager, I guess, as he gets into the twilight of his career. But to be able to do that, you do have to have a decent supporting cast around you. And you mentioned some of those names, Deontay Johnson.

But you also have James Washington, Juju Smith-Schuster, who I have a question specifically about him. Do you view Juju as a number one wide receiver? Do you think that he has the ability to be that after maybe having a little bit of a statistical setback? Do you think that was just the quarterback play? And then along with the answer to Juju, do you think that with the addition of Eric Ebron and Chase Claypool in the draft, that the Steelers do have a good enough supporting cast around Big Ben to allow him to kind of be that glorified game manager, win with defense and a smart offensive game plan? For one, I think that Juju Smith-Schuster is a number one wide receiver in the NFL.

Last year was just really rough. And I think you could easily see it when you look at games like the Niners game last year, where he was getting open and just not getting looked at. And one of the few passes he got in that game, he took for a 75-yard touchdown where he just broke the defense in half. And that was one of two completions the entire game that Mason Rudolph completed beyond one yard of the line of scrimmage. And the other one was to Deontay Johnson, which also went for a touchdown. I think that there's also another dichotomy here in Pittsburgh where there's some people that are open and openly against Juju Smith-Schuster

and say that, oh, he takes too many social media videos. He doesn't focus enough. He's fumbled twice in his career, and they were holding crucial moments against the Saints and the Ravens at the end of huge games. So he doesn't focus enough, and he's never going to be a number one wide receiver. The Steelers should just give up on him. And then there's the other group that's like, well, he is the youngest wide receiver in NFL history to gain 2,000 yards.

And he was team MVP just a year ago. So, you know, maybe, maybe, just maybe there's something behind this whole the quarterbacks were bad, you know, narrative. And so I'm on that train if we're talking about which direction the offense is headed in. But I also – I really like Deontay Johnson for how he ran routes. And I think if you look at how he did some of the cornerbacks – I mean, there were some plays where he got the best of Tredavious White and not in some fluky way. He was cutting him up and his twitch, his quick stops and starts are really impressive.

And that gives the Steelers' offense a little bit of a variety as far as the strengths of these wide receivers because you've got Juju Smith-Schuster, who is a thicker wide receiver, who can win those jump balls and also be a playmaker. And he's deceptively fast. He doesn't run a fast 40, but when he gets in open space, he is tough to bring down. And as we've seen, he's had multiple 90-plus yard touchdowns in the past couple years.

But also they drafted Chase Claypool, who is taller. He's by three inches. He's taller than any of their top receivers have been. And he runs a 4-4-2. He's taller than any of their top receivers have been. And he runs a 4-4-2, which is faster than any of their top receivers. So it's an interesting makeup here. I also – I do think that they're going to not necessarily try to do the go the we can score 30 points a game route like they did for years under having the, you know, Ben, Brown, and Bell situation.

But I also think that they're going to be a better offense than what people might suspect after ranking, I think, they were 27th last year at the end of the season. Yeah, absolutely. And one thing that you have mentioned throughout and that most Titans fans remember from last season is that the Steelers were right there until the very last week fighting for the playoff spot that the Titans were interesting and getting their hands on.

And our whole conversation has been about bad quarterback play. Can the offense get back to a decent level? And having both conversations at the same time, thinking in the back of your head, the Steelers almost made the playoffs last year. And then also it seems like all the conversations about how much the offense needs to improve and the quarterback play was bad. Well, that was because the Steelers' defense was insane last year. And the addition of Minka Fitzpatrick via trade obviously totally changed how the defense was set up. And he was a Def defensive player of the year candidate they didn't really lose much on defense and they added some pieces in the draft is this defense

ready to just take another level with a full you know all season of Minka Fitzpatrick and be absolutely dominant like it was last year do you see any fall off anywhere in this defense whatsoever the biggest question mark that people have in the Steelers defense is a can they play replace Javon Hargrave as an interior pass rusher um because to it and Hayward were both wrecking balls and they were both dangerous when they were on the field the problem is they were never on the field at the same time being those wrecking balls and you know to it started off the year real hot, and then he got injured. And as soon as he was injured, Cam Hayward went ballistic

and had a first-team all-pro type of season, as he started to have more and more of late in his career. But Javon Hargrave was a great fill-in for that spot and allowed some flexibility at the interior defensive lineman spot. The Steelers don't run as much of a three-fours as they used used to be you know it was back in like the 2000s they were one of the last teams to use a three four before everyone started flipping back to it um and then uh but nowadays they maybe use the three four 25 percent of the time um and the but most of the time they're you they're in a nickel defense type of look where they got Tewit and Hayward in the middle, Watt and Dupree on the edges,

and then they'll have two linebackers behind them and then five guys in the secondary. And a lot of that's going to be interesting to see how the rotation of those interior defensive linemen goes without Javon Hargrave. They've added Chris Wormley as a run stopper. They're confident in Tyson Alulu being a guy that can fill in at least as a technical interior defensive lineman that can win spots but not dominate people. But also, you've got to look at the linebacker position

where the starters you love if you're in Pittsburgh. You love T.J. Watt. Bud Dupree had a double-digit sack season. Devin Bush had a heck of a rookie season with three interceptions, which is what they needed was a playmaker at the inside linebacker spot. Vince Williams is still that really strong linebacker that can stuff the run and rush the passer really well. But the problem is, you know, behind all those guys, you know, they drafted Alex Highsmith. He will take over probably as the first backup edge rusher that they have.

But the Ola Adini and Tuzar Skipper, the two of them are interesting guys in training camp. They're interesting guys, you know, on the practice squad. But as far as depending on them to be the first people to rush the pass or after Watt and Dupree, that might be a stretch. So that's going to be a big question mark. And the same thing goes for inside linebacker because all they have behind their starters is a little-known guy in Ulysses Gilbert III. So they've got questions there.

And then, of course, the secondary, which used to be the bane of the Steelers' existence is now arguably the strength because Joe Hayden has really flipped around how the secondary works. Steven Nelson had a very, very good year. He was targeted not a whole lot, and when he was targeted, he was knocking the ball down. He was making life hard for receivers. And then Mike Hilton in the slot, backed up by Cameron Sutton. And at the safety position, Terrell Edmonds,

who still kind of is figuring out his place as a strong safety. But you're right about Micah Fitzpatrick. Both him and Hayden had five interceptions last year. And he changed everything that the secondary was able to do. Joe Hayden talked about it throughout the season, that he could be more aggressive as a cornerback because he knew Micah Fitzpatrick had his back. And that changed a lot because he wasn't just reading offenses

and making adjustments. He was making the super plays. So the defense is revved up and ready to go. The biggest questions will be how healthy can they stay and what's their depth situation going to look like as we get into the season. But absolutely, this is going to be the strength of the Steelers in 2020. If they stay healthy, I think they could be a real problem. Yeah, I think that their defense was a problem last year, of course,

and we'll just see that continue this year. But I think that the Titans, looking at that defense and that great breakdown you just gave, I think it would be smart for them maybe to try to focus on running the ball rather than testing that secondary, but we're going to talk about those individual matchups or those different X's and O's and X factors in the game coming up in our next segment when we talk, like I said, more matchups and dive into what the crux of the game is going to be. We are back.

Chris Carter from Locked On Steelers, Tyler Rowland from Locked On Titans. Let's get into some interesting matchups that could be going on for the Titans and the Steelers. Tyler, I'm going to start with something you kind of alluded to in the first segment. And that's going to involve the tackle position for the Titans versus the edge rushers for the Steelers. Because you still got Taylor LeJuan, who's one scary guy. But the Titans went out and made their first round pick Isaiah Wilson tackle out of Georgia, who was an interesting prospect. A lot of Steelers fans, especially from the locked on Steelers community, really, really liked Isaiah Wilson. And they wanted an offensive lineman.

But as the line, as the draft would go way too many tackles were just selected early. What's the confidence in, in Wilson being able to jump up early into the starting lineup and how he's going to fill in because Taylor Lee want, he's a, he's a, he's a very, you know, he has a, he's a very good track record. But the Steelers had a lot, a lot of production out of their, out of their their edge rushers last year.

And both look like they're going to be rolling into just continuing the chemistry that they had. Yeah. I think it's going to be a tough matchup. I mean, you look at Bud Dupree, you look at TJ Watt, that's, that's going to be tough for most teams, especially one if they have a rookie tackle going. I would imagine by week four, I would hope that Isaiah Wilson would be able to get into the lineup over Dennis Kelly, even though I think Dennis Kelly is an okay option there at tackle. But hopefully, you know, first-round pick Isaiah Wilson can get in the lineup by then.

But even so, even with Taylor LeJuan, who's a decorated pro bowler, if you have two edge rushers like that, you almost have to change your game plan just a little bit or maybe game plan for that exclusively to start. So I would expect to see the Titans try to use a lot of screens in that matchup, you know, Try to take away the aggressiveness of those edge rushers. Maybe run a draw route. I think their rookie third-round pick, Darrington Evans, could be very useful in this game. Running running back screens and quick passes out into the flat to kind of avoid having to deal with that pressure. Some of the Titans longer developing play action, rollouts, and things like that. I don't think they'll be as successful just because of the speed and the power play action rollouts and things like that. I don't think they'll be as successful just because of the speed and the power on the edge for the Steelers.

So I would look for the Titans to utilize the screen game a little bit more early on in the game, see if they can mentally take away some of the aggressiveness from those edge rushers, but also schematically just not put their tackles in a position to where they're going to have to sit back and set and block those edge rushers for two to three, three and a half seconds. It's just not going to work out. So quick developing screens, draw plays, and then ultimately being able to run the ball and give yourself manageable third down so that you're not in third and long, another mental aspect of the pass rush.

That'll be important for the Titans. But a matchup on the Steelers' side that I'm interested in, of course, is going to be Juju Smith-Schuster going up against one-on-one his buddy from college, Adoree Jackson. So Adoree Jackson's an underrated player, I think, nationally. He's a very solid cornerback with that athleticism. But you called it in the second segment, Juju is a physical, thick, wide receiver who can kind of do everything pretty well. How do you see that matchup ending up?

I think it's going to be interesting to see if the Titans want to put Adoree Jackson on Juju Smith-Schuster because Deontay Johnson, like I said, I think that he had a really strong rookie season. And a lot of people immediately in Pittsburgh were like, well, he's the new Antonio Brown. I'm like, whoa, calm down. But I will say that his skills are similar to Antonio Brown in how he gets separation. I would liken him more to, for people who think of the past,

San Antonio Holmes. And I think that the way that he gets off the ball, comes out of his release, and runs his routes, especially early on in his career, I think that that's a better comparison. And Adoree Jackson might be better suited to go up against him. I like Adoree Jackson. I liked him coming out of college. I used to, because back when he was coming out of college,

the Steelers really needed to up their cornerback position, and I was looking at Adoree Jackson like, you know, if he fell, he'd be an interesting pick. But, you know, I think it would be interesting to see how Adoree Jackson tries to redirect Juju Smith-Schuster and cut him off because Juju Smith-Schuster just has this, i said he's the deceptive speed that you think that he's not that fast because he doesn't look that fast when even when the balls are balls in his hands um but there's so many times where he gets a pass and he

just hits into his jets and for whatever reason people can't catch up and it's just like wait how did this happen like there was a uh his rookie year he had a slant against the Lions and he just split the defense in half and nobody thought he had that speed. And, you know, he did the same thing to the Broncos, you know, a little, a little bit after that. And he, and against the Niners last year, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But what he likes to do often, too, is if you're trying to get close to him, he will get close to you. He will let you know who he is. He also likes to block a lot. So I think that that could be more of a jump ball type of battle situation, or the Steelers are trying to use him for contested catches against DeJoy Jackson. That

would make that matchup interesting. It won't be as much of like, hey, we're going to line him up in the slot and let him just try to shake off Dory Jackson and move him all around. I think this feeling they're going to allow Juju Smith to use his big body. And then also, I think they're going to be using the other big body

guy, James Washington. You know, not a tall guy at 5'10", but he's thick. He showed he was strong last year. And Chase Claypool being the deep threat for the team that could go up and get balls. So it's going to be interesting to see who teams like to crowd their guys around because Jujutsu Kaisen had a lot of production out of the slot two years ago when Antonio Brown was on the team. There could be a move to get him back there with all the talent they have at wide receiver this year.

My second question for you on the matchups is, how do you see the run game continuing last year, or this year? Because that obviously was what carried the Titans into the playoffs. I mean, we just remember seeing Derrick Henry just turn Earl Thomas into a run blocker with the way that he was stiff-arming people. The offensive line kept opening up holes for him. Do you see the offense just picking up where it left off in Derrick Henry moving people up and how they might do against teams with really good front sevens,

because the Steelers could argue that they're up there as far as personnel-wise in top defensive fronts in the NFL. You know, I think that one thing that's good about the way that the Titans are building their team right now, and a pick like Isaiah Wilson kind of furthers this philosophy, the Titans are in a position where they're going to run the ball on you, and you know it, and you still got to stop it. Because I would say that Baltimore has one of the stronger front sevens or had one of the stronger front sevens in the league last year.

And like you referenced, the Titans just pushed them around and bullied them. So at some point, football is one strong man against another strong man, and whoever's going to win is going to win. And the Titans have a lot of strong men up front that happen to win. So I think regardless of how good the front seven is, I think the Titans' running attack is at a point right now where they don't care how good the front seven is. They're going to run the ball, and they're building a team that should be able to run the ball no matter how talented the front seven is. And everything about what the Titans want to do on offense is predicated on that run game, like the bootlegs I mentioned earlier, the play-action game, the run after the catch abilities of all the weapons. It's all predicated on being able to move people around in the run game. So I

think regardless of the talented front seven that Pittsburgh has or the talented front seven that any team has, the Titans are going to come in and try to run the football and expect to have results. They're set up right now where their running attack should be able to win against any defense, and that's just what it comes down to for them. So I expect the Titans to have success, but obviously most games will come down to, can the Titans get that running attack going unless they go against a team with a miserable pass defense? Then they can kind of adjust the game plan, but the Steelers have the opposite of that. They have a fantastic secondary and a great pass defense so yeah i think that'll obviously be a a big turning point in the game a big x factor in the game but at this point i have no reason to

doubt that derrick henry and the titans offensive line will be able to do exactly what they want to do so that that's obviously like like a good reason for you bringing it up it's just a fantastic point and that's that's the big area where this game is going to shift. Another area is on the Steelers' offensive line, keeping Big Ben upright, able to distribute to all these weapons and the talented wide receiver group that they're assembling there in Pittsburgh. So my question to you is how do you think the interior three of the Steelers, Steven Wesniewski, Marquise Pouncey, David DeCastro, how do you think they will hold up against a name that I think a lot of people around America should get used to? and assume that Jarrell Casey role was impactful as a rookie coming off an ACL.

He is going to be, I believe, and is expected to be, one of the top five interior defensive linemen in terms of penetration and push. That's what the Titans drafted him to be, what most draft analysts expected him to be before his ACL injury that he's recovered from. How do you think those three interior offensive linemen will hold up against a Jeffrey Simmons, six foot five, you know, penetrating force? Well, I, I've always said that, uh, that, um, you know, the Steelers have their, uh, a good amount of enforcers, but David DeCastro is chief among them on the offensive line.

And as big of a name as Marquise Pouncey is, DeCastro is known for just putting people away. And when people start to try and bully the Steelers, he will be the first person to step up. But back in the days of Vontaze Perfect with the Bengals, oftentimes you'd see him burying him in the end zone. You'd see him, like, you know, one time Luke Kuechly hit Le'Veon Bell late, and David DiCastro just, like, lit him up.

So there's, you know, he's going to be an interesting factor in this. Pouncey, always still very good in that department. You know, both of them are all pro and pro bowler type players. But the question will be what happens on the inside with the other guard positions because even though they signed Wisniewski it really looks like they're going to be shifting right tackle from last season Matt Filer to the guard spot because last year when the when the Rams came to town Ramon Foster is you know he he was a he was a guy that was he was the left guard and he was just kind of he's in his he was in his final year and he wasn't doing as well uh and the Steelers moved Matt

Filer to guard to take on Aaron Donald and he actually acquitted himself very well uh and it's to the point where a lot of our sources are saying that the that he's going to be the permanent guard next year unless someone steps up now they really like Kevin Dotson in the draft that they got in the fourth round. But there's going to be some interesting questions as far as how they approach with these guys. Because Filer, I mean, he looked like a guy that would be more so, he'd be better if he was just doing the job of a guard and being on more of the offensive than how offensive tackles have to get used to getting into their

drop steps and making sure that they're in the position and engaging at the right length. They might be excited to have Chukuma Okorafor, one of their draft picks from back in 2018, to step up at the right

tackle position. But I think that they're very confident that they're going to find an answer in the middle. The question is, who's going to be their next anchor on the offensive line? It used to be a really serious triple threat with Pouncey, DiCastro, and Marcus Gilbert. Gilbert was an unsung hero for the Steelers for years. He never made a Pro Bowl, but this was a guy who in the same season, in the same season that Von Miller went to the Super Bowl, he faced him twice and only allowed a single tackle and never allowed him to get a sack. And he was just huge.

But Gilbert became afflicted with a lot of injuries and he fell off and they've kind of been searching for the best right tackle option. Matt Fowler was okay. He wasn't great at the offensive tackle position. So a core four is a guy who is going to do the right technical things and has the right size, but to me, he still lacks the killer instinct you want in an offensive lineman and putting people away the way David DeCastro

and Pouncey have done in their careers. So, you know, to talk about Jeffrey Simmons, I think that's a very interesting test, and it comes early on in the season in week four. So I think that that's going to be a huge question for how the year goes because the Steelers' run game needs to also get back on track with its passing game. They didn't.

You know, they were able to go get Anthony McFarlane in the fourth round. It'll be interesting to see how they balance him with Benny Snell and James Conner. But, of course, none of that can happen if the offensive line doesn't get going, and they'll have their hands full when these teams clash in week four. And Tyler, I think, will have our hands full because I think we did a really good job today, and we'll be doing that again when the season rolls around. So thanks so much for doing this show, man. It was a really good time.

Can you let people know where they can find more of your work? Yeah, absolutely. A great conversation, some good matchups that I really do think will really determine who ends up winning this hotly contested game. It should be a good game. But, yeah, all of my work is at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter, of course, on the Locked on Titans feed on whatever platform that you listen to. You know, your podcast, of course.

Likewise, Chris, if you wouldn't mind dropping, you know, where people can find your information. Obviously, the fan bases of our podcast will certainly want to dive deeper into these teams as the season approaches. As always, people can find me on Twitter at Carter Critiques. If you follow me, I will follow you back. Thanks to those who do hit me up. Don't be afraid to hit me with questions, y'all.

I'm always there. You can also join the Locked On Steelers Facebook group. We have an official community that's over 600 people right now where you can chat with other loyal listeners of the show as well as myself and other guests that are regularly on the show. And if you want to follow the podcast, we're on all the major platforms,

Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, you name it, we're there. And we do a really good job there. So if you subscribe to the Locked On Steelers podcast, we really appreciate it. And also, if you could give both of our podcasts five-star reviews, it really helps us on Apple Podcasts. Yeah, that's a great idea. Fantastic idea.

I support that. Hey, if you're supporting Tyler, please support me. And for all my supporters, please support Tyler as well. This is a great show. I look forward to doing this again, Tyler, when the season is underway and in full swing. Yeah, absolutely. Can't wait for some football, and I look forward to our next one. I hope you guys enjoyed that conversation with Chris from Locked On Steelers as much as I did.

Great guy. Look forward to that matchup. The Titans honestly have some revenge they need to pay on the Steelers from the last time that they played. So I'll talk about that more in season on our Throwback Thursday edition where we go back in time and take a look at the Titans' previous matchup. But I cannot

wait for some actual football. Like I said, I hope you guys enjoyed that conversation. I'm going to be doing it our next three episodes with the other three AFC North teams and the host of their Locked On podcast. So I will be back with you guys tomorrow for another one of those. Now that you are done with this edition of the Locked On Titans podcast, you should tell your smart device to go ahead and play the Locked On NFL podcast. There's always a bunch of national NFL news to go over.

It's an excellent show. Make sure you guys check that out now that you are done with this one. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked On Titans. Thank you.