Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Is Tennessee Titans Jeffery Simmons Worth the Money, Denico Autry's Value and Dark Horse IDL Candidate

Episode Date: July 5, 2023

The Tennessee Titans gave a huge deal to DT Jeffery Simmons this offseason, but is Simmons worth it? For him to be, Tyler thinks he needs to take a big jump in one category! Next, does veteran Denico Autry still have it? Tyler says yes, but admits the Titans could be looking to replace him soon. Can Teair Tart take the next step? Finally, out of all the depth on the Titans defensive line, who will emerge as a dark horse to make the roster? Tyler is eyeing third-year player Naquan Jones.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!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO 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

Was Jeffrey Simmons worth the contract? He'll need to improve in this specific statistic for the Titans to get their money's worth. I'll explain 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. Hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July. Ready to dive back in here to our positional preview series as we head towards Titans training camp. We've talked about the entire offense, position by position, and today we are diving into the defense, and we're going to start with the interior defensive line. We're going to talk Jeffrey Simmons, Danico Autry, T.R. Tartt, a ton of options that the

Titans have on their defensive line. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network,

where it's your team every day. Also, throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching on YouTube right now. Help support the channel. Again, the show is free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. As I said for in return is the press of a button. As I said, we are in the middle of our positional preview series. We are turning the page to the defense.

If you missed any of the offensive episodes where we talked quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, any of that, make sure you go back and check those out. My everydayers, though, let me know down below who you guys are. I know my everydayers caught those episodes and are good to go on the offensive side of the ball. So look at an interior defensive line. The big thing for me is to start with Jeffrey Simmons.

Was Jeffrey Simmons worth the $94 million contract that the Titans gave him this offseason? I think he was. I think Jeffrey Simmons was worth it. I think it was a smart move to give him that contract. And when we see a couple of other interior defensive linemen get their new contracts coming up, a guy like Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets,

those may even go above what Jeffrey Simmons got paid and make him look like even more of a smart move for the Titans. But as I said at the beginning of the show, there is one statistical area where we really need to see more from Jeffrey Simmons. A lot of Titans fans, people who cover the team, would tell you that Jeffrey Simmons should be considered one of the top five, maybe even top three interior defensive linemen in the entire NFL. When he is playing his best football,

I think it is right to mention him in that category with an Aaron and Donald, a Cam Hayward. Guys in that vein, I think Simmons is right there in the top three, top five when he's playing his absolute best. You could make a case for even higher, honestly, when Simmons is on it. I mean, that performance that we saw from Simmons against the Bengals in 2021, what we saw from him against the Rams in 2021,

there is no interior defensive lineman in the league better than Jeffrey Simmons when he's playing on that level. But why do we remember those performances from Simmons? The sacks. He had three sacks against the Rams, I believe two or three sacks against the Bengals that game. It's the sacks. And that's why if Jeffrey Simmons wants to take that next step from, I mean, pro football focus had him ranked number 10 amongst interior

defensive linemen. Pro football network had him ranked number three. For him to be consistently in that top three, top five, he's got to have more sacks. And for me, the mark is double digit sacks. It's harder to get sacks for interior defensive linemen than it is for like an edge rusher. For example, I mean, we know that Jeffrey Simmons is a better player than Harold Landry, but Harold Landry had a 12 sack season and Simmons has never gone above eight and a half. And that was in 2021. So if Simmons wants to take the next step and really be worth that big-time contract and truly become, you know, Aaron Donald's going to retire soon. I think Jeffrey Simmons could become the very best interior defensive lineman

in the NFL, full stop, period, all that. But to do that, he has to step it up in the sack department. We know that Simmons makes a huge impact on the team that is outside of the box score. I'm not here to tell you that he's got to get it done in the box score. None of it matters. What I am telling you is, though, the very best, the very best of the best,

impact their team outside of the box score, but they also fill up the box score as well. That matters. The stats matter when you're a guy making the money that Jeffrey Simmons is, okay? Which is why I had a big problem with Bud Dupree. Is Bud Dupree a terrible player? No.

He's not terrible. But did he give you the impact and the production that he was getting paid for? No. He didn't. And that is the difference. If you're saying somebody is not getting it done, it doesn't always mean that they're bad. It just means they're not living up to their contract numbers

and the money that they were given. So if Simmons wants to live up to the money, $23.5 million a season, if he wants to live up to that money, he's got to get double-digit sacks consistently. We've seen two sacks his rookie year, of course, limited by injury. Three sacks in his second year. The Titans' defense was terrible in 2020.

He had no help around him whatsoever. Then you get a little bit of help with Autry and Bud Dupree. Harold Landry takes a step. Eight and a half sacks for Simmons. So that's what he's shown us he can do so far. So if he becomes an even better version of the player that he was during his rookie contract after eight and a half sacks in 2021,

seven and a half last year on a bum ankle all season, Jeffrey Simmons is going to get over double-digit sacks, and he needs to to be worth the contract and to take that next step as a player in general because you've got to impact the team, but you've got to get it done in the box score when you're getting paid like Jeffrey Simmons, and you want to be the type of player that I think all of us

and Jeffrey Simmons believe that he is. So double-digit sacks. That has to be the next step for Simmons if he's going to be worth that contract. Double-digit sacks the next few years. If he gets double-digit sacks the next two or three years, that's all you could really hope for from Jeffrey Simmons, and I think he's absolutely capable.

So that next step, being worth that money, it's all about double-digit sack numbers, taking that above the 10-sack line. But we're going to continue breaking down the interior defensive line. We're talking about Jeffrey Simmons here, but we need to talk about the other two starters and why they're very interesting players to watch going forward.

So we're going to talk to Nico Autry and T.R. Tartt here in just a moment. Before we get into it, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. All right, guys, it's MLB season. It's in full swing, I guess, to be very punny. And you can take your first swing at betting on the MLB on FanDuel Sportsbook and get 10 times your first bet amount in bonus bets up to $200. That's right.

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Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get up to $200 in bonus bets. That's FanDuel.com slash locked on. FanDuel, official partner LockedOnFanDuel. Official partner of Major League Baseball. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are doing our interior defensive line positional preview for training camp.

Again, we talked about the offense last week, the last two weeks. Go back and check those out. My everydayers didn't miss those. Shout out to you guys. But we're going to be doing the defense going forward. So we talked about Jeffrey Simmons. He's obviously the big star on the interior defensive line for the Titans.

But we need to look at the other two starters for the Titans as well because there's a lot to discuss with these players. Before we 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, all year round, on all apps, always for free.

Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. Locked on Titans podcast, it's your team every day. But the question is, does Danico Autry still got it? That has to be a question that the Titans are asking themselves. Of course he can get it done out on the field, but he only played in 12 games last year, and he had a knee injury, left a couple of games early.

Sometimes with, and I actually just wrote about this today for Sports Illustrated, alltitans.com. Go check out our work over there. But I actually wrote about it today that the Titans are probably looking to replace Danico Autry with one of their free agent signings that they made. And I think that that's Arden Key. I think that Arden Key is going to add to the edge rush group,

but I also think that he has the ability to play that Danico Autry role. Both Arden Key and Danico Autry rushed from an interior position within the offensive tackles, rushed from an interior position on over half of their pass rush snaps last year. I think it's 168 snaps out of 307 for Autry, 178 snaps out of 380-something. For Autry, Key was the 178 out of 307.

So half or close to half for both those guys. They're rushing from the interior. So I think that Arden Key was signed with the idea that he would be, you know, a part of the pass rush group this year and then take that versatile edge and interior rush role from Danico Autry after the season because Autry is on the last year of his contract with Titans. But, but the Titans certainly are excited to play with both of them this year. And I think it's funny that they both were poached from AFC South teams.

The Titans saw them twice a year and were like, we need that guy on our team. And it worked out great with Autry. Autry is one of the best free agent signings that we've seen in Titans history. If you just look at the production, I mean, he played in all 17 games last year, had nine sacks.

Nine sacks. Or not last year, 2021. And then last year, in only 12 games, he had eight sacks. So you ask me if he still got it? Yes, he clearly still has it. He is still able to be a dominant force in one-on-one situations on the field, but how often will he be on the field? That's why I think the addition of Arden Key is so, so important so that they can start to groom Arden Key, start to maybe groom Rashad Weaver, get those guys in a spot where they can maybe take that Danico Autry role

after the season. But for right now, yes, Danico Autry still has it. Look at that, 12 games, eight sacks. Autry probably would have got far past double-digit sacks if he was able to stay healthy all year. But again, that is the issue. Is he going to be able to stay healthy all year. But again, that is the issue. Is he going to be able to stay healthy all year?

As he gets older, he's going to be 33 years old here in a couple of weeks in July. So that's something to watch for me. How Danico Autry stays healthy throughout the season. But if you ask me if Danico Autry still has it, absolutely. Absolutely. And

even if Arden Key was brought in to maybe replace the Danico Autry still has it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And even if Arden Key was brought in to maybe replace the Danico Autry role, Titans are still counting on Autry to play that role this season for sure. But it's not just Danico Autry. I do want to talk about T.R. Tartt. So,

obviously there was some drama with Tartt throughout the offseason with his restricted free agency and Titans putting a second round tender on him and then him not signing it until just recently. Was he willing to sign that restricted free agent tender? He was playing on a waiver during OTAs and stuff like that. So clearly, I would say that Tart is not 100% happy. He wanted a long-term contract.

He wanted some long-term security with the Titans, but he's not going to get it. And one way, whether it's with the Titans or with his next team, which would still help the Titans because maybe a compensatory pick could be in line, but one thing that would really help Tartt take that next step, and it's funny because we talk about Jeffrey Simmons going from a good pass rusher to going to a great double-digit sack pass rusher.

Well, it's not just me. Titans defensive line coach Terrell Williams said this about Tart as well. The next step for him is pass rush. I mean, in 2022, we saw some flashes. He had one and a half sacks in 16 games, had some pressures as well, was able to hit the ball at the line of scrimmage and make a few plays. That interception and Indy will always be something that I remember. But if Tartt wants to take that next step, he is going to have to be more productive as a pass

rusher. And I don't think that he needs to be double digit sacks or anything crazy like that. He's not expected to do what Simmons does. But four and a half, five sacks from Tartt would make him so much money next year. And obviously would help the Titans a ton this season if their nose tackle was able to have that sort of pass rush impact. But again, I think Coach Terrell Williams is absolutely fantastic. He's got great guys to learn from in Autry and Jeffrey Simmons as well. I think that Tartt can take that next step as a pass rusher fantastic. He's got great guys to learn from in Autry and Jeffrey Simmons as well. I think that Tartt can take that next step as a pass rusher because already you look at Tartt and he has incredible value as a nose tackle. I think he's easily one of the best nose tackles

in the NFL. The Titans play nickel on defense. Five defensive backs with a slot cornerback. They don't very often play in their base defense. I would say anywhere from 55% to 65% of the time, I think off the top of my head, the Titans are playing nickel on defense with five defensive backs, four defensive linemen, and two linebackers. Okay?

When you play small like that in nickel, when you play downsized like that, you are, in theory, susceptible to the run game because that's one less player in the box, one more player out of the box, or even if you bring your slot corner or safety into the box, that's a defensive back instead of a defensive lineman or a linebacker. So in theory, you should be able to run the ball better against nickel

than you do against base defense. That's the prevailing thought. Well, the Titans gave up the least amount of total rushing yards last year. They were number two in the NFL in yards allowed per game as a run defense. Like, they were a dominant run defense despite the fact that they played a nickel the majority of the time. Why? Because Jeffrey Simmons and T.R. Tartt,

specifically T.R. Tartt as well, he is a prototypical nose tackle that could take on the double team. Why did you think that David Long had such great moments last year? I think David Long's a very good player, but a lot of what allowed David Long to be David Long, and I talked about this during the season, is he never got touched by offensive linemen. David Long was not the type of linebacker who you think back, if you guys played

peewee football at all, they tell you, you're playing linebacker, come at you, boom, hit him in the chest, keep your arms extended so that the offensive lineman can't get on your body to move you around, keep them extended, find the ball carrier, shed, and make the play. That's what you do. Boom, hit, control, vision, shed, make the play. That's how you do it. That's not how David Long plays linebacker, okay? David Long is small. He's 5'11". He relies on speed and instincts and ferocity. You know what I mean? He's not the kind of guy that's going to shed and stack a bunch of blockers. Big offensive lineman. How it worked was,

T.R. Tartt won against double teams. He stacked both guys and wouldn't let him get to the linebacker. Jeffrey Simmons is penetrating all the way to where multiple offensive linemen can't even get to their spot. Because of that, it made the linebackers free. It made David Long an undersized, fast linebacker. It gave him the freedom in the room to run around and make those plays without having blockers on his body all the time.

So, Tartt gives you that. If he can add pass rush ability to it and give you a four and a half, five sacks this year, he's going to make himself a lot, a lot of cheddar next all season when he's a free agent. And I mean, of course, you know, you hate to think about him having a good season and then leaving. But at the end of the day, the Titans need that. Titans need that production, even if it means that Tartt moves on after the year. So big season for Tartt to see if he can take that next step and that next step in progression,

which his coaches have already talked about and kind of laid out for him as the next step that he needs to take. So with that in mind, we're talking about the rest of the defensive line. That's Simmons, Autry, and Tart, the starters. But what about the rest of the depth on the IDL? I'm going to dive into that plus my defensive tackle, who I think really, really is fighting for his career right now. And I expect more than what we got from him in 2022.

So we're going to get into that in just a moment. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Again, we're doing a deep dive into the interior defensive line for the Titans as we sit just a few weeks away from training camp kicking off on July 25th. I think 22nd is the rookies, and then 25th is the veterans, the whole team, everything like that. But it's right around the corner is the point.

So again, we've talked about the entire offense, every position. Go back and check those episodes out if you missed them. Going to be doing defense, going forward, linebackers, edge, the secondary, all that. Don't miss that. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast Monday through Friday. Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps.

Always for free. Shout out to my everydayers. Shout out to you guys making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. It's your team every day here on Locked on Titans. But outside of the three starters, Simmons, Autry, and Tartt, we have Naquan Jones. We have Jaden Peavy. We have Curtis Brooks. We have Shaquille Brown.

We have Jaleel Johnson. We have Tyler Shelvin. Okay, not a very good group. When you think last year there was Demarcus Walker and even Mario Edwards was brought in. Even a guy like Kevin Strong I thought was pretty solid. I think the Titans had a better group last year and that's why I've said if the Titans bring in any free

agent additions on on offense or defense, I think they really need to consider adding depth on the defensive line, whether that be edge rusher and defensive line, just defensive line or just edge. I think that whether it be again, interior defensive

line or edge, the Titans have to add somebody. And I talked earlier last week, my everydayers will remember, we talked about some free agent options for the Titans on defense. Matthew Ioannidis, I thought, would make a great option. The Titans worked out Michael Brockers, the veteran interior defensive lineman. I think that would make some sense as well. So I think the Titans could use a free agent addition here. But they did bring in Jaleel Johnson, who is a veteran.

And Jaleel Johnson, I think, will be able to stick for the Titans in kind of that DeMarcus Walker role. Outside of Jaleel Johnson, though, I don't know if Peavy's ever going to work. Curtis Brooks, not a believer. Shaquille Brown, same. Tyler Shelvin. I would rather bring in Brockers over Shelvin, even though Shelvin is a younger player.

But for me, the guy to look at here is Naquan Jones. Undrafted free agent, out of Michigan State, 2021. Comes in his rookie year. Remember, Tartt dealt with a ton of injuries in 2021. And Naquan Jones looked better than T.R. Tartt during times in 2021. Looked like a better player. 13 games, had two and a half sacks for Naquan Jones,

29 tackles, four tackles for loss, two passes defended at the line of scrimmage. I mean, Naquan Jones had a very productive season in 2021, but last year, dealt with some injuries himself, only played in 11 games, only had one sack, 16 tackles, two tackles for loss, zero. He was way less productive, way less available, way less reliable. And when you're an undrafted free agent, nose tackle, a guy at a position that doesn't have a ton of value in the NFL that doesn't get paid a lot, and you're already an undrafted guy,

you just have to be more consistent. You can't have the letdown that I thought Naquan Jones had in 2022. I really liked Naquan Jones. I liked what I saw from him in 2021. I thought he had a chance to replace Tierra Tart as the nose tackle for the Titans in 2022. That didn't, or yeah, in 2022, that didn't happen. Tart not only got a spot back, but played incredible

and really solidified him as the starting nose tackle. So to me, Naquan Jones has the ability to be the Titans' backup nose tackle, to rotate in with Tart, and to potentially replace Tart after the season if Tart does get a nice deal and goes somewhere else after the year. Naquan Jones has a really good opportunity to slide in, be that number two nose tackle and be the starter after this season.

But he's really going to have to step up from what we saw from him last year because I was not impressed. And that's one player who, again, I think has the ability to fill the role that the Titans want him to fill. He's got to put it together and be more consistent. So with that being said, that's my breakdown of the interior

defensive line. Again, we're going to do edge. We're going to do linebacker. We're going to do cornerback. We're going to do safety. Might even touch on special teams as well as we go through our positional preview. So make sure again that you guys stay locked into the Locked On Titans podcast so you don't miss any of that. But that is going to do it for me today, folks.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is Locked on Titans.