Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Jeffery Simmons is UNDERRATED, Mike Vrabel Ranked & Titans Media Access

Episode Date: June 9, 2022

The Tennessee Titans drafted Jeffery Simmons in the 2019 draft and the move was questioned by a lot of people, but three years later it is obvious Jeffery Simmons is an elite interior defensive lineman. Somehow though, he is still underrated nationally. Tyler looks at a recent rankings of Simmons' position group and points out some issues. Next, Mike Vrabel was ranked amongst his peers in the NFL coaching fraternity, where was he placed and is it accurate? Tyler dives in. Finally, Tyler goes on a week-ending Rowland's Rant about the Titans lockdown media policy and why it's frustrating.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport 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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Blue NileMake your moment sparkle with jewelry from Bluenile.com, and LOCKED ON SPORTS listeners get $50 off purchases of $500 or more using code LOCKEDON. 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, on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, I'm going to explain how Jeffrey Simmons is still criminally underrated. And then, what about Mike Vrabel as a head coach in the NFL? Is he underrated? We'll look at a recent poll ranking NFL head coaches. And then finally, a little Roland's rant to end the week on the Tennessee Titans media

policy and the lockdown nature of their practices. We're diving into all of that and more on a week-ending 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. Titans fans, it is a week-ending edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. On today's show, we're going to dive into Jeffrey Simmons still being underrated, where Mike Vrabel ranks amongst other NFL coaches, and I'm going to do just a little rant to end the show on how the Titans locked down their practices from the media. But before we get into all of that, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

If this is your first ever listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. You are going to find the locked on Titans podcast everywhere and always free. That includes the locked on Titans YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe there, smash that notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video. If you're watching right now, you can find me on social media at TicTacTitans on Twitter,

at LockedOnTitansPod on Facebook. But with all that being said, let's dive into this first topic. Jeffrey Simmons is underrated. There's no way around it. And how I want to explain this is we're going to look at a little bit of a poll here going to look at a little bit of a poll here from Pro Football Focus ranking the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL. And not only do they rank them, Ben Lindsay here, but he puts them in tiers. Now, I can't disagree with the first tier. It's tier one of one, and it's Aaron Donald. There is no argument against Aaron Donald being not only the best interior defensive lineman,

but the best defensive player in the entire NFL, the best non-quarterback in the NFL, and probably one of the top three defensive linemen of all time with Reggie White and Lawrence Taylor. Maybe you could throw a couple others in there. Of course, the NFL has been gone for a long time. The point is Aaron Donald's alone at the top. Tier two, though, is considered elite.

And Ben Lindsay has Cam Hayward at number two, Chris Jones at number three, DeForest Buckner at number two, Chris Jones at number three, DeForest Buckner at number four, and then Grady Jarrett at number five. What? Why is Jeffrey Simmons not in that group? That's what I want to know. Why is Jeffrey Simmons not in the elite group?

That's really where my biggest problem is. If you want to rank him behind Cam Hayward, Chris Jones, DeForest Buckner, sure, not a problem. On a year-to-year, down-to-down basis, I get those guys may be better. But Grady Jarrett? Grady Jarrett had one sack last year. He only had four in 2020. Three tackles for loss.

I get he's playing on the Falcons defense, which is awful. Don't get me wrong. Grady Jarrett is a great player. He's awesome. But I don't think he's better than Jeffrey Simmons right now. And, I mean, if you want to go back two years to his all pro season, then I guess, but that was two years ago. The NFL stands for not for long. So I don't quite understand that ranking having Grady Jarrett over Jeffrey Simmons, but

they got Grady Jarrett in the elite tier. And Hey, if they wanted to put Simmons sixth and put him in the elite tier, I would be less charged up to put Simmons sixth and put him in the elite tier, I would be less charged up about it, I guess, to say the least. But then they go to tier number three, which is very good. Kenny Clark, number six from the Packers. Vita Veya, number seven from the Buccaneers.

Jonathan Allen, number eight from the Commanders. And then Jeffrey Simmons at number nine? This is what Ben Lindsay had to say. Quote, any list of the best young interior defensive linemen in the NFL is going to have Simmons' name near the top. The soon-to-be 25-year-old ranks 12th in pro football focus wins above replacement metric among interior defensive linemen since 2020. He's coming off a 2021 season where he had 62 quarterback pressures, ranked fifth at the position.

Simmons is the centerpiece of the defensive front that the Titans have invested heavily in over the past few seasons. If he's the centerpiece of one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL, how can he be nine? And not only that, look at some of the people in the elite tier. Chris Jones, nine sacks, eight tackles for loss. DeForest Buckner,

seven sacks, ten tackles for loss. Well, Jeffrey Simmons had eight and a half sacks and twelve tackles for loss. A half a sack less than Chris Jones, four more tackles for loss. A half a sack less than Chris Jones, four more tackles for loss. I mean, I know that not

everybody can watch Jeffrey Simmons every single week, every single play, but how could you watch what Jeffrey Simmons did last year as a third year player and not think that he's elite? I mean, I know that it's just an offseason poll. I get it. At the end of the day, it's not going to make a difference in terms of what happens on the field. But, man, I'm sorry. I'm just sick of the Tennessee Titans best players

not getting the national respect that they deserve. If the Titans are going to be a team that doesn't win the Super Bowl, if the Titans are going to be a team that doesn't win the Super Bowl, if the Titans are going to be a team that doesn't win playoff games, then I want their good players to at least get their respect because they deserve it. And Jeffrey Simmons is elite.

Period. The numbers bear it out. The productivity bears it out. The impact bears it out. So, you know, shout out to Ben Lindsay. It's hard to make lists and make everybody happy, but Jeffrey Simmons not being elite and then Jeffrey Simmons being number nine. I can't get down with that. And that's all I know about that. But speaking of underrated, overrated, all that, got another ranking that I want to go

into here about Mike Vrabel and where he ranks amongst the NFL coaches. Is he overrated? Is he underrated? I'm going to tell you guys what I think. Before we get into that, though, do want to tell you guys about betonline.net. BetOnline is your number one source for all your sporting wagering information. Gambling's becoming legal everywhere. Heck, I'm from Ohio. Sports gambling's going to be legal by January 1st, 2023. And you know that I'm going to be going to betonline.net to get these wagers placed. If you're in a legal spot right now, go right now. You got the NBA finals. You got the Major League Baseball season, NHL playoffs. There's boxing, UFC, mixed martial arts, horse racing. I mean,

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sports wagering. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, we're going to continue this week-ending edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Do want to remind you guys that next week we have mandatory minicamp. The veterans will be in the house. So I'm going to be breaking that down all week for you guys on Monday or Tuesday. One of the two.

I'm going to have my wish list for mandatory minicamp for the veterans, things I'm looking for, things I'm hoping to see. Now that the entire team is together, we'll be talking about that stuff all week long. The week after that, I'm going to have top five week, every single day, every single segment, all week long, all five episodes. We're going to be talking about a top five. Top five X-Factor players, top five breakout candidates, top five episodes. We're going to be talking about a top five, top five X factor players, top five breakout candidates, top five disappointments, top five storylines to watch, uh, top five playmakers,

top five best players on the team. All of that stuff. I'm going to be getting into it all week long. Make sure you subscribe to the locked on Titans podcast. And again, thank you for making the locked on Titans podcast. Your first listen every day. I do have another big favor to ask of you guys. We're doing a little bit of a listener survey here at the locked on podcast

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So take our audience survey. Go to lockedonpodcast.com slash survey. Thank you guys for your help. But diving in here, we got another ranking from Pro Football Focus talking about NFL coaches. Now, I do want to say this. We got another ranking from Pro Football Focus. Talking about NFL coaches. Now, I do want to say this.

It comes from Connor McQuiston. The idea that he was going for was which coach would be best if they all had the same roster, an average NFL roster of talent. How would these coaches, I guess, do? What would their win-loss total be? All of that. So that is the basis. But the reality here is, if you're saying, hey, if everything's equal, these are the coaches that would take their team to the most wins. I mean, you're basically just saying who were the best coaches in the NFL, but using analytics and all the data that pro football focus always does to kind of compile

their list. Well, let's go through here. Number one, Bill Belichick. Okay. All right. I get it. Number two, John Harbaugh. And number three, Andy Reid. And Connor had these guys in tier one Hall of Fame coaches. Alright. I can agree with that. I can agree with that. But number four is where things go off the rails entirely. Okay? Number four is Cliff Kingsbury. The choke artist. That guy has been awful at the end of the season every year even before he came to the NFL. I actually looked up the numbers one time of his records

in the first few months compared to the last few months and it is a monster drop off. His teams from college to NFL, they crater at the end of the season. That is the opposite of the sign of a good coach. A good coach has his team playing its best football late in the year. They get better every day, every week, all year long. And the best product they put out on the field is at the end of the season.

A good coach doesn't have his team collapse at the end of the year every year. It's asinine to put Cliff Kingsbury there if the metrics that you're using lead you to Cliff Kingsbury being the fourth best coach in the NFL you need to redo the formula we're going back to formula so

I can't agree there Pete Carroll at number five maybe ten years ago I don't quite get that Matt LaFleur there. Pete Carroll at number five. Maybe ten years ago. I don't quite get that. Matt LaFleur at six. Makes perfect sense. Kyle Shanahan at seven. Makes perfect sense.

But then, Mike Vrabel at number eight, and this is what the blurb had to say from Connor McQuiston. Quote, Vrabel is at times maligned for his reliance on the running game and star running back Derrick Henry. But, the results suggest that it works on a macro level. The performance of his offensive units has actually been his calling card as he's been a part of only average defensive results.

And that's fair, but the tide is turning. So the Titans being a more defensive team and going back to their classic franchise model. We had two years of awesome offense. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Love you, Art. My sweet prince. Speaking of terrible rosters,

God, Atlanta is garbage. Really bad roster. I feel bad for Art, quite frankly. But after that, I have some other issues here. They have Frank Reich at 9, which is fine. Mike McCarthy at 10. Sean McVay at 11. Brandon Staley at 12.

Mike Tomlin at 13. How in the world do you have a list with Mike McCarthy and Cliff Kingsbury ahead of Sean McVay and Mike Tomlin? I mean, they should be top 5. So, can't say I'm a big fan of the list, but when it comes to Mike Vrabel's ranking at number eight, I've said all along, I think Mike Vrabel is a top quarter of the NFL head coach.

The Titans have been a winning team and nearly a playoff team every year that he's been the coach here, besides year one. I just, I'm a fan of Mike Vrabel. I know he's not perfect. I know he's got his warts,

but he's a leader of men. He's a hands-on coach. Good development for the young guys. The big issues that the Titans have had throughout this Mike Vrabel tenure have, I think, been missteps by John Robinson. Now, I think John Robinson

is an excellent GM as well, top quarter of the league, top eight, where I think Mike Vrabel is as well. But, I mean, the big mistakes the Titans have made during this run, for me, have been personnel things. Vic Beasley, Isaiah Wilson, Julio Jones,

which I don't really blame John Robinson for going after Julio Jones. I still think it was the right move, but it didn't work out. And that's not Mike Vrabel's fault, necessarily. So, obviously, no man shoulders all the blame, but I'm just saying, I think Mike Vrabel, especially last year, the Titans used a record number of guys on their roster. You got to give the coach and his staff credit for getting all those guys ready to play to get the number one seed.

That's coaching. So I think Mike Vrabel is a great coach. I don't mind number eight, but I got to say the order of the list, very perplexing in my opinion, but we're going to move forward. I got a little bit of a rant for you guys at the end of the show. It's just about how the Titans do things and how, you know,

I'm not like mad at them for it, but it's annoying. It's annoying. And I'm going to be just purely a fan to explain. So we're going to get into that in just a moment. Titans fans, we're going to cap off this week-ending edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Talked about Jeffrey Simmons just being criminally underrated right now in the NFL Locked on Titans podcast. Talked about Jeffrey Simmons just being criminally underrated

right now in the NFL. It's just ridiculous. Talked about Mike Vrabel and his ranking amongst his fellow head coaches. I actually thought that ranking was pretty solid. I mean, the list wasn't good, but where Mike Vrabel came in, I think makes a lot of sense. But now I'm going to finish the show with just a little bit of a Roland's rant for you guys

and I know some of you guys are going to disagree with me here and I'm okay with that if we're all thinking the same no one's thinking don't think I ever expect you guys to agree with everything I say if you do then great but there's a cheers that I always use and it says here's to you

here's to me but if we ever disagree to hell with you's to me. But if we ever disagree to hell with you, cheers to me. So all jokes aside, I guess I'm just saying I don't expect all you guys to agree and I can already hear some of the pushback in the comments. I know what you guys are going to say. Before we get into my Rollins rant though, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure you subscribe

on whatever platform you do stream. As for your second listen, check out the Locked On NFL podcast free and available on all platforms. I actually host the Thursday show, so I'd appreciate if you guys check that out. But, here we go. I'm so annoyed

by the Titans' media restrictions. Look, I told you guys, not an incredibly consequential rant. It's not anything that's going to affect wins and losses, but that is my point. It's not going to affect wins and losses. So let me explain for some of you guys who aren't on Twitter 24-7

and aren't connected to other media members from other teams to see what they're doing. The Titans are like Fort Knox when it comes to letting the fans see what's going on at practice. There are other teams out there, tons of other teams. The Giants. The Saints. The 49ers. The Rams. The Bengals. And more. And more. Okay? Those are just the ones coming off the top of my head. The Eagles. Another one.

Teams out there, their reporters can say, oh, Dylan Radins is starting team first right tackle, getting the reps there. Oh, a great play in team. Ryan Tannehill just connected deep to Des Fitzpatrick in real time.

Oh, the Titans first team defense is going up against the first team offense. Here's one of the plays in a video of one of the plays where first team's going against first team in a plays. In a video of one of the plays. Where first team's going against first team. In a practice. The Titans don't allow any of that. The Titans reporters are not allowed to talk. About who's getting reps.

Where. All that. Completely not allowed to tweet it. Discuss it. Anything. Only videos can be had during a small portion of practice. During individual drills. No videos.

No photography. No recaps. Of team. during a small portion of practice, during individual drills, no videos, no photography, no recaps of team, like in-depth details, running this play, running that play, this package, that package. Yes.

Comment section says, you got to remember that Vrabel is cut from the Belichick cloth, J-Rob too. I get it. I get that that's what they're used to and that's the way the Patriots are and that's the way that they're going to do it. All I'm saying is,

I'm annoyed by it. I want more content. All that policy does is hurt the fans. And this is what I'm going to say at the end of the day. The Titans get absolutely zero on-field benefit. Zero impact on wins and losses. Zero impact on the outcome of games by being that stringent

with their media access. It does not, oh well less information helps their opponent. The Titans came out and got smoked 38-13 or something against the Cardinals in week opponent. The Titans came out and got smoked 38-13 or something against the Cardinals in week one. The Titans choked in a home playoff game back-to-back years. Do not get in the comments and tell me that it helps the Titans win games

to not have their beat reporters be able to say Dylan Radins is getting first team reps at right tack. If the Titans think their little, you know, Fort Knox lockdown approach to practices helps them win games, they're full of themselves. They're nonsense. It's illogical. All it does is give less content and less excitement to your fan base.

A fan base of which, if we want to be honest, the Titans don't have one of the bigger fan bases in the NFL at all. Probably not even top half. So, in my opinion, they're not getting any benefit in wins and losses on the field by being the way they are

with the media and what their fans are allowed to see. And look, the Bengals went to a Super Bowl. The Eagles won a Super Bowl. The Giants are one of the most winningest organizations in the history of the league. San Francisco as well. We're talking about teams that have some of the biggest collections of Super Bowls

in NFL history. So the Titans, they're Bowls in NFL history. So the Titans think that they're reinventing the wheel here and they're doing something special and doing something that's going to help them win on Sundays four months from now by not letting fans know who's getting reps

at right tackle from their reporters or not getting a small video of a pass play with first team offense against first team defense and OTAs or in mandatory minicamp? Do you really think that that's impacting wins and losses? No, it's not. And if you're a fan who's going to be like,

good, I like that they don't show anything, blah, blah, blah, all you're doing is, this is like, I'm a Lakers fan. You say what you want. I've been a Lakers fan since 1998. No bandwagon here. I'm a freaking Titans fan. Okay? Call me a bandwagon fan. The Lakers owner didn't re-sign a very valuable role player. Only because

it would cost her extra money because in the NBA they have a luxury tax where if you're over the cap and you continue to spend, you gotta pay like extra on top of the contract. You gotta pay like 125% of the contract on top of it because

you're over the cap. A billionaire owner for the Lakers said, no, we can't afford to go over the cap. A billionaire owner for the Lakers said, no, we can't afford to go over the cap. And fans, Lakers fans, applauded her. And said, yeah, good job, Lakers. No need to spend. You're literally looking out for a billionaire's pocketbook.

They are actively making the team worse because a billionaire isn't willing to spend. They're already over the cap. It doesn't hurt what players they can get. It doesn't blah, blah, blah. You're just literally shilling and simping for the ownership at your own detriment as a fan. So if you're somebody who's going to be in my comments right now and say, I'm glad they don't live up, you're fooling yourself. if you think that any of that secretiveness helps them on the football field. And two,

you're just hurting yourself as a fan by giving yourself less content to enjoy and less information about your favorite team. So, I'm not calling for change or any, I'm just, as a fan of the Tennessee Titans, I'm just annoyed that I see clips of the Eagles, I see clips of the Bengals, I see clips of the Giants, fan of the Tennessee Titans, I'm just annoyed that I see clips of the Eagles.

I see clips of the Bengals. I see clips of the Giants. Clips of the 49ers. Clips of the Saints. And we get none of that as Titans fans. At the end of the day, it's not going to result in any additional wins for the Titans. And it's only going to result in you as a Tennessee Titans fan

getting less access, less information, less content about your favorite team. You're suffering more than other fan bases while getting no benefit when the games come around. So, if you're somebody who says it doesn't matter, I don't care about getting extra videos, I don't care about extra content, I don't care to know that Dylan Radins is running with the first team. I don't care to know that Roger McCreary is getting first team snaps

as a slot cornerback. I don't need to know all that. I'll just wait until the season. Well, I don't understand your fanship anyway from that point. And then two, it's not going to help the Titans win any games or anything. Let's be honest. So, I just can't understand anybody who would defend the way the Titans handle the media.

As a fan, purely as a Tennessee Titans fan, not a content creator, not anything, just a fan who wants to see my team more and know more about my team and be more connected to my team, which in my opinion, any fan would want. So I guess I'm just annoyed by how all these other teams allow access and they go to the Super Bowl, they win Super Bowls, and the Titans think that they're doing something to help wins and losses

by being locked down with the media. I just think it's nonsense. And again, I don't think it helps them win any games. So all it does is give the fans less. And at the end of the day, I think the fans, the people who buy jerseys and buy tickets and watch on Sunday and make the TV contracts worth a billion dollars and make the Denver Broncos get sold for $4.5 billion.

The only reason that that is all possible isn't because of the players, isn't because of the owners, it's because there are tens of millions and hundreds of millions of people who are willing to spend money on it. The fans, the customers, are what make the business. And all the Titans are doing is a detriment to their customers while not impacting their business gains. So, just seems like a lose-lose to me. But, again, not very consequential.

I'm not like mad or anything, like whatever. It's just annoying to see awesome clips of other teams and know that the Titans are keeping that away from us when at the end of the day, I don't think it gains them any wins. I literally don't think it has any positive benefit at all to the actual games. The Titans got smoked in week one. So,

what have you. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. Thank you.