Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Jermaine Johnson PHYSICAL FREAK is a PERFECT FIT for Robert Saleh's Tennessee Titans Defense

Episode Date: February 26, 2026

Jermaine Johnson became the newest Tennessee Titans defender on Thursday when he was acquired in a trade that sent T'Vondre Sweat to the New York Jets. Johnson is a physical freak from a stature standpoint and combines that with elite football character. The combination makes Johnson a perfect fit with the Titans and Robert Saleh. That doesn't mean that Johnson is set to be the Titans 'alpha rusher' that they still desperately need. Johnson is not an elite rusher and there is still concern about his recovery from an Achilles injury, but Johnson can add to a pass rush stable that needs to be juiced up before the season begins. Finally, John Butchko from Locked on Jets joins the show to give his inside take on the trade and who Johnson is as a player and a person.   LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/   Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans   TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc   Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans   Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod   Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos   Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! TurboTax For a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. FanDuel Use your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started. 5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at 5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. HomeChefFor a limited time, Home Chef is offering my listeners 50% off your first box, free shipping, and free dessert for life. Just go to https://HomeChef.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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Tennessee Titans got an absolute dog in Jermaine Johnson. But that doesn't mean that he's their new alpha edge rusher. I'll tell you everything you need to know about the newest Tennessee Titan on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Fandall.

Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for a chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. Play your game with Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. On today's show, I'm going to tell you everything. You need to know about Jermaine Johnson, the newest Tennessee Titan, who the Titans acquired in the trade with the New York Jets,

where they sent to Vondre Sweat to, the big apple. I'm going to tell you why Jermaine Johnson is absolutely a physical freak who fits perfectly within Robert Sala's defense, but we'll also talk about some of the downsides with Jermaine Johnson and why I don't think that he's the new number one edge rusher for the Tennessee Titans. Before we get into all of it, I do want to thank you for making Locked-on Titans your first listen each and every day.

Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Speaking of every day. Shout up to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys.

If you aren't an everydayer, what are you doing? The Titans have already begun. Their roster moves, clearly. Free agency is a couple weeks away. The draft is right after that. If you want to stay as up the date, as entertained and as informed

as a Tennessee Titans fan could possibly be, make sure you stay locked in with the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. Locked on Titans. But with that being said, again, more important than anything else, Jermaine Johnson is an absolute physical specimen. He is a freak of nature from a physical stature standpoint. This guy is 6'5, 265 pounds, 34-inch arms.

It's a little bit longer than 34. I mean, this dude is a prototypical edge rusher built in a laboratory. He is an absolute specimen, okay? And he combines that prototypical size, that prototypical length as well with just a relentless attitude out on the field. This guy's motor is always running non-stop. He never gives up on plays.

He's always going 110% at all times, and that is exactly the type of player that the Tennessee Titans want in their defense. The Titans want guys who aren't just, you know, the physical model of what you want, but who also have the mentality that you want out on the field. And Jermaine Johnson checks both of those boxes from a physical standpoint, from a mentality standpoint. He is a, I'm going to say this word a lot, a physical edge setter.

Let's call it what it is. Germaine Johnson is a better run defender right now than he is a pass rusher. He's a guy who's going to set an edge, set that wall in the run game, force the runner back inside to his help, which is exactly what you want to do. I bring this up all the time because it's one of the best football phrases that I've ever heard. And it came from Mike Vrable. Edge, wall, swarm. That's how you play run defense.

You set the edge, which turns the runner back inside. you create a wall by staying in your gaps and be an assignment sound, and then you swarm to the ball carrier as a defense. That's what you do. And for a Tennessee Titans team that wants to have big, physical edge rushers that are able to do that, think about Femioleadasia, 6'3, 260 pounds, super long arms.

He is a guy who is going to be able to do that, and now you can have Jermaine Johnson on the other side who's going to do that as well. And again, a guy with a great mentality whose motor is always running hot is going to run down ball carriers. He's going to fork lift offensive linemen and tight ends to make sure that he handles his assignment. He is an absolute specimen in that regard. Now, as a pass rusher, he is not a bad pass rusher.

But, you know, that's not maybe as elevated as maybe his run defense. But in pass rush, he is quite the technician for being a guy that size. Speed to power is his game. He wants to fly off the line of scrimmage. He wants to use his long arms and his strength and power to get in your chest and drive you back into the quarterback. He's got a good nice long arm stab where he's able to use that length, get into your chest,

and he has shown a little bit of a spin counter where he's able to spin back inside. I'll even try a little bit of an outside spin move from time to time as well. Now, outside of that, would I say that he's incredibly polished with, you know, a cross chop or a rip and does he have great bend and all of that? Not quite.

We'll talk about all of that stuff here in just a moment where we talk about the reality that he is not your alpha dominant edge rusher, the edge one that the Tennessee Titans need. But again, the speed to power, being able to drive an offensive lineman back into a quarterback's lap, having a little bit of a long-armed staff, to utilize his length in a proper way. Having somewhat of a counter when it comes to the spin move,

you've got to make sure that you have that counter. Especially you're flying off the football with good explosion and good get-off. You're getting upfield. You're using your speed to power. Offensive linemen are going to start to adjust to that. They're going to start to try to kick out a little bit wider. And the moment that you kick out a little bit wider

to deal with my speed, boom. I hit you with the inside spin counter and you don't even know what's coming. Quite frankly, I would say, Germain Johnson is very similar to a guy like David Bailey. Both 6 foot 4, 6 foot 5, really long arms, speed to power, good get off the line of scrimmage, spin back inside, use your big, thick, strong arms as a barrier to hold the offensive lineman inside during your spin move. I think there's a lot of comparisons there to what David Bailey is going to bring to the table

and what Jermaine Johnson is able to bring to the table. And we talk about all this physical stuff. We talk about the frame at 6 foot 5, 260, the 34 inch arms, the relentless personality, the great motor, and some of the aspects of his pass rush that do get you excited. But then you add in the personality. And the personality stuff is as impressive, quite honestly, as the physical stuff. Just in my short time researching Jermaine Johnson,

to hear the way that Robert Solowell, spoke about him. To hear the way that media people who cover the New York Jets talk about him. This is a guy who has elite football character. Takes accountability. Is a relentless worker

wants to improve it as craft nonstop it every step of the way. He is an incredible teammate as well. In the locker room for the New York Jets and my guy John Buchko from Locked on Jets is going to come on the show a little bit later at the end and talk about his experience

with Jermaine Johnson and how he viewed this. trade from both different sides, but not only John Buchko from Locked on Jets, but again, other media members who have covered the Jets, I've talked to one in specific. We've heard interviews with others since the trade has happened, but Jermaine Johnson was beloved in that locker room. Because when the season was going bad for the Jets,

Johnson was the first guy that would say, we're not playing well enough, I'm not playing well enough. That sort of accountability, that sort of matured, that sort of self-reflection, self-awareness and intelligence, that is a perfect fit for the Tennessee Titans culture. That is literally exactly what the Tennessee Titans need to start building that locker room back to where it needs to be. Is a guy who acts like that and will be a thumb pointer,

not a finger pointer. And that is critical in team sports. So you add in the prototypical size the relentless play style the ability in the pass rush and the technicalities that he has and then you add in the personality

again is Jermaine Johnson the elite alpha edge rusher for the Tennessee Titans going forward no he isn't that but what he is is a person fit for what the Tennessee Titans need right now as they start to build their culture back

and start to build their roster back. And he is a perfect fit as a 4-3 defensive end in Robert Sala's system, which is ultimately what led to this move happening is this guy fits great in the scheme, he fits great in the locker room, and the guy that we got rid of does not fit in the scheme and does not fit in the locker room. And that's what truly matter. So a physical freak who is a perfect fit in the building. That's what you're getting in Jermaine Johnson.

But Jermaine Johnson is far from a perfect player. There are downsides and there are some reasons to be hesitant about whether this move will work out for the Titans. And I'm going to be honest with you and talk about those things as well. Do you want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Fan Dual Sportsbook. Have you ever wanted to experience the NBA Finals live? and in person, Fandle is giving you a chance to turn that dream into a reality with their MBA sweepstakes. Here's how it works.

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to make sure that I get you guys a Tick-Tac Titans film breakdown coming out very, very shortly. Hopefully on Friday afternoon is when that's going to drop. If you guys aren't subscribed to the Tick-Tac Titans film channel to go along with all the discussions we have here on Locked on Titans. What are you really doing? Are you truly a die-hard Tennessee Titans fan? because I would bring that into question

if you weren't diving into the tape with me over at Tick-Tac Titans. But regardless, again, we talked about all the great things that Jermaine Johnson brings to the table, the size, the prototypical build, the relentless attitude, the technicalities in this pass rush game, the personality. But this is not, Germain Johnson isn't the new alpha edge rusher that we've been searching for for the Titans.

I mean, maybe I'm wrong, and he goes to a different level, and that's the case. But I see Jermaine Johnson as more of a Bud Dupree Harold Landry-style pass rusher where he may not be your dominant number one rusher, but he could be a great complimentary number two. And I think that's something that people need to keep in mind.

And the reasons for that is, even when Jermaine Johnson was healthy, he doesn't really have great dip and bend to get underneath offensive tackles. I talked about the speed to power, the long arm, the spin counter. But this isn't a guy with, you know, incredible handwork that's a true technician in there where he's doing cross chops and swipes and, you know, dips and all these different things to combine with the bend around the edge.

He's got great get-off. He's got great length. He's got great power. You know, relentless motor, all of that. But is he like an elite technician in the pass rush game? No, not really. And if we're honest, if you start looking through the wins that he has, again, I compare it to like Bud Dupree, who in Pittsburgh was a great member of that team

because in Pittsburgh, he could be a cleanup guy like Harold Landry was a lot of the time. It's crazy. Harold Landry goes to the Patriots and becomes a way better technical pass rusher with a bunch of different moves that he never used in Tennessee. But Landry and Bud Dupree were both more clean-up guys. They're not, boom, boom, beat the offensive tackle and I'm getting to the quarterback. I'm driving you back, I'm driving you back.

The quarterback gets pressured by somebody else, and I'm there because I got relentless motor to clean it up. They are more of a secondary rusher type than that alpha pass rusher who is winning non-stop, okay? So that's a reality we have to accept here, is that Germain Johnson doesn't become the Titans, Max Crosby, Trey Hendrickson, you know, Miles Garrett type guy. That's not who he is.

He's going to be more in the mold of the Bud Dupree Harold Lager. Now, the problem with Bud Dupree was the Titans paid him to be an alpha edge rusher when he wasn't, which is why I hated that signing from the moment that it happened. He was never the guy that he got paid to be by John Robinson. That was always bad. But Bud Dupree being paid properly at $8 to $10 million, that's a good value player. And that's what I think Jermaine Johnson should be for the Tennessee.

Titans. When Jeffrey Simmons wins up front and the quarterback gets flushed out of the pocket Jermaine Johnson is going to be there to clean it up. So he's more of a clean up sack guy than he is a clean winner in the pass rush. But when you have that size

you have that strength, you have that motor, you can win significantly with that style of play. Now again, not the alpha pass rusher, but he doesn't have to be. The And we need to set the expectation right now that that's not what he is.

He is a guy who needs to be a part of a dominant rotation. Okay. Robert Sala likes to have his front four guys and rush them. In a perfect world, that's what Robert Sala wants to do. He wants to have four down linemen and he wants to rush with them. Now, if you have that style of defensive pass rush mentality, What you need to have with it is depth. Think about the Eagles in 2024 when they won the Super Bowl. They had seven or eight guys on that defensive line

that could rotate in and out all game long, always staying fresh, always getting after the quarterback. You do different combinations based on what's best against the offensive line and the offensive scheme that you're facing. That's what the Titans are going for here. You have Femiola Dacia. You have Jermaine Johnson. You sign a.

free agent edge rusher. You draft an edge rusher early in the draft and now you have a combination to go with Jeffrey Simmons. Maybe a John Franklin Myers bring back Sebastian Joseph Day, get another interior guy cheap in free agency or maybe you draft someone in the mid rounds to replace that to Vondre sweat roll. Now you have your seven to eight pass rushers. You can rotate in and out. If they have a smaller offensive line, we're going heavy. We'll put Jeffrey Simmons out. to end with Jermaine Johnson and John Franklin Myers inside. Sebastian Joseph Day inside and saying, hey, we're going heavy and coming at you. Go out in free agency and get a speed rusher. Maybe you draft a speed rusher in the NFL draft.

And now we're going to go Jeffrey Simmons on the interior with John Franklin Myers. We're going to have a speed guy at one spot. And then we're going to have Jermaine Johnson as our cleanup guy. It's all about having depth on the defensive line and waves of past rushers. and Jermaine Johnson as part of a rotation can be that. Okay? And here's something that has to be considered as well. If it doesn't work out,

if Jermaine Johnson hasn't recovered from the Achilles, his explosion, his first step that leads to the speed to power, if that's not there, if he's never able to recover that, then he leaves in free agency, he gets an $8 to $10 million deal and gives the Titans a fifth or a sixth round comp pick which when I talked about trading to Vondre Sweat I said Titans probably get a fourth at best

a fifth or a sixth more likely well you're going to end up getting that pick anyway if Jermaine Johnson leaves in free agency after the year and again you're only paying $11 million for him this year and you have $120 million in caps face. So there's just such little risk with this move and so much reward. But we need to make sure that we understand who Jermaine Johnson is. He is not a dominant number one alpha edge rusher. He is a very good cleanup edge rusher as part of a rotation. And here's another aspect that we

have to consider. Robert Sala wanted this guy. Robert Sala was trying to get this guy for I talked about it on my emergency episode afterwards, but the San Francisco 49ers offered a third round pick for Jermaine Johnson last season. And the Jets said no, we won a second round pick. And then the Titans got him for Tavondre's sweat, which means that sweat had a second or third round pick value to the Jets, which is nuts to me.

as a two-down run stuffing nose tackle who I think should have been a fourth round pick two years ago and would not get taken in the second round if you redid the draft. So incredible value. And you know why San Francisco wanted to get him? Because Robert Sala loves him. He is Robert Sala's guy.

I just watched a press conference from Robert Sala talking about Jermaine Johnson from a couple of years ago when he was still the coach of the New York Jets saying that he is truly everything you can ever want in a football player. He's underrated. He isn't appreciated enough. This is Robert Sala's dude.

And I think betting on Robert Sala, betting on Mike Borgonzi is what really gives me confidence. This is going to absolutely work out. But again, everything that he is that we need to be excited about, the same time, we need to understand who he isn't as well. So with that being said, let's dive into a conversation that I had with John Butchco from Locked On Jets about Jermaine Johnson and the trade overall from both different angles. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by five hour energy.

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That's the number five Our Energy.com or on Amazon On Titans, locked on Jets, listeners Welcome in a big time trade The Titans and the Jets Kickoff trade season in the NFL With a player swap

Usually you'll see player for draft pick draft pick for a couple of other draft picks But the rare player for player swap And as we kind of get into our thoughts It'll be pretty clear Why both these teams made this move but John, I do want to ask you first. You see this trade, Jermaine Johnson, four years with the Jets.

What was your kind of take on his tenure with the Jets and what kind of player that he is? I wasn't surprised completely that the Jets decided to move on from him. Now, during his career, he generally speaking was a pretty productive player. His rookie season, he was a quality rotational guy. Year 2, 2023. That was his best season. He had eight sacks. He made the Pro Bowl.

Now, I love Germain. I don't know that he really should have made the Pro Bowl that year. Yeah, the Pro Bowl is wonky now. Yeah. You know, I think that maybe that was a bit of a shaky pick. But he had a good season. He was a good defensive end that year. The question for him is whether he can ever recover from the Achilles injury he suffered.

Ironically, it was in the game against the Tennessee Titans in 2024, week two. I think the last time we spoke, the last time we did a crossover was right before that game. Yeah. It was week two. He suffered an injury. He was out for the season, ruptured in Achilles tendon, came back in 2025 and did not really look like the same guy. There wasn't the same level of explosiveness had a down season. So I wasn't surprised that Jets traded him from the standpoint that he's playing on the fifth year option, $13.4 million. I think there are questions about how well

he fit Aaron Glenn's scheme in a way that there aren't questions about whether he fits Robert Salas scheme. You know, you play very well with, Robert Sala. He's a guy who's a better run defender than a pass rusher. You know, you look at his season sack tolls. Year one, he had 2.5. Year 2, he had 7.5. Year 3, he was injured the whole year, but year 4, 3 sacks.

So a guy who's been very stout against the run, but up and down as a pass rusher. And again, the Achilles is the big question because some guys, that's a career-altering injury. Yeah. Based on what we saw last year with Dremant, I think you have to have those concerns. If he bounces back and gets back to that 20, 23 form where he's posting something like seven and a half,

eight sacks, then, you know, he's a really solid starter. He's a guy who, you know, you can feel really good about sticking at one of your defensive end spots. And I think that's what's going to be key for the Titans is they don't have a lot of depth, that edge right now. So getting a guy who can fill one of those spots and you talked about the scheme fit, Aaron Glenn going more to a three, four. And we'll talk about how sweat fits in that perfectly as well. But with the Titans going from.

a 3-4 to more of a 4-3 alignment with 4-down linemen. You're going to need more of a prototypical defensive end than that stand-up outside linebacker. And I think Johnson does fit that need in that good season that he had, I know you said he was a better run defender than a pass rusher, but in that good season that he had his sophomore year, what did it look like? Like, why was he impressive in that year?

You know, he's got power, but he also, he also is very athletic. And that's really where the Achilles comes in. He's got, he's got, kind of got like this ability to, you know, he's got, he's got a pretty good power, but he also can explode out of the stance. So, you know, he's just a guy who I think very well-rounded. I've always said that he was kind of like the, he was the best all-around defense event the Jets had. You know, it wasn't, it wasn't though that he did anything spectacularly.

It's just there weren't really any weaknesses in his game. Yeah, I think the Titans desperately need something like that if he's able to return to form. And it sounds like Robert Sala was desperately trying to get him on the 49ers. last year and the Jets turned down a third round pick to keep him. So I'm a little bit surprised that they would give him away for sweat. But moving to the Tavondre sweat kind of side of this, I think from my perspective, there's some concerns about Tavondre sweat off the field. Is he a hard enough worker and things like that?

But from a scheme perspective, if the Jets are going more three, four, having that prototypical nose tackle, Tevondre Sweat does fill that need. So from the Jets perspective, what's kind of the excitement for getting a guy like sweat? Well, I think part of it is the Jets were kind of just trying to get Jermaine Johnson's salary off the books. Because, you know, I don't think he was a long term. Yeah, you know, he wasn't a long-term player for the team. If we're being objective, this is going to be a tough year for the Jets.

So, you know, if Jermaine was going to leave after the season anyway, I don't know what the sense of keeping him on the books for 13.4 million is. And when you're talking about a move that's really financial, when you can get a quality role player in return, it's kind of a nice bonus. The other thing I'd say is the Jets are kind of at the beginning stages of yet another rebuild. And we've had various versions of rebuilds in New York over the last 15 years or so.

But I think the plan is starting to take focus right now. On the offensive side of the ball, the one area where the Jets are okay is the offensive line where they've got three young players who are good. And I'm right. Joe Tipman and Olinvoo's great. Yeah, he really is. And on the defensive side of the ball, the talent level is not super high. But with the addition of sweat, you now have three quality NFL defensive tackles in sweat,

Joanne Briggs and Harris and Phillips. And look, none of them are stars. But you're seeing that this regime is kind of building out from the trenches, which I think is a good approach. So I think that I think you can. kind of fits in with what the jets are doing because as the jets begin, yet another attempt to turn this thing around. They're starting on the, they're starting on the interior. They're starting at the point of attack by trying to add young quality linemen.

I think most people would say that building from the trenches is the right way to build things out. And listen, I've said there's, you know, I've never been a big fan of Tavondre Sweat. I famously called him a disaster pick after he was picked 38. And, you know, honestly, I was wrong about him being. a disaster. He wasn't a disaster for the Titans. He's a pretty good player. He was a top five. If you take PFF into account pro football focus, he was a top five interior defensive lineman last year. But the issue with Sweat is that he is really just a two-down run stuffer. And I caught

your short video after the trade was made and it sounded like you had a pretty good handle on who he is as a player. He's not going to give you much in the pass rush. But the Jets didn't take him 38 overall. That's not something that they need to worry about. And the way that you positioned it of hey, they're probably not going to have Germain Johnson around. He costs more money than they want to pay for him. Let's get in a guy who can actually do something for us and help us be better against the run.

From the Jets perspective, they're not giving up the number 38 pick to get Tavondre Sweat. He is a good run-stuffing, two-down player. Do you think that the Jets, if they have a down year this year, next year is going to be Tavondre Sweat's final year of his rookie deal? Do you think that they would potentially consider him

part of the future going forward if he does prove to be a good fit for the defense? I do. I do. You know, I think that part of this is they're looking for guys who have a certain attitude. And I think that this is, like I said, this is a, this is very much, very much a rebuild situation. They are trying to build around younger guys. And, you know, yeah, sweat is, sweat's entering year three. He's a guy. If he look, if he looks like a solid player, I'm sure that they'd look to bring him back. And, you know, one of the big things for me is, you know, I saw that, the PFF grade, too. They was rated like a top five interior defensive liven.

And, you know, like, you got to take PFF grades with a grain of salt. You know, you've got to put them into context. So he's not a star. And I don't think anybody should expect him to be a star. But, you know, good defenses aren't built solely around stars. You need role players. You need guys who can stop the run on first and second downs. So I think if you go into the season with the proper exercise.

expectations, you can be pretty happy with sweat. He's going to be a rotational guy. I imagine he'll be the number three guy behind Briggs and Phillips. And it gives the Jets pretty good depth at the defensive tackle spots, which is not something you can say about many spots on the field for this team. And if you're going to start anywhere, as we said, you know, the trenches and defensive tackle spot, that's a good place to start when you're building depth. Yeah, they're trying to take a strength and make it even more of a strength. And I think that is a logical way to go about it. I will say it's kind of funny that the Titans and the Jets have made two trades in the past, you know, six or eight months, however long ago it was with Jarvis Brownlee Jr.

And Tavondre Sweat. And both guys were kind of considered like, do we really want them in the locker room? And the Jets are a young rebuilding team as well. And they are not concerned about having those guys in the locker room. Do you have any concern about sweat, maybe not being the hardest worker, maybe not being someone who's locked in the all season? Brownley Jr., again, another player who was a pretty good player. But, you know, he had some bouts with the coaching staff. Do you think that Aaron Glenn is going to be able to kind of get the best out of those guys, even if they may not be perfect locker room Boy Scouts. That's the question.

And I think this speaks to a bigger question about whether Aaron Glenn is the right guy for the job. Right. You know, year one did not go well. Nobody expected the Jets to do big things in 2025. But the way that this team played, particularly down the stretch, I think, was alarming. You know, you could say they were tanking. Well, you know, they had a five game losing streak to end the season.

and after loss two, they fired the defensive coordinator. You know, it can't all be about tanking if you're firing a coach after a loss. The Jets became the first team in NFL history over the final five weeks of the season. They lost five straight games by 23 plus points. That's never happened before. And, I mean, Tyler, like, I've looked this up. The Cleveland Browns team that went 0 in 16 in 2017, they lost one game by 23 plus points all season long. So the performance was really alarming.

I think it's system-wide. So, you know, when we talk about is Aaron Glenn the right guy to get the most out of these guys? I think it's part of a bigger question whether Aaron Glenn's the right guy for the job. And that's a question that will only be answered over the course of the season. Well, since we're talking about kind of off-field stuff, the last thing that I kind of want to hit on here is, how is Jermaine Johnson as a player in the locker room, like as a person? Is he somebody who's maybe had issues? Is he somebody who is generally considered a good teammate?

I don't have a read on him as a guy on the team. everything I've heard is he is one of the great guys in this league. He's beloved in the locker room. You know, the Jets fan base loved Jermaine Johnson. And, you know, you might see a lot of Jets fans upset online. One of the things like I mentioned on an episode of Lockdown Jets I made after the trade was this is, this shows you the difference between what your head tells you and your heart tells you. Your heart's looking at this guy.

You're saying this is a homegrown guy. Right. Pro Bowl for your team. He developed into a good player. He was a great locker room guy. He was a guy who connected with him. with the fan base. You know, your head tells you, you know, 13.4 million.

He's probably not going to be around in the future. Questions about the Achilles, but I would have, I have zero concerns about Germain. I think he's a great locker room guy. I think in that area, he's a great ad from the Titans. I think both sides are looking at this as they won the trade, which may be a sign that it's a good trade. You know, usually you want both people to feel like they lost or both people to feel like they won. But how things actually play out in the future will determine who actually won this trade.

but either way, both guys have a chance to really fill a need for both teams. But with that being said, that is going to do it for our little crossover conversation here. Thank you for making Locked-on Titans. Locked-on Jets, your first listen each and every day. All right, guys, that's going to do it for me today on today's edition of Locked-on Titans again,

very, very excited about Jermaine Johnson being added to the Tennessee Titans. He's a perfect fit for multiple reasons, even if he isn't that alpha edge rush or that the Titans still need to find. But with that being said, That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.