Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Arthur Smith/Dean Pees presser thoughts

Episode Date: February 7, 2019

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris. Joining us is Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you tonight? Doing pretty good. What's going on, man? Not too much. We got an Arthur Smith and Dean Pease press conference on Tuesday. So we got a few things to talk about from that. Then we'll look at ESPN's initial power rankings for the 2019 season. And then just a few more odds and ends to talk about. Before we do that, I remind you, right from you to see miracles.com, where we cover the Titans for SB Nation.

So you can check us out there. You can also follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. Get the podcast. Where we get your podcast, just search out Locked on Titans. If you have a smart speaker in your house, you can play the podcast. Just say, play podcast Locked on Titans, and you If you have a smart speaker in your house, you can play the podcast as they play

Podcast LockedOnTitans and you'll hear us there as well. If you want to call in, leave us a voicemail. We're going to try to do a voicemail show tomorrow. We have a couple. If we can get a couple more, that would be awesome. 615- 787-8762. Leave a message there.

If you've got a question, you've got a comment, whatever it may be, just leave us a message there. Try to keep it about a minute and we'll get you in on the show tomorrow all right so arthur smith was introduced to the media like i said on tuesday uh i just if you want to give your kind of initial takeaways from watching that yeah i think continuity uh that was uh the kind of the buzz buzzword of this offensive coordinator search. And I think we've got it here. He talked about how it was kind of his third time in this offense, so to speak. And he said he's going to keep all the language the same.

So everything's going to be pretty similar, it sounds. I don't know if it's going to be a hundred percent the same, but definitely the same verbiage, which is going to, you know, it's just going to cut the learning curve in half. So that's what you wanted to see. It's what you wanted to hear. You know, I definitely think that's a key with, with Marcus Mariota. We've talked about how many offenses he's been in, how we've had to continuously rebuild, reboot from ground zero. It doesn't sound like that's going to happen this time around, at least from a verbiage standpoint. So, excited. Just overall, he sounded like a smart guy. You pointed out he's funny.

Overall, he sounded like a smart guy. You know, you pointed out he was funny. Just really sounded bright. Didn't seem in over his head, which, you know, you kind of worry about with a guy that's never been in this position before. But sounds ready. I'm kind of fired up and excited after hearing him talk. Yeah, it's pretty amazing as he went through his resume. It's also amazing that he's lasted here as long as he has.

We talk about a guy who's worked with four different head coaches. I mean, that's kind of crazy. Actually, five different head coaches because he goes all the way back to Munchak. So he's worked with Munchak, Wisenhunt. No, so it's just four. Munchak, Wisenhunt, Mike Malarkey, and now Mike Vrabel. And, you know, a guy, and he basically said, you know, every time he just kind of kept his head down, did his job, you know, just tried to, whenever somebody gave him an assignment

to do it, you know, to the best of his ability. And that's what kept him around, made him able to stick. And I mean, I think as far as I know, he's the only guy on the coaching staff that stuck through all of that. And, you know, he was an analyst or whatever, a quality control guy, when he first got here on defense and then moved to offense, assistant tight ends coach, tight ends coach, and now to where he is. Like you said, just the different people he's talked about that he's been with,

that was really cool. You know, if you don't know, his dad is Fred Smith, who is the founder of FedEx. And, you know, somebody kind of asked him about that, and he said, I really like his answer on that. He just kind of said, listen, I've never, you know, mistaken my dad's successes for my successes. Talked about how his dad's really humble, all that kind of stuff.

So, I mean, I thought all that was really cool to hear. You know, like I said, I mean, he sounded good, sounded smart, all that stuff that doesn't mean anything when it comes to how he's going to perform as an offensive coordinator. But I think you do feel a little bit better after hearing him. He did say that the verbiage is going to stay the same. I thought he laid out a really good case for why that was going to be the case. Basically saying, look, if we change all the verbiage,

you're going to have weeks of people just learning where to line up on a certain call, how to call a certain play in the huddle, whatever it may be. And he's like, those are weeks that we're losing on actually installing the offense. So didn't want to do that. Was obviously very cognizant of the continuity of Marcus and all the different guys that he's been with. So, I mean, obviously that was important. You like to hear all that stuff.

And then, you know, they asked him about Derrick Henry, building the offense around him. And he said, listen, you know, we would be dumb not to feature Derrick Henry the way he played the last month of the season. So, I mean, just kind of all the stuff that you really expected him to say. You know, no big surprises. But like you say, the moment didn't seem too big for him.

I think that was important. Not surprised by that. I mean, he hasn't necessarily been in front of the media, but we've heard from different coaches and different people that have been inside that building that he's a guy that's been presenting different things to the players throughout his time with the team. So, yeah, like you said i mean just kind of excited to see it get rolling um you know like the verbiage is going to say the same i don't know

the office will necessarily be the be the same but they're going to keep you know some of that same kind of stuff and he'll build within that my thing that i liked the most was just basically saying you know we're going to be week to week looking at what the team that we're playing how we can attack that team and we talked a lot about that about how you know you we're going to be week to week looking at the team that we're playing, how we can attack that team. And we talked a lot about that, about how, you know, you want to be in that situation. You want to be like, that's what the Patriots do, where, you know, they're each week looking to where they can attack the other team. And Mike Brambles talked a lot about wanting to be that type of team.

Arthur Smith seemed to get that as well. So I'm excited about it. And like you said, the biggest concern that we had was the continuity thing and learning a new offense and all that kind of stuff. I'm sorry, not the biggest concern we had, but when we heard LaFleur was leaving, that was the reason that I think we were the most upset that LaFleur was going to be leaving. But now when you've got this, you hear our just enough talk, they're going to keep the verbiage up the same.

I think, I don't know, I don't know if we're going to see a huge drop-off. We're going from one rookie play caller to another, and quite frankly, a rookie play caller last year that I didn't necessarily think was that good as a rookie play caller. So it just kind of eased my concerns as far as a continuity standpoint, hearing what he said on Tuesday. Yeah, and just forget the verbiage for a second. I mean, he knows the roster. He's been here forever.

Yeah. He knows Taewon Taylor's struggles, for example. He knows this run game struggles. He knows theewon Taylor's struggles, for example. He knows this run game struggles. He knows the offensive line. He knows what they struggled with, what they succeeded against, what situations to put them in, you know, all of that good stuff. So there's not going to be an evaluation period here with Arthur Smith. He already knows what's going on.

So that part of it, plus the verbiage, plus the playbook familiarity, all of that is exciting. You hope that it can lead to a bunch of points next year. And he said all the right things. He said all the things you were supposed to say that you want to hear your offensive coordinator say. Like you were saying, he said there's not one way to win. We're going to attack the weaknesses. He said there's not one way to win. We're going to attack the weaknesses.

That's not really something that Matt LaFleur had a chance to do, honestly, last year with everything that was going on with Marcus Mariota's elbow and nerve issue. So you hope Arthur gets the chance to do that. But I just kind of liked his answer to that. He was like, it may not look pretty at times, but I'm going to do everything I can to win that. But, you know, I just kind of liked his answer to that. You know, he was like, it may not look pretty at times, but I'm going to do everything I can to win games. So at the end of the day, that's an easy thing to say. But, you know, that's still what you want to hear.

Yeah, absolutely. So and they said, you know, we're going to be an offensive line that knocks people off the ball. So they asked him about if he would keep the zone blocking scheme or, you know, whatever. And he basically said, look, we're going to do whatever it takes to be good. And so that's kind of – obviously they have to have, you know, a system that they run.

But, you know, get guys in here, build it to, you know, what you have, and kind of go from there. So, like you said, I'm excited about that, about what he's going to bring. All right, coming up, we'll talk a little bit about what Dean Pease had to say on Tuesday. So, Dean Pease talked before Arthur Smith, and, you know, I think not as many people are talking about that, you know, with good reason. You're obviously more excited with the offense, new guy all that kind of stuff and arthur smith but it was good to see dean p's um you know he hasn't talked about how he got a clean bill of health um he did you know go get things

checked out um to make sure everything was okay it wasn't anything that you know i i guess the stress of coaching and that kind of stuff was going to affect him long term. So good to hear all that. Obviously, you know, this defense had a lot of success. And, you know, kind of the same type of deal. I mean, he basically had similar things to say to Arthur Smith in that, you know, now we're in year two. So we don't have to do all the install stuff this year. We can hit the ground running.

We can, you know, the guys don't have to learn terminology, whether stuff this year. We can hit the ground running. We can, you know, with the guys that want to learn terminology, whether they'll line up, all that kind of stuff. So a lot of the same similar conversations that were going on there. But, yeah, I don't know. I mean, not a whole lot, I guess, new interest there. But I'm excited that he's back. I mean, I think there were some questions with him coming in. You know, his defense has struggled the last couple years in Baltimore.

But obviously a really good coach. Obviously did a really good job here last year. And, you know, I think if they can give him a couple more players and then you have guys like Landry and Evans and those guys continue to progress, you know, I mean, I think it's a good situation. I think this defense is set up to be pretty good next year. I thought Dean Peaves was fantastic last year.

I thought he led a group To overachieve. I don't think it's items roster defensively is as good as they played last year and there were some down times But the way he schemed up pressure And really accounted for the Titans lack of a pass rush was really incredible. So Like he said happy he's back. I thought it was interesting he said he wanted faster guys. You know, everyone wants speed, but he was talking about the defensive line when that was brought up.

So he's not wanting size. He's wanting more speed. So maybe that's something to watch for as the Titans add free agents, as the Titans start to enter the draft period here. And then he hit the radio today. He was asked about Harold Landry, and he said he absolutely has the ability to be a top flight pass rusher. But he said something interesting.

He said the Titans' defense and what they do is one of the most complex in the league. What they asked him to do in coverage did a lot of things that he was never asked to do at Boston College. So that might answer some of our questions of why Harold Landry was kind of slow to get involved with the defense, why he didn't play more. And he said that the coaching staff has to do better at simplifying things for these young guys. So happy he's back, happy to see what he can do with all these new guys that John Robinson is going to bring in for him

because it's absolutely an area of need talking about front step. Yeah, his interview, he was on the Midday 180 today, and the interview there was really good. Obviously, we've had Hutton on here a few times um so i mean i guess we're a little bit partial to them but they they do it jonathan hutton he doesn't have to interview somebody he is the most prepared interviewer that you will ever hear um i mean it's just amazing to me i think the work that he puts into that and obviously you and me carski that's asking questions and all that stuff um but yeah i thought his his talk his his time on there i think it was i think it was today yeah uh what was on wednesday was was pretty interesting because like you said they got into harold

vandry and rashaun evans a lot and i mean he was asked about that at the press conference as well but yeah i mean he basically said especially with evans you know he he missed camp and so the first month of the season he's getting the stuff that he should have gotten in camp and in the preseason. I think we kind of forget that. And basically said, like, if you look at him, you know, just coaches watching him from week one, you know, into the last quarter of the season, just night and day difference in how far he had come. And like you said, with him, with Harold Landry, you've just got – there's so much to build on there. And he talked about those guys having ceilings and all that kind of stuff.

He was very complimentary of the work that Mike Vrabel did with Jayon Brown. Talked about, you know, how much he worked with him and that kind of stuff. So, just cool to hear that. He's an interesting dude. I like listening to him. And, you know, they asked him if he liked the Super Bowl, and he said it was gorgeous or something like that, a defensive game. And basically he was saying he watched it,

and he could see that good defense was being played. Because there's a difference between good defenses versus bad offenses, and he thought it was a good defensive effort by both of those groups. But anyway, it's interesting to hear his perspective and all that on that kind of stuff. And, you know, talking about even like a guy like Logan Ryan, who's a veteran in the league, but, you know, being in this new system, you know, him still having room to grow. And, you know, he was obviously having a great year before he went down with the injury last year. So I'm excited that he's back.

Obviously, you know, happy that the health issues weren't anything that was going to slow him down going forward. Because, you know, that was a scary deal. And he kind of talked about that as well. But, like you said, anytime you have a unit that was as good as this one was last year, and then you know that you had a couple of players and you think they could be even better, I think that's kind of what we see here. Like you were saying, they asked him if he wanted to get bigger up front, and he said, well, no, that means we're getting slower.

He said, if you can find me some big, fast guys, I'm all for that. But talking about wanting the speed and that kind of stuff. They asked him about Daquan Jones and his sacks and all that. I thought he kind of tiptoed around that a little bit and said you know you watch some of these guys and they're not as good in the run game as daquan jones is and and you know like that's all well and good that's nice but you know he said jj watt and aaron donald he talked about them specifically and said you know they get all these sacks but they also are out of position you know trying to to rush the passer and give up big runs. But I think we would, you know, trade some of, you know,

Daquan Jones's, quote, good run defense for a few more times if he actually gets after the quarterback. Yeah, I mean, I think he's protecting his guy there. Right. But, yeah, I'd love to see him work with a little more to work with than Jarrell Casey because that's all he's got up front, essentially. So, you know, we talked about it a lot. They need some help up front so Dean Pease doesn't have to scheme up pressure.

You know, the whole point, you know, you see these really good defenses getting pressure was just sending four guys, five guys. Titans seemingly had to send six or seven to get home. So that made his job a lot tougher. It's up to John Robinson now to make his life easier. So I think you'll see this secondary take some steps forward if you can fix these front seven issues.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that, again, and we'll get into some off-season type conversations here in the next couple weeks. But, I mean, that's where I hope they invest in the draft. I hope they can fix some other issues in free agency, and then you can get into some of those defensive needs in the draft. All right, coming up, we'll wrap it up talking about ESPN's initial 2019 power rankings. Okay, so Terry wrote a post today on the site talking about the ESPN power rankings.

They ranked the Titans 17th heading into the season. I think you can make an argument a couple of different ways on that. I think you can absolutely make the argument that it's too low. When you look at the injuries the Titans had last year, the record they had, all that kind of stuff. I think you can make an argument that the Titans are one of the 12 to 15 best teams in the league.

When you look at the team that's right behind the Titans in its power ranking in the Atlanta Falcons, would it be a huge surprise next year if the Falcons are better than the Titans? No. They've got Matt Ryan,. I mean, they've got Matt Ryan. They've got Julio Jones. They've got an early draft pick to probably improve that defense.

So, I mean, I really think once you get into anything like the 14 to 20 range, those teams typically are kind of all the same. Some weeks they'll look really good. Some weeks they'll look really good, some weeks they'll look really bad. When you get up into that top ten, that's the ones that are consistently good. I think the Titans can be one of those teams next year, but we're just kind of at this point with Marcus Mariota, but with the team as a whole, that they have to go out there and prove it

before they deserve to be in a spot like that. Yeah, and it's worth noting that this poll was ESPN employees, TV personalities, all of their beat writers, so it's a national look at the Titans. And, you know, put yourself on the outside and look in. What do you think of Marcus Mariota? You probably don't think a lot, even though we know when he's been healthy he's been pretty good. But outsiders don't know that. And, you know, honestly, why should they?

Because he hasn't been healthy all that often. So he's got to prove it, like you're saying. And, yeah, you're right. I mean, there's probably, what, 10, 11 teams that are a cut above the rest, and then really from 12 to 25, I mean, you can throw a dart. So you can argue the Titans should be 14th, 15th, 16th, but they're in the right range. I mean, like you were saying, everyone around them,

the Packers, the Browns, the Vikings are the teams ahead of them. So Titans could beat them any given week. Any of those teams could be the Titans any given week. So it's kind of up to them to go out and prove the world that they are playoff caliber once again. Yeah, the Cowboys all the way up there at 13. I think just looking through the teams ahead of the Titans, I don't know, the Cowboys are an interesting team.

They obviously played really well down the stretch. You know, they got a huge contribution from Ari Cooper. Most all the Titans go out there and beat them. You know, so, again, I think the Titans are kind of in that mix with those teams, with those playoff teams. I mean, you know, they had good records against. If you look at the teams ahead of the Titans, obviously they never beat the Colts, but they beat the Eagles, who are 12th in this poll.

They beat the Texans once, who are 9th. They beat the Patriots, who are 4th. They beat the Cowboys, who are 13th. So, again, the Titans are right there, in my opinion, but it's just the consistency that we need to see to kind of get them over that hump. And obviously that starts with Marcus Mariota staying healthy, all those sort of things that we've been talking about. But I don't know.

It's just one of those things. And I think as we go through the curve of a Titans fan, I mean, we'll spend this whole offseason kind of getting hyped up, right? You're looking at all the ways that if this breaks right, this breaks right, and this breaks right, all the reasons that all the things that went wrong last year, that if they go right this year, you know, you've got a team that's right there in the hunt. And, I mean, I think we can make that case without being ridiculous homers. But, I mean, I think it's kind of what every NFL fan goes through in the offseason, right?

You're like, well, we signed this guy in free agency, we drafted this guy, so we're going to be right there. But, I mean, I do think the Titans deserve to be in that conversation. But, you know, for the longest time, you've heard a vast majority of this fan base, you know, we don't get any respect nationally and, you know, blah, blah, blah, which is true, but the Titans also haven't deserved any respect nationally. And I guess the biggest point here is until they consistently win, until they can win games like that Week 17 game against the Colts,

until they can, you know, prove that they can actually beat the Colts. I mean, those types of things, that's what it's going to take for them to get back in that conversation nationally as one of the best teams in the league. Yeah, part of me wants to look on the bright side and say they went 9-7 with all of that crap that they went through with getting virtually nothing outside of a couple games out of Marcus Mariota. Part of me wants to be really excited about that and think this coaching staff is really good, and they very well might be.

But then I look at the division, and I look at Deshaun Watson, I look at Andrew Luck, and I just see a really, really tough road. So that's kind of the dilemma there. Titans have a lot of steps to take, in my opinion, to get past those two teams. I just think the quarterback position, they've got it figured out. Titans don't right now, and that's kind of painful to say because for the longest time we thought we did.

So, yeah, I don't know. Like you said, there's a lot of things that have to break Titans' way. There seems like there's less that has to break their way for the Colts and the Texans right now. Yeah. And so, again, this is kind of where we've been, at least for the last couple of years. But I guess it's better than being, you know, in the back half of that,

you know, those years where they were winning, you know, three, four, five games. So, you know, I don't know. I'd rather be where we are. I think the future is bright. But like you're saying, there are still a lot of questions that have to be answered. And unfortunately, there are questions that it's going to take. They can't really, like, really be answered until we see consistency throughout the league. It's not something, I mean, throughout a season.

It's not something that we're going to be able to say week three, okay, they've got this mastered because we've seen them go on good stretches, good runs before. But, again, they're closer than they have been, so that's obviously a good thing. All right, that'll do it for today. We will, again, hopefully do a voicemail show tomorrow. That's what we're going to shoot for if we get a couple more. Number 615-787-8762. If you saw the

Arthur Smith press conference and you want to comment on that, call in, leave us a comment. That'd be awesome. Just kind of whatever you want to talk about. Again, leave it to about a minute. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening and we will talk to you again tomorrow.