Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Crossover episode with Locked on Jaguars

Episode Date: December 5, 2018

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All right, welcome back to another episode of Locked On Jaguars, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. I am your host, Zach Goodall. I am unfortunately not joined by my co-host, Chris Thornton. He decided to take the night off after a long day at work, but no matter, we're still going to have a fun show tonight because we are doing our weekly crossover in this week. We are with Locked On Titans, and I'm with Jimmy Morris,

the host of one of the co-hosts, I should say, of Locked On Titans, who you can follow on Twitter at jmorrismcm. We've got a good show ahead. We're going to break down this, what should be very, very exciting. And I say that with incredible sarcasm of a game coming up on Thursday night for America to see. So Jimmy and I talked about this in our DM setting up the show that we really just do owe America an apology

for this Thursday night game being on national TV. So Jimmy, I'll go ahead and let you go ahead and start that off for us. Just what do you have to say for America on behalf of your team? Yeah. So, you know, the Titans have been on national tv you know two weeks ago in houston and then uh this game you know in the game last week in houston followed that you know rams chiefs monday night game and you know it's just like i'm sorry that people have to watch the titans offense after watching those two offenses yeah the total of this game opened like at 37 and a half, I think. I mean, it's just ridiculous.

Yeah, it's not going to be fun for anybody to watch besides, you know, Titans and Jaguars fans. And it's really, honestly, probably not going to be that much fun for us to watch. We do it because, you know, we only get 16 of these a year. And so you're not going to miss any of them. But, you you know both offenses i think we can we can pretty confidently say have been struggling and you know everybody everybody wants to watch offense in today's nfl and you get it i mean it's fun but uh this is not going to be

that game for those people i can't imagine that's going to do very well nationally no i don't think it will either in terms of the ratings that we've seen in recent weeks or really just this year in general with those high-powered offensive games and the overnight ratings they draw. Jacksonville and Tennessee might get like half of that. Yeah. And, I mean, I can say this from a Jaguars fan perspective that, you know, people were excited for a somewhat new look offense

behind Cody Kessler and Scott Milanovich. And when they beat the Colts by whopping jaw dropping score of six to zero, people were excited just because it wasn't Blake Bortles and there was a win. But that doesn't take away from just how unexciting and really bad of a football game it was to watch. And like Jimmy said, we really can expect that this upcoming week, Tennessee versus Jacksonville in Tennessee, their second matchup of the year after last time when they went up against each other, it was one of those games, 96 finish here in Jacksonville, a nail biter to the end of field goal after field goal after field goal. And I'm expecting a lot of the same, but we'll go ahead and get and break down,

you know, what the Jaguars defense can do against this Titans offense and vice versa, as we flip in between segments. But before we get to that, I want to remind everyone to go ahead and subscribe to both shows. You can find iTunes, Spotify, Google play stitcher megaphone for free listing shows. You can find iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher,

Megaphone for free listening. Anywhere you can find podcasts, you can find the Locked On Network. Just search up Locked On Jaguars and Locked On Titans and you guys can find all the content you need for this upcoming game. So obviously there's been some quarterback issues, to say the least, on both sides.

We're starting with Tennessee on the offensive side. Last time we played, Mariota, where he was dealing with nerve damage in his arm, and it was affecting his ability to throw. They had Blaine Gabbert trot out as the starter, which made everyone in Jacksonville really excited, I promise you that. And it only lasted a couple of drives. Mariota had to come in for an injured Gabbert. And despite not really being able to attack the air too well, Mariota was able to get it done with his feet like he always does. Tennessee pulled out a W.

From that week three game, how has the Titans offense looked since then? Has there been improvement in the past game? What are some things that they can do against this Jaguars defense? Yes, I mean, listen, this Titans offense is very, very inconsistent. We've seen weeks where they come out and look like they might actually be good. They've beaten some good teams, put a bunch of points on the Eagles, put a bunch of points on the Patriots. So have done some good things, and then they'll come out

and look just completely lost against the Colts, who are, you know, not a good defense. So the offense has been better since Marcus could feel his hand again, which, you know, makes sense. He wore that glove that he was wearing in that game against the Jaguars and then through the Chargers game in London. But then he came back after that, after the bye, and the offense really looked good for a couple weeks.

I mean, they did well in Dallas. Like I said, did well against the Patriots. They did well at Chargers game, honestly. Came up short at the end. But, like, the offense seemed like it was getting going. And then just, you know, kind of took a couple steps backwards the last couple weeks. I mean, this is the thing. And, like, you know kind of took a couple steps backwards last couple weeks i mean this is the thing and like you know being a titans fan it's it's this it's this cycle of you know

like disappointment get excited disappointment get excited it's just like we just go around and around in this circle and so i mean the titans were had themselves in a good spot uh beat the patriots heading to indianapolis uh you know just a game behind the Texans and then having, you know, games between – games with the Colts and the Texans in back-to-back weeks. If you win both of those games, you're the division lead. If you split those games, you're still, you know, within striking distance and just lay an egg in both games and get just trounced. The offense wasn't good in either one of them.

So, I mean, it's just been that kind of thing this year. The offense wasn't good in the first half against the Jets on Sunday. Came back and played well in the second half. The Jets, their defense is okay, but it's not anything to write home about by any means. The passing game has been inconsistent at best. They've had some

guys come on. Corey Davis is starting to look like the receiver that they wanted when they took him at number five overall. That's a good thing Johnnie Smith second year tight end has really grown into his role it was too much for him early on when Delaney Walker went down in week one so he's been he's been better the last few weeks I think he's kind of selling a little bit Taewon Taylor had two big catches in that Jets game which is what really kind of opened things up because you know as you would as would expect, teams just started creeping up, creeping up, creeping up. Titans aren't taking very many shots down the field. A couple

reasons for that. One, they don't necessarily have a deep threat without Taewon Taylor out there, and he's struggling in that role at times anyway. But the interior of their offensive line is so bad, too, that they don't have time to do it. But Taewon Taylor got a catch of 44 yards and a catch of 55 yards on consecutive drives in that game against the Jets. And that scene really opens things up underneath. So I don't know. I mean, I have no idea what we're getting week to week.

I mean, we watch this team every week, and like I said, some weeks are really good, some weeks are terrible. Hopefully the good passing game shows up this week, but I honestly have no idea what to hope for. Now, one thing that the Jaguars have struggled with, it's almost year in and year out, are receiving backs. And you mentioned Corey Davis. I want to talk about him and Johnny Smith, a guy who I actually thought Jacksonville should have looked at when I say this every year, they need to draft a tight end and they don't really like to listen. I think the last tight end they drafted was Ben Koyak in the seventh round in like 2015. And I can't remember

otherwise, but every year I think that they should and they don't. And Johnny Smith was a guy I was high on. So definitely someone I want to learn more about and what he's done with Tennessee. Corey Davis will want to talk about him as well, but probably the most, you know, intriguing thing that I can see in this Tennessee offense versus the Jacksonville defense is Deion Lewis's ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. And I literally mean that out of the backfield because when I look at his PFF numbers, he's got 45 receptions on 51 targets, so he's an incredibly efficient pass catcher for 309 total yards, but the thing is that 371 yards have come after the catch. So that tells me he's truly just getting targeted out of the backfield and making a ton work.

They say he averages 8.2 yards after the catch per reception. And that's a weak spot for the Jaguars. It seems to always be that, especially when there is some variance coming out of the backfield. Obviously, the Titans have a power back in Derrick, and then a guy that changes that pace in Lewis. So how has you, uh, Lewis's utilization come along as the season has worn on? Cause I knew it was a little bit of a slow start for him, but I mean, has he looked like he's been worth deciding? Uh, and what have you seen him really grow with? Yeah. I mean, I think Dion Lewis Lewis is a guy that is good in a complementary role. He's not going to be a feature back.

That's just not who he is. They tried to make him a little bit. I think they got really mad at Derrick Henry about the middle of the year because Derrick Henry, you know, he's 237 pounds, but he runs like he's 137 pounds sometimes, trying to, like, balance everything, not lowering his shoulder and that kind of stuff. And so there was a point kind of after the bye week that they were –

Deion Lewis was starting games. They gave David Flewellen some carries ahead of Henry in one game, and Flewellen ended up getting hurt. But ever since then, Derrick Henry has, like, lowered his shoulder and run, like I said run like a big running back. So they've been using him more the last couple weeks, whereas kind of in the middle of the season, they had gone to Deion Lewis as a future guy. But yeah, Deion Lewis's strength is dumping the ball off to him, and he can make stuff happen after the catch.

He's a little bit frustrating at times because sometimes I think he thinks he's still in high school and can bounce things side to side and run around people that he can't really do in the NFL. So sometimes he'll take a play that could be a short gain and turn it into a loss, that type of stuff. But yeah, he's explosive. If they can get him the ball in space, make guys miss. And I don't know, I'm just telling you, man, this team is so weird.

We were convinced at the beginning of the year they were going to be a screen team. The Titans have never been a screen team. In 20 years they've been here, they've never been able to run a screen. And we were convinced the preseason they were going to run screens to backs, bubble screens, that kind of stuff. They haven't done very much of it, honestly, during the year. It seems like it's been effective at times when they do it to Deion Lewis. So, I mean, I think that that will be something you'll see them try in this game.

I don't know why they haven't tried it more. Like I said, they've had so much trouble with pass protection. The way you slow that down is running screens and stuff. They haven't done much of that. They haven't done much of rolling markets out of the pocket. They started doing it a little bit in the second half against the Jets. It was effective. So, you know, some of that kind of stuff.

Johnnie Smith is a guy, like, we were really excited about him. Seemed like almost a Delaney Walker clone and was really good at the beginning of his rookie year last year and then just kind of fell off a little bit, didn't do much. And like I said, he struggled early on. But, I mean, the guy's got, like, you know, unbelievable measurables. And he saw the, I mean, he had a touchdown in that Monday night game against the Texans.

They threw him a little dump off over the middle and he just ran past everybody for a touchdown. So, I mean, I think the ceiling is really high for him. I think he struggled picking up the offense at times, but he's come on the last few weeks. So that's at least a little something to be encouraged about. And the Jaguars do tend to run a lot of cover three when they're in zone, and they have their linebackers drop.

And a result of that has been opposing offenses have been able to eat up the middle of the field. Telvin Smith hasn't been nearly as good as he has been in years past in pass coverage. So honestly, if there were any weapons that I could see having a really good game if the passing game is working for the Titans, I think Smith might be in line for one of those days because he appears to be that guy. Like you said, he had the little dump off across the middle of the field and took that yard so we'll have to just see how they do but if I put my bets on anyone to have an impact against the Jaguars in the past game it'd probably be Smith and Lewis at this point but you mentioned that Corey Davis has also really been coming along obviously he faces quite the tests this upcoming week, whether he's lined up against Jalen Ramsey or A.J. Boye.

But what kind of growth have you seen out of him as his second year has gone on? Well, he's been a guy that when they need yards, they've gone to him. You know, just that type of, you know, everybody needs that receiver that on third down, you can find him. You know, he's going to catch the ball, get the yards that are needed. He has really developed into that guy. He's had two really big games, not coincidentally, in the two most explosive games for this offense, the Eagles and the Patriots.

He had huge days in both of those games. And against Stephon Gilmore for the Patriots most of the day and had two touchdowns against him. So, I mean, he's just turned it into that guy. Everything was slow starting with him last year because he missed one of the training camps with a hamstring injury and then kind of missed the beginning of the year with a hamstring injury and was slow kind of coming along.

But he's really started to develop into that guy that they can look for. Now, this offense has been so inconsistent. He's had up and down games. I mean, like I said, he'll have a game where, you know, he has a bunch of catches, a couple touchdowns, and then he'll disappear for a couple weeks um but that's that's been this whole team so it's hard to really you know pin that on him necessarily but I think we've seen enough from him this year that in the way that he's coming along to at least be hopeful that you know he

was worth the number five overall pick I wouldn't say definitively, yes, he was at this point, but he's at least shown the ability that he can be that guy. Then he's some other weapons around him. That's been a problem for this team for a long time. But we feel pretty good about where he is as far as in the development curve at this point. Titans have allowed 25 sacks this year, and according to PFF, 137 pressures.

You mentioned the interior was the problem, but last year or the year before, Titans have allowed 25 sacks this year, and according to PFF, 137 pressures. You mentioned the interior was the problem, but I mean, last year or the year before, there was a lot of optimism going around with this Titans offensive line. So, I mean, is it just a result of the inconsistencies as a whole on offense, or could that really be an anchor right now for this team is just the lack of protection? Oh, it's an anchor for sure. Jack Conklin, the right tackle who was all pro his rookie year has been a disaster now he tore his acl in the playoff game against the patriots last year so you know there's a there's a part of the fan base that that wants to say that he's not healthy um i mean i guess that's possible i kind of hope that's possible

at this point because he seriously, he looks terrible. You know, they gave Josh Klein, the left guard, a big deal, a big contract before the season started, and he's been bad. Ben Jones, the center, has been bad. Quentin Spain has actually been the best of the group, but then on Sunday in the second half, they benched Quentin Spain. They brought Corey Levin in to play center and moved Ben Jones out to guard, and it actually looked pretty good.

So Vrabel has been very tight-lipped about what he's going to do this week. I would imagine they go with the same thing on Sunday. On Thursday, it only makes sense because, like I said, that group has struggled really bad. Taylor LeJuan has been fine. He's the highest-paid offensive tackle in the league right now. He hasn't played like the highest paid offensive tackle in the league. But he is definitely the – you know, at least to their concerns up front, he's fine.

There's nothing they really need to worry about there. But they've been doing some shuffling there. I mean, they're doing some talk. They've got Dennis Kelly, who's the swing tackle, who played, you know, right tackle while Conklin was coming back. They've been talking about moving him to guard. They've been talking about moving Conklin to guard and Kelly playing right tackle. There's all kinds of different stuff that they've thrown out. The interior offensive line has been bad. It'll look a lot different next year. I don't think Ben Jones will be here. I don't think Quentin Spain will be here. Josh Kline probably shouldn't be here, but he will be because they gave him all that money and they can't cut him at this point.

They're going to have to revamp that for sure this offseason, but it's definitely a problem for them. Final question before we hit our break and flip sides here. It's been a couple of years. We've seen a lot of positives at points, and we've seen a lot of negatives, not to mention injuries have probably been a factor. Your takeaway is just in a vacuum. Marcus Mariota, is he still, is he the dude here?

Is it still just up in the air, too much going on around him? Or do you have your legitimate concerns at this point? Yes. Yes to all of those. No, listen, you know, it's been impossible to make a definitive statement on him at this point, which sucks because he's coming up to the end of his fourth year. He's got his fifth-year option that he can play under next year, so they don't have to make a decision on him until after next year.

But you would hope that at this point you would have a good answer. Now look, like you said, all the things around him. He's been hurt. He's had three different coordinators. I mean, you go through all this different stuff that is kind of on good answer. Now, look, like you said, all the things around him, he's been hurt. He's had three different coordinators. I mean, you go through all this different stuff that is kind of on the surface of hasn't had good weapons, you know, a lot hasn't been good, whatever. I mean, there's been a lot of things that haven't gone right for him. We've seen him at stretches be elite. We've seen him at stretches be terrible.

So, I mean, I think it would be dumb for them to move on from him at this point, you know, because what are you going to go out there and get that's better? And not to say that, listen, I'm still a believer. I still think he I still think he has the ability to be the guy. I think that he is it's hard. He's not ever going to be like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady. I mean, I don't think he's I don't think he's one of those guys. Tom Brady. I don't think he's one of those guys, but I think

he's a guy that if things are good around him, that he's definitely going to be good enough that you could win a Super Bowl with him. I don't think he's going to be a guy that you're going to have to hide, but I think he does need his supporting cast to be good. That's not always the

case. Like a Tom Brady, he seems like he can throw to pretty much anybody and they can get a bunch of yards. I don't think Marks is going to be that that guy but I think if they can put some better pieces around him he has the bill the ability to be that but like I said it's gonna be interesting to see what they do within this offseason because you know I think is his cap number next year if he plays on under the fifth year options like I can't remember it's like 21 million or something and so then you got to make the decision are you going to just you're going to let that play out then decide what you're going to do are you going to try to get him a long-term deal but i just i mean i would be hesitant at this point to invest you

know 100 million dollars in this guy just because just really the inconsistency of being on the field is my biggest concern right um he's just been he's been hurt so many times it's not like he's sitting out for like, you know, I mean, it's been like serious stuff, you know? I mean, you know, they snapped his leg in the Jaguars game a couple of years ago, you know, had the hamstring last year. They only missed one game through and played in the Colts game. We couldn't really move. You know, the nerve thing this year, he couldn't feel his hand. I mean, all, you know, like serious stuff, but it just seems like it's kind of one thing after another. so i think at this point the best thing for them to do would be to let it go into next year see how it plays out and then make the decision from there

so that it like i said it sucks that we're four years in we're still at this point but we that it's just kind of where we're at let me tell you right now the jaguars 2019 draft season started in october so the jaguars approached it with the same like complication that you guys have right now and that is that they didn't know do we try and upgrade go after the kirk cousins of the world uh do we ride out blake bortles on the fifth year option which which was sitting at 21 million. So it should be right around the same thing for you guys. Or do they extend him? And at the time, no one wanted to go ahead and dedicate 21 million flat to Blake Bortles for a year and go from there because they wanted to find a cheaper way if they were going to keep him. And when we first heard the news of the contract extension to where it really was a pretty solid deal for what we thought was an average quarterback, we were happy because it really wasn't like a

bank breaking deal. We're now sitting here just trying to find a way to get out of it. It ended up being a mistake. I mean, he's going to take on a minimum cap hit of 16.5 million next year because of the dead cap. If they release him upwards of 21 i'm just saying for tennessee fans if you're not sure mario does the answer i just take the one year hit and go from there i the complications on the jaguars offseason they might have to let go of guys they don't want to let go just to negate that dead space that blake has taken up yeah well i mean i'll say this this is you know one of these things that gets debated and whatever. I mean, I don't think Mario does Blake Bortles.

No, no, no, no. And I can't. And this is just, you know, as kind of your Jags fans. I mean, if I were a Jags fan, I would have been like pounding the table for them to go get somebody. Right. Because you've got all that talent. And it just seems like you're wasting it by running like Bortles out there I mean why not go get Kirk Cousins or just some I mean there's you know there's

a couple of guys they could have gotten they could at least like just take care of the football and let your defense win games for you it just I don't know man that that would just that would have been really frustrating to me if I were a Jaguar day yeah I think Blake Bortles is terrible I thought he was terrible all along but I mean I't know. But listen, I understand how it goes. I was convinced at one point that Jake Walker was going to be the quarterback. So that stuff tends to happen. It's the nature of the game. And you want to like him.

He's a good dude, whatever. But at the end of the day, he's not cutting it. He's not good. Not cutting it is honestly probably a generous way to put it. But yeah. So that puts Jaguars into quarterback season. I'm all aboard the Dwayne Haskins train. Don't want to get too off topic, though. So when we come back, we're going to be flipping scripts. We're going to be going over this, what they like to call an offense here in Jacksonville versus the Tennessee defense. in Jacksonville versus the Tennessee defense. So, Jimmy, I'm going to go ahead and let you kind of take this over here. I'm sure you have your questions, and it's not so much that you really want to know about what Cody Kessler can do, just more why.

But go ahead and let me hear it. What do you want to know about this Jaguars offense or lack thereof? Yeah, so, I mean, I guess the question is, and it's probably hard to say because, you know, Fournette was out last week, but how does his offense look different with Cody Kessler out there instead of Blake Bortles? So I don't really think Kessler is a good quarterback.

If I'm just going to say it like a simple put, he's not good. But the thing is, is that there's such a drastic uh change in you know what you see from a quarterback that can throw a spiral even that's just like it's it's refreshing it's a breath of fresh air um so Kessler he's not got a strong arm he's not going to wow you with any of the throws he makes the thing is is that they've built this offense on the power run game and it was to hide Blake. That's the idea that it's been all along. Not that they truly believe in the year 2017, 2018 NFL, that running the ball is going to win you football games enough to be a true contender for a long period of time that they wanted to hide

Blake. Cause I mean, ego, that's what drives front offices these days, right? And Dave Caldwell wanted to build around the quarterback that he had, and it blew up in his face. But in order to do that, they've invested in the power run game, invested in their interior offensive line. Obviously, the fourth overall pick on a power style running back that can just chew away three to four yards at a time and take a bunch of time off the clock to keep the defense rested. two away, three to four yards at a time and take a bunch of time off the clock to keep the defense rested. That's their plan. And when Fournette's out there and he's moving the ball, you can plug and play a lot of different quarterbacks. As long as they can throw a spiral, it's fine. And without Fournette, they weren't able to do as much of that last week, but we could see Kessler

making some of the very simple throws that the average quarterback is expected to make that Blake Bortles couldn't do. He just couldn't hit his dudes accurately on curl routes, crossers. He regressed tremendously, and that was like his favorite route to throw in 2017. All the West Coast style throws with timing on the top, on the very top of your drop back as the receiver is breaking into their route. That's when that ball is supposed to be out. And Kessler at the bare minimum can do that. He was viewed as a West Coast fit coming out of USC as a college prospect. He did a little bit of it in Cleveland and he's doing it here. That's what they're trying to get out of him. They're not going to try and add anything complicated to this offense for the rest of the year. They just want to see Kessler do the bare minimum and, you know, be a compliment almost to what they want in their run game when Fournette's on the field. So I guess you could say I was

fine with what Kessler did because he could throw a spiral, but they obviously have to see what they can do with Fournette back on the field. Is there a scenario where they're looking at Cody Kessler as the option to start next year? I think so. Not in a way that he is whatsoever the answer. If he's back here next year, I would guarantee it as his last year. It would be, at best, he is the bridge quarterback for the rookie that they take. best he is the bridge quarterback for the rookie that they take if they're out of contention for a rookie quarterback picking ninth or tenth and the giants are ahead of them i guarantee whoever the gm is at that point dave caldwell or not they're on the phones trying to move up because they know

they have to be aggressive to steer this ship in the correct direction moving up to two with oakland or whoever's sitting there at that point we're so so far removed, but I'm telling you, like I run this through my head every day, that they're going to do whatever they can to get a promising young quarterback in the building. And if they can keep winning some games with Kessler, as well as Scott Milanovic, the quarterback coach promoted to the interim offensive coordinator for the final five games of the year,

if they can get the bare minimum done, win a couple of games, get this West Coast offense that they're still going to run even next year with a new coordinator, I'm not convinced they're going to change much at all with just having Fournette here and what they've dedicated themselves to, spent money and assets on. If they're impressed enough with Kessler, he's able to do the bare minimum. They keep him here as a guy they're comfortable with while the young quarterback grows. Now, I don't know if it'd be a season long thing. It's definitely because Cody Kessler isn't even in the ballpark of Alex Smith, but at least to give the rookie some time, sprinkle in some playing time for him. And once they're comfortable with putting him in, so long as Kessler doesn't get hurt or look like Blake Bortles, then he could be the guy I would personally rather pay Tyrod,

even giving him just a decent contract. And Tyrod isn't great either, but I think he has more to offer than Kessler. Just one of those bridge guys. That's inexpensive, gets the bare minimum done while that rookie quarterback's getting ready. Yeah. And that's kind of,

kind of the next question. I guess this is more big picture stuff than specifically this game on Thursdayursday because i don't really know i mean it is what it is right i promise you it's it's it's not going to be pretty yeah uh but you know like do they do they spend on a guy like time i wrote even with what they've already got invested in blake bortles because i mean this defense yeah i mean your defense with as good as it is and i don't know i mean i've looked the salary cap in the window and all that kind of stuff of what they've already got invested in Blake Bortles because I mean this defense, I mean your defense with as good as it is. And I don't know, I mean, I've looked at the salary cap in the window and all that kind of stuff of what they've got left, but had they missed that window with all these, with all these good defensive players they got,

or do they still have a year or two where they could bring in a quarterback that, you know, might be able to just at least hold things steady, try to get back to letting that defense win games. I'd like to think that they've got time to steer the ship i'm not optimistic just because of how poorly this year has gone but at the same time there are some guys they're gonna have to move around this upcoming offseason some cap cuts to their defensive line and that's where tave and brian their first round pick might make a big impact is that he moved back to three tech they tried him at the defensive end spot it wasn't working back inside as an interior lineman he's looked a lot better in the past might make a big impact is that he moved back to three tech. They tried him at the defensive end spot.

It wasn't working. Back inside as an interior lineman, he's looked a lot better in the past couple of weeks. So if they're comfortable enough, they might let one of their interior guys go and let Brian step up and do a bigger role and hope that the difference isn't too dramatic to where it hurts the team. And if they can do that,

they did that at strong safety with Ronnie Harrison. He came in just last week, his first start, and looked great. A much someone that fits the West coast offense. It could provide a little extra just to get back in it. And then a year after you got to see where you're at with your quarterback and your cap space, just to see who you can extend the cornerstones that you can keep. I'm not willing to put them anywhere near being a legitimate contender, no matter who they land, unless let's be,

let's just call it crazy and say green Bay totally falls apart. And somehow Aaron Rogers is sent for the cheap that them, then we're talking, but I don't see really any way that they can immediately turn around from this year and be legitimate contenders, even if they bring in a really solid bridge quarterback. Yeah, and then back to this team. I mean, you read the names at wide receiver, and D.D. Westbrook, Keelan Cole, both had

big games last year, at least a few big weeks. Son Dante Moncrief in the offseason, drafted D.J. Chark in the second round. What have you seen from that group this year and i guess it's maybe impossible to judge them based on you know the quarterback but it seems like they've got a lot of talent on the outside i mean that that i would take that i mean i i don't know that if i take any of those guys over cory davis right but i'd take all those guys over anybody else titans at that i i think that the moncrief signing was a waste of money when you look at it because he's not going to be here past this year.

They panicked after realizing they can't get Allen Robinson back, that they needed to pay a home guy like Marquise Lee, and they needed to try and woo some people with a decently priced wide receiver who's a big-bodied athletic guy. Moncrief can't separate on deep routes whatsoever, and he's not even that great at doing it on the underneath stuff. He's a straight-line speed guy. If he somehow can catch someone outside,

like just catch them looking and get past them with straight-line speed, then he can separate. He can't do it on his own in route breaks. It's just not there. But he's been force-fed targets. That's just how it's going to work when you're the highest paid receiver on the team. They've used him as a primary read a lot, and naturally his numbers have inflated a little bit.

Keelan Cole, you know, he'll come out and make an impressive play every now and then, even though it's been a little while since we've seen one. But, I mean, the one against the Patriots, like, it caught everyone off guard at how great that was. And you want to see that more consistently, just his ability to make plays. That's what he was supposed to be. And it's not happening. Didi Westbrook has turned into the ultimate possession style receiver that they wanted Marquise Lee to be. He does not drop the ball very much whatsoever. He separates very cleanly. He's got killer speed for yards after the catch I think he's far and away the Jaguars best and most polished receiver right now and Chark is a guy

that's got a lot of potential that's grooming up his game and the mechanical technical stuff of it he's got a long way to go he's definitely a project receiver I think he's going to be more impactful in years two to three than he will ever be in year one. But as of right now, I mean, you put all those guys in one. I'm taking Westbrook 10 times out of 10 as receiver one for this team. Yeah, so I mean, I guess, I don't know. What do you project from this offense for the rest of the season? I mean, are we going to see, or Thursday night, are we going to see 25-30 carries from Leonard Fournette? I mean, do you think that's the game plan coming in?

Whether it's Fournette or a mix of Fournette, Carlos Hyde, and TJ Yeldon, I think that's going to be it. I think TJ Yeldon is going to be the team's leading receiver from here on out, just because of how little arm strength Kessler has and how he likes to really target the short game with the West Coast stuff. I think Yeldon is a great receiving back. He's a versatile guy that can run the ball, but he's a much better receiving third down style of back. And I think he'll get a lot of the targets in the passing game. But I think a mix of carries from Fournette, some short yardage stuff with Hyde and Yeldon, you know, being the change of pace guy. I think that'll be the primary focus.

Maybe we'll see them try and take advantage of some play action because they didn't do it this past week against the Colts while they were getting Kessler adjusted, acclimated into playing the game again as a starting quarterback. But if they feel confident enough with their run game, they might try and open it up on play action to the intermediate levels of the field. But nothing that'll wow you whatsoever. I don't think they're going to try and take the top off the defense with a strong passing game whatsoever yeah i mean it's gonna be i mean i think you've got two teams that are hesitant to throw the ball down the field here and i think most people don't

do it against the jaguars anyway because you know it's not going to be successful very often so i don't know this just sets up for one anyway because it's not going to be successful very often. So I don't know. This just sets up for one of those games that has like the – you know, the 9-6 game to start off the year, I mean, I wouldn't necessarily think that that would be – the Titans offense I would expect to be different, and it wasn't that one because they came in with a blame-gabbert game plan in a game where Marcus Mariota couldn't really throw the ball.

But I don't know how much of a difference that makes. You know, Mariota's had some good games against the Jaguars. But like you said, it's been more with his legs than it has been through the air. So I don't know. I mean, I don't know. You've got any thoughts on predictions or anything for this one? I'm thinking the Titans take it. Second year in a row where they sweep the Jags, which I hate to even think about,

but it's just, they've got the number. No matter what, I think the Titans have the number at this point. They're at home, Thursday night game at home. They're the better team this year so far when you look at it up and down, even though neither team really I would think is that great. Jacksonville's got themselves in such a hole offensively. I think they might actually put up their first touchdown of the Cody Kessler era.

But I think the Titans take it 17-13. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be something like that. I'd be surprised. Like I said, I think the total is like 37, 37.5. I'd be shocked if it went over that. I mean, you never know. Sometimes these Thursday night games go a little bit crazy. But I can't see that happening here. I'm with you. I hope the Titans

win. I hope that we get the Titans team that's at least serviceable. We don't get that every week. Titans are still playing for something. If they win out, they've got a decent chance of making the playoffs. I think that's a long shot for sure, but it's still there. So you would hope that they would at least be the more motivated team on Thursday night. But I mean, who knows? Like I said, we're not sure what we're going to get week to week with these guys.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are playing spoiler at this point. They did it against the Colts this past week, and I'm sure their motivation is to do it against the Titans this week. But if I'm the Jaguars, I'm playing for the quarterback and I'm not necessarily upset with a loss at this point. Jimmy, I want to thank you for coming on and doing this crossover with me. Go ahead and give everyone listening a solid plug as to where we can find your work. Yeah, so Terry Lambert and I, Terry's my co-host on Locked on Titans. We write for museummiracles.com, so you can find us there. You can follow me on Twitter.

I'm at jmorrismcm. And of course, like I said, LockedOnTitans. We write for museummiracles.com so you can find us there. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm and of course, like I said, LockedOnTitans. And you guys can follow all of my work on Twitter at Zach underscore Goodall as well as Chris.

You can find him at Misto Christofo. Make sure to subscribe to both LockedOn shows, Jaguars and Titans. You can find them iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher.

Anywhere you can find podcasts, you can find the LockedOn Network and we will catch up with you guys next time.