Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Early Draft Talk, Super Bowl Reaction

Episode Date: February 5, 2018

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked On Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you? Doing well. How was This Is Us last night? Yeah, so this episode is coming out a little later than normal because I had to watch This Is Us last night. It was good. You know, I think you should watch it. I tried, man. But anyway, finally found out how Jack died and he was dead, but finally got to see how that whole thing went down. There was a little bit of a twist in there that you didn't really see coming, so I guess that was good.

But anyway, that's not what the show's about. Terry and I write for MuseumMiracles.com. You can also follow the podcast on Twitter now. We have a Twitter account for the podcast, at LockedOnTitans, so just search that out. Don't do the one the podcast, at LockedOnTitans, so just search that out. Don't do the one with the underscore, LockedOnTitans, that was from the former people. We're just at LockedOnTitans.

Check that out. At some point during this offseason, we'll start doing some Twitter question and answer type deals, so follow us there, and then we'll tweet some stuff from there, and try to question and answer stuff, try to feed it all through that account. But anyway, like I said, you can check us out at museummiracles.com. You can also subscribe to the podcast, iTunes, Stitcher,

wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to us on Spotify. So check that out. And like I said, we'll be bringing regular content from now, I mean all the way through the offseason. At least three or four times a week, each week. Just subscribe and you get all the stuff there. Obviously, the biggest stories today are about the Super Bowl.

It was a great game, especially if you like offense. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of the Georgia-Oklahoma game in the college football playoff. And we both watched and enjoyed watching. And I do, I mean, I am a fan of defense, and so I like to see games that are, there's some scoring, but it's not up and down the field. Super Bowl last night was up and down the field, most yards ever in a game in NFL history, not just a playoff game,

but a game, any game ever played. So really interesting to watch that. Obviously, he will come out on top. And I don't know. You can kind of give me your biggest takeaways. For me, watching the way that Doug Peterson coaches a football game is just really fun. And I hope that that's what the Titans and this staff is a group that's going to be innovative that's going to think outside the box is going to do some things that you know most other

coaches in the nfl aren't willing to do you know going for it on fourth down at the goal line you know 99 of the coaches in the nfl kick a foot but doug peterson they talked a couple weeks ago i read an article from espPN about their use of analytics and how all these different down-and-distance type things and where they are on the field, that's all talked about before the season starts. And they pretty much stick to it. If their numbers say you're better off going forward here than kicking a field goal or punting, whatever,

they stick to that and they stick with the numbers. You saw that play out. You saw that they're actually committed to that, the fact that they did it in that spot. Because like I said, I don't think that very many other coaches in the NFL would be willing to do that. And then above that, just the way that they reset their offense in the bye week, right after the regular season before they had their first playoff game, they went back and looked at what Nick foals did with chip kelly there what he was successful doing and they implemented a lot of that stuff

they tailored their system to the guy they had running it and again you know that's something we harped on that all season long about how malarkey rabisky did not tailor the offense to mariota we hope this new staff is going to do that, and hopefully seeing a team that did that not just at the beginning of the year but at the beginning of the playoffs and not saying, this is our system, we're going to stick to it, we're committed, but a team that went back and re-evaluated everything to fit what they had.

Seeing a team like that have the ultimate success, hopefully that's something that this staff here takes notice of and that they do heading into 2018 yeah the thing that stood out to me was creativity uh how many trick plays see you know that one that that foals caught that stood out the one that brady dropped uh that was going to go for a big chunky yardage. So to pull out the trickeration on the biggest stage in the world, that's pretty cool to see. But you touched on it, going for it on those fourth downs for Doug Peterson. I thought the play of the game or the decision of the game was going for it on fourth and one from midfield.

Most teams would have just punted there and handed the ball back to Tom Brady with the chance to go down and take the lead. You know, I tweeted out when it happened. I was like, I wouldn't give the ball back to number 12 either. They ended up getting it. They ended up getting the touchdown. And you know what happened from there. You know, the big play from Brandon Graham, the importance of a pass rush,

even though there wasn't much defense. It played in the game. The big pass rush at the end and wasn't much defense. It played in the game. The big pass rush at the end and the fumble recovery by Derek Barnett really sealed it up. So that was interesting. But yeah, just the creative offense. You know, you saw spread concepts. You saw RPO concepts.

You saw a whole lot thrown at these defenses from both sides of the ball, really. So again, like you were saying, that's something that we want to see this Titans team utilize. The pieces are in place, we feel. You just, I loved how Peterson kept New England off balance, mixing in the run, mixing in some deep shots, utilizing the short passing game. It all just really clicked really well. And, you know, hats off. Nick Foles is a Super Bowl winner.

That's crazy to say. He went out and beat Tom Brady. And it just kind of proves that you don't have to have the best quarterback in the world if you've got, you know, the right offensive scheme. In today's league, I think you can scheme some things open. You saw the pass catching backs. Corey Clement played a huge role in this game. So, just hats off to Doug Peterson.

That was a hire that I wasn't so sure about. But, man, he proved everyone wrong last night. Yeah, and it was a wild game. I mean, you know, they said, I guess, ratings were down. I know they were down locally. Not sure about nationally. I think they were down locally. I'm not sure about nationally. I think they were down a little bit there as well. But, I mean, all the intrigue you could want.

I mean, you have the backup quarterback. You have the underdog Eagles that have been the underdog in each of their first two games in the playoffs and won both of those games. And, you know, you had, I guess, somewhat controversial calls. Here's what I hope. I hope that the NFL in this offseason figures out a way to bring back common sense to what's a catch and what's not. When they're talking about that Zach Ertz touchdown, about how it could possibly get overturned,

I mean it's just the dumbest thing in the world. And I go back to Clay Travis had an argument about the Jesse James play, you know, the one that got overturned earlier in the year, Steelers and Patriots, and about how, you know, if you were playing backyard football with your friends and that play happens in your game, not one person says, oh, that's incomplete. You know, and same thing with that play last night. I mean, Urge catches the ball, takes two or three steps, dives into the end zone, crosses the play, I mean, you know, all those things.

And luckily they, you know, they got it right on the field. They got it right in replay. The Corey Clement play was kind of the same thing. It was a little bit closer to me as far as the ball moving and all that stuff, but he never lost possession of it. But I just hope the NFL does something in the offseason. I don't even know what the rule is right now. The whole survive the ground thing that's gotten brought up this year, I don't really know what the rule is right now. The whole survive the ground thing that's gotten brought up this year,

I don't really know where that came from. I don't know if it's in the rule book or just something that somebody said and it has just kind of caught on. But those plays shouldn't be reviewed. Those are Eckers' plays. That's a touchdown. Anybody that's watched any football can see it. My wife, she watches a lot of college football.

She doesn't watch very much NFL football. She said when they were – because Collins, he he was 100 sure that they were going to overturn that and my wife's like if they overturn this i'm never watching another nfl you know again you know and i'm like oh gosh but you know i mean it would have been ridiculous i mean we think we i think we can all agree on that but you're probably like me sitting there saying they're it's 50 50 in my mind i mean i don't they shouldn't overturn it but you but there's that little bit of, I don't know, like you're thinking, hey, this is going to be one of those calls that gets overturned and the whole Patriots conspiracy thing gets brought up again and all that stuff.

I mean, it really felt like it had a chance to go down that road. Luckily, it didn't. And again, I was for the Eagles. I can't ever cheer for the Patriots. But more than anything, you just want the game to be played on the field. You want the correct calls to be made. And so when you see a play like that, you want it to be called correctly. And that's what ended up happening.

But again, I just hope that they do something in the offseason so we don't have multiple plays like that in a game. And then when you're playing a regular season week, there were five or six of those calls it seemed like every Sunday. Yeah, and more than anything, just having a call that doesn't benefit the Patriots, that was a big deal to me. Because like you said, if they rule that incomplete, then the Twitter world is going to be in an uproar, and rightfully so.

I mean, it was a catch, no doubt. Use some common sense. So if that call went the way of the Patriots, then you can kind of sort of raise your eyebrows after everything that happened, you know, in our game against the Patriots. You know, the Titans looked pretty good, and then all of a sudden, bam, two, three calls go against them, and the referees took over the game, and suddenly the Titans were down 21-7.

So that was a big thing for me. I applaud the NFL for getting it right, but that's a play that should never go to review. I mean, who's making that call? He took four steps and clearly crossed the goal line. It used to be if you crossed the goal line, the play was over. I don't know what happened to that, but apparently you have to cross the goal line. You know, it used to be if you crossed the goal line, the play was over. I don't know what happened to that, but apparently you have to cross the goal line and, you know, if the ball touches the ground, it can't move.

So, I don't know. I think they're just kind of making it up as they go. But, yeah, Rockadel's got to get control of these referees. It was as bad as it's ever been this year, and it's really frustrating to watch. Yeah, and again, this is a conversation we can get into maybe at some point during the summer, but with ratings being down, we know all the reasons, the protests and all that stuff,

the people that are getting away from football because of concussions and all that kind of stuff. I think all that does play a factor into it. But I think inconsistent rule application I think is right there with that stuff as far as people just feel. If people feel like the game is fixed, they don't want any part of it. That's why these leagues are so adamant about keeping gambling out. They don't want that, just even that hint of suspicion that something like that could be going on.

So anyway, hopefully they can, like you said, just get the refereeing a little bit under control and do some things to make that better next year. But, you know, all in all, it was a great Super Bowl. It was really fun to watch. That's all you want. If your team's not in it, especially, and you don't have a hard-rooting interest one way or the other, you just want to see a really good game.

And that game was fun. It was fun to watch. And so it was a great way for the season to end. All right, so that will kind of do it for our thoughts on the Super Bowl there. Coming up, we will talk a little bit about the draft because now it is officially draft season. All right, so the Titans have the 25th pick in the draft. We knew that already even before the result of last night's game.

But now, you know, the whole draft order, I think with the exception of like the ninth and tenth picks, I think it's Raiders and 49ers, I believe, that have to do a coin toss. A couple of coin tosses, I think. I'm not sure on that. Gotcha. So, anyway, it's pretty much all set at this point. We know pretty much where everybody will be picking.

So, you know, this will be kind of our first, I guess, look at draft needs for the titans and talk a little bit about that obviously these things will change as we go through the offseason as people you know get released and then free agency and all that stuff so they'll fill some of their holes in free agency so the needs might change a little bit but for now i mean i think we both agree that the top need the titans have this offseason is getting a pass rusher, an edge player, outside linebacker, whatever you want to call the position. That's the biggest need the Titans have.

Like you said last night, you can see, even if it's just for one play, the effect that getting a pass rusher can have. And the Titans, while they have some nice pieces in Arakpo and Derek Morgan, guys that are getting up there that are going to need to be replaced sooner than later. But even if they're still playing well, they need some depth at that position. They brought in Eric Walden on a one-year deal. We'll wait and see if he's brought back or not. He did a nice job.

It was a really good signing by John Robinson. But he's not enough. They need to go in there into the draft and find a guy that can be a difference maker find a guy that the the opposing offensive coordinator has to scheme against has to worry about and i just i don't think from a pass rushing perspective the titans really have that right now i mean i think jorel casey is their best he's really, really good. But you don't get that same effect from a defensive end 3-4 that you do from a guy coming off the edge. Yeah, so it's kind of interesting. You talk about the contract expiring from Arakpo and Morgan next year. They're going to be around this year,

assuming that Johnson keeps them around, and he probably will. But are either of those guys difference makers? assuming that Johnson keeps him around, and he probably will. But are either of those guys difference makers? I mean, I feel like they're just kind of solid players. They're going to produce seven to eight sacks a year, but they're not really going to take over a game. So the Titans have really been missing that on the edge that can make a difference and really get after the passer. So, yeah, that's my number one need.

Looking ahead, if it's not addressed this year, it's going to be a big problem next year. But it's a little difficult this year because, you know, the Titans are picking at 25. Those elite athletes off the edge, they don't last until pick 25. You know, you see those guys go top 10, and that's where we're used to picking. We're used to looking at the top players of each draft. Well, we have to go on down the board this year.

So it's a different feel. And right now people seem to be connecting the dots to Harold Landry out of Boston College, 6'3", 250. I did a post on him on musiccitymiracles.com. You can check that out. He's a really productive pass rusher, 16 1⁄2 sacks last season, fell off this year and got hurt, injured his ankle. But you talk about a physical presence that has some real burst off of the edge,

that's Harold Landry. So we'll see if that ankle heals up. Again, he missed the last five games of the season. Unsure about his status for the combine, but if he is able to participate there, I think he's going to show out. And he might, you know, take himself out of consideration for the 25th pick. He might go sooner than that. So we'll get into some more names in the coming weeks for sure,

but I think everybody listening can probably agree that pass rush is the number one concern going forward. Yeah, and on Landry, just real quick, I mean, you know, John Robinson showed last year with picking Corey Davis fifth. You know, Corey Davis missed all the offseason stuff, the stuff leading up to the draft with with his injury uh so Robinson is not afraid to take a guy who he's seen production from in college uh just because they're not able to go at the combine I mean obviously each situation is different you look at each injury on an individual basis but you know that's not a thing they would be scared off from doing it if he's not able to

participate so you know maybe on one hand it might be better if if he's not able to go at the combine because like you said if he goes there and he tears it up then you know he's a top 10 guy probably because we know how much teams fall in love with with athletes that show out at the combine especially off the edge i mean those guys even even if they don't have much production in college if they go there do they go to indianapolis and they tear it up, those guys shoot up boards. So, yeah, that'll be something interesting to watch. And like you said, there'll be a lot more names that will surface, and we'll have to dig deeper than we have in the last few years,

at least for the first round, because, like you said, there's been so many top five, top ten type picks, and they don't have that this year. And then just talking a little bit more about needs, they need an interior offensive lineman or two i think um you know and i heard some talk the other day about how you know josh klein could be a better fit for the offense that we think lafleur is going to run than he was for the one that malark and rabisky ran um so maybe you know the need to replace him not as high anymore but then quentin spain is a guy who was a better fit for the offense

that they had last year. So Ben Jones had the injury, had some issues. I mean, I think he's still going to be your center next year. But they need to add at least some depth, if nothing else. But I think you could replace one or two starters in that group early in the draft. Now, hopefully they don't have to do it with the first-round pick. We see teams all the time that find those type of guys later in the draft. Now, hopefully they don't have to do it with the first-round pick. We see teams all the time that find, you know, those type of guys later in the draft that can come in

and can even play from day one. So hopefully that's something they'll be looking at. And then outside of that, you know, we talked a lot about a pass-catching type running back, somebody that can do something in the passing game, you know, that has that speed, that burst that, you burst that we know Derrick Henry has once he gets to full speed, but we need a guy that can do it without needing all the time to build up and all that kind of stuff to complement Henry.

And then I think corner is still a position they'll look at. I feel pretty good about Logan Ryan and Adore Jackson, but behind them, Simms has played well at times. They've had some guys that have come in and done some good things, but they could definitely use another guy that could come in and be a lockdown-type guy that they don't have behind the top two right now. Yeah, corner's interesting because you've got LaShawn Sims, you've got Ty Smith.

I don't know if you take one high. I don't know where you play him unless you take a nickelback type, which is possible. But I think those top four are pretty set. I'd be surprised at this point if they spent a high pick on another corner. Unless, like I said, there's a fit in nickel, which NFL teams run most of the time now. So keep that in mind.

But I think safety, too. You look at Jonathan Ciprian. You look at his misses, honestly. That one missed tackle against the Patriots really stands out. It's just not very good. This tackle against the Patriots really stands out. It's just not very good. Really disappointing signing so far from John Robinson.

And they're paying him a lot of money, but supposedly they can get out of the contract if they need to. So that might be a spot where we get a surprise need created there if they move on from Supran. So, yeah, I think safety, getting someone that you compare alongside Kevin Bayard, that would be big. And then, you know, like the offensive line has to be addressed. If nothing else, get some competitive depth to push Josh Klein,

to push Ben Jones, Quentin Spain. I think that would go a long way. And, of course, running back. You know, look at Corey Clement. We've already talked about him. Look what James White has done. Look what Deion Lewis and Rex Burkhead have done. So a back like that would go a long way for this offense.

Again, not that Derrick Henry can't. It's just kind of a different feel. A guy that can get up to speed. A guy that's a little more shifty. And Deion Lewis would be a guy to keep an eye on, too. You know, a guy from the Patriots uh who's going to be a free agent obviously we I don't think either one of us would want them to spend a ton of money on him or on any running back for that matter but if you can get him at a good deal um that you

think uh that he can come in and you know help your offense which I think he absolutely could um no I don't know he's just a guy that I think will be on their radar but again it just depends on you know where the money goes with him. It's going to be interesting to watch. We're talking about Sadie's real quick. The other thing is we know some staff like Ciprian, obviously. John Robinson signed him. They talked about how they were going to use him as a dime linebacker

and all that kind of stuff when they signed him. He got hurt. It didn't necessarily play out that way. But we don't know how this new staff may not care for that. They may not want him in that capacity. So there's just going to be a lot of stuff that we maybe think we know that we don't actually know when it comes to personnel. Once John Robinson, Dean Peave, Matt LaFleur, Mike Vrabel,

obviously get in a room and sit down and start looking at what they have and what they want. So that'll be something that we might get some surprises that we wouldn't get, you know, if we had the same staff here. So that'll be something to keep an eye on. And like Terry said, I mean, we'll get a lot more in-depth to this as the offseason goes along. And we'll get, you know, once the combine happens,

we'll have a better idea on where some of these players will probably go. Terry, anything else we need to touch on today? I think you made a good point there. Let me touch on it real quick. You know, going from zone blocking, from a man blocking scheme, we don't really know what the staff is going to like. We know what John Robinson likes. We had a pretty good idea of what they were going to take when Malarkey was in town.

But new coordinators, new position coaches on both sides of the ball. It's going to be interesting to see if that draft strategy changes at all in terms of what kind of players they like. Yeah, sure. So, I mean, that'll be something that – and I don't know, you know, it'll be hard to know how much of an indication we're going to have on that. And we'll probably get a little bit in free agency based off of guys they may sign or guys they may release.

It's a different offseason. Obviously, that's exciting for us. That'll do it for today. We'll be back on Wednesday with a new episode. Between now and then, check out musicofmiracles.com. A lot of content going up there still. Even in the offseason, we'll be covering everything

that goes on. So you can check that out. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at tlambertfb. And, again, you can follow the podcast at LockedOnType. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening, and we will talk to you later this week.