Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Free agency news; Edge rusher prospect talk

Episode Date: February 21, 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 tonight? Doing well. What's going on? Not too much, but there was actually some NFL news today. So we were kind of talking yesterday about how it had been really slow. And, you know, again, with the NFL being as year-round as it's turned out to be, there are not many periods, like week, you know, a couple week periods where there's not a lot of news. But we got some we got NFL news rolling today. So we'll talk a little bit about that and how some of it may or may not pertain to the Titans. Before we do that, we'll tell you to subscribe to the podcast Locked on Titans on iTunes, on Stitcher, Spotify, wherever you get podcasts. Check us out there. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at Jay Morris MCM.ry is at t lambert fb

and the podcast account is at locked on titans and we will do another question and answer episode it'll probably be next week uh one of the one of the few episodes we do before the combine so follow us there we'll send out a tweet for responses there and we'll answer questions uh on that thread so check that out to get that in uh titan's news today the titan signed ryan suck up to a five-year contract extension uh 20 million dollars total money uh so obviously averages out to four four million per year um it's the second largest total money contract for a kicker in nfl history um but the four million per year makes him i think i read the third or fourth highest paid kicker in the nfl currently at that you know average per year so not surprised that they um that they

resigned suck up i mean obviously he's done a done a great job since they found him a couple years ago, but was a little bit surprised at the amount of money that he got. Yeah, and it's like you were saying before we hopped on. We don't really know what the terms of this contract are. You know, there's always an out, it seems, that can cut some money off the top of that. But, yeah, it does seem like a lot. Suckup's one of the better kickers in the league, but what's the difference between the 5th best kicker

and the 20th best kicker in the league? I just don't think it's that great. So if it was a situation where the Titans needed money and were short on cap rooms, this move would be criticized a little bit more. But they've got so much space uh it doesn't really matter so i don't mind locking up a guy that's been consistent for you uh it's just one less thing you you've got to worry about absolutely and you know like you said there

may not be a big difference in those guys but if you don't have you know one of those top 20 guys we've seen what that can do to a team that's constantly searching for a kicker so yeah they got the money um you've got a guy that you know he's been in your building for the last couple years you know his work ethic and all that kind of stuff so i mean i i think it's a good deal from that standpoint and you know we've talked about contract situations and all that stuff with the cap room that they have right now and then again with lil juan coming up with mariotta coming up in the next couple of years, eventually they're going to get to a place where they will be kind of right up against the salary cap, but they're not there right now. So I would imagine that this is a deal that most of the money is in these first couple of years.

And then if his production or whatever drops off after the first two or three years, they can cut him and it not cost them a lot. So I'm good with it. two or three years they can cut him and it not cost them a lot so i'm good with it um you know like you said it's one less thing to worry about and it is a you know a big deal uh to have your kicker and to not to worry about that so um good just kind of getting the ball rolling on free agency there and so we'll see who else they lock up from their guys they're they're scheduled to be free agents here in the next couple weeks before that period officially opens i think on march 14th i is when that starts. Obviously, a lot of that stuff gets going next weekend at the Combine.

The tampering stuff and all that starts to happen. Most of that stuff kind of kicks off at the Combine. Get this done, one less thing they've got to worry about going forward. Another big piece of NFL news today was the Dolphins franchise tagging Jarvis Landry, which, I mean, I think it comes as a bit of a surprise. I mean, Jarvis Landry is a good player, you know, a guy that has been solid, has been productive for the Dolphins in that offense. But he's not a guy that is really, I mean, I don't know.

You said check down guy before we jumped on here i mean i kind of he doesn't seem like a guy that defensive coordinator necessarily afraid of so now you're going to pay him 16 million in 2018 i mean i would assume they'll try to work on a long-term deal there you know there's some noise out there that part of the reason that they did this so early was to basically say okay okay, now he's available for trade. But I think that becomes pretty expensive if you want to try to acquire him in a trade. And then any team that's going to acquire him in a trade is going to want to work out a long-term deal for him

because, again, a $16 million cap number for a receiver, but a receiver that's Jarvis Landry seems like a pretty expensive number for that guy. Yeah, 16 million for a slot guy, a guy that's going to catch nothing but short routes, a guy that really doesn't push the ball down the field. It's just odd, just really weird. I'm not sure that there's a team in the league that's going to take on that deal. Maybe the Browns, if you want to pull one over on them. But I just don't understand this. I really thought he was

going to hit the market. It just seemed like his time was done. You had heard the trade rumors there for the past couple years. So kind of surprised to see this, but clearly Miami wants something out of him. So they'll pay him $16 million this year and maybe he hits the market next year but uh yeah i had heard some some chatter about wanting to add jarvis landry here with the titans and i just don't understand uh you know taewon taylor is not there yet clearly but he was drafted to be that guy and i i just i just don't see spending that type of money on a receiver

as something that John Robinson really wants to do. Yeah, and any guy that you sign, whether it be Jarvis Landry, I mean, obviously they have to trade for him, but Paul Richardson, I mean, guys that are rumored. We talked a little bit about Sammy Watkins last week, but anybody that you sign automatically comes in in front of Taewon Taylor. So then you're pushing taewon taylor at best to your fourth wide receiver and then if we talked about tajay sharp coming

back i mean you've got some other things in consideration there i don't know it seems like if they were going if they gave big money to a receiver it would almost be like they were giving up on taylor and that seems just kind of foolish at this point because again we've talked so much about this about the offense last year and all that stuff. We saw Taewon Taylor have some flashes of being a really good player, a guy that can bring something to this offense, a speed element that some of the other guys don't have. So I just can't see them giving a bunch of money to somebody

to come in and bring them in in front of him. You know, maybe I'm wrong. We'll see how it plays out. But I just, you know, they wouldn't have spent that pick on Taylor if they didn't think he could play. I really don't think John Robinson and this coaching staff, I don't think anybody's going to give up on any of these guys based off of what they did in Terry Hrabisky's offense last year.

No, and I agree with that. I've said it before. I really think we're going to see them add, and I don't have the list in front of me, but kind of a bargain bin, for lack of a better term, type receiver. A guy that's going to come in and push to be the number four, be the solid number five. You always need depth in this league.

I just don't think they're going to be in on any of these top guys. We're talking about top guys. It's Dante Moncrief and Paul Richardson here. That's the market right now. Sammy Watkins is out there. We've talked a lot about him. I just don't think they're going to be in on any of those guys. I don't have a name to drop for you,

but I think it's going to be something that's probably not on your radar, but in the end will be a team-friendly deal and a guy that's going to come in here and produce and provide depth. And you made a good point, too, with the lack of star power or lack of talent that's going to be available at the wide receiver position. These guys are going to get way overpaid. And, you know, again, I just don't – I don't know. I mean, you're going to give all that money to a guy that – I mean, any of these guys, Moncrief, Richardson, even Sammy Watkins, they've shown some flashes, but I don't know.

I mean, it just seems like a deal that would get you in cap trouble down the road, and the Titans have done a good job of staying away from that and have got a young nucleus now that eventually they're going to need to pay. So I just – I don't know. I'm with you. I just don't see it as something that they end up pursuing. And I know, again, I just think as Titans fans we're conditioned to need a receiver every year and want to bring in the big guy.

But first of all, the guy's not there this year. And then secondly, I just don't think it's a need. I really – when you – if you want to sit down the big guy. But first of all, the guy's not there this year. And then secondly, I just don't think it's a need. If you want to sit down and list their top, what do you have to get? Seven, eight as far as need-wise before you get your receiver? I mean, I don't think it's any higher than that. Yeah, it's way on the list. I mean, you've got a top four there that you feel pretty good about.

You've got Tajay Sharp coming back. I think people forget about him. And, again, he's not a game-breaker or anything, but he's a solid guy. He's what you want out of your fourth or fifth receiver. So, again, we'll see if they hit the bargain bin with. We'll see what they come out with. It's not going to be a top guy. I feel pretty confident in saying that. If John Robinson is going to spin, and, you know,

every indication says that he probably isn't, it's still going to be on the defensive side of the ball. Would you agree? Absolutely, yeah. I think we should be talking more about free agent corners than receivers. I know you don't think that corner is that big of a need. Right, but it makes more sense. Yeah, I think they're much more likely to spend there than they would at receiver. Like you said, offensive side of the ball, Right, but it makes more sense. The only place I could see them even bringing in a name that would make people excited on the offensive side of the ball would be a running back. And again, I just don't think, not that they won't sign like a Jarek McKinnon or whoever, but if their contract demands start to get to a certain point, they're going to be out on that.

Because you can get a guy that's a similar skill set, if not better, cheaper later in the draft you know obviously not have to give them as much money up up front as you would a mckinnon and you don't have to spend you know even that high that much draft capital on them so you know this is going to be a thing that we'll get into i'm sure and i remember both of us taking different turns on the mcm twitter account last year defending against the people that want them to sign every free agent you know this is the way they need to do it so i'm sure that will happen again. But just kind of to set expectations in what we expect, I don't see them. I don't think they're going to sign a name on offense

that's going to get anybody really fired up. No, and I agree. You hit the nail on the head with the running backs in this class. I mean, this class is absolutely ridiculous. The depth that it has, you're going to get guys going into the fourth, fifth, sixth round that you can put on the field in a specific role. So, and that kind of seems to be the trend. You know, you can pretty much find running backs anywhere that can produce,

you know, there's example after example after example, year after year. So, I mean, I'm firmly against spending anything in free agency for a running back I just think you go to the draft, you get that young guy somebody that's going to give you 8 years at a franchise and that way you don't have to spend big money on a position that you can just find literally anywhere. Yeah, sure.

And then one more note as far as news today. You got Josh Sitton, the guard with the Chicago Bears, that they cut. He's 31 years old, has been in the league for, I think, six or seven years, but is a guy that's been a solid player was with green bay and the bears if you look at his pff grade and this is from mike's post on music miracles.com so you can you can check that out there uh i mean he's never graded worse than like an 85.7 so a guy that has been a solid player in the league, a guy that has experience in the zone blocking scheme. So if Josh Klein is not a route they want to go, I think Sitton's a guy that they would definitely at least have some talks with and find out where the money is and that kind of stuff.

But I do think he's a guy that would be a pretty good fit for this team yeah and you know when his name hit the market today i i immediately thought he was a a good option for the titans and i don't really think that with everybody like like some fans do uh but if josh klein does hit the market and they want to go a different direction sitting is a guy that could kind of bridge the gap you know you you kind of had josh klein in there to bridge the gap but you can do it again uh a guy that could kind of bridge the gap. You know, you kind of had Josh Klein in there to bridge the gap, but you can do it again. A guy that's been down the road a time or two, a guy that you can plug into a new offense,

and he would likely pick it right up. So, yeah, that would be probably an upgrade. 32 years old, he's not the long-term fix. And I don't know what kind of price he's going to demand. But Hinton's got to do something to shake up that offensive line. It was just so inconsistent. You know, you saw it at times look decent, but this drop-off from 2016 to 2017 was concerning.

So, John Robinson's got to mix up the formula there, and Sitton is an interesting name I think we're going to hear a lot about. formula there and sitting is an interesting name i think we're going to hear a lot about yeah so again those are just some news pieces that dropped today and so it's good to see after you know again yesterday we're kind of complaining about the lack of news so uh hopefully we'll get some more of that in the coming days and maybe even the titans locking up a few more guys before they head to indianapolis for the combine combine to just kind of give us a an indication of where they're going to be after that all right so coming up here in a sec we will talk a little bit about edge rushers which is I guess the biggest need that Titans have heading into free agency heading

into the draft and kind of where we right now expect them to go with the 25th pick. All right, so if you don't know, Terry started out at Music City Miracles as our draft guy, has obviously done a whole lot more than that now. But he spent some time today watching the edge guys that are right now in the first round discussion, guys that have been linked to the Titans at the 25th pick. So, Terry, kind of give me your rundown of those guys, what you see, strengths and weaknesses, and, you know, who you think the Titans could be targeting with that 25th pick. Yeah, just getting started here, and I'll obviously get deeper as I've got more time.

But just took a look at really the top three guys that you've seen mock to the Titans. And, you know, lately you've seen an uptick in Sam Hubbard. He's a pass rusher from Ohio State. He's 6'5", 265. You know, you hate to use the white guy cliches, but that's kind of what you've got here. You've got the high motor guy that's not a great athlete, but is kind of a technician. He works off of blocks.

He's strong, holds up against the run. Just not going to be that difference maker in the past rushing game. So that's a guy that you would like on day two. Definitely not day one for me, even though that's kind of where you would like on day two. Definitely not day one for me, even though that's kind of where you're seeing him mocked. Marcus Davenport has kind of been all over the place. Of course, from UTSA, he's kind of the small school guy that's blown up. He's big, huge.

He's 6'7", 255. He's a power rusher. Really has heavy hands. He's a power rusher. Really has heavy hands. Sends a jolt into some tackles when he punches coming off the edge. You just don't see the bend, the natural bend from him. So he's pretty raw as a prospect.

He doesn't really have that. He just doesn't really have the moves that you see a Harold Landry type have. So still kind of raw. He's going to probably blow up the combine, though. He's a really nice athlete. You know, with small school guys, you just want to see him dominate the smaller competition, and he definitely did that. I thought he struggled a little bit with Texas A&M,

a little bit of an inconsistent play there going up against a future NFL tackle there. But, you know, he's still a guy that you like, a guy with some upside, a guy that can develop. And it's interesting, you've seen him in the top ten of some mock drafts. You've seen him all the way down into the second round. You've seen him mock the Titans. So really hard to get a feel on him.

But, you know, obviously you've got Bradley Chubb at the top, and he's far and away the best pass rusher of this class he's probably going to end up as a colt uh so i won't spend too much time on him but for me my money is still on harold landry if he can fall to 25 uh jimmy we've we've both said that if he goes and and blows up the combine that's gonna end the titans at 25 talk with him uh but you're just talking about a guy that has a really nice get-off, really can bend the edge, just really natural ability, a lot more polished than a guy like Davenport.

He's still the ideal pick for me. Again, I just don't know that he falls to 25. We'd be cheering for him to not participate at the combine, right? Yeah, that'd be nice. If we expect him to fall to 25. You need more questions, the better with him. Yeah, and, I mean, again, we talk about this. Those guys, those edge guys, they go quickly in drafts,

and there will be a guy or two that, you know, separates himself from the pack with his numbers in the combine. It happens every year with these guys. Just the size and speed combination that they have these days, teams fall in love with that. And so it won't be surprising to see some of that. But it will give us a better indication, I think, of where these guys are going to go at that point. I mean, chances are that at least probably two or three of them will be off the board when the Titans pick, maybe four. I mean, you just never know.

Like I said, these guys tend to take on a life of their own once the combine comes around and they put up those numbers. So it's interesting to talk about. And again, all the stuff that i've read on harold landry i really really like him and and so i just i hope that the injury kind of he's kind of slow coming back from that and that kind of pushes him down some people's boards because we know john robbins is not afraid i mean obviously they want the medical to check out um but you know like with cory davis last year that was the deal he didn't didn't participate

the combine didn't end up getting to run at his pro day. And so I think some teams were scared off because of that. But if your doctors check him out and say, okay, he's going to be fine, and you see the production on tape, you don't necessarily need the combine numbers. And so that could be a benefit there. Talking about Sam Hubbard real quick, I think that he's an easy plug to the titans just with uh obviously the needed edge and the familiarity with you know a kerry coombs who's going to be on this staff who was with him last year uh at ohio state so i mean it makes sense as far as that goes but i i'm just i i'll be curious to see if he's a guy that's still there

at 25 you know where does john robinson value him versus some other things that he could be looking at? And again, I think last year we knew they were going to take a wide receiver and a cornerback in the first round. I mean, there was basically no way that that wasn't going to be the way it played out. This year I think there's a little bit more flexibility with what they'll do. Now, obviously, you know, picking at 25 is much different than picking at 5 and even 18. But I think they've – edge is a big need.

But other than that, I think they've almost moved to a place where they really can sit there and look at who the best player on their board is and take that guy. I agree. And edge is a spot that you can't force you know it to a certain extent you've either got it or you don't uh at least in the first round so if you're not athletic enough um your ceiling is low and you're not going to go in the first round so uh with a guy like hubbard i just you know if he's your last option and you've got a need to fill, I'm still not going to take it. You know, I just don't see the upside there.

A lot of GMs will have thresholds, athletic thresholds, that they want these guys to hit with their 40 times, with their jumps, with their three cones. So I'm not sure John Robinson operates that way. I think he values more production than anything. But, you know, Hubbard just doesn't do it for me. If we're talking day two, sure, that's a different story. But, you know, he's picking at 25.

Those pass rushers just don't last. So I'm kind of interested to see how they fill this. They might get a guy in free agency and kind of wait until next year. But they've got to restock the room. You've got the potential of Arakpo and Morgan walking out the door next year. So got to do something, got to get the ball rolling this year for sure because Kevin Dodd ain't giving you anything. No, absolutely not.

But anyway, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out, and we'll watch that kind of stuff. And we're going to have John Ledyard on next week to talk a little bit about specifically running backs in this class because I know he's done some work on them. So we'll talk a little bit to him about that kind of stuff. And obviously that's another piece. I don't expect the Titans to go there in the first round, but I think that's somebody they'll take in the first couple days.

So we'll watch. We'll kind of keep an eye on that as well. But anything else on these Edge guys before we head out? No, like I said, I've just started. For those of you that don't know me, I've got a 16-month-old running around the house that I chase all day. So I fire up YouTube during nap time and try to get to know these prospects. So we'll dive a little bit deeper.

We started on Arden Key today, so be on the lookout for that, probably after the combine. You know, the combine is going to tell us a lot about these guys. They'll tell us immediately right off the start how athletic they are. So that will help us out a lot. Yeah, and we'll have to dig, like you said, a little bit deeper too because if there's not a guy there at 25 i don't think they force it and so then we'll look at guys second third round that they could be available so we'll check that out we'll be back again tomorrow with another episode uh depending on you know any news that breaks

tomorrow we'll obviously discuss that kind of the beginning and then we'll jump a little bit into the defensive side of the ball probably look at the defensive line on the current Titans roster and see what they have there. So, again, please follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at tlambertfb. Podcast is at LockedOnTitans. So give us a follow there.

Subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. That'll get you the newest episodes as soon as they are available. Check out our site, musicofmiracles.com, where we cover the Titans for SB Nation. We'll have a ton of stuff as it happens throughout the day. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to Locked on Titans, and we will talk to you again tomorrow.