Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Inside linebacker review, early look at mock drafts

Episode Date: January 29, 2019

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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 today? Doing alright. What's up, man? Not a whole lot. We've got a few things to talk about. Titans hired a Titans coach and rounded out their staff, so we'll talk a little bit about that. Then we'll talk about the inside linebacker position for the Titans, kind of our positional review. And then we'll look at a few of the mocks from around the league and talk about who guys have the Titans taking currently. Before we do all that, I remind you we're up for musiccitymiracles.com. We're a company with Titans for SB Nation, so you can check us out there. You can follow us on Twitter.

I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. You can follow the podcast account at LockedOnTitans. You can also play the podcast on your smart speaker. Just say play podcast LockedOnTitans, and you will hear us there. All right, so it was announced, I guess, on Saturday morning that the Titans hired Todd Downing as their tight ends coach. Pretty interesting hire here, really.

He's a guy that's only 38 years old, has been in the league for a long time, a lot of different positions. Honestly, his career arc is a little bit like Fred Smith's, not Fred Smith, Arthur Smith, Fred's son, Arthur, the Titans' new offensive coordinator, kind of a guy that started in one of those quality control roles and bounced around both sides of the ball, that kind of stuff, was the offensive coordinator of the Raiders, Todd Downing was in 2017 under Jack Del Rio.

So, I mean, I think a good thing to get a guy on the staff who has some coordinating experience to kind of help out Arzor Smith as he jumps into that role. Yeah, he's an interesting guy. Like you said, the defensive quality control is in his background. Also is a quarterback's coach for the Lions and the Bills. And like you said, landed with the Raiders as the offensive coordinator. Look, it's a tight end's coach.

You're probably not going to see any different things out of that group, honestly. The outside eye won't be able to tell. But I think it is important to surround Arthur Smith with guys that have experience. And Downing at least has experience as an offensive coordinator. He's been down that road. You know, it's Arthur Smith's show. But if he wants to lean on Downing, get some advice, you know, that's going to help out. On game day, it's going to help in the meeting rooms, in the game planning and all that stuff.

So it never hurts to get a guy that's already been an offensive coordinator working under you on your own staff. Yeah, and he was also downing, was also the quarterback's coach in Oakland for the two years before he was the offensive coordinator. And if you go look at, you know, kind of Derek Carr's career arc, I mean, he had at least one really good season with Downing as his quarterback's coach. So, you know, he's got some experience there. I mean, he was in 2015, 2016, that's when he was the quarterback's coach in Oakland.

And Derek Carr threw for 32 touchdowns in 2015 and 2018, 2016. So, you know, a guy that obviously had some success there doing that. You know, and again, I like having guys on the staff that have done a lot of different things. I mean, I think that's important. I think it's, you know, somebody that's kind of seen everything, both sides of the ball, that kind of stuff. I think it makes for a more well-rounded staff, like you said.

And we've had this conversation before about position coaches. None of us know what a good position coach is without some huge body of work. You look at what Mike Munchak has been able to do with offensive linemen, and you know that Mike Munchak is a good offensive line coach, but you've seen it over decades in the NFL. Different teams, different players, all that kind of stuff. How good is...

I mean, we don't know how good of a tight end coach Arthur Smith is, right? I mean, we know that the guys that played for him played well. We know Delaney Walker is a good player anyway, regardless of who his tight end coach is. John O'Smith came on as the year went along. I think that's a little bit of a credit to the positional coach. But from the outside looking in, it's really impossible to tell.

A guy's going to look like a good position coach if he has good players and his guys stay healthy. It's going to be tougher for him to do that if they don't. But I do think you can read a little bit of something into a quarterback coach with a young quarterback especially and how they kind of come along. And so that's why, I mean, I think it's a good hire here with Downing. And, again, you know, he's a guy that has experience doing a lot of different things. So, you know, I mean, so we have a staff that's basically the same as last year.

You just have two guys in different positions, one new coach. Obviously, Arthur Smith, the quarterback, is obviously the coordinator with Will Fleur going to the Packers, Downey coming in. So, you know, continuity there for the staff, I think that's a good thing. You know, I actually expected to see a little bit more turnover just because I thought maybe Vrabel would have some guys that he had wanted to hire last year but weren't available for, you know, whatever reason, just timing and all that kind of stuff. But, you know, we've talked a lot about the importance of, you know, having a staff, having the same message, growing with those guys. And so we're definitely going to see that

this year and i think it's a good thing i don't think we had any you know huge issues when we watched this team play last year i don't think there was anything that you know really looked like a huge hole so nine and seven with a pretty injured team so i'm pretty happy with where the coaching staff is heading into year two under mike braywell yeah i'm same here uh you know and like you said it's always good to get those guys that have done a lot of things uh under your staff especially with an unexperienced guy like arthur smith um so down is going to come in and bring you know he worked with john de filippo last year who crashed and burned but he was kind of a hot name in last year's coaching cycle.

So you never know what you're going to pick up along the way. And, you know, he's not just a tight ends coach, as we learned throughout this process. Arthur Smith ran the red zone and helped out for game planning and stuff like that. So experience adding to this relatively young staff, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. So excited to see the continuity, excited for Arthur Smith to get a shot.

Hopefully it all comes together for a special season for Marcus Marietta. Yeah, and obviously that's kind of how we'll judge this, is really how that plays out, and we've obviously talked about that at length. But, yeah, this is the year for Marcus Martial, the year where they determine whether he's here or not, extension or not, franchise tag, all those things come into play. But I think you get a good staff around him.

I mean, I think you give him the best chance to succeed. And, I mean, I think at the end of the day, that's the best thing for the Titans if that's what ends up happening is that Marcus Mario succeeds. But, you know, that's kind of yet to be seen. There's a lot of variables, obviously, going around with that. All right, so coming up we will talk about the inside linebacker position with the Titans. Before we do that, say about my bookie.

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I think it was probably the most successful position group on this team last year. You know, you had three guys that played at a really high level it took Rashawn Evans a little bit of time to catch up after missing pretty much all training camp the preseason all that stuff but by the end of the year he was playing at a really high level Wesley Woodyard continues to kind of you know defy the the age curve that usually gets these guys and play at a high level. And then you got John Brown who should have made the pro bowl who, you know, arguably the, the MVP of this defense,

you know, you saw him make the big play in the, in the, in that last game against the Colts. So you, you've got a group there that has a good foundation. You got two really young players, and Rashawn Evans will be going into his second year,

Jayon Brown going into his third. Wesley Woodard, a veteran, who will be entering the final year of his contract with the Titans. You've got a lot of good stuff there. And so I think when you start to look at draft needs, and we're going to spend a lot of time talking about that, obviously, over the next couple of months, but inside linebacker is definitely not on that list.

The Titans are set up really well for long-term success there. It's the position pretty easily that you feel the best about, you know, going into next year and really two, three, four, five years down the road. Wesley Woodyard's got one more year on his deal Through the 2019 season really cap friendly deal Only making three point four million So that's just such a great deal because he's still playing at such a high level Rashawn Evans had had his bright spots last year, but I don't think you can take Woody Hart off the field quite yet.

I think he's a starter. But where it's interesting is, you know, we talk about these needs. Titans need a pass rusher. So you just wonder if Rashawn Evans is that guy that kind of comes down to the line of scrimmage. And we didn't see a ton of that last year. You just wonder if you'll see more of that now with Brian Arakpo retiring. Derek Morgan probably going to move on. Titans are going to have to find some pass rush somewhere.

They've got a guy with some ability already on the roster and potentially without a starting spot just yet. So interested to see how they use him. Yeah, and I think we probably would have seen more of that this past year if Evans would have been healthy in training camp. And again, this is all just speculation on my part. But I think with him missing so much time, you couldn't give him maybe as many things as they wanted to in the beginning.

And look, Mike Bram know his in his opening press conference when he got the titan shop we're gonna be multiple and you've got a situation here now where you've got three really good players you know in a system where you you know typically would only have two of them on the field at the same time inside linebackers but when you've got three guys that are playing the level of these guys are. I mean, Jayon Brown was arguably the best pass rusher on this team last year. So you've got a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things. And so you can kind of mix and match them, and you don't have to stick necessarily with the typical

just two inside linebackers from the field. So it's a good problem to have. Anytime you've got an extra guy pushing for a starting position when there's not really one open, that's a good problem to have. You don't see a lot of depth like that at really any position in the league right now with salary cap and all that kind of stuff. So credit to the way that John Robinson has drafted. You can be critical of him on some things, but he's gotten this position right. So that's just a credit to him.

The other two guys that were in the mix there this past year, Will Compton and Darren Bates. Darren Bates is pretty much a special teams guy. I think he was special teams captain this last year. So he's a guy that they'll keep around just for his role in that. Didn't play a lot of defense. Will Compton filled in early on in the year because we had the stretch in the first few weeks there where Sean Evans was still kind of getting up to speed, and then Wesley Woodyard got hurt.

And so Will Compton filled in there. Compton, I think, gave them pretty much exactly what they expected to give them. A guy that's a veteran knows what's going on out there, but athletically he's just a step below these other guys. Yeah, we'll see what happens there. It wouldn't surprise me to see them turn over that position again at fourth linebacker and sign somebody else of that stature. But Compton, I mean, he seemed to fit great with the culture of the team.

I know him and LeJan became instant best friends there. But, yeah, I mean, for me, the only intrigue there is seeing what Rashawn Evans can do with a full helping of training camp there and just kind of learn things on the fly. I just wonder how that would be different if he did get that time in camp. Maybe he can step in and really be a leader there, start to call some plays and see how he can grow as a player. I mean, it's frustrating. We went through it with Corey Davis, and now you went through it with Rashawn Evans.

That matters. Just that time in camp to get in the playbook, get comfortable, just to get everything, your eyes dotted and your T's crossed and all that. It just really helps. I think you saw the type of player

he was late in the year. Same with Corey Davis. I think you saw it come on this year and in spurts last year but hopefully the titans will take someone this year that can participate in training camp and we can get a look at them in the preseason yeah no uh hamstring injuries for the titans first round pick yeah please we're all wishing for this coming year because like i said it's been last two years uh guys missed the entire time.

And, like I said, you see, especially with Sean Evans this year, you saw just the strides he made, the improvement he made week to week. And, you know, I always think back to that Buffalo game where he took the bad angle, didn't look like he, you know, maybe put in the max amount of effort on the Josh Allen touchdown run. But from there, I mean, just every week, every week, he was getting better and better and better. You saw his tackle numbers climb. You listen to people like Dave McGinnis talk about guys that were playing well, guys he's noticing.

Week in and week out, he was talking about Rashawn Evans. Just good to see him grow like that, and I think that's what gives us the confidence that he's going to take that big step forward from year one to year two. And like you said, maybe give him more responsibility. I would imagine, assuming Wesley Woodard is still here, which there's no reason to think that he wouldn't be, he's still going to be the guy calling the signals on defense.

I think they had – Rashawn Evans, he didn't call him in Alabama either, so I don't know what that issue is there. on defense. Rashawn Evans, he didn't call him in Alabama either, so I don't know what that issue is there. But then once you get to pass, if Wesley Woodard is not here like in 2020 and you've got Jay on and you've got Rashawn Evans out there, that's when you've got to make that decision. But, again, that's a fun position to talk about some of these things. We've got a lot of questions about. We're not sure what's going to happen here, what's going to happen there.

But we know that these three guys are going to be back. And that, you know, assuming everybody's healthy, they're going to be one of the best position groups on the team. So, you know, like I said, that's one of the things that when John Robinson's scouting guys and, you know, putting together his big board and all that stuff, he doesn't have to worry about that position. So, you know, the more of those you can have, obviously, the better. All right, so coming up, we'll finish up looking at a few mock drafts

from around the Internet. So we've kind of picked out three mock drafts here to look at, one from Dan Kadar, Mocking the Draft, SB Nation, and then Daniel Jeremiah, Move the Sticks, NFL.com, and then Kyle Krabs, who's part of the Draft Network. With Jeremiah and Kadar, you have the Titans taking a receiver, which, again, my preference would be address receiver in free agency, get a couple guys there, get some experience in that room.

I just don't know if you need another young guy in the room. Now, if you're not able to do that for whatever reason, if that doesn't come together, absolutely, playmakers, we talked a couple weeks ago, you know, offense dominates the league, build up the offense, all those things. Absolutely true. But I know, so Kadar's mock that came out today, I recorded this on Monday night, had the Titans take a Marquise Brown wide receiver Oklahoma, and then Jeremiah's mock draft had them taking DK Metcalf from Ole Miss. And I know you've got an opinion on those two guys.

Yeah, two totally different players. Marquise Brown is 5'10", 175 pounds, soaking wet. Elite speed, track star guy. I just don't know if that's the way to go. Maybe I'm just too close to the tail on Taylor situation and to be clear Brown that as truly elite speed Something that Taylor might not have but I don't know. I've just been burned there

I'm not sure Brown wins like a like a normal receiver in today's league wins You know, you look around the internet with all these comps, and they're commenting him to Deshaun Jackson. I just think that's a pretty unique player, and I'm not sure that works all the time. You look at DK Metcalf, you're talking about a legit 6'4", 230-pound guy that can go win you 50-50 balls and has the deep speed to go with it. There's some injury concerns there.

Missed half the season at Ole Miss, I believe. Doesn't have the production that we know John Robinson likes. He's a redshirt sophomore. So I think all those things are working against him in terms of the Titans' interest. But, again, I'm with you. I totally get it, though. him in terms of the Titans' interest. But again, I'm with you. I totally get it, though. If I look at the Titans' roster as an outsider and I'm doing one of these mock drafts, yeah,

I'm giving them a receiver because it's Corey Davis and just nothing else on the roster. So I certainly get it, but I'm totally with you. I hope they address it in March and not in April. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, wide receiver is, you know, when you look at needs, it's in the top three, and we can debate all day long whether, you know, edge, defensive line, wide receiver, I mean, where those shake out. Again, we're both of the belief, I think,

go build up the offense, whatever that takes. Let's get that done. It's not a tight end. These guys aren't mocking tight ends to us. You appreciate that part of it. I don't know. We'll see. Like you said,

I think I'm with you. I like Metcalf better. The thought of him on one side and Corey Davis on the other, that would be pretty exciting. You'd have, at least from a potential standpoint, probably the most two talented receivers the Titans have ever had. We just look at size, speed, measurables, all that kind of stuff. Production, obviously, would be yet to be seen. But, you know, I mean, I look at size, speed, measurables, all that kind of stuff. Production obviously would be yet to be seen. But, you know, I mean, I would like that.

Again, the way that I look at it, let's do that in free agency. And then you're looking at getting the best defender in this draft. And whoever that is. I mean, obviously in 19, you're not going to have your pick of all the guys on the board. But this draft, from all accounts, is very deep on edge rushers, very deep on defensive linemen. So Kyle Krabs had a mock that dropped, I think, today, and he had the Titans taking Polite.

How do you say his name jakai polite jakai polite uh edge rusher from florida now again you're talking about raw athleticism a guy that you know that's got all the the measurables that you need how long does it take him to become a productive pass rusher in the league you know i think is a is a question that we can talk about. But, I mean, again, you look at him coming off one edge and Lender coming off of the other, that's going to be terrifying for quarterbacks. Yeah, I'm for anything in the front seven.

You know, I'm honestly not going to be picky. I think the Titans need some talent there. It depends on, obviously, what they feel in free agency in regards to a pass rusher. But, again, I think they like what's on the roster, too. I think they did a good job of really making that room a lot better with Correa. You know, you got Harold Landry there, Sharif Finch. I think those are three really good players. You might add a veteran into the mix.

You might be set for next year. Obviously, if a guy like Polite falls, that's going to be hard to pass on because that's certainly a need. But, you know, I think they've got a lot of options there on the front seven alone. Jeffrey Simmons is a defensive tackle from Mississippi State. Christian Wilkins has been a popular mock draft pick, the defensive tackle from Clemson. So pass rusher, whether it's on the outside or the interior, like I've been saying, they just need some disruptors.

Get Jarrell Casey some help. Yeah, and the interesting thing here, if you look at Krabs' mock draft, I think, was it Bradbury? He's the offensive lineman everybody's falling in love with. I think he's still on the board here, wasn't he? Which, again, is an interesting discussion. I still am of the,

we talked about this before, but I am of the belief you could find that guy somewhere else. We talked about this before, but I am of the belief you could find that guy somewhere else. But I do get the argument for that because, again, if we're talking about you've got to load up on offense, that's the way to win in today's NFL. Well, if the Titans can't block people coming up the middle, then obviously that is something you'd have to consider. But I think, again, I think that's something that they can address maybe in a free agency or maybe in a mid-round pick versus where you're not going to get the elite talent in an edge guy.

Now, again, these guys, I mean, it's kind of hit or miss on these guys. There's going to be three or four guys that go to the combine, put up ridiculous numbers. Guys are just like that. You just have all these athletic guys right now. But I would still take, I don't know. I think even if they don't really upgrade the interior offensive linemen before the first round of the NFL draft comes around, I'm still good with them taking the pass rusher there. And I'd counter that argument with saying if you're going to stick with the zone scheme,

you need those elite athletes up front. And I don't know that you're going to find the guys that can really move up front on day two, on day three. move uh up front in the on day two on day three uh i i think a guy like bradbury with the athleticism that he has uh it's going to come off the board pretty quick and you know you just kind of got to ask yourself how would that transform the team how would a how would a really athletic center transform this team and i think we both agree that ben jones took a step back last year um you know the office of the line as a whole was inconsistent. I just think if that's what you're trying to be, if you're trying to run the football, establish Derrick Henry,

work off of play action, I just think you max it out. Obviously, all of this hinges on what John Robinson does in free agency, but you just hope he's got the flexibility to take the best player on the board. But I'm certainly not going to be upset with Bradbury, a guy with really elite athleticism and a guy that I think could transform this offensive line. But interestingly enough, I'm looking through canard's mock here really quick none of these none of these three guys have bradbury going the first round yeah he was a hot guy last week uh

had a really good week down at the senior bowl uh a guy that a lot of people expect to rise so we'll see yeah um and you know i mean i'm sure he'll test well the combine and all that kind of stuff too but just interesting that that's not. So we'll see how it goes. I mean, obviously these mock drafts don't really mean anything. And, you know, every year you see a guy like a Harold Landry who's going, you know, consensus top 15 in mock drafts last year, Titans get him in the second round. And you'll see a guy rise up on a board that, you know,

that didn't get picked early. None of these guys had to go in the first round. Yeah, it's funny because it just feels like the top 15, you have a pretty good idea. But after that, man, nobody has a clue. It gets wild. It does. And, again, it's also when you have a position,

when you have positions that are really deep, sometimes you see some of those guys fall because guys feel like, well, I need to reach here because I've got five guys that I've got graded similarly. I can get one of them in the second round, but I've got this receiver. John obviously talked about that when he took Corey Davis. I mean, just basically looking at, hey, they need a receiver. You've got these three guys. They're all going to be gone even when you have your second first round pick in that draft

so you go ahead and take the receiver and deal with the cornerback thing you want to take a Dory Jackson all that plays into things we'll see how these things where the buzz is going after the combine alright so that'll do it for tonight

thanks so much for listening again you can follow us on Twitter I'm at jmorsmcm so you can follow us there wherever you get'm at jmorsmcm. Terry's at tlembertfb. So you can follow us there. Just get the podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Search out Locked on Titans. And on your smart speaker, play podcast, Locked on Titans.

For Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to Locked on Titans. And we'll talk to you again tomorrow.