Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: March Madness -- Bracket style debate on the biggest Titans bust in history

Episode Date: March 20, 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 pretty well. What's going on, man? Oh, not too much. Today we're going to work through a bracket of biggest Titans busts. We appreciate South Texas Titan, our friend on Twitter, for throwing this idea out. We're going to do this contest on Music City Miracles as well later on in the summer. So be watching for that. That's kind of what we're going to do today. So hopefully that'll be enjoyable.

We've had some pretty good laughs walking through it before we came on. Before we get to that, again, remind you we write for mutacymiracles.com so you can find us there. Cover the Titans for SB Nation. You can also follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlamberttn. You can get the podcast wherever you get your podcasts,

including the new podcasting app, Himalaya. Check that out. But you can get us on Google Podcasts, Apple, Spotify, wherever it is. Search out Locked on Titans. You can also play us on your smart device. Just say play podcast Locked on Titans. If you want to react to this show or any other show, we have a voicemail line that you can call in and you can leave us

a message. Do one of those shows this week. I think we've got two, so if we get a couple more, we can go through that. 615- 787-8762. Call in there, leave us your feedback, and we'll get to it on the show. Alright, so like I said, we are looking at the biggest Titans

busts of all time at South Texas Titan. Had the bracket on Twitter, so you can check that out there. We did make one correction to his bracket. We took out Kenny Britt and added in Chris Henry. So just keep in mind, if you go and look at that, the bracket that we're working off of, moved out Britt, put Chris Henry in. Because, I mean, Kenny Britt, you know, maybe didn't look to the pick,

but, I mean, he Britt, you know, maybe didn't live up to the pick, but, I mean, he had some good games here. So, I mean, I didn't necessarily think he deserved to be on this list. So, Chris Henry absolutely did. So, that was the swap we made. All right, so kind of working from the top of the bracket, the first matchup we have is Vince Young versus Kendall Wright. Both first-round picks, both guys that definitely did not live up to their potential, live up to their draft spot.

But for me, and I'll tell you on his piece of this in just a sec, when you think about what drafting a quarterback, number three overall, does, a guy that doesn't pan out, doesn't really even make it to his second contract, what that does is set the franchise back. I think you have to move Vince Young on here. Now, again, I think you can make the argument that Vince Young had the better career, but when you look at overall impact on our franchise, I have to go with Vince Young. Absolutely, for the reasons you just laid out. Taking Vince Young at number three. You know, Kendall Wright was somewhere in the teens, and had a he was okay You know, he wasn't anything special

I Remember he he didn't perform very well at the combine He was a 511 receiver that ran like 4-6 and Titans still took him there So I was never blown away by this pick it turned out He was just a so-so receiver, but Vince Young, like you said, you miss on a quarterback in the top three. You're stuck for five years figuring out whether or not he's the guy that sets you back for five years. So Vince Young, while I don't think he's totally a bust,

and there was just a ton of other factors that we could talk about and have talked about, Vince Young gets a nod for me. Yeah, because Kenneth Wright did have one. In 2013, his second year, he caught 94 passes for 1,079 yards. Only had two touchdowns, but still. He did some things here. So move Vince Young on there. Next matchup we have is Akeem Ayers versus Bishop Sankey.

I'll let you start that one off. Bishop Sankey. This is the you start that one off. Bishop Sankey. This is the easiest one on the board for me. Ayers, while he wasn't super productive, he had some decent years. He was at least a role player here.

Bishop Sankey was handed the keys to the car in the Titans' backfield and was thought of as the next great Titans back. He comes out and runs for 56 as, hey, the next great Titans back. He comes out and runs for 569 yards, two touchdowns, averages 3.7 yards per carry. I don't know if I've ever seen a running back quite like that. Just flame out. Maybe there's another one on this bracket that we'll talk about later.

But the Titans certainly have two of the biggest second-round running back busts in maybe an NFL history. So Bishop Sankey is certainly the play for me here. Yeah, I mean, look at Bishop Sankey. So he was the first back taken in that draft, which is wild. But, yeah, like you said, he played two seasons here. I guess got a look a couple other places with the Chiefs and the Vikings, but never actually made their rosters or carried the ball for them. You know, had the one season where he had 569 yards.

Then the next year, 2015, 193 yards. Just never, never, it never happened for him. You'll see a theme as we go through this. We were talking about this before we came on. The second round has not been kind to this franchise. A lot of these guys that we're going to be talking about here are second round picks. A lot of them being Rustin Webster

second round picks. It was one of those days where nothing about him was spectacular. He had a good career at Washington. He carried the ball a bunch. It was one of those guys that you could watch tape on, you could get excited about. But it just didn't work out here.

And then, like, Akeem Ayers did some things, and then they were able to trade him for a draft pick, and he went on to have a little bit of success, at least, with the Patriots elsewhere. So I think that Sankey's definitely the bigger loss there. The next one, Chance Wormack versus Jared Cook. You said that one was easy. I think Chance Wormack versus pretty much anybody, spoiler alert for me here, is pretty easy.

Chance Wormack was the guy, man. We all thought that he was going to come in and just save this franchise. That was the thing. He was a can't-miss guy. You don't take a guard that early unless it's a guy like Chance Wormack because you know that you're going to be able to plug him in, and he's going to be your guard there for the next decade. That was what everybody said, and then it turned out to not be the case.

Like you said, he liked Taco Bell more than he liked football, and it just didn't work out. He went on to the Eagles after he was here, and he's kind of been a role player there, but definitely didn't live up to the spot he was drafted at. Jared Cook has actually had more success

since he left here than he did here. They couldn't really figure out how to use him here, but he also seemed like he couldn't catch the football here, which is kind of a problem for a tight end. And he also, you know, it was one of those deals, and I can't say how many of these guys we've seen here over the years, but, you know, guy goes one way, ball goes the other way. Jared Cook seemed to be that guy all the time where the quarterback was throwing it to a spot,

Jared Cook was going to a different spot. Hard to know exactly whose fault it is, but when it's happening to Jared Cook over and over and over, eventually you blame Jared Cook. But with all that being said, I think you've got to advance Wormack here. Yeah, it took Cook forever to become a part of the offense. 74 yards his rookie year, 361 yards the next year, 759 in year three. So he had some decent years here, 523 in a contract year,

ends up going and signing with the Rams. I don't think he holds a candle to what Chance Wormack was. I think some of this is our fault as Titans fans for as much as we hyped up Wormack was and you know, I think some of this is our fault as Titans fans for as much as we Hyped up Wormack, you know, I think coming from Alabama that hurt too, you know We just thought he was gonna plug in he was gonna be this monster that that just plows the road for for Chris Johnson And it just did not happen You know, we made excuses for him the first couple years and then year three we were just like man Maybe this guy just didn't very good

So he ends up going to the Eagles So now I think that hype around warmak, which is kind of ironic that that a guard gets hyped up But that's how bad the Titans offensive line was the year before So the pressure we kind of put on him Really contributed to this. But, yeah, I'm like you, Wormack, and I'll landslide in this one over Jericho. All right, our next matchup, Chris Henry versus Damian Williams. You know, Damian Williams didn't do really anything here,

was another guy that, you know, as Titans fans we fell in love with because he was the receiver that we drafted. And it just seems to happen all the time that no matter how talented or not talented or whatever, the wide receiver that comes in here, if it's kind of unheralded, but you can watch enough, you know, highlights of him from college to fall in love with him. He can have success in camp, you know, whatever it may be. David Mendes is one of those guys that I think we all kind of sold ourselves on.

Hey, this is going to be the guy that finally kind of puts the Titans over the top. Obviously, it didn't play out that way. I mean, he did some things here. Went on, I think, to play. I'm trying to pull him up real quick. I think he went on to play for the Dolphins from here. So, you know, it was okay. But look, Chris Henry, come on.

It was a pick that just never made any sense. You know, he was not good in college. The only reason that he got picked where he did was because of the, you know, the crazy fast 40 time he put up at the combine. You know, somebody in the media here, I can't remember who it was, He did it because of the crazy fast 40 time he put up at the combine. Somebody in the media here, I can't remember who it was, gave him the nickname the Cockroach because he ran into darkness, and it was just really perfect for what he was.

Again, you look at his college production, and you couldn't figure out why they would take him. Then you saw the numbers. In his career here, he had 31 carries for 119 yards, and he's probably remembered more for getting blown up on that kickoff return against the Colts than anything else. Yeah, one of the most amazing stats I've ever come across. He was picked, I think it was the 50th pick, and he had 32 career carries. That's it.

That's all. 32 career carries in the league. So This is a really easy call to hear Damian Williams had at least he had two like solid years. I think he did some things in his rookie year 2011 he had nearly 600 yards receiving so he had at least a role on this team as a second or third option In the passing game. Obviously, didn't have the longevity. But, you know, you look at Henry, like you said, the workout warrior,

you were just hoping that this got projected and the light would come on. And, boy, it just did not. You know, he never even really got a chance. You know, 31 carries in his rookie year. That was about it. He had one carry the next year, you know, averaging 3.8 per touch. So, just kind of goes to show you that the workout warriors at the combine, the guys that win in February, don't always win in the fall.

Yeah, absolutely. So, pretty easy to advance Chris Henry there. Coming up after this, we will move on to the next section of the bracket. Jake Locker against Terry's favorite draft pick for the Titans of all time. Alright, so like I said, the next section we have here is Jake Locker versus

Jeremiah Potasi. I'll let you kick off with that one. Oh man, Potasi. I feel bad going Locker here, but I feel like I have to, just being the eighth overall pick. But Putasi was just a horrible pick. I remember the night that he was drafted,

just knowing that it was going to be a bust. That's only happened a few times here. And ironically, Jake Locker is the other one of those. So Putasi would have advanced for me if he hadn't been seeded against Jake Locker. But, man, you go up against Locker is the other one of those so put a C would have would have advanced for me if he hadn't been seated against Jake Locker, but man you go up against Locker pick eight overall he struggles with accuracy Titans still take him You know everything looks mechanically sound. He just can't hit the broadside of a barn with a football Titans just decide Hey, we're gonna fix this guy. That's that's just not how you draft a quarterback in this league. So This guy that's that's just not how you draft a quarterback in this league. So

Where he was selected number eight overall again kind of similar Vince Young You're pinning the next four or five years of the franchise on this guy and look he had his moments He did but it took him a long time to get there and then you throw in the injuries And it all just spiraled out of control. He ends up retiring early, I believe going back home to Washington or wherever. But it's Jake Locker for me, but, man, I really did want to put Patassi through. Yeah, like you said, I mean, there are very few guys on this list that Patassi would not have advanced against, but Jake Locker is one of them. Again, just because he's a quarterback and he's selected so high,

that's really what does it for you there. You know, again, another guy. It's amazing how many of these guys on this list that I could buy into the hype of as it was happening. And then you look back and you're like, why did I ever even – like when you – the guy that couldn't complete – what was that? I can't remember what his completion percentage was at Washington

in his senior year, but it was terrible. It was like, oh, it was the receiver's fault and all this stuff. Just kind of bought in there. But, yeah, just being the quarterback, Patazzi never had a chance. It was just a terrible pick from day one. Pretty much everybody except for Russell Webster apparently knew it. So there you go.

All right, next one, Ben Troup versus Db doro green beckham um you know i like the doro green beckham pick when it happened um a guy that had all the physical tools you know obviously had had some issues off the field while he was in college uh has had some some issues off of the field uh you know since then he's now, I think, for drug possession or something. A couple weeks ago, I saw that come across. So, you know, the problem with him was he was, you know, an early day two pick, second round guy that, again, all the measurables, but just never could do anything here. He had 32 catches for 549 yards in his one season he did anything here.

Tried to the Eagles, had 32 catches, 392 yards for them. So, you know, just with all the hype and everything surrounding him, just really thought he had a chance to be pretty good. Benton Troop never amounted to anything, but he was with the team and did at least produce a little bit of something for a few years. So, obviously, neither one of these guys is a great pick, but I think you have to give the nod to Doral Greenbeck. Absolutely. I'm with you there.

Another case of the fan base kind of hyping him up, and how could you not? I remember this guy was the number one overall recruit when he signed with Missouri. So he just has all the measurables you could ever want. You know, I had some concerns going through the draft process with him. I thought he was a little stiff. I didn't think he ran a full route tree there. Titans moved down to get him, still end up with him. But, you know, you start to talk yourself into it.

You know, 6'4", 225-pound receiver, you know, any fan base is going to talk yourself into it. 6'4", 225-pound receiver. Any fan base is going to talk themselves into that. A guy that can run pretty well, too. Just for the simple reason of he kind of came in with Marcus Mariota. He was going, this was going to be the face of the franchise for the next seven or eight seasons. To see him shipped out after year one was kind of shocking. And it was one of the things that John Robinson did first when he got here. So clearly there was some attitude issues there.

Maybe he wasn't working hard enough. But like you said, Ben True at least had a little bit of a role, a little bit more longevity with the team. So I'm going DGP. Yeah, all right. so that moves us into uh kevin dodd versus andre wolfolk uh another one of this is this is a tough one um you know and and dodd obviously is is the more recent of the two uh andre wolfolk was picked i think back in 2003 so some people that are fans of the team now might not have even been fans of the team

when he was drafted. My initial thought was it has to be Woolfolk because he was a first-round pick. But then we were talking, like I said, before we came on, and Terry pointed out that Dodd was the 33rd pick and Woolfolk was 28th. So there's really not any big difference there. So I think Dodd is the guy to move on here. Woolfolk did hang around for a little bit and I saw an interesting note on Wikipedia of all places. Andre Woolfolk had three career interceptions

and all three of them were thrown by David Carr. So I don't know what the odds of that happening for a guy, what the odds of that are, but that's how his career played out. Neither one was a good pick, obviously. And like I said, Andre Woolfolk was a really, really bad first-round pick. But when you take into the fact that he was here for a little bit, did contribute at least something. When you had Kevin Dodd, it was basically a first-round pick.

And, you know, it pretty much ended up being a bust from day one. And, you know, I think you give Kevin Dodd the nod there, so to speak. Heavyweight fight here and honestly a mistake in the seating. We kind of toyed with the idea of reseating this thing just because of this matchup here. But I'm with you, going Kevin Dodd. Titans got nothing out of him. He just didn't play hardly any games.

You had the foot injury through training camp. And then you had the whole thing where he wasn't with the team. I just remember all that trauma. Titans really needed a pass rusher at that time, a third guy to come in and kind of rotate in. Dodd had every opportunity to be that guy, but injuries held him out. I remember his weight ballooned to 280. So it just, for a multitude of reasons, mainly probably because of the injury,

Dodd just didn't work out here. So that's my pick. All right, and then the final matchup of the first round, Justin Hunter versus Zach Brown. Now, Justin Hunter is near and dear to your heart, so I'll let you start this one off. Well, I think before you start here, you've got to factor in that Titans moved up to get Justin Hunter in second round.

Gave up a third next year, I believe. You can verify me on that. Justin Hunter was a guy that I knew very well coming out of the University of Tennessee. Just exploded onto the scene his freshman year. It looked like A.J. Green. It looked like just the next great receiver to come out of Tennessee. Then he blows his knee out against Florida,

and the guy just wasn't the same after that. He was just a skinny, fragile guy who didn't work to catch 50-50 balls. I was down on him through the draft process. Of course the Titans move up, and of course the Titans take him. Maybe it's personal here, but I'm going Justin Hunter. I know he had that game winner against the Chargers, but he really didn't do anything else here. So Zach Brown, I feel like, at least had a couple of decent years

where he had carved out a role on this team. But Justin Hunter, you just couldn't trust him to do anything. Yeah, the Titans, so they moved up from 40 to 34 to pick him, and they gave away a third-round pick in the next draft and a seventh-round pick, I think, in that same draft. So, yeah, actually pretty expensive to go up and get him for what he did. He pointed out that game-winning touchdown. That was from Jake Locker to Justin Hunter, two guys on this list. So good stuff there.

But, yeah, I think you're right. And Zach Brown was obviously not successful here. He was really fast. I remember the one game. I can't remember who they were playing. Was it the Jaguars? I can't remember. But anyway, he ran an interception back for our touchdown. And, I mean, the Duke would fly.

And he's gone on to, you know, have some success a couple other places. He was in Buffalo and I think just got released by Washington last week or the week before, whenever it was. Didn't do much here, but I think you're right. Once you consider in everything it took to move up to get him, I think that Justin Hunter is probably the right move there. All right, so that will take us into the round of eight, and we will get that kicked off with Vince Young versus Bishop Sankey right after this. All right, so Vince Young versus Bishop Sankey. I think what this really comes down to is quarterback versus any other position. Right?

I mean, Vince Young, third overall pick. Hear us when we say this. No doubt that he had more NFL career success than Bishop Sankey. than Bishop Sankey. But I think it's really hard to put Bishop Sankey in over him just based on everything that that Vince Young pick and his time here did to this franchise. I am with you, but I really want to put Sankey through. Just can't do it.

I'm like you, quarterback, top three pick. You see what he did his rookie year. You see how it fell apart. The whole deal with Jeff Fisher. The whole deal throwing his pads in the stands. You had that night where he was on suicide watch. It was just horrible the way it ended. And sad.

You know, I think a lot of people loved Vince. You know, I was one of them. Everybody wanted that next great quarterback to love after Steve. He was setting up to be that guy, and it just fell apart. So tough call here, but I'm going Vince. All right, so that takes us to Chance Wormack versus Chris Henry. Again, Chris Henry was terrible, Wormack versus Chris Henry.

You know, again, Chris Henry was terrible, and I don't know, it's hard to judge success of an offensive lineman in the NFL. But, I don't know, I think you have to move Wormack on here just because of where he was drafted. Again, Chris Henry was at least a second-round pick. Wormack maybe did more in the NFL than Chris Henry did. I mean, pretty much anybody that's played in the nfl than chris henry did i mean pretty much anybody that's played uh in the nfl has done more than chris henry did but i just when we talk about a top 10 pick it's hard to it's hard to it's hard to call a second round pick a bigger bust than that guy

yeah he was the savior he was going to get uh cj back to to 2 000 yards, and he came in, and he was just not very good. He was an average guard in the NFL, maybe below average. So I think we really undersold his lack of athletic ability there, looked past it because he was just blowing people up at Alabama. But Chris Henry has no production, but for what Chance Wormack was taken to do for him not to do it, that was really devastating. So I'm going Chance.

What Chance Wormack was taken to do for him not to do it, that was really devastating. So I'm going Chance. Okay, and the next matchup is Jake Locker versus DGB. You can give your thoughts on that one first. This is another tough one because Greenbeck was coming in with Mariota, like I said, and they were going to be the face of this team. But, again, Jake Locker, I knew it from the first night. Everybody knew it that had looked at any college

tape whatsoever. Just sold as a guy similar to Vince Young that was going to come in and be the face of this franchise. Titans forced it. They took him honestly around too early. Vikings did the same with Christian Ponder.

Just because of where it is, that 8th pick versus pick 40, I'm going Jake. Yeah, I agree. And then you also, I think, have to take into consideration that the Titans got Dennis Kelly in a trade from the Eagles when they sent Doral Greenbackham. So Doral Greenbackham at least did something for this franchise, and bringing back to this, Kelly, who's been a very valuable asset here. He's had to start at times. He's had to fill in in games at times.

He's done a really nice job there. I remember so many people killed John Robinson for that trade when it was first announced. You're trading a second-round pick that's got the lowest potential for a backup tackle, and it turned out John Robinson was like a genius in that deal, just from the standpoint of, obviously, like I said, I was in jail now, and Dennis Kelly's a guy that you're talking about the Titans are going to have to evaluate where he's going to play,

if they're going to give him a new contract, all that kind of stuff. The guy's been valuable here. So, yeah, again, in quarterback you move on there kevin dodd versus justin hunter uh again this one i think as much as you know you talk about hunter and what he didn't do and what they gave up to get him at least he did something whereas kevin dodd really did nothing but provide a distraction so i think it's pretty easy to move him on there yeah just a guy with zero production. A guy that really only got drafted because of the efforts late in the playoff

and in the national championship. So just a really bad selection here by John Robinson all the way around. Justin Hunter, he at least did something. That's more than you can say for Kevin Dodd. So Dodd moves on. Alright, so that gets us into the final four. First matchup, Vince Young versus Chance Wormack. Your thoughts?

Man, this is tough. This is tough. I think ultimately for me, it's going to come down to Vince at least had some bright spots. You think back to that rookie season, the way he came back in those games, how dramatic those games were, just bringing the Titans back from the dead. I'll never forget that run in Houston to win the ball game.

I don't think Chance ever did anything like that. You know, Chance was taken with kind of the window open there with Chris Johnson. Titans still had a decent defense, had a good rushing attack. You know, Wormack was taken to get the Titans to the next level. I just, I'm going Chance. Yeah, I'm with you. Just again, you know, and Vince got this far based more than anything else.

I mean, the third pick, we had a quarterback. But, yeah, he had some highlights, you know, rookie of the year, was the quarterback of the 9-17 that went to the playoffs in his second year. So, yeah, I mean, I think that it's tough to, with Wormack doing absolutely nothing, it would be tough to move Vince on there. So then you get to Locker and Dodd. I don't know.

The argument is kind of similar to me here. I mean, Dodd being a second-round pick, carries a little bit more whatever there. But, again, Jake Locker locker bad quarterback you know that that causes all kinds of problems that we've already talked about but i think you got to push dot on here because at least jake locker did have some good things that he did uh man this is it's yeah it's a dead heat for me because you've got to weigh the fact that Locker was taken eighth, was put in all this pressure of being the franchise quarterback.

But, man, Kevin Dodd did nothing. Just keep coming back to that. You can't be picked at 33 overall and give your team nothing. Maybe it just rubs me the wrong way, the way it all went down, how he wasn't with the team working out that one offseason. Maybe it was just injuries. But I hate to just keep agreeing with you, but it's Kevin Dodd for me slightly over Jake Locker.

Yeah, and then it gets to Wormack versus Dodd. You know, there are no winners here, obviously. Wormack, man, I mean, he's a tenth overall pick. And, again, the guy that was billed as you draft this guy you don't have to worry about that position for a decade and here we are not close to a decade later and still being worried about that position so it it's really hard for me to put anybody over him i mean i to for me he's the the you know quote winner here but i mean i think you can make a pretty good argument either way but you're talking about a guy being picked

10th versus the guy being picked in the 30s i i just think that has a lot more weight yeah with dodd you at least have the excuse of the injuries right with warm, you really don't. You've got the excuse of he ate too much Taco Bell. So that, for me, just the lack of the drive to want to be successful for what he was drafted to be, for what he was sold to be, yeah, yeah. Chance Wormack, because if Wormack pans out, Chris Johnson still has a couple of good seasons left in him, and there's no telling where this franchise could have gone

because they were right at that 8-8 window right there. So if you can fix this rushing attack, truly fix it, the Titans could have had a couple more really good seasons right there. There you go. Chance Wormack, the biggest bust in Titans history, according to us. Again, if you have feedback on that, please share it. You can get us on Twitter at jmorrismcm, at tlemberttn. You can react there.

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