Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Matt LaFleur hired, Super Bowl talk and a massive NFL Trade

Episode Date: January 31, 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 good. We've got a newsy night here. Yeah, a lot of news to break down tonight, so that's always exciting. So what we're going to talk about tonight, we're going to talk about Titans hiring an offensive coordinator. We're going to talk a little bit about a big trade that was announced kind of right as we were getting ready to jump on and record this show. And then we'll get a little bit into the Super Bowl at the end of the show before we do all that we'll tell you that Terry and I write for

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episodes as soon as they become available so do that it helps us out and like i said that they'll get the stuff to you as as quickly as it as it hits the hits the market so to speak uh also tonight sponsored by my bookie mybookie.ag. We'll talk a little bit more about them here in a little bit. But for all of your Super Bowl betting needs, you can check out that site. And like we've said before, the best thing about that is you get paid quickly. You don't get a runaround or whatever to get your payout. So check that out, mybookie.ag.

And like I said, we'll give you a little bit more information on them here in a few minutes. Okay, so obviously the big news of the day, for the Titans at least was the titans hiring an offensive coordinator matt lafleur so it was a name that was i had kind of given up on because you know he interviewed he was the third interview that things did for the head coaching job um and then obviously they hired mike vrabel and then it was announced that he would stay in Los Angeles with the Rams to be their offensive coordinator. Now, we had talked a little bit about, initially, some people had said maybe LeFleur will come on as OC. I guess that was kind of a hot rumor in the beginning. It had died down a little bit.

But the attraction here over the Rams is obviously the fact that he'll get to call the plays and he'll be the guy designing the offense Mike Vrabel is a first year head coach Mike Vrabel is a defensive guy so you're gonna you're gonna see a little floor with you know kind of having his his scheme his his play calls his play designs all that kind of stuff he'll get to run his offense where you know as long as he was with the Rams working for McVay he was always going to running mcveigh stuff probably wasn't ever going to get the opportunity to call play so that's why it makes sense for him to make the move here and if he wants to you know one day be a head coach if he comes here turns his offense around has a franchise quarterback already in place then obviously that gets his his name on the radar more so even than it was this last time.

Now, you know, it was interesting. Initially, the Titans interviewed him for the head coach position, being a guy that was a first-year offensive coordinator that hadn't called plays before. But, Terry, I'll let you give your theory, kind of, that you've been saying since it was announced that LeFleur was going to interview here. Yeah, I just kind of get the feeling that they knew Vrabel was their guy,

and interviewing LeFleur for the head coaching position was kind of odd to me, just a guy that had never called plays or anything like that. And they kept saying leader of men. Well, Vrabel fit that much better than LeFleur did. So I kind of got the impression that they were interviewing LeFleur for this job from the start. And I've got no information on that. I'm purely guessing here. But it would make sense to me that Amy Adams, Amy Armstrong, and John Robinson will want to meet with the guy that's going to be in charge of the offense.

So obviously the wrinkle here is ryan day and you know the more i think about that the more i think his agent just kind of played the game really well and kind of parlayed that into a raise and a promotion for his client so i'm not sure where he fits in there there and i'm not really sure why it took so long um like jimmy said i had kind of written him off just because, well, you know, I thought we would hear it sooner if it was going to happen. So interesting that it comes back up today. Interesting that they had already made some positional assistant hires. But I think you've got to be excited.

The guy turned around that offense with Sean McVay and made them one of the best in the NFL. Obviously played a hand in Jared Goff's development. Everyone had written him off as a bust after his rookie season and came back with a vengeance this year. Todd Gurley came back heavy this year and was a candidate for an MVP. So you think about what Derek Henry could do down the road. You think about Marcus Mariota.

The pieces are in place there. Now, my initial impression was, or impression is the wrong word, my initial question was, how much was that Rams turnaround because of him? How much of it was McVay and you were not going to know that until he truly gets out from under him you know he's never called the plays but I think it's worth noting you know so what's your thoughts on that yeah it's absolutely a fair question to ask again if there's any I guess cause for concern here it is the fact that this guy has you know you you look at the quarterbacks he's worked with and the guys that have had really good seasons um you know with him as their quarterbacks

coach you got a guy matt ryan but that was with kyle shanahan you got um like you said jared golf with shawn mcveigh so i mean there's been a lot of different places i'm even going back to notre dame where he'd ghosted you know's with Brian Kelly, an offensive guy. He's always had, I guess, the guy above him that is well-regarded, especially with McVay and Shanahan. You're talking about two of the brightest young offensive minds in the game. So we don't know how much is him, how much is those guys. That's something that we'll learn.

That's something that we'll see. So like I said, if there's any cause for concern here, it would be that. But, you know, Greg Cosell is a guy that we've talked about before. NFL Films is on the Midday 180 every week. And he just, I mean, over the moon praise about LeFleur and about the way he coaches up quarterbacks. And, you know, Sean McVay even talked a little bit about lafleur's lafleur's role in developing jared goff and you know the big thing with with that cocell talked about was watching marcus mariotta this year there was a lot of stuff that that cocell felt like could be cleaned up just by practice reps uh mario mario's fundamentals

and that kind of stuff that he had you know know, gotten lax on as the season progressed this year. And so just a few things that he could clean up and would really help, you know, his accuracy and that kind of stuff. And, again, Cosell just had so many good things to say about LeFleur from that standpoint. So, you know, if he can come in and coach up Marcus Mariota, get him fundamentally sound, I think we'll see leaps and bounds of growth in his game this year. But, yeah, I mean, it'll be interesting to see. We don't really know necessarily the scheme that he'll want to run, you know, and we hope that he'll come in and look at what he has and we'll get some input.

And, you know, players that they either sign a free agency or pull in the draft um and then once you know they have the roster here that he'll develop his scheme to what best fits the personnel that they have and that's the hope that we have but yeah i mean so i if there is any pause it is that but i mean just to have a guy that has with with the list of coaches that he's worked with it's's so exciting, and it's so much different than – just think about the difference in the excitement of this hire than when it was announced that Terry Robiski was going to be our offensive coordinator here. And even with the questions that we have, there was never a ceiling with Terry Robiski, right? I mean, we never thought, man, this guy's got to come in.

He's going to be innovative. He's going to do something new and fresh and whatever. We never thought that with Terry Robiskey, right? I mean, we never thought, man, this guy's going to come in, he's going to be innovative, he's going to do something new and fresh and whatever. We never thought that with Robiskey. That's what we have in LeFleur. That's what we all think that we're going to see. So, you know, any questions that we have as far as, you know, how much is him, how much is another guy, all that's fine, but the ceiling is so much higher than it was with Terry Robiskey. Yeah, and while we're on Hrabisky,

the main pushback I've seen on LeFleur is that he's going to leave next year for a head coaching job. Who cares? If he leaves next year, that means the Titans had one hell of a season. I don't understand that. That's a really stupid argument to me. He's an up-and-coming guy. He's got glowing reviews about him.

If he comes in here and he turns the Titans' offense around, then that's going to set up a foundation for Mariota going forward. I'm sure they're going to have a guy that they can turn to next. He's part of it. Guys are successful. They get a better job. So that can't be your thought process when you're hiring guys, or else you're going to hire another Terry Robiskey.

Malarkey made the comment that none of his assistants wanted to be head coaches. So that's not what I want. That's apparently what Mike Malarkey wanted. So you've got to be excited. This was the name out there other than John DeFilippo but this was a sitting offensive coordinator

it's a big time hire it's a swing for the fences hire I really think that he and Marcus Mariota are going to get it right and this offense is going to come back and you're going to see Marcus Mariota from his rookie year, from year two.

So I'm excited about that. Well, yeah, and just real quick on DeFluppo, he's a guy that we were excited about, a guy that we talked about, the possibility of, but you have the same questions with him. He's never been offensive coordinator. He's never called plays. So if we were sitting here talking about him, we'd have the same concerns. Obviously, he can coach up quarterbacks.

We know that. But, you know, he has the same question marks that you have with LeFleur. So, yeah, I mean, I think if you look at the landscape of the guys that were available to Mike Vrabel, he couldn't have done any better than LeFleur. I mean, again, you know, Sunbill might have preferred DeFilippo, but we would have these same concerns with him. So when you walk away with Dean Pease, a guy that is an established defensive coordinator that has had some really great defenses. I know the Ravens defense had their issues at the end of the year. They also lost Jimmy Smith late in the season.

They were a much different defense after that. lost jimmy smith late in the season they were a much different defense after that um you know but he's the guy that has has you know been the architect of some really really good defenses and a guy that's been in the league a long time will be uh just an invaluable resource to mike vrabel as a head coach because if you look at that when you look at lafleur like we said a guy who has been a coordinator before um who has worked for some of the best offensive minds in the game he vrabel ended up really good he ended up in a really good place and you know we know that who has worked for some of the best offensive minds in the game. Vrabel ended up really good. He ended up in a really good place.

We know that initially there was the excitement around Ryan Day, like you talked about, and then Betchard, the defensive coordinator in the Cardinals. We don't even really know how much there was to that. But, you know, so if a week ago they would have hired Day and Betchard versus sitting here today with LaFleur and Pease, I mean, I think that it's about the same to me. I mean, I think – I've got a little bit more confidence in LeFleur than I would have in Day just because of the concerns of, you know, a guy that hadn't really been in the NFL with Day. LeFleur has been there. So, I mean, you know, I'm not really sure how much better he could have done with coordinators.

And there was a lot of panic, you know, around this when it was taking longer than people wanted it to. And, I mean, we even talked about having a little bit of concern. But now as we sit here a week later, I mean, you have to be thrilled with the guys that he ended up coming away with. Yeah, I think I said it last week. that he ended up coming away with. Yeah, I think I said it last week. We're going to look back on this situation in a couple weeks and laugh at the panic that was seen around Nashville, around this whole hiring process, and I think we can do that now.

So you look at LaFleur, I mean, that's the number one offensive coordinator target since Frable was hired. That was the first name that we saw people throw out. Maybe Boettcher was their first target defensive coordinator. That's okay. You move on to Dean Pease, who's been around the block and is going to be a thing of stability around this franchise. So, yeah, I don't know how Vrabel could have done any better.

The Ryan Day thing is murky. We don't really know what was going on there. So, yeah, I'm not sure how you're anything but happy right now if you're a Titans fan. Yeah, absolutely. So one more coaching staff note. It was announced tonight that Terrell Williams, Terrell Williams, however you say his name, will be the defensive line coach, a guy that has bounced around. Most recently he was with the Raiders from 2012 to 2014

and the Dolphins from 2015 until he was fired at the end of the season. So he's going to be the D-line coach here apparently. Don't know much else about him other than he spent a bunch of years as a college defensive line coach and then, like I said, has been in the NFL since 2012. So the staff is starting to fill out um we were talking before we jumped on the the holes that are you know the guys they still don't have we don't have a running backs coach

don't have an offensive line coach um they they hired an outside linebackers coach right but i think we still need a defensive line coach an inside linebackers coach if that's how they're going to break it down and then you know with carrie with Kerry Coombs, he's going to be a defensive backs coach. I don't know if they're going to hire a safeties coach and a cornerbacks coach or just an assistant for Coombs, you know, and he'll be the defensive backs coach. And they still don't have any special teams coaches. So we'll kind of keep an eye on that stuff as it breaks.

And, you know, I would imagine in the next week or so they'll end up filling all that out. If they want to talk to any guys that are on these current staffs with the Eagles or the Patriots, might be able to do that. But I don't know if any of those guys are going to be moving. But so, you know, I would say within a week or so we'll have a full coaching staff here. And, you know, and so then they'll be ready to move forward and be ready to, you know, evaluate what they have on the roster right now start to look at free agents and then guys in the draft so um obviously we'll keep we'll keep an eye on that as it goes along all right so

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All right, so like I said, right before we came on tonight, it was announced that the Chiefs are trading Alex Smith to the Redskins. So that is a really huge deal on a couple of fronts. One, it means Pat Mahomes is going to be your starting quarterback for the chiefs next year um you know and he had obviously it looked really good in the preseason looked good in week 17 for the chiefs um so you know you kind of knew that something was coming there uh surprised to see it announced as early but also what that means is that kirk cousins is going to be a free agent uh the the residents have obviously decided to move forward alex smith

that'll make kirk cousins hit the market and dudas is about to get paid because there are you know four five six i mean i don't know exactly how many teams though they need a quarterback and so he's going to have a lot of opportunity um and guys we're talking you know if you've been a titans fan for very long you remember the the great peyton manning chase of a few years back and you know the free agency tour that he went on and i mean kurt cousins is obviously not on peyton manning's level but you know he's a guy that is obviously a very solid quarterback and again in a league where a lot of teams are still searching for their guy. So I don't think there's any doubt that before this free agency period ends, that Kirk Cousins is probably going to be the highest paid NFL player.

And how crazy is that? It's crazy. So you're talking about Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr being the two highest paid players in the league. So yeah, it's a salary dump for the Chiefs, but more importantly they're you know gonna start the mahomes era so uh we know what alex smith is you know how many playoff games have they lost um they're not going anywhere with him it was time to move on so

uh from a washington standpoint i don't i don't like this move at all i know they had to do something there but i guess i'd rather draft a guy guy with the 13th overall pick. And we don't know what they gave up either. And it looks like they've already signed him to a new four-year deal. So that's interesting. But, Cousins, the obvious question here is Jacksonville. I think that would be the nightmare for Titans fans. And we were talking right when it went down, does Jacksonville have the money to do that? I don't know that they do. You know, they've paid all those defensive free agents so much money.

They've got to be in cap hell at some point. So, you know, you've seen Denver thrown out. You've seen the Browns thrown out. So, yeah, this is going to be the biggest free agent chase we've seen probably since that that peyton manning deal um quarterbacks of you know even you know top 50 quarterbacks they don't really hit the market uh you just don't see this very much so uh yeah it's gonna be that there's your there's your nfl off-season storyline already yeah jackville, if you look at overthecap.com, this says they have $16 million in cap space. I don't see how that can be true.

But, you know, picking up Blake Bortles' option, I mean, they're going to have to pay him $19 million next year. So that's, you know, I mean, they've got a couple of those young players like Jalen Ramsey still under his rookie deal and that kind of stuff. But, yeah, I can't see any scenario where they can they can pony up and pay Cousins so hopefully not because if that team gets a quarterback I mean they're hate to say it but they're going to be you know a pretty heavy favorite to win this division again next year but I don't I just don't think they can do that I think they would be more likely to go like an Eli Manning route

a guy that's not going to cost nearly as much money. But yeah, it'll be something to keep an eye on, and like you said, it's just crazy that the top two paid quarterbacks coming into 2018 are going to be Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins. I mean, two solid quarterbacks, but not by any means the best two quarterbacks in the league,

but just a product of when you become available, when your contract is up and teams are willing to pay, you know, to overpay even to get a guy that's a quality starter. So anyway, that'll be something we'll keep an eye on. And again, just kind of keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn't end up in Jacksonville. All right. So obviously Super Bowl is coming up on Sunday and it's a really interesting game. Sunday and it's a really interesting game you got the Eagles who are playing with their second string quarterback who I mean I I would have picked against them in the last two rounds I thought the Falcons were going to go in there and beat them I thought for sure the Vikings were going

to go in there and beat them and they just somehow keeping it done that defense under Jim Schwartz is just playing lights out um you know and they've been able to carry this offense. And Nick Foles has played well enough. I mean, Nick Foles is a guy that is a really, really good backup. I mean, he's got to be one of the best backups in the league. And, you know, this just shows the importance, right, of having that guy on your roster. They can come in and at least, you know, hold your team, kind of tread water like he has.

And, you know, obviously what the Titans didn't have this year in Matt Castle. We saw how much of a disaster that was when he played against the Dolphins. But as far as the Super Bowl is concerned, the Eagles are, what, a four-point underdog in this game, and they've been an underdog, and that's been the big thing. They've been wearing the dog masks in Philadelphia because they've been an underdog in the last two weeks. But, you know, I would have to lean Patriots here just because I think that

supposedly Gronkowski is close to clearing the concussion protocol, so it sounds like he'll be able to play on Sunday. That's obviously a big thing for them. But, you know, you've got to like the odds with Tom Brady, with Bill Velichek, going up against a team that is down to the second-string quarterback. Patriots defense has been a lot better of late than they were, especially earlier in the year. And just with their experience and all that of playing in the Super Bowl,

you've got to lean that way. But, I mean, I don't know, man. Jim Schwartz has that defense playing light. And if they can limit the Patriots offense, can Nick Foles do enough that they can win this game? I think, like I said, I think I'd pick the Patriots offense, can Nick Foles do enough that they can win this game? I think, like I said, I think I'd pick the Patriots, but maybe not as easy as I kind of initially thought. Yeah, the key is Foles pretty clearly.

What Foles are you going to get? You know, you kind of saw him lay down in Week 17 against the Cowboys, but he's been pretty good in the playoffs so far, especially against the Vikings. So it's interesting. When the line came out, I wanted to hop on the Patriots, but then I just – Eagles are just finding ways to win and hang around. So I don't know that I could take New England at four-and-a-half point favorites. I think I'd take the Eagles there.

I just think Patriots are going to find a way to win this game, right? I mean, for the Patriots to lose to Nick Foles, I just can't see that happening. But that being said, I think this defense does enough to keep them in it. I think it's a ball game late. And I really like Philadelphia, plus four and a half. What do you think? Who covers? Yeah, I think I'd take the Patriots.

Again, I just – I think they're going to be able to do enough to limit that offense with the Eagles offense. And then, you know, Tom Brady is just so good. And they're just able to find – they're able to find those holes. And, look, you can't run against the Eagles. They haven't been able to run against the Eagles all year. But those outside corners are exploitable um and i just think i think they're going to take a bunch of shots in this game i think you can see brandon cooks have a pretty

big game here um because it's kind of a mismatch for him on the outside so i think the patriots probably end up winning by i'll say 10 i don't know 24 14 something like that um i i just think that in the end it the patriots you are just going to be too much for them. Yeah, like I said, I think they're going to win. I've bet against the Eagles twice now, and it's come back to bite me. So, you know, you never bet against Tom Brady in the playoffs, especially in a Super Bowl. So, I don't know, it's a really tough call.

I don't love anything right now, but, you know, if pressed, I'd probably go Eagles. Yeah, and this line opened at six, and it's already down to four and a half. So, keep that in mind. Yeah, so there you go. Obviously, there's been some movement toward the Eagles there. And like you said, you know, everybody has been picking against them the last two weeks, and they've kind of embraced that whole underdog thing after being the number one seed and all that. So I think it's going to be a fun game to watch.

And, you know, it'll be interesting to see what happens with these two teams after this game. You know, how much of the Eagles coaching staff comes back of DiFilippo. Well, I mean, we assume he's probably going to be an offensive coordinator somewhere. You know, and obviously the Patriots are losing both of their coordinators. Josh McDaniels is going to the Colts. Mavis Church is going to the Lions. So they're going to look a lot different next year. How much more does Tom Brady have left?

How much longer is Bill Belichick going to come to me? All these questions that are kind of swirling around this game. There's a lot of compelling storylines that go along this one. So it'll be fun to watch. And obviously it's the last football for a really long time. So that's obviously sad. But hopefully, it's a good game. That's really all I care about at this point is seeing a good game.

I would probably want the Eagles to win. I like Jim Schwartz. I hate the Patriots. So I kind of lean that way. But more than anything, I'll just be rooting for a good game. Yeah, and just to kind of tie up our trade talks, Schefter's reporting that Washington is giving up a second-round pick for Alex Smith, and it could be more.

So they've still got that first-round pick intact, and Kansas City will not have that first-round pick because they gave it up for Mahomes last year in the draft. So, really interesting deal. I think Kansas City got the better end of the deal because they had to get out of Alex Smith's contract with Mahomes waiting. So, I really like what the Chiefs did here.

Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, you pick up a pick there. That'll help them out, and they don't have a choice there. So, I mean, I think it's a pretty good deal for both teams. I'm not really sure, and this will be something that will be debated throughout the offseason, what's the difference between Alex Smith and Kirk Cousins when you take in the salary difference. I mean, I think that's the biggest thing.

But, you know, those guys are both, to me, just kind of middle-of-the-road quarterbacks, better than what a lot of teams have, but not guys that you really necessarily build your franchise around. So anyway, all right, so that'll do it for us in this episode. Again, we will kind of continue to keep tabs on the Titans coaching staff, but obviously now that they have LeFleur in place as the offensive coordinator, Pease in place as the defensive coordinator. The biggest pieces are there. So they'll kind of fill it out from there,

and then we won't hear much of anything for the next little bit as they start to, like I said, scout what they have on this team, evaluate all that, and then start to move into free agency in the draft. So we'll be here for that. Obviously, we'll still be here at least three times a week, breaking all that stuff down. Again, you can check out the site, musicofmiracles.com. We'll have four, five, six posts every day with something with news as it comes out.

So check that out. We'll be there. Again, subscribe to the podcast, Locked on Titans, wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at tlambertfb. So like I said, check that out,

and we will be back with a brand new episode first thing Monday morning. So for Terry, this is Jimmy. Same thing for the Locked On Titans, and we will talk to you next week.