Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Mel Kiper Mock Draft; Odell trade rumors?

Episode Date: March 29, 2018

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. So tonight we've got a new Mel Kuyper mock draft to talk about. And that'll lead us into, like we said last night, talking about just some general draft stuff. Kind of looking at the top of the draft and some things that we haven't really gotten into much. Just because we had free agency and all that stuff after the end of the season coaching search and all that so we'll talk a little bit about the top of the draft now we see that playing out and then we'll talk about uh trade market for you know a

pro bowl receiver guy that could be available and kind of our thoughts on that before we do that remind you we write for music miracles.com covering the titans for sb nation so check that out uh we update that throughout the day so you'll see plenty of new information there and when news breaks we'll break it down you know kind of as quickly as we can during the day so check that out follow us on twitter matt j morris mcm terry's at t lambert fb podcast account is at locked on titan so you can find us there uh the way you get the podcast, subscribe to it wherever you get podcasts, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, we're on there as well.

So, check us out there. Alright, so Mel Kiper mock draft, I think the third one of this draft season dropped this morning. He has the Titans taking Harold Landry. Now, I mean, I think we're at the point now where we would absolutely be thrilled if Harold Landry fell to, I mean, I think we're at the point now where we would absolutely be thrilled if

Harold Landry fell to the Titans at 25. I don't see any way that happens. I just, you know, we've talked about this, and we've kind of beaten a dead horse a little bit at this point, but, you know, pass rushers get pushed up in drafts, not down. Now, I think there's

a realistic possibility that he could end up with the Titans, but I think the Titans probably had to trade up to get him. But at 25, I don't see it happening. Kind of give me your thoughts on that, and then we'll look at Kuyper's draft specifically. I'm with you on that, and I kind of said it two months ago. Landry was the guy in all the mock drafts for the Titans, and we both said, don't expect this to last. And, you know, mock drafts are what they are.

They're a mock draft, and we've seen big mistakes. You know, I vividly remember Vic Beasley being projected in the second round by Mel Kiper a week before the draft, and Todd McShay agreeing with him, and then the guy goes top ten. So a grain of salt, but these projections aren't going away, and maybe that's what the NFL really feels about him. You've got the injury stuff and the down year before the injury happened. He lacks some length. Outside of that, though, he looks like an elite pass-rushing prospect.

So I really don't understand why he hasn't, the hype on him really hasn't taken off. So it's really strange. You know, it's kind of interesting. You can draw the parallel with Corey Davis. You know, at this time last year, we weren't sure Corey Davis was a first-round pick. you know it's kind of interesting you can draw the parallel with uh cory davis you know there's at this time last year we weren't sure cory davis was a first round pick um but you know just according to who you listen to and he ends up going at five so i don't know really what to do

uh my gut tells me that he's going much higher uh pass rushers just do not last. And I think somebody in the team surely is going to snatch him up. Yeah, I think John Robinson would love to have him at 25. We know how much he values production in college. Like you said, just the injury season there. But he went to the combine and performed well. And so I thought, but again, we don't know how much of the hype on him, what's the difference between his hype in mock drafts, Twitter, whatever, versus with teams around the league.

So there are times where those are two very different things, and like you pointed back to Vic Beasley is a great example of that. So, yeah, I don't see it lasting that far. But, again, you know, if he starts to slip 15, 16, 17, I think at that point if you're John Robinson, you've got to start kind of getting on the phone and talking with some people and seeing if you can go up there and make sure you get him. I mean, I don't think you can go probably into the top 15 to get him.

I don't know that they'd want to do that. But he starts to slide. It doesn't cost you that much to move a couple of picks and get a guy that can possibly change your defense i think it would make a lot of sense to do that now the interesting thing about kuyper's mock is the two inside linebackers that we've seen mocked to the titans a lot in vander esch and rashaun evans they were both off the board here. So, you know, that's kind of been, I guess, a little bit of a safety slash fallback pick for the Titans, especially since Avery Williamson walked.

And, you know, those guys weren't there. And so if both of those guys are off the board, the way this played out, and let's say, you know, one of the teams that didn't take them does take Harold Landry, then the Titans are kind of in a tough spot because there's not a lot of value there. Just looking at the players that went after the Titans picked in Kyber's mock, you've got Ridley, Calvin Ridley going to the Falcons, Hayden Hurst to tight end, Lorenzo Carter, I guess would be in the conversation at that point, to the Steelers and you got another receiver DJ Moore, you got James Daniels, Mike Hughes the cornerback

and then Goder the tight end. So I mean when you look at those players that were taken after the Titans picked at 25, there's not a lot there to help the Titans. So that to me could kind of be, I don't know, a disaster scenario. And then at that point, John Robinson's going to start working his phones the other way to try to move out because there's just not anything, I don't know, of value there that you really think that the Titans would use to come in

and help them. Yeah, a couple things there. You're picking 25, so it does seem like every year, maybe not every year, but it does seem like with the loaded quarterback class, one starts to slide. It could be a Lamar Jackson. We don't know. There always seems to be that one surprise. So you might see teams jumping back in, trading up for their second-round pick,

getting back in the first round. It seems like a logical spot to do that if the pass rushers are gone there. And he strikes me as a guy that's well-prepared, and we know he likes to move. So I would not rule that out, and I wouldn't rule it out either way, as we've said that too. You talk about Harold landry being there in the team as well you've got marcus davenport uh in the conversation too it's just going to depend

on who they like uh so yeah but backup plan there lorenzo carter is an option uh you're not going to beat him as an athlete the production isn't there he doesn't strike me as a john robinson type um you know you've got Josh Sweat there available. I think that would probably be the ultimate fallback plan. But you've also got the Rams. You've got the Lions sitting there at 20 and 23. Each of them need a pass rusher. I just am hard-pressed to think that both of those teams would pass on harold

landry yeah i mean i'm in the same boat so i mean we'll see yeah talking a little bit about the top of the draft i think like you said if it if it does play out similar to to how it did in kyber's mock today and you know all those guys i mean all those defensive players are off the board i think what you mentioned there is what the titans really need to happen they need one of these quarterbacks to slide and it's not going to be the guys at the top of the board when you talk about sam darnold josh allen even josh rosen uh baker mayfield those guys are. Those four guys are going in the top six, probably top five. And as a Titans fan, honestly, you want that to happen. You want those guys to get picked because it pushes other players down the board.

But then, like you said, if Lamar Jackson starts to slide, then is there a team in the second round that says, hey, we can move up in the first round. We can get Jackson. We can, you know, then you get the ability to have that fifth-year option and all that kind of stuff that becomes important down the road. You know, so that's kind of what you've got to be cheering for at that point because then, you know, like I said, you've got other players being pushed down the board.

Now that the Titans are probably out on a cornerback so you're cheering for as many cornerbacks as possible to get picked before the titans pick you know a guy like quentin nelson is obviously going to go top 10 not a need that the titans have probably anymore now granted he fell to 25 i'm sure they'd be glad to take him but that's that's not going to happen so basically that you're just you're cheering really for guys to get picked that are not in need position for the titans because every time that happens it pushes the pass rusher further down the board um and so i mean that's it's going to be it's going to be interesting i think to see the order in which the quarterbacks come off the board

because you know you look at all the different mock drafts and you see a bunch of different stuff. But as far as, like, the suspense of those guys getting picked, I don't think we're going to have to wait very long. I mean, I really think that within the first, I mean, you know, once you get past, so, you know, the first five picks of the draft, the Browns, the Giants, the Jets, the Browns again, and the Broncos. So you've got four teams in those five spots, all of them needing a quarterback. So I would be really surprised if any of those guys fall outside. Now, if they do, you've got Indy at six, you've got Tampa at seven, you've got the Bears at eight you got the bears at eight the 49ers at nine the raiders

at 10 you get all the way down to the to the dolphins at 11 that could possibly draft a quarterback so you know if one of those guys doesn't get taken that guy starts to slide does that push lamar jackson down even further and then you've talked about the bills trying to get up in there to to try to get a quarterback they're currently currently at 12. So, I mean, I guess that's going to be the thing to watch is the order in which these guys go off the board. Yeah, and I think Mason Rudolph is in the picture too down there with Lamar Jackson. That's a guy that could, you know, he's probably not going top 10, but could be in play starting with the 20s, you know,

with a team with a high second looking to hop back in. So that could be a route that the Titans take. You know, if they're forced to stick and pick, though, and your pass rushers aren't there, all these linebackers are gone, I'm not sure where to go. I mean, really, I guess defensive tackle is now back in play guys like deron pain uh maurice hearst uh maybe vita via uh guys like that uh now that you've got klug and sly williams out of the picture uh still waiting to see if the titans are going to sign one i bet they do but

you've got to take somebody there and you know if i'm going to get better i'm going to get better in the trenches and i don't think they're going to take anything on the offensive line so uh taking a defensive lineman uh probably not you know the number one option in my book but uh if you're forced to stick and pick there i think you're going to have some options on the interior defensive line. What about safety? Do you think that that could be a possibility there? Yeah, I'm not sure what options are going to be there. You've got Derwin James, but he's going to be far off the board.

Justin Reed, the guy out of Stanford, is creeping into some of these mock drafts. I don't know. It's really weird. I just don't have a really good feel for the Titans this year. Yeah, Reid went to the Panthers in 24 in Kuyper's mock. But I think that's a position that they could use. They obviously need some depth at.

They don't have that many guys on the roster right now. But, you know, I'd love to see them bringing a guy that could challenge Ciprian. We'll see how that plays out. Anyway, that's kind of what we're looking at with the draft right now. And we're sitting about four weeks out from the draft. So we'll have a ton more on it as we lead up to it. And like I said, we'll get some draft guys on in the next couple of weeks to break down different positions.

Because, again, now we're kind of – I mean, I think it's going to be a defensive player. But, you know, there's a lot of different things you could be looking at. So we'll try to get those guys on and break that down because, really, the first two days could be all defense for this team. There's been a lot of years we thought they would go defensive heavy, and they haven't. They've spent a lot of the high capital picks on offensive players, obviously with the exception of Adora Jackson last year.

But anyway, so we'll break a little bit more of that down as we go along. All right, so coming up, like I said, we'll talk a little bit about a, you know, all pro caliber wide receiver who is apparently maybe on the trade market. maybe on the trade market. So the tweet this morning from Adam Schefter that the Giants may or may not be interested in trading Odell Beckham Jr., but if they are interested in trading him, it would be for at least two first-round picks.

At least two first-round picks was the wording that Schefter used there. All right, so you're John Robinson Terry you've got the option of sending pick 25 and whatever pick the Titans have next year to the Giants for Odell Beckham is that something you're willing to do I'm calling and I'm offering this year's one next year's one and a three this year. And I'm getting something done. I just think the Titans are really an explosive piece of offense away from being very good. Pairing him with Corey Davis,

who we both think is going to be very good in this league, with Marcus Marietta coming back with a new offensive coordinator, we feel like he's going to be right. may just set this team over the edge and i know he's a loose cannon i know all that he's a diva but i think the titans have a pretty strong core base of a locker room and i think he'd be coming into a really really good situation there situation there. So I am very much for adding game breakers, and I really think that a piece like that could really just set the wheels in motion for this offense. Yeah, my first inclination is no.

A couple things that you mentioned. One, I just don't know how his his attitude he just seems to kind of be all over the place and so if you can if you can guarantee me that he's going to come here he's going to be plugged in he's going to be you know wanting to win then that's one thing i just i'm not sure you can make that guarantee so i don't know i mean he just seems to be a very much a me first guy and i know a lot of receivers, the best receivers, are like that. There's no question about his ability. There's no question what he would bring to the team on the field,

but I'm just not sure if things start going poorly, how much does he affect the culture in that locker room. Giving up two first-round picks is a lot to ask, especially with the faith that we have in John Robinson to bring in really good players with those picks. But you made the point before we came on here, you know, you got 25 this year. You think the Titans, if they get Beckham, even if they don't,

you think they're going to be at least as good next year, if not better. So you're talking about two picks that are, you know, hopefully one's obviously in the mid-20s the next year's is hopefully even lower than that so you're not having to give up as much there you've also got a contract consideration he's he'll be playing currently 2018 on his fifth year option from his rookie deal so about an eight million dollar cap hit but uh then you've got you've got to work out a deal with him um or maybe you don't maybe you maybe you play him under the under that and you know say all right well you know show it to

us and we'll get you a deal or um you know you'd say when you franchise him next year whatever it may be that just that just brings more complications into the fact when you've already got ted to the one who's going to be on his fifth year deal who's going's going to get paid, and then obviously, as we've talked, beating the dead horse on Mariota and his contract coming up. So, I mean, I think there's a lot in play there. Now, if you can make it work with the salary cap, I mean, sure.

And they've got guys that are smart enough that can work that kind of stuff out. But I don't know. I mean, I just you know, yeah. So, you've got your top three receivers as Beckham, Corey Davis, Rashard Matthews. I mean, you put that up against, you know, a lot of teams in the league. But I don't know.

I just don't know if it's worth the personality conflict risk of bringing him in. Yeah, and I think only John Robinson can make that call. You know, Mike Vrabel doesn't really even know this locker room yet, so you're not going to get a lot of input there. But I don't know. We talk about the Titans. We talk about them being a couple pieces here, a couple pieces there,

away from being a really good team, well-rounded roster. The only downside I see to it, of course you've got the off-field stuff, and that would have to be controlled. But the only downside I see to it from a roster standpoint is, what are you going to do to get your pass rusher? You're going to have to hit on a second-round pick, and that's risky business. You're just not going to get the elite athlete in the second round. So, Brian Arakpo, Derek Morgan, obviously set to leave next year.

You could obviously get them back. How much do they have left in the tank? You'd obviously be sacrificing some defense for offense there. But, look, it's a shot that I would take. At some point, theans have to go for it uh you you hear that the rams are interested uh it's kind of turning into an arms race there uh you gotta get some talent around around marcus mariotta and you gotta get some some proven talent around marcus mariotta uh cory davis is going to develop and i don't think there's any any doubt

about that but odell could come here and be dynamic from day one. You wouldn't be waiting on him. You wouldn't say, ah, he's a rookie, he's a second-year player, just wait on it, wait on that third year. No, he's here, and he would bring a lot to the offense. It would be fun. It would be a move, John Robinson saying, hey, I'm here, I'm going for it, let's go win a Super Bowl.

It would be bold, but I would not be against it at all. Yeah, and I think you actually made a good point from my side of it too there about the pass rusher because that's the scary part. I mean, you better hope that that offense can go out and score a bunch of points because, again, they've kind of pushed pass rusher down the road a little bit for a while now and they tried with kevin dodd and you know obviously that to this point hasn't worked out but now you're at a point where with a ragpull and morgan in their final years of their contracts their productions you know they're they're going to fall off eventually anyway they

weren't as good last year as they were the year before but even still i mean they're not there it's not like they're going to have some big career resurgence at this point you got to have some of those guys in the wings and it's just it's tough to find those guys later in the draft it can be done but you know and again the way i don't know the way we're talking about this draft i'm not sure that it's going to be this year either so i don't know that that to me it would be the kind of the biggest thing that I'd be concerned about is where's the pass pressure going to come from if you don't get it in the first round of the draft the next two years. And, again, if you're picking 25th or lower,

then there's only so much of that you can control. And, obviously, that's a good problem to have. It means you've had successful seasons. But they've got to find that guy eventually and i'm not sure if they could do it not having two first round picks anyway i mean i think it's something that's kind of fun to talk about but i don't i don't think it's going to be something that happens here and he may not get traded at all but he's obviously not happy in new york and um you know that they got a lot of stuff going on there if they're going to draft a quarterback if they're not you know what are the plans there so that'll be just something to kind

of monitor and you know usually nfl trade they don't happen there's nothing there's nothing big the big guys don't ever get moved but that hadn't been the case the last couple of years so you know where three or four years ago this would have gotten brought up and everybody had been like oh that's crazy they're they're not going to trade him. Now, it's like, well, maybe they will. I mean, we've seen a lot of big names be traded this offseason already. So, anyways, keep an eye on and obviously we will watch it as it goes.

Terry, anything else we need to hit tonight? One week. Can we get some uniforms? So, it's going to be a big week next week. There you go, yeah. April 4th, the big Titans uniform reveal party. I am trying my best to secure a media credential to the event. Hopefully we'll be able to make that happen. And so we'll hopefully be able to be there for that, and we'll have that on museummiracles.com, and I can remember around this team since the Super Bowl. It's fun, though.

They've done a really good job, the Titans have, hyping the event up. They've got everybody excited about it, so that's good. It's good to have this city excited about the Titans again, even if it's just uniforms. It's something leading into a new season with a new staff and all that kind of stuff. Anyway, keep an eye on all that as it develops. All right, so thanks for listening. Again, follow us on Twitter at jmorsmcm, at tlimbertfb, at LockedOnTitans.

Check out musicofmiracles.com. Between now and the next episode, we'll have a ton of content up there. For Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to LockedOnTitans, and we will talk to you again later.