Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: New hires, playoffs, Titans WRs

Episode Date: January 9, 2019

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

Welcome in to another edition of Locked On Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris. Join us always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you today? Doing pretty good. What's up, man? Oh, not a whole lot. We got some NFL coaching news to talk about, so we will kind of run that down. We'll also look ahead to this weekend's playoff games, so we'll do that. And then we will move on with our roster review series, move on to the receivers. So that's kind of our plan for today. Before we get started, remind you, we write 4MuseyMiracles.com where we cover the 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. And again, if you want to subscribe to the podcast, which we would appreciate you doing, just search out LockedOnTitans and you'll find us there. Also, your smart speaker in your home, just say play podcast Locked on Titans,

and you can hear us automatically there. Also, we have a voicemail line we've been talking about that we've set up, and tomorrow we're going to do a voicemail show. We have three or four already. If we could get a few more, that would be awesome. We are going to work on playing those on the show tomorrow. So the number for that, 615-787-8762 that's 615-787-8762 uh call in there leave your message try to keep it around a minute uh that way we can kind of rapid fire through some of those tomorrow but

that'll be a great way for us to interact with y'all throughout the offseason as we go through this um all right so there's been a lot of movement on the coach hiring front over the last couple of days. I think, is it just the, I guess the Bengals and the Dolphins are still the two teams that don't have coaches? The Buccaneers have hired Bruce Arians. The Cardinals hired Cliff Kingsbury. Packers obviously hired Matt LaFleur.

Broncos, Vic Fangio, and Browns, Freddie Kitchens. Anything just of that list right there that stands out to you? Obviously, Kingsbury. I mean, this dude went.500 in the Big 12 and signs on with USC. I don't know why he took that job in the first place. It's a sinking ship with Clay Helton there. And suddenly it's an NFL job. So the Jets were in on this too, so the Cardinals certainly weren't alone.

I mean, look, we talked about it. It's the Sean McVay effect. They're going to make some interesting, bold hires. You know, I'd much rather take Kingsbury than Jim Caldwell, as we've discussed. Get that guy that hasn't had a chance yet, that guy that can produce some offense. So it's fascinating to me because his problem in college was defense, right? So he's not going to have to worry about that.

He can hire a defensive coordinator. He's already got the roster built for him. He's not going to have to recruit. So he can go out here and he can just score points and let somebody else worry about it. I'm really interested to see how it works. Obviously, Josh Rosen there, that roster is really, really bad. I would have liked to have seen him get a better roster to do this with, but this could be the way of the future. The Jets also don't have a coach.

I left them off of that list. So it's an interesting thing, right, because everybody's throwing out the stat of, I guess it was 5-7 with Patrick Mahomes and the Big 12. You know, everybody's going to that as to a reason for him not to get hired. And, look, I get it. There is a – there's been a swing now, like you said, everybody looking for the next Sean McVay. A lot of these young guys that are getting hired that don't have much of a resume. So, you know, I mean, yeah, people are going out on a limb.

Some of these guys are going to fail. But head coaches fail in the NFL, right? I saw something yesterday. I think whenever everybody gets hired, like half the league will have had a new coach in the last two years, something like that, just something crazy like that. So the turnover in the league is crazy. It seems like coaches are getting less and less time. I mean, obviously, Steve Wilkes wanted done in Arizona. So I don't know.

It's kind of wild. Like you said, Kingsbury gets fired from a college coaching job, goes to be an offensive coordinator in college, and then gets a head coaching job. Kind of sounds like the Lane Kiffin trajectory. He just kind of keeps falling up. But we'll see. He can scheme up some offense.

We know that. Like you said, he's got to get the players there. Don't know exactly what he has in Josh Rosen at this point. You have David Johnson, but not much else on that team. So that'll be interesting to watch. To me, the Browns hiring Freddie Kitchens was something that stood out. It makes so much sense for them to do that. They were obviously very successful down the stretch with Freddie Kitchens calling the

play to be an offensive coordinator there when they fired Hugh Jackson and Greg Williams was the head coach. there when they fired Hugh Jackson and Greg Williams was the head coach. You've got a young quarterback that obviously flourished in that system with that guy, so continuity, something that we've talked so much about, something that the Titans have had very little of over the last four or five years. You keep that for that young quarterback, a guy that had a very successful rookie year. So that just makes a lot of sense.

We're just not used to the Browns doing the thing that makes sense. But I think they really did in this instance. It doesn't mean 100% that it'll work, but I think that was the best hire for their team right now. Yeah, Browns doing something smart, keeping an offense with their rookie quarterback that broke the rookie record for touchdown passes. So, you couldn't exactly break them up and the only way to do that was to keep

Kitchens on as the head coach. So, I like that a lot. The one I like, Bruce Arians with the Bucs. A guy that's done it before at a high level. You know, really wasn't terrible in Arizona. That roster just kind of started to deteriorate. Got to have some defense.

I know Todd Bowles has been rumored to that job. I don't think that's official quite yet, but I really like that as kind of a last attempt to get something out of Jameis Winston because that offense was really good. I mean, that wasn't the problem. If they can pull Bowles down there too, that's a heck of a coaching staff. Yeah, apparently, I guess the hang-up now on Bowles is with Fangio going to the Broncos, Matt Nagy's dad coached Todd Bowles, apparently.

Something like that. From Adam Schefter. And so there's a chance that Bowles could go to Chicago instead of going to Tampa. But like you said, man, if he can pull Bowles, that's a heck of a pull there. And he brought, I think I read earlier, Byron Lefwich, who was on the staff with him in Arizona, ended up being the offensive coordinator after they fired their guy during the year there. And so he's going to be the offensive coordinator down there.

And so that'll be, you know, there was so much jamis and marcus mariotta stuff obviously you know that came out the same year the one and two overall picks you know to this point we don't really have a definitive answer on who the better nfl quarterback is i think we could all agree on who we'd rather have on our team but we don't we don't have a definitive answer on who the better NFL quarterback is. But, I mean, you have to like Jameis Winston's chances of having a good year next year. You've got a very smart offensive coach there now. You've got weapons. I mean, they're still going to have Mike Evans, still going to have Chris Godwin.

You know, I think Deshaun Jackson and Adam Humphreys probably move on. But you still, I mean, both of those guys are, you know, top, I mean, really good receivers. We'll say it that way. Mike Evans obviously is one of the best in the league, and Godwin has shown flashes of the ability to be really good. So, you know, you have to at this point, I mean, if you're doing stock on Winston and Mariota,

I think you would buy into Winston more at this point just because you feel like he's going to be in a system where he can flourish. Yeah, I totally agree with that. Proven to be a little more durable too. Really, the only question I have with this whole cycle so far is Matt LaFleur. I mean, it's such a leap of faith um with the packers taking this you know i i just i think back to all the interviews i and people have touched on this can he really command a room you know you go back to last year's whole process with john robinson we want a leader of men you

know everybody wants a leader of men is matt mcflure a leader, man? I'm not sure on that. So that's the big question mark to me. I'm just not sold on that one. Again, you can't put too much stock into what happened here. But just as a person, I'm not sure he's cut out to be a head coach right now. He may grow into that. But he's going to have a lot on his plate, especially with Aaron Rodgers, who clashed with Mike McCarthy.

You saw Rodgers waving off audibles and play calls and doing what he wants. So I'm interested to see how that works. Yeah, it will be interesting for sure, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of staff he puts together. I think that'll be the thing that, you know, defense coordinator, who's going to get his defense coordinator? Is he going to call the plays? Is he going to hire somebody to call the play?

Just all those kind of questions that, you know, you have with a hire like that. So, I mean, who knows? It might work out, it might not. But, yeah, I think for sure of the guys that we've looked at so far, LeFleur, and I mean I throw Kingsbury in there too, just the biggest question mark, just because you don't know at this point. Not that they're bad hires, it's just you just don't know how that's going to play out.

All right, coming up we'll preview this weekend in the playoffs. Before we do that, tell you about MyBookie. If you've been listening here for long, you know that MyBookie is the place that we recommend if you're going to be gambling online. The NFL playoffs are here. It's time to get in on the action with MyBookie is the place that we recommend if you're going to be gambling online. The NFL playoffs are here. It's time to get in on the action with MyBookie. Don't be that guy with no rooting interest as your relatives or friends sit around watching the games. Not this year when the 53rd Super Bowl is just around the corner.

It really is the most wonderful time of the year. Make sure you're ready for the daily action by signing up at MyBookie today. They pay fast when you win, and ownership really cares about good customer service, and they offer the craziest props. Where you bet is just as important as who you're betting on, and if you want to make money during NFL playoff season, you've got to go to MyBookie. I trust them, but you don't have to take my word for it. Check them out for yourself.

Join now. MyBookie will offer you a 50% deposit bonus to make sure you have a nice bankroll for the playoffs. Use promo code LOCKEDON25 when you deposit to activate the offer. That's promo code LOCKEDON25 when you deposit to activate the offer. That's promo code LOCKEDON25. And my bookie, you play, you win, you get paid. So I think this set of games this weekend sets up to be a lot more entertaining than what we saw last weekend where it was mainly the Colts versus the Texans and a lot of just defensive struggles.

The Eagles-Bears game ended up being exciting at the end, obviously, but wasn't necessarily a fun game to watch all the way through. So this weekend you've got Colts-Chiefs on Saturday at 335, Cowboys-Rams 715, and then on Sunday Chargers-Patriots at 12 and Eagles-Saints at 340. The Colts-Chiefs game is the one that really stands out to me. The Colts are playing as well as anybody right now. They're hot. They've won a bunch of games in a row.

They just seem to be really gelling at the right time. Now they're going into Arrowhead, which is obviously a tough place to play, especially in January. You're facing what was at some points this season the hottest or the most high-powered offense in the league, but the Colts have been really good at limiting those big plays and stuff. So this is a game that sets up to me to be pretty interesting. I don't think Andrew Luck and that group will have much trouble scoring

on this Chiefs defense. I don't know. I don't know if I want to pick the Colts to win this game, but I do think it's going to be one that's going to come right down to the wire. I think there's going to be a lot of points scored. Building off that, if you're a Titans fan, you need to be rooting for Matt Iverflus

to get one of these remaining jobs because the job he's done with that Indy defense has been absolutely ridiculous. It's funny because Frank Reich didn't actually hire him. Josh McDaniels hired him. And then when McDaniels left, Iberflus was stuck in Indy. So it's all worked out for the best. But that dude has been really special this year.

So you definitely want him out of the division. I just think Indy's going to do it. I think we've seen enough out of Andrew Reid to kind of know there's this narrative about him that he doesn't show up in the playoffs. I think Indy's hot. I think Andrew Luck is hot. That defense is good enough. I think they get it done on the road.

I'm interested to see what happens with the Patriots because everyone's got the Patriots buried. The Chargers are hot. And, you know, what happens when we with the Patriots because everyone's got the Patriots buried. The Chargers are hot and what happens when we bury the Patriots? They just seem to come out and come out of their grave once again. Are the Patriots going to do

it again? Can Phillip Rivers finally get over the hump? Finally find his way to a Super Bowl? I don't know. I can't handicap that one either way. I won't be surprised by either result, but I'm not throwing dirt on Tom Brady and Bill Belichick just yet.

Yeah, that's a really fun game, I think, like you're talking about from the narrative perspective because you do have people giving up on the Patriots once again, and until somebody knocks them off in the playoffs, like you say, it's just hard to give up on them. And Phillip Rivers, I mean, the only thing he's got left to be in the conversation

with the guys, I mean, if you look at numbers, you know, passing yards, touchdown passes, all that kind of stuff, I mean, he's right on par with the guys that have been the best in this era but hasn't had the playoff success. Definitely doesn't have a Super Bowl that a guy like Ben Roethlisberger does, you know, and a guy that's had just as good of a career as as roethlisberger rivers has and it just doesn't he's not in that same conversation so that that's going to be a fun game feel like i said all these games are gonna be fun cowboys rams saturday night um you know the rams their offense hit a little bit of a of a cold streak there at the end of the year now you know not

coincidentally todd girley was banged up as well. And for all the stuff that we like to talk about, about offenses and the air raid and all those types of things, Sean McVay and that offense, they're at their best when Todd Gurley is running the ball well. Didn't in the back half of the year, but now you've got a game with two teams that are good offenses. a game with two teams that are good offenses.

Obviously, I think the Rams are a better offense, but the Cowboys have really found something with really traded for Amari Cooper. Given Zeke Elliott, getting him involved in the passing game, they didn't do that as much last year. That's something that he's good at. I don't know. I think

that could be a fun game, too. I don't think there will probably be as many points in that game. I think it will be played at a little bit slower pace. We know the Cowboys like to take the air out of the ball and run the ball, not put it in Dak Prescott's hands all that much. The Cowboys' defense has played pretty well for most of the year.

That one could be fun to watch. Curious though on Todd Gurley. He was banged up. He's been off for about a month, close to a month after missing the last two games of the season. So I think they'll be able to have as much success if they want to if he's healthy, but it could be a little bit

more interesting if he's not. I think the NFC is a little less interesting. I think Dallas can give the Rams a game. I just don't know if they've got the firepower to quite keep up there. I just think the Rams give the Rams a game. I just don't know if they've got the firepower to quite keep up there. I just think that the Rams kind of find a way to win that one late. Philly and New Orleans, Nick Foles, can this continue?

I don't think that Philly defense has what it takes to go down and beat the Saints. Drew Brees and all those guys, they've been going at a high level all year. I don't know that Nick Foles can keep pace. He's proved us wrong before. It seems like he can't lose a playoff game. But I think the Saints will win that one comfortably.

Like I said, I think the Rams will kind of find a way to win that one against Dallas. Again, Cowboys just don't have enough firepower. I'm just not quite all the way there on Dak Prescott just yet. Yeah, and that Cowboys-Rams game is one where, you know, if the Rams get up by a couple touchdowns, the Cowboys will be in trouble. If they can keep it close, it's a good game. I think the Rams are the better team for sure. Yeah, and the Saints beat the Eagles 48-7 earlier this year

in a game that wasn't really ever close, obviously. That was when the Eagles had Carson Wentz. Can you imagine? They're taking all the Carson Wentz, Nick Foles questions there. Can you imagine if Nick Foles goes in there and wins after Carson Wentz was 19-33, 156 yards and three picks when they played earlier in the year? You know, Carson Wentz was 19 of 33, 156 yards and three picks when they played earlier in the year. You know, if Nick Foles goes in there and wins, they're going to be ready to run Carson Wentz out of town.

And that's an interesting conversation, too, that we can have at some point. You know, so many people are sold on Carson Wentz, you know, as the franchise guy. You know, don't really have any questions about that. But he's a guy that, you know, tore his ACL last year, missed, you know, a few have any questions about that but he's a guy that you know towards acl last year missed you know a few weeks then all the playoffs and then he's got the back issue this year so you talk about a guy you know being injury prone i mean it's only been two years for when it's been more than that for mariotta but you know kind of a similar deal there where you think you've got your guy and he's shown at times that you know obviously he has the ability probably would have been the mvp last year if he didn't get hurt.

But, you know, hasn't been able to stay on the field consistently, and then this year struggled and he was back on the field. Now maybe, you know, coming off ACL, maybe some of that could be attributed to that. But, you know, kind of a similar situation they find themselves in. Yeah, and lost Frank Reich and DeFilippa too. So that had a big role in it, I'm sure. But, yeah, we don't get a lot of Eagles talk down here.

Just knowing Philly fans, though, I'm sure it's daily fireworks up there. But, yeah, that Foles versus Wentz story is going to go well into the offseason, no matter what happens on Sunday. It just seems like one of them is going to go well into the offseason. No matter what happens on Sunday, it just seems like one of them is going to go. You've even seen a little bit of a trade rumor regarding Carson Wentz. Now, I don't think you'd do that. I think Nick Foles is by far the one that they move or let go or hit free agency or something.

But, yeah, really interesting dynamic up there. Can Nick Foles do it again? You know, he's undefeated in these playoffs since last year. It's a really, really wild story. You know, it kind of honestly reminds me of the Tim Tebow stuff where, you know, he's got some help from above or something like that. Yeah, so we'll see how that plays out. But it'll be fun.

And those games in New Orleans, you know, have a tendency to be high-flying, and the atmosphere down there is really cool. I think it's going to be a fun weekend of games to watch. We'll see how it all plays out. All right, to end the show, we'll talk a little bit about the Titans receivers and what we think needs to happen heading into 2019. I'm of the opinion, when we talk about Titans receivers,

that they need to have a new number two and a new number three next year. Corey Davis, I'm good with where they are with Corey Davis. I think he showed us this year that, you know, I mean, at this point, I don't know if he's going to develop into that, you know, top five receiver or whatever that I think. Some people always think that he should be because of where he was drafted. But I think we saw enough from him this year to show us that he is going to be a very good NFL receiver. There were plenty of times this year where they really leaned on him,

especially early in the season when mariotta was hurt i mean obviously he had a huge game the eagles game but there were a couple of other games where whenever they needed like a big play on third down or something like that they were able to find davis i mean i think he solidified himself this year as a guy that they can build around going forward now is he ever going to be you know be mentioned amongst the best guys in the league? I don't know that. But I think he's a very solid number one option for this team going forward. I think he's got a chance to be in that tier one, maybe in the top ten one day.

Look, it's just so hard to draw conclusions because of Marcus Mariota's injuries. I mean, there was three, four, maybe five games where the Titans really just didn't even try to throw the football. And if they did, it was really ugly. You go back to the Jacksonville game, the Texans game, both Jacksonville games, really the Giants game. It's just so bad offense. Just really limited offense.

Hand the ball to Derrick Henry and see what happens. So I think it's unfair to kind of judge that. Now, did he have his fair share of drops? Sure. All of the Titans receivers did. But, again, first year in the offense, you know, we talk about how that affects marcus mariotta affects the receivers too uh so we have to think about that as the titans go into yet another

offensive era but i've seen enough from cory davis to where i think uh he can be an upper tier receiver uh he's the least of my concerns i know you're not worried about him uh but yeah they've got to get something opposite of him, too, to take a little bit of pressure off. And that's the thing. I mean, you know, the rest of the guys in this room, Cameron Batson, Taewon Taylor, Tajay Sharp, Darius Jennings, I mean, I'm not ready to completely give up on Taewon Taylor.

I think he's a guy that can be effective in a role, but I'm ready to give up on him as my number two. Don't really, I don't think, he even wanted to be my number three. We've talked at length about Tajay Sharp. He's a guy, and if he's here, great. If he's not, whatever. The other two, you've got undrafted guys. Darius Jennings, look, he was great as a kickoff returner.

Had the best kickoff return average this team has had in a long time. Probably should have made the Pro Bowl. Cam Batson, I will say this for him, when he was given chances, he did pretty well in his opportunities and stepped up in a couple of those games where Taylor was hurt. But, I mean, I think you're with me, right? I mean, there's no question that they have got to upgrade this position heading into 2019 because it just wasn't good enough this year. Yeah, I mean, just getting a steady presence. You go back to the middle portion of the year

when you had just a soul-crushing drop, maybe even two a game. Nick Williams in Buffalo, you just had something like that on a key third down whenever it was just working against Margotta. So, yeah, you've got to solidify that. Get someone that just simply catches the ball. You know, we're not asking for much. We're not asking to go trade for Julio Jones out here. You know, just get somebody that's going to move the chains.

So, Taewon Taylor didn't do that at times this year. Inconsistent You know had had his drops too, of course I don't know that he can do the day in day out things that a receiver supposed to do We know he can get deep we know he can get your screen pass But that's really about all we know out of him Like you said Tajay sharp just the guy nothing special if he's your fifth receiver fine But what you

can't do you can't go lean on nick williams you can't lean on cam batson and darius jennings to play meaningful snaps in the offense and today's nfl you got to have a deep uh roster full of offensive playmakers uh that's what the league's going to and that's what john robinson has to acquire this offseason yeah and i mean look, he missed last year on that. Now, again, the whole Richard Matthews thing, I don't think anybody saw that coming. But it just wasn't enough. Michael Campanaro and Nick Williams being the big acquisitions there. It just wasn't enough.

And he had somebody else. And this year, you're probably going to have some options. We talked a little bit about potential free agent receivers last week and the week before. But, I mean, there are going to be some guys out there, Golden Tate, that can play a really good role in this offense. Then you need a field stretcher still, Tyrell Williams or something like that. And, again, we'll have to wait and see if those guys get re-signed by their teams,

if they hit the market, all that kind of stuff. But this is a year where I think they need to, quote, overspend on a guy because they've got to find out about Marcus. They've got to give him the best chance. And it's not going to be. I understand that there are some guys that got ridiculous money. It was Albert Wilson, I think, right, in Miami. They got a ton of money.

And you see that, and you're just like, you're okay with your team not doing that. But at some point, you've got to do something to upgrade the position. And if it means you overpay for a guy like a Tyrell Williams who has one skill set and maybe lacking in some other areas, I think it's time for John Robinson to do that. Yeah, Dante Moncrief got $10 million per year. I mean, it's ridiculous. But just look at how the Rams did it. They signed a middle-tier free agent at the time, Robert Woods.

They drafted Cooper Cupp, and then they acquired Brandon Cooks. And then you go behind him and you draft Josh Reynolds. So when Cupp goes down this year, you've got somebody to put in his place. You're creating depth. I mean, the Saints did it with Traequan Smith. It just seems like these good teams are really investing in playmakers in these middle rounds. The Titans are doing that, but they're just not getting the return on investment.

You know, Taewon Taylor was a third-round pick. Really haven't gotten that return on investment yet. Maybe it pops next year. Maybe it doesn't. But, you know, you got to keep in mind Delaney Walker's coming back. I don't know that you can really count on him to be the guy that he was. How old is he now? Is he 36 coming off of a major injury?

So, you know, John Smith factors into that too. But I've seen a lot of people thinking Delaney's going to fix a lot of these problems. I'm just not sold that he's going to come in and just totally turn this offense around. Yeah, Delaney will be 35 when the season starts. He's 34 birthdays in August. But, yeah, I mean, you're right. There's no question my offense would have been better without Delaney will be 35 when the season starts. He's 34 birdies in August. But, yeah, I mean, you're right.

There's no question my offense would have been better with Delaney Walker, but you can't build around that guy at this point. So they've got to do something. I think they will this time. I mean, they've got to see that. You did, you know, they traded the picks in the draft, upgraded the defensive, you know, obviously inside linebacker, outside linebacker last year. Still have some needs in outside linebacker,

but maybe they can invest some draft capital in a guy like that. Anyway, that will do it for today's show. As we end, remind you, one, voicemail, 615-787-8762. Charlie leaves about a minute voicemail. We're going to play some of those and respond to them on the show tomorrow. You're a smart speaker. Play podcasts, Locked on Titans. That's all you've got to do, and it'll start playing the show.

Subscribe to Locked on Titans wherever you get your podcasts so that you're able to do that. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. Thanks so much for listening to Locked on Titans, and we will talk to you again tomorrow.