Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: NFL Combine Recap: RB/Edge

Episode Date: March 6, 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, what's going on? Not a whole lot. What's going on? Not too much. Alright, so tonight we're going to do a little bit of a combine recap. So we'll go through a couple of the key positions that we think the Titans will be looking at, especially in the first couple of rounds of the draft. Before we do that, again, we're right from UCcitymiracles.com, covering the Titans there. We'll obviously have a lot of stuff with the combine wrapping up now as we move into free agency and the pro days and stuff. So check us out there.

We'll have a ton of coverage there. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorsmcm. Terry is at tlambertfb. And you can follow the podcast account at LockedOnTitans. This week we will do a Q&A show at some point, maybe like Wednesday or Thursday

because we're going to have probably a little bit of a couple slow days here as we move into next week for agency and all that kind of stuff. Check all that stuff out. Subscribe to the podcast, LockedOnTitans on iTunes, Stitcher, wherever you get podcasts.

So you get all the latest episodes as soon as they are available. All right, so the scouting combine wrapped up in Indianapolis on Monday. You know, it's always a fun time. We get to see these guys at least do, you know, a lot of people call it the underwear Olympics. We get to see a lot of the stuff that, you know, that we know. Some guys, you get an idea of what they're going to be able to do, and they go out there and they put up numbers that, you know,

kind of match the production that you've seen on tape. And there's always a few guys that, you know, kind of burst onto the scene at the Combine and their production from colleges and necessarily match their numbers. Those are, you know, the Jeff Fisher slash Rustin Webster guys. Luckily, the Titans have John Robinson now, so we can kind of eliminate some of those guys based on the fact that if they weren't very productive in college, we know that that's kind of a thing that John Robinson looks for,

and obviously with good reason. So probably won't see as many of those guys drafted, at least early in the draft, as you would have in years past. And then there's some guys that come in and, you know, they don't run as fast as we may have thought they would or whatever. So that is the same thing from year to year. Obviously our biggest, I guess, positions of note this year,

running back and outside linebackers, edge guys. So, Terry, talk to me. Let's go through the running backs a little bit. Kind of talk to me about what stood out for you in that group. Well, you've got to start with Saquon Barkley, and there's no chance that's heightened they're going to take this guy. But we can't ignore him either. It was a historical performance for him.

Checked every box imaginable. Checked in at.233. Put up 29 reps on the bench press. Ran 4-4 flat. Had some of the most explosive jumps and shuttle and agility times out there. So, I think Barkley is firmly in play in that top five. And we saw a report out today that he could be in play for number one overall. And, you know, honestly, with Cleveland, you know,

that's not the worst idea in the world. You know, it's hard to screw that up. Outside of him, Ronald Jones, the guy that's kind of been hanging around in that first-round conversation, pulled up lame on his 40 attempts, ran a 4.6, and everybody kind of turned their heads. He pulled up with that hamstring issue. So that limited him.

He didn't participate in all the drills. So that was a little bit disappointing, but nothing you can do there. I thought Nick Chubb had a really good day checking in at 5.10, 2.27. It was really explosive through the jumps. Top 10 percentage in both the broad and the vertical jumps. Put up 29 reps on the bench press. The question with him is going to be the knees. You know, he's blown out.

He's had two major knee injuries, so can he hold up in the league? That's a huge question there. I guess Sonny Michel, he had an okay day. He didn't blow anyone away. I don't think he hurt himself. The tape doesn't lie with Sonny, but he didn't blow anyone away. He ran the four fives. That was kind of expected.

Everything else was just kind of average as far as the measurables go. Realistically, a guy that the Titans might be after, Neheim Hines, a guy out of NC State. He had the fastest 40 time there. Ran 4.38. Had good jumps. Looked explosive. Maybe a guy like that at the top of day three

is going to be your pass-catching back. Again, we've pounded this into your brains by this point. We think the Titans are going to release DeMarco Murray, so they're going to be in the market for one of those backs, likely in the draft. Maybe they sign one, but as we've said, it's so deep. You're going to get some of these guys into day two, day three that are going to come in and be productive. Hines kind of stood out to me this weekend.

Yeah, he's a guy that's interesting because, I mean, he did quite a bit of pass catching at NC State. And so, you know, just kind of looking through those guys, I mean, that's one of the things. And we talked a lot about running backs last week. But, you know, even with a guy like Sonny Michel, who we both really like and think he has the ability to be that guy in the NFL, he didn't catch a lot of passes in college.

So, you know, you still, I guess, a little bit have those question marks there. If you are a – if you're a fan of Sonny Michel like I am and you want him to be an option for the Titans, like you said, his day was okay. So does that leave the possibility that he could be there in the second round? I mean, I think it does. I think if he had gone up there and run a little bit faster or whatever, it might have pushed him up because he had a lot of buzz heading into the combine

and he didn't do anything to, I guess, continue that momentum that he had going in. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens with the running backs, because it seems like there's a lot of depth there. You know, like you said, obviously Barkley's going to go, I mean, top ten at least. The Browns are really interesting, and just kind of off topic here for a second. When you look at what, what they have the ability to do in this draft with the, with the first and the fourth picks,

you know, they could take their quarterback. If there's one they're in love with at one and then possibly still get Barkley at four. I guess the Colts are probably a team that could be eyeing Barkley in that position, but they could also, they've got a lot of holes.

There's a lot of different ways they could go. He's going to be a guy that's interesting to watch. Just seeing how far he falls, just seeing where the rest of the running backs get pushed, that'll be interesting to watch. Who do you think, I mean, guys, who's the second running back off the board, do you think, of this group?

I think it's guysist at this point. If Chubb didn't have the knee issue, maybe we're talking about Chubb. I still think it's Geist. Going into the year, it was between him and Barkley, and there wasn't much separation there. I don't think Geist did anything to hurt himself there. So I still think he's in a good spot. I think, you know, Ronald Jones, if he could have stayed healthy

and put up some huge numbers, he could have challenged for that spot. But I'm interested to see where the slotting is. You know, we've talked about the depth of this. Why are you going to take one in round one when you can get a productive one you know Royce Freeman is a guy that was talked about as a first round pick and he's kind of getting lost in the wash uh he's going to go on day two you know maybe day three uh so there's just so many guys that have fallen through the cracks I'm kind of wondering if some of these guys that we think are going to go day one like a guy so what what happens? Maybe one of those guys falls to day two, or maybe two or three of them do.

So I think we're probably, as Titans fans, I think the Titans are going to have their pick of the litter with that second-round pick. Yeah, and I think it's a good spot for the Titans to be in this draft. Like you said, there's just a lot of depth in kind of the middle of this group. And so, like you said, they don't have to reach for a guy necessarily at 25 because there's still going to be a host of guys sitting there. I think we see a bunch of running backs get picked in the second round of this draft.

I think that's kind of what it feels like it's going to play out for for this time. All right, coming up in a second, we'll talk a little bit about the outside linebacker prospects and how they looked at the combine. So, I mean, obviously the other thing that has been popularly mocked to the Titans at 25 is an edge guy. Harold Landry of Boston College is a guy that we spent a lot of time on talking about. We kind of said that, you know, basically the injury that slowed him down in 2017 was the only thing that made him even a possibility for the Titans at 25.

But it kind of seems like the numbers that he put up in Indianapolis probably pushed him to a point to where he's going to be long gone when the Titans are on the clock. I totally agree with that. We said that three weeks ago or whenever we talked about him. You flip on the 2016 tape and the guy looks like Vic Beasley. He's just firing off the ball, gets around the corner, wins with speed. He can bend. He can do everything you want. He's not as long as vick was

uh he doesn't have ideal length but i think he makes up for it enough with that speed with that first step with that ability to bend so and he comes out on sunday and he tops the chart in 60 yard shuttle uh he's in the top 10 percentile-wise in the 20-yard shuttle. Top 10 in three-cone drill. He runs a great time, 4.64 in the 40. Athletically, he's just checking all the boxes. I think

athleticism matters the most on the edge to me. I'd much rather take a project on the edge who has that God-given talent over a guy like I struggle for a name here

Derek Morgan. Derek Morgan is just kind of an average guy in the league. He's not going to carry a defense. I'd much rather get that guy with the athletic upside and I think Landry has it and because of that I think he's going to be long gone. I think he's picked somewhere in between picks 10 and 20 if not higher

yeah so I mean like we kind of had been talking all along about that was really a long shot for the Titans the only chance they had was if he possibly just wasn't able to do anything at the combine that you could see you know see him fall there.

Bradley Chubb, I mean, what did you think of his performance? Bradley Chubb was kind of let down. He came in with the top five billing, had a lot to live up to, and really faltered. So I think teams with these athletic parameters are now kind of second guessing and and it's not something to where you know brela chubb's fallen to pick 20 now no you're going to go back in the tape and you're going to take a look uh you're going to see what he did you're going to see if that second look tells you anything but athletically he just didn't stand up to Harold Landry

and the top guys and Lorenzo Carter even. So that one's interesting to me. I want to see if we start hearing buzz about him potentially dropping. I don't think he ever becomes an option for the Titans. But I do think it's a possibility that he could fall out of that top five range. So, I mean, I think we agree Chubb is the first guy picked here. Landry probably the second. Who's three and four?

Because that is where, I mean, the Titans are realistically going to have a shot at getting a guy. Yeah, and it's kind of crowded. It's kind of like pick a flavor. You know, a guy that I didn't like on first viewing was Sam Hubbard out of Ohio State, and then he comes out and proves me wrong and looks super athletic at the combine. So he's a guy that I'll probably have to go back and look at.

But, I mean, athletically, the agility was off the charts. He was one of the top performers at the three-cone drill. You know, top 25 percentage in in both the shuttles uh comes in at 65 270 so he did all that at over 270 pounds uh his top comparison on mockdraftable.com which is a really great website to really break down all of these measurements his top comparison athleticallyically is to Joey Bosa. So that kind of gives you an idea of the athletic specimen that he is. And it's weird because he just did not show me that on tape. I didn't see the burst.

I didn't see the bend. But maybe he's a guy that Titans could be able to pick late and a guy that they could groom and a guy that's going to be a solid producer, kind of like a Derek Morgan type. And Kerry Coombs has ties to Hubbard. He coached him at Ohio State, obviously. I think he was his main recruiter, actually, if I'm not wrong there. So Sam Hubbard is a guy that you're going to hear a lot about.

Lorenzo Carter from Georgia comes out and runs a 4-4-6. Crazy athleticism out of him as an edge guy. And then I think you're going to hear about Arden Key, the LSU pass rusher. I'm sure you know his name by now. At one point was up to 280 last year. Took a leave of absence to deal with some family issues. He showed up at the combine back at 238, which is what he played at in 2016. It was a little disappointing, honestly, with the athleticism,

but I still think he's a good enough athlete to make a difference on the edge. So if he can get back to that 2016 form where he broke the LSU sack record, the Titans could get a steal right there. But he's one of those boom or bust types. You just wonder about the motivation there. Why did he get up to 280? Why did he take that leave of absence?

There's a lot of unanswered questions there. But I wouldn't hate taking a guy like Arden Key with that upside. Yeah, I mean, that's going to be the biggest thing on arden key is how did he do in the in the interviews are our teams satisfied with the answers he gave to those questions you raised because the athletic ability is obviously there's there's no doubt that it's there um the production was there at times in college so it's just gonna be a matter of the team's name they can trust him coming in and i mean i i think he probably ends up as a first-round pick. I don't know if that will be here or not.

But, I mean, he's just a guy that has so much ability. And teams fall in love with these pass rushers. We've talked about that, about how they get pushed up boards. So, you know, it will be interesting to see. Like I said, I think the Titans are at this point – I mean, we never thought they were going to have a chance at Chubb. Talked about Landry. So, I mean, I think both of those guys will be off the board.

So then it'll be, like you said, which of these guys does John Robinson feel the best about? And, I mean, I think he's going to have – I mean, the Titans are in a pretty good spot to pick whoever their best player is on their board. They don't have to force a guy with that 25th pick. You know, do one of these guys stand out above the rest to John – or does one of these guys stand out above the rest to John? Does one of these guys stand out above the rest to John Robinson? That'll be, you know, I guess the determining factor there. Anybody else? I mean, we talked a lot about, obviously, the need, interior offensive line.

They could address that in free agency. We'll kind of see how that plays out. But, you know, those guys, there's not really a lot of exciting stuff to talk about when it comes to their combine workouts. That's not necessarily the most fun thing to watch. But anybody else that had just like a standout performance to combine we need to mention? Well, I don't know about standout performance. I did neglect to mention Marcus Davenport from Texas San Antonio.

He's probably going to be that third edge rusher off the board. Not sure if he gets down to the Titans or not. But standout performers, I've got to go with Mike Gesicki, the tight end from Penn State. Did not see this coming at all, but this dude tested like the next Gronk. I mean, you look, he was in the top 10 and just about everything he did uh 96 percentile in the shuttle 98th percentile in the three cone comes out 65 247 runs 454 um so you know everybody thinks titans need a tight end you

might see gosicki's name pop up in some mock drafts soon. Yeah, which I don't think that's necessarily a route that we think they will go. No. But, yeah, he's a guy that obviously rose up boards with what he was able to do there. So, you know, again, there wasn't that big. It seems like in the past there's been guys getting kicked out of the combine for different things, guys, you know, a lot of injuries or whatever. The offensive lineman from Ohio State, I can't remember his name off the top of my head,

but, you know, he tore a pec in his workout. He's a guy that was kind of a fringe first-rounder, second-round guy. But, I mean, he should be ready for the start of the season, so I don't know. He's still a guy that could be on the Titans' radar. But there wasn't a whole lot of drama at this combine, which I guess is a good thing. Now, the drug tests and all that stuff, the Wunderlich scores, those things tend

to leak out in the weeks that follow the combine. So we'll learn more about that kind of stuff as it goes along. But there weren't a whole lot of noteworthy, newsworthy events that happened at this combine, so I think that it's just kind of a lot of noteworthy, newsworthy events that happened at this combine. So I think that it's just kind of a lot of what we expected and didn't really see anything I don't think that would necessarily make a big swing on boards right now.

So now you move into the phase of this where you've got pro days coming up. So you'll have some guys like an Arden Key. He'll probably run a 40 at his pro day. He did it in Indianapolis. I mean, you'll see some of that kind of stuff. But now, you know, it's back to these guys, the scouts, watching tape, all that kind of stuff, getting ready for the draft. And then, like I said, free agency, which starts next week.

You know, and we'll have a better idea of what the Titans need after we see what they do in free agency. But, I mean, the reason we focus on running back and the edge rusher in this is because, I don't know, you're probably wrong here, but I don't think the Titans are going to go out and spend big money on a free agent running back. Like you said, they're going to get rid of DeMarco Murray. But, I mean, like a Jarek McKinnon is a guy that would kind of fit here. But, you know, what's his market going to be? If he's going to get a bunch of money,

I don't see that as a route that John Robinson goes. We talk about edge rushers because if you want to get an impact player, you've got to get that guy on a draft. Those guys, once they come in and are productive in the NFL, they don't hit free agency. So, I mean, it seems like interior offensive line would be a place that they could address in free agency. But, I mean, I think that running back and edge rusher are the things

that you're going to see them have to address in the draft for the scarcity of edge guys in free agency and then just not wanting to pay the price to these free agent running backs. Yeah, running back you can patch up pretty quick. I'd argue offensive line you can patch up pretty quick. I'd argue offensive line, you can patch up pretty quick. We saw them do that with Josh Klein. But edge rusher,

that's stuff that you have to draft. That's stuff you've got to plan for. Titans don't have a long-term plan. By whatever means necessary, they've got to fix that going into this season, I think. Arakpo and Morgan are still going to be here for one more year, we assume.

But their contracts expire and then there's just nothing there. So, do you bring one back? Maybe. But I'd like to have one on the roster, at the very least developing before both of those guys leave in free agency like we think they will.

So, I don't know. I think there are guys there for the taking. I'm not sure they last to 25. We've seen John Robinson have the ability to move up. He's not scared to do that. He will give up future picks. He'll give up mid-round picks. He'll go get the guy he wants.

So, that would be my goal if I'm John Robinson. I'm getting the future of this pass rusher out of this draft by any means necessary. Yeah, and I think, maybe it was Mike Keith I heard talking about the other day on the radio, that if there's a guy that John Robinson thinks, hey, this guy can come in and be an impact

player now, would maybe be willing to give up a pick or two in this draft to move up and get that guy because they don't need six rookies to come in at this point. I mean, they're pretty solid in what they've got. If that impact guy is there and you think he's within striking distance, it would be worthwhile for them to give up a pick or two to go get him. Again, just with the roster being more solid than it was a couple years ago, where a couple

years ago you needed to make as many picks as you could and hope that as many of those guys as could came in and stuck on the roster because you had holes everywhere. Not the case anymore, so that's obviously a good place to be. So like I said, we'll keep an eye on all this as it goes along. So for the rest of this week, we'll probably move back into our roster breakdown. We did pretty much the offense, but we'll look at the defense these next couple days. And then next week free agency starts, and obviously we'll have a ton to talk about there.

And then we'll continue to look at draft guys to bring on, to get information from. So we'll have a guest on from time to time to talk about that. And again, like I said, we'll take your questions later this week. Follow the podcast account at LockedOnTitans, and we'll throw that out there. Terry, anything else before we get out tonight? That's all I got. All right. Like I said, subscribe to the podcast, LockedOnTitans. Follow us on Twitter at jmortismcm, at tlimbertfb, museummiracles.com.

We'll have a ton of information stuff. We got a good post there today about free agency guys that are going to be available. A good post on Allen Robinson breaking down his availability and is he a fit for the Titans. So check all that stuff out. For Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to Locked on Titans, and we'll talk to you again tomorrow.