Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Positional battles -- Offense

Episode Date: July 10, 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 today? Doing pretty well. Excited to talk some legitimate football today. Yeah, we're getting closer. Like we said last week, we're a little bit over, I guess two weeks away at this point from the Titans reporting to camp. I think on the 26th of July is when everybody has to be there. I think they're on the field for the first time on the 27th. So today's the 9th, so we're getting closer. Today we're going to talk about some offensive training camp things to watch, whether it be positional battles, who's going to start, or just kind of roster battles, how all that stuff will sort out.

Before we get into that, we will remind you we write for you at CityMiracles.com. We cover the Titans for SB Nation, so check us out there. A lot of stuff going on there as we gear up, getting ready for the season. And you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. And Terry is at TLambertFB. All right, so the first thing that we're going to talk about, I guess, is quarterbacks, right? I mean, the Titans have three quarterbacks on their roster. Marcus Mariota, Blaine Gabbert, Luke Falk.

I guess really the question here is, do they keep three quarterbacks? And I'll kind of give my opinion on it, and we'll let Terry address it as well. I think they do. I think their hope is that Luke Falk is the backup in 2019. I don't think they plan on him being that this year, but I do think they actually hope that he can be Marcus' long-term backup. Now, I do think that if Falk is terrible in camp and preseason, whatever it may be, and they just think, okay, this guy's not going to get it, I think they could cut him, and then if they really wanted to, they could bring him back to the practice squad.

But I think their plan is for Falk to be the eventual backup, and I think if that is the case, you don't want to necessarily risk cutting him at the end of camp, putting him on waivers for somebody else to snatch him up. Yeah, 100% agree with everything you said there. It looks like a three quarterback team now. You've invested in Falk. I think he was a six-round pick.

So not a ton invested there, but like you were saying, they would like him to grow into that QB2 role. I think there's probably a 95% chance he's on the roster. But like you were saying, if he goes out there and tanks and looks like Alex Tanney did last year and has no clue what's going on and behind closed doors, struggles in meetings, stuff like that, the stuff that we're not going to get access to, you could totally see a scenario where they move on from Falk.

And you see it every year. You could totally see a scenario where they move on from Falk. And you see it every year. You see fourth-round picks cut in their rookie contracts. So not likely, but I could certainly see a scenario where that happens. Yeah. And, again, you know, they've kind of – I guess they haven't been much of a three-quarter back team. They were at the end of the year last year.

But, you know, with everything that they've got going on – I guess they haven't been much of a three-quarterback team. They were at the end of the year last year. But with everything that they've got going on, and again, they're paying Garrett pretty good money this year and next year. Ideally, you would have a rookie that you felt confident in so that you don't have to tie up that much money in a backup. So hopefully it'll be able to play out that way. Moving on to running back, we've talked a lot about running backs as we've gone through here, but obviously you've got Derrick Henry and Deion Lewis who are your headliners with that group, the starters,

you know, 1A and 1B, however that ends up playing out. Behind that, you know, then you really look in right now on the roster, you've got Akram Wadley, Daylon Dawkins, and David Flewellen. We talked a little bit about Flewellen kind of as we've gone through Mike Keith and all that kind of stuff, you know, his ability to play on special teams and stuff. I think from a ceiling perspective, Akron Wadley probably has a higher ceiling than David Flewellen, but, you know, for that third spot, it's probably going to come down to whoever's better on special teams.

Yeah, I think it's a pretty good bet that this team's going to keep four. They really seem to like Flewellen. And that doesn't seem to be fake. I think they legitimately like him. And then Akron Wadley from day one after the draft has been pretty much a shoe-in. Maybe we're wrong on that. We've yet to see him play. We'll see how he does in camp, but it feels like four running backs, no more, no less,

and I think they're all on the roster. I don't see them bringing anyone in unless someone gets hurt. So I think that's probably the easiest spot outside of quarterback to project on maybe the whole roster. Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, the next couple positions we're going to get into here, they could definitely be looking to, or at least the next position specifically, looking to bring somebody in.

But, yeah, running back, I think they're going to be content with what they have. And, yeah, the real question is going to be do they keep three or four. And like you said, it would make sense for them to keep four. I'd be interested to see what kind of run Akron Wadley gets in the preseason. You know, is he a guy that they want to throw out there and see what they've got? Is he a guy that they kind of want to hide and hope to sneak through the practice squad? And, again, All of these things depend on numbers and how

that stuff goes, other positions, special teams, all that kind of stuff. But I'm just interested to see him. He's a guy that obviously had a prolific college career and should be able to contribute in the passing game as well. So I'll be interested to watch and see how that goes.

Next position know wide receiver and this is probably the one that you know for the last however long the titans have been here almost 20 years at this point that um we've been talking about more than any other position um you know you're you're happy you think with your top two if both guys are healthy with cory davis and uh richard matthews. So you feel good about that. After that, there's a lot of question marks. You know, Taze Sharp, Taewon Taylor, guys that we think can probably play a little bit. But, you know, there's been enough inconsistencies and question marks or whatever as far as that's concerned.

You know, they brought in Michael Campanaro. How much is he going to be able to contribute? You've got a couple of undrafted guys possibly so i don't know i mean there's not much of a of a battle here as far as you know who's going to start or whatever i don't think i mean i guess in between taewon and tajay for the the third wide receiver spot but the top two are pretty much set but after that there's just a lot of question marks as far as who's going to make the team and then really what guy is going to get cut or what guy is currently available as a free agent that they're going to bring in before the season starts yeah i think you can actually lock in that top four i think you'd agree with that it's just a matter of who's going to win that fifth spot are Are they going to keep six? You see a lot of teams keeping six these days

with how much the NFL has gone to the passing element of the offense. So just a bunch of names. You hear about Jordan Veazey a lot from Jim Wyatt, 6'3", 221, rookie out of California. We heard a ton about Deontay Burnett, the under-adjusted free agent out of USC. So those are a couple of guys that have the Titans' attention. We heard a ton about Deontay Burnett, the under-adjusted free agent out of USC. So those are a couple of guys that have the Titans' attention. Will they make this roster?

Will they keep both of them? Will they keep one of them? I think probably one is your best bet there. And then behind them, you've got a bunch of names. Like you said, Michael Campanaro has done some things with the Ravens. He can play out of the slot and help out in the return game. So it's really a mess, and there's no real way to project what they're thinking at this point. There's no – I don't know.

I don't like the options down low. I would have much preferred them bringing in a veteran because, you know, we've talked about this a lot. What happens if Corey Davis goes down? I love Davis. You won't find a bigger Davis fan than I am, but the injuries are concerning. So I don't know how you can be so confident that he's going to put in a full season. It's just kind of the nature of the league.

What happens if Rashard Matthews goes down? Is Tajay Sharp going to be fully healthy once again? So talking about a guy that missed the whole season last year in Sharp. So I don't know. I'm a little frustrated with their plan or maybe lack thereof planning at receiver right now. Yeah, and again, like you said, it's not that we don't have confidence in Corey Davis,

but you just need a contingency plan, it seems like, at this point, with everything that's gone on with his injuries. And I mean, think about it. Dating back to, you know, the pre-draft process last year. He was hurt through all that. Got hurt again in camp. Different injury and all that kind of stuff. And that, you know, it's football and all those things happen.

But at some point, you need to be prepared. And like you're saying, I just wonder, you know, we trust John Robinson, and you look at the plan that he has had, and he's done a really good job rebuilding his roster and stuff, but you have to question that one a little bit as far as, you know, how that's going to play out. And, again, hey, maybe, you know, camp comes and Taewon or Tajay or both of them, you know, jump off, and we're talking about how good they are

and the value they're going to bring to the team. I hope that something like that happens, but it kind of remains to be seen. It's hard to have faith in this group as a whole right now. Coming up, we will talk about the offensive line and the tight ends. Tight ends. All right, so tight ends. Obviously, Lenny Walker is your guy there, headliner, obviously one of the best players on the team. You've got Johnnie Smith behind him.

We saw some good things from last year, and hopefully in this new system, he'll jump off the page even more. After that, you've got Luke Stalker, Philip Subrano, Tim Simish. I never can say his name right. The guys that have been here for a little bit of time, they're familiar with the team. Then you've got Ethan Wolfe and Anthony Ferkser. Again, we're getting into names that I'm not familiar with.

But guys that are probably not going to make the team. I think the biggest question here is, are they going to keep three or four? I think they definitely keep three. I think Luke Stalker is the third behind Delaney and John O'Smith. But then does this team still have a place for a Phillip Supernome? Yeah, and I want to stress, this decision is not a big deal. Yeah, Jimmy knows more than anybody people get pissed off when you say Phillip Supernaw is not going to make the team.

And when in the grand scheme of things, we're talking about a third or fourth string tight end. So the question is legit, will they keep three or four? I also want to point out Malarkey's no longer here. They might not love the tight end as much as what we're used to. I think it's going to be

Walker, Janu, and then I don't know who. You can probably flip a coin between Supernaw and Stalker. Maybe a guy like Ethan Wolfe gets a chance. But again, not a huge deal. It's not going to break my heart if Stalker or Supernaw

doesn't make this team. I think that's a good point that you make. It's one of those deals where one of those guys could make the team like a Supernaw or whoever through that first round of cut,

I mean, they only do one cut now, but then when you see all the players on waivers, Supernull could be one of those guys as the first off when they claim somebody like a receiver or whatever it may be. So yeah, I think that's kind of what you're looking at. It reminds me of the NCAA bracketology stuff, like last four on or whatever. He's going to be in that group, whoever the fourth tight end is.

It may be in that group, but could easily be cut with those rounds of cuts or in season once if somebody gets hurt and they have to sign somebody. Like you said, it's not as big of a deal. Again, we probably spend entirely too much time on it for what it's actually worth. Moving on to the offensive line, the one real starting battle that you have in camp is at guard. Is Quentin Spain going to be able to hold on to that spot? Spain's been good. There's no doubt about that. It's just a question of can he fit the zone

blocking scheme um you know and that kind of remains to be seen they brought in a couple of guys you know pam field and suafilo uh to probably compete with him in camp uh but i mean i i think you agree that especially on offense but maybe even on the you know the whole side on the whole team this is really the only starting battle that's taking place in this camp. Yeah, it's clear to me that they wanted to light a fire, a competition on this offensive line, particularly aimed at Spain. You know, you went through and had his weird contract dispute, I guess you can call it.

He ends up sticking around. But they signed two guys right behind him. Don't know if any of them are going to be able to unseat him. But it's interesting that they brought the two of them in. Maybe it's just for depth. Titans really didn't have a lot of depth on the offensive line last year. So I wouldn't expect both Pamphil and Suofilo to stick around on this roster behind Spain. So I'm expecting Spain

to accept that competition and go get that starting job once again. I think you'll see the same starting five. Eventually, of course, with the Conklin injury, maybe you're forced to take another tackle.

John Theus, they claimed off of waivers, I believe from the Saints. It might have been from the 49ers. But regardless, they're going to have to keep four tackles over three tackles, which they did for most of the season last year. So that's a spot where you're going to have to account for four instead of your usual three. Yeah, and that's a spot where you're going to have to account for four instead of your usual three. Yeah, and that's the thing, and I don't know at what point we'll get an update on Conklin. We haven't gotten anything to this point, just that his rehab is progressing well.

I find it hard to believe that he'll be ready to go week one, just with the fact that the injury took place in January. It's just when you're looking at coming back from an ACL like that. And again, no reason to really rush him back if they don't have to early in the season, if they feel like Kelly can hold down that spot long enough to get him back fully healthy. But like you're saying, if that is the case, if you know that he's not going to be able to go for the first month, whatever it is of the season, you've got to have another guy there.

And we were kind of talking before we came on, I don't think they carried four tackles last year. You know, Kelly just filled in at either spot, and they never had a situation where both guys or two guys got hurt. So that will be interesting to watch. Like you said, is it Diaz? Is it somebody else that they see that's cut? Or, I mean, you know, best case scenario, Conklin's healthy,

and then they don't have to explore another option. But, again, I just kind of find that hard to believe with when the injury occurred. So, yeah, so that kind of breaks it down, the Titans' offensive side of the ball as we head into training camp. Anything else of interest with these guys? Yeah, one guy I'm interested to see is Corey Levin, who has been rumored to play center. You just wonder, with Ben Jones kind of having a down year,

if they'd give Levin some reps there, or maybe even one of these guards that they've signed. You just wonder if they'll ramp up that competition like they did for Quentin Spain. I just wonder if they'll do that for Ben Jones. Not saying Jones is a bad player or anything, but I'm also not sure that he should just automatically be a shoe-in to keep that starting center job. Yeah, like you said, he did have a little bit of a rough year last year.

And a guy that's scheduled to make a bunch of money in 2019. So if you want to go ahead and find his replacement this year, that wouldn't be all that surprising. So, yeah, that'll be something to keep an eye on as well. Really, who gets the backup reps at center? Who's working with the second team off the line at at center that'll be something to watch in camp and again not that you know it's necessarily going to be important for week one but something to keep in mind with this team as it goes forward so yeah i think that's a good observation there all right so we

will be back later this week with another episode where we kind of do the same thing on the defensive side of the ball uh look at kind of the roster battles position battles all that kind of stuff as it plays in um a lot of talent on that side of the ball now so i'm pretty excited for what this defense will be able to bring uh even better than than what it has been the last couple of years uh again between now and then check us out museummiracles.com uh we'll have stuff going up there every day, you know, just with stuff around this, around camp getting started, and I think some NFL camps actually open next week, so football season's almost here, we've almost made it,

so stick with us, and we'll get there, and before you know it, we'll be talking about week one starting up. Again, follow us on Twitter, I'm at jmorrismcm, Terry is at tlambertfb, you can follow the podcast account at LockedOnTitans and search us out. iTunes,

Stitcher, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. LockedOnTitans. Subscribe there so you get the latest episodes as soon as they are available. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening and we will talk to you again later this week.