Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: State of the Wide Receivers

Episode Date: February 13, 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 today? Not a whole lot. Doing pretty good. How are you? Oh, doing well. So we've got a few general NFL news things to touch on. And then we'll talk a little bit about the Titans wide receivers core, which is always an interesting conversation. And for years, it's probably been the most debated, outside of a quarterback obviously, it's probably been the most debated position on the Titans roster. So we'll get into a little bit of the state of the wide receivers on this team.

Before we do that, again, encourage you to subscribe to the podcast, Locked on Titans, iTunes, Stitcher, or on Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, do that. We write from you at citymiracles.com, covering the Titans for SB Nation. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at TLambertFB. And the podcast Twitter account is at LockedOnTitans.

So you can check all that out, subscribe to that stuff, get the newest stuff as soon as it's available. We have a few coordinator hires to talk about off the top. Yesterday, I think, so we're recording this on tuesday yesterday i was announced the colts had hired nick sirianni i think is how you say it as their offensive coordinator uh he was the charters wide receivers coach last year which means he coached under ken wizenhunt which is always a good idea to get somebody off the wizenhunt tree um but anyway so that's who their oc is going to be uh you know our main concern

when frank reich's name first got brought up in Philadelphia was that DeFilippo would go with him. He went to the Vikings as their offensive coordinator. So that happened before Reich got the Colts job. So we knew, obviously, DeFilippo wouldn't be the guy there. Don't know anything about Sirianni. I don't know if it was announced or not if Frank Reich is going to call plays. That'll be something to monitor.

So, you know, just seeing how that breaks down. I mean, I don't know. I think the Colts, I would be happy if I were the Colts with how they ended up. And I think we talked a little bit about this on the last show. I had a great thing that went down with Josh McDaniels to get Frank Reich, get somebody off that Eagles offensive staff. I think it was a good get for them. So we'll just kind of keep an eye.

We don't know anything about this guy. So we'll see how that plays out. The other thing that was announced earlier today, Mike Shula is going to be the New York Giants offensive coordinator. Now, Schermer's going to call the plays there, so Shula won't have play-calling duties there. He was obviously the offensive coordinator at Carolina for the last couple of years.

They had a couple of good years when Cam was playing well. Cam started to not play as well, and things kind of had fallen off there, so they moved on from Shula. So, I don't know, I mean, kind of two pretty underwhelming hires, wouldn't you say? Oh, yeah, and it was just for the Colts it was more of a matter of everything had been picked over. You know, you got all these staffs in place. The Colts were last anyway.

And then, you know, everybody's thinking the coaching cycle hire picked over. You know, you got all these staffs in place. The Colts were last anyway. And then, you know, everybody's thinking the coaching cycle higher is over. And then all of a sudden, bam, they've got to come up with a whole new staff, except for the couple of holdovers from McDaniels that he had started to put together. So an unfortunate situation for the Colts, for your Colts fan. But from a Titans perspective, you've got to kind of like it because it's going to be an underwhelming staff, at least on the surface. You know, all that could change. But not a lot of top names are left on the board for the Colts.

Yeah, and, you know, again, the whole Mugano thing, we talked about that at length when it went down. And I guess, you know, it is unfortunate for them. But, you know, I don't know that it's the worst thing ever, and we'll see how that plays out and what McGaniel's future is. I mean, I think at this point you have to assume that the only place that he will have a chance of being head coach again is with the Patriots. We kind of talked about that.

So, anyway, that's just kind of what the hiring news that has gone on in the last couple of days. And, you know know we're in one of very few slow periods as far as nfl news is concerned uh you don't you don't we don't with the cycle but kind of this period right here between super bowl coaching hires and a combine there's just not a lot that goes on so still being a couple of weeks away from the combine we'll take this time to really kind of break down the Titans roster as it stands now in kind of some ways we think they can go in the future.

So like I talked about from the beginning, coming up after this, we'll talk about the Titans receiver core, what we see as being holdovers from this last year's team and where we think they can improve heading into 2018. from this last year's team and where we think they can improve heading into 2018. All right, so we know the Titans spent the fifth pick in the draft on Corey Davis. That was an obvious thing for John Robinson was upgrading playmakers on the outside for Marcus Mariota. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see a full season from Corey Davis,

had a hamstring injury that bothered him in camp and then cropped up again during the year. So he wasn't full strength for really the vast majority of the season. And so we unfortunately don't really know what his potential is at this point. We saw a flash of it in the playoff game against the Patriots. Had two touchdowns in that game. Had a great one-handed catch in the end zone. So, I mean, we know talent is there,

but we didn't get to see it really fully realized this year. But, I mean, I think at this point, we can still assume he's going to be a good player, I think with the upside of still being that number one dominant guy that they hoped they were getting with the fifth pick. Outside of that, the biggest addition to the group was Eric Decker last offseason, and that signing ended up just not really – nothing came of that.

Decker wasn't as good, even as he had been in previous years. He dropped a lot of passes. He himself was injured and so didn't get – missed out on a lot of that time in camp and stuff that you would have hoped that he would have gotten with Mariota to kind of get in that rhythm. So, I mean, overall, it was a pretty disappointing year for the group. I mean, you had Rashard Matthews, who was still solid. And, I mean, that's who Rashard Matthews is. He's a solid number two.

We saw flashes from Taewon Taylor, but it just seemed to be inconsistent. Now, I hesitate to put too much of that on just him because we know about the limitations of his offense, of his offensive staff. Everybody seemed to struggle with it at times. So I think that we can still say the jury's out on Taylor. Can he still be that third or fourth guy that can provide speed and a spark? I mean, I think he can, but we'll kind of have to wait and see how this new staff views him and how they're going to use him.

But we'll kind of have to wait and see how this new staff views him and how they're going to use him. Yeah, and for the first time really in years, probably my first year writing for the site, the Sightings don't really need a receiver. It's not the number one need on the needs list for once. So that's kind of interesting. You think you've got your outside guys, Rashard Matthews, Corey Davis, they're going to be coming back next year.

You hope Taewon Taylor can grow into that slot role that Eric Decker kind of manned this year. And there's a possibility that Decker could come back. It all depends on how this staff views him. But he was just kind of underwhelming. Looked old. He's not a guy that's going to win with movement anymore. And if he starts dropping balls like he did down the stretch, then what value does he have? So I'd still be surprised if Decker came back.

Certainly hope that Taewon Taylor can kind of grow into that role that Decker played last season. I think it's what he was drafted for. Smaller guy. He's not going to really win on the outside, but you talk about those quick routes, those seam routes, all the things a slot receiver is supposed to do, he has the ability to do. But you saw the headaches with him. You saw

the miscommunications, but really that wasn't specific to him. You saw him with Corey Davis. You saw him with Rashard Matthews. You saw him with everybody. I still think Malarkey's scheme really, really handicapped the receivers specifically. It just seemed complicated.

You know, guys didn't seem like they knew what they were doing. Guys didn't seem like they knew where they were supposed to be. It seemed like if there was an option route, it was really easy to mess those up. You just saw a bunch of people end up in the wrong spots, and, you know, Marietta thought they were going one way, and they didn't end up there, and it ended up in a turnover. So those are your top three. The guy that is interesting here to me is Tajay Sharp.

Yeah. So he didn't play this year, but he's expected to come back. You know, Jim Wyatt said that he was ready to go. He was ready to get back at it. So he's interesting as a guy that can slide in behind Davis or Matthews and be that fourth guy because, honestly, if Decker's gone, the Titans really don't have a fourth or fifth guy. So I still think you could see them add a couple names, maybe a veteran.

Nothing big, but a veteran on a small contract or maybe a late-round pick. What do you think about adding a couple receivers to the mix? Yeah, I think that's a good point. I think mentioning Tajay sharp is important as well because people forget about him uh he's another one of those guys everybody falls fell in love with in training camp and um you know then he had an okay rookie year 41 catches 522 yards two touchdowns wasn't able to play at all last year because of an injury but he does come in and i mean he's the guy that gives them some depth i don't think you know i think some people thought

he's gonna be a number one receiver which i think is a little bit ridiculous but i do think he's a solid guy that can help you in your rotation so hopefully he's you know helping ready to go but yeah i do think they need some depth at the position they could use another veteran guy in there because all these guys that we're talking about with the exception of um richard matthews or first and second year guys. I mean, Sharpe's technically a third year guy, but missed the entirety of his second season. So very, very young at the position. Could use some veteran presence there. And again, that's what they thought they had in Eric Decker.

I think that was part of the reason they signed him. I mean, obviously they thought he could be productive on the field as well. But yeah, so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't do that. And like you said, it is weird that it's not the number one thing we're talking about because it has been for so many years here i i think it's still a need as far as they need to they need to add some to the group add some competition and that kind of stuff like we talked about but it's not you know one of their biggest needs that they have somebody to come in and step in and play right away because they think they have the guys there um just one

thing we're kind of talking a little bit about before we jumped on here, they talked to Rob Moore, Jim Wyatt did the other day, and he had a lot of good things to say about Corey Davis in his quote from Wyatt's article. I think at the end of the day, the key is for him to get himself healthy. Again, talking about Corey Davis, so he can go out and show the talent that he has. I think once he gets that done, everything else will kind of take care of itself. At the end of the day, it comes down to down to discipline focus and really doing the intangible things that he's going to need to get done to be the player he wants to be so i mean you know again

terry was the you know he was the champion for cory davis last year all off season leading up to the draft and so we're obviously believers in davis and what he can bring to the table you know rob moore kind of says the same thing there. He's got to get healthy. And then there's stuff I'm sure that his NFL game still needs, you know, he needs to refine and that kind of stuff. Part of, you know, running better routes and understanding how to get open and all that stuff in the NFL.

But I still think that this group has, like, between Davis and Matthews, has like between Davis and Matthews I think you have the ability there to have far and away the best one two points that they've ever had here because I think Davis's ceiling is higher than anybody else they've ever had I mean think about it to this point who's the best receiver has ever played for the Titans I mean Randy Moss but I mean who's who's the best receiver that has ever actually been productive for the Titans Derek Mason mean rainy moss but i mean who's who's the best receiver that has ever actually been productive for the titans derrick mason right i mean he's got two games can he but so i mean you know i think davis has a ceiling that goes far higher than derrick mason derrick mason was a really good player but i think davis can bring a lot more to the table so i think

in richard matthews is better than because mean, who was the best number two they had with Mason? Drew Bennett, Justin McCarons. I mean, again, guys that were fine players, but Richard Matthews is better than those guys. So I think they have the most top-end talent that they ever had at the position. It's just a matter of getting it all together, getting everybody healthy, getting everybody on the same page. Yeah, if you ever want to get depressed, go back and look at Titan stats

from five, six, seven years ago. Look at who the receivers were. They just haven't had anybody. It's been cheap free agent signing. It's been mid-round draft picks that have failed. It's just been just a wasteland. So Corey Davis is going to bring them out of that. I'm confident in that.

He didn't have the numbers, but nobody had the numbers in this offense. It was just this offense was so bad. But I think if you watch the games, you saw him come open. How many times did he come open? How many times did Marcus Mariota overthrow him? So I think those two are lacking chemistry. Again, I think it goes back to the scheme, and it's probably best to just throw out that and start over with LeFleur.

And you look at what the Rams did last year. Robert Woods really came on and emerged as a number one receiver, really out of nowhere, because he did nothing in Buffalo. So that kind of gives me hope for Corey Davis and even Rashard Matthews, you know. It's just seeing what they did with that offense as a whole. You know, from the run game all the way to the receivers to Jared Goff, everything clicked. Everything took two, three, four steps forward.

So that gives me hope about Corey Davis. Obviously the main thing is just staying healthy. You know, I think we kind of undersold what missing camp meant to him. Clearly the offense was complicated and complex, and he needed to dive into the playbook, and he didn't get that time. You know, and then he came back out and hurt himself week two and missed, what, five, six more weeks. So getting him a full offseason, a healthy offseason,

getting him in the new playbook, getting him time with Marcus Mariota, I think you're going to see a huge jump out of Corey Davis. Yeah, and again, I would caution being too overly critical about anybody based off of what happened last season just i just i'm just telling you and maybe maybe we'll be proven wrong but it's it's my belief at least for the time being that that offensive system was so bad that it hurt everybody that played in it now again we'll some time we'll tell on that but that that's where i'm at right now so yeah i mean overall just kind of wrapping up this discussion,

you're excited, I think, about the potential that this group has and, you know, think there's still good stuff to come from guys like Corey Davis and even Taewon Taylor. So, I mean, I think we can see them grow in this new system and hopefully that's what we'll get. Hopefully Rob Moore will be a guy that can come in and really get the best out of them motivate these guys and and teach them the system get in and play within it and um again i think it's obvious that's playmakers maybe they didn't use

them right but i think they have plenty of playmakers to be a prolific offense so we'll see how it plays out anything else receiver wise we need to hit on? Is this the year that Harry Douglas leaves us? I think. I do think so. I think with Mike Malarkey, you know, Harry Douglas' number one fan. I mean, I think Mike Malarkey is probably a bigger fan of Harry Douglas than anybody in Harry Douglas' family. Yeah, absolutely.

So, yeah, I think we will not see Harry Douglas on this roster in 2018. So, you know, there's that to look forward to. Apologize for any audio issues that we had there in the middle. I was sitting outside, and a truck decided to back up right in front of me, so that was fun. But anyway, so that'll do it for today. We're efforting some guests here. We're going to get with Dan Orlovsky sometime in the next week or so. I've got a few more things that we're trying to line up,

just to get some different voices on here to talk about guys and some guys that do take a look at film and study these Titans players. So we'll have some exciting stuff coming up for you. In the meantime, check out musicteammiracles.com. Again, we'll be covering everything Titans-related there, plenty of discussion to be had about different things, so check that out. Again, please subscribe to the podcast. Follow on Twitter at LockedOnTitans.

So that'll do it for today, and we'll be back with another episode in the next couple of days. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to LockedOnTitans, and we will talk to you later.