Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Suh to the Rams; What now?

Episode Date: March 27, 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 tonight? Doing well. What's going on, Jimmy? Not too much. Obviously, we finally got an answer on the Indomitian Sioux saga, so we will talk a little bit about that. Talk about what's left for the Titans to pursue in free agency as far as the defensive line is concerned, to pursue in free agency as far as defensive line is concerned because they need some bodies there right now. And then we'll talk a little bit about draft needs, kind of resetting all that now that this whole Sue thing is over. Before we do that, I will tell you, as always,

we cover the Titans, UCMiracles.com for SB Nation, so you can check it out there. We have up-to-date stuff going on throughout the day there. So as soon as news breaks, we'll have some type of reaction and analysis for that, so check it out there. We have up-to-date stuff going on throughout the day there. So as soon as news breaks, we'll have some type of reaction and analysis for that. So check us out there. Follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb.

And then you can follow the podcast at LockedOnTitans. Try to do maybe another Q&A episode this week. As we kind of transition back into draft talk we were kind of talking draft and we moved to free agency and now we'll go back to draft since free agency has kind of slowed down and pretty much come to an end so follow us there you can ask questions there we'll try to answer them

on the podcast subscribe to the podcast iTunes Spotify wherever you get your podcasts so we got like I said the final answer on Indomitong Suh today. He signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams, $14 million. The report was that he took less to play with the Rams. So, I mean, obviously the indication there is the Titans offered more.

But he obviously felt comfortable in L.A. I mean, and we kind of talked last week about the – it just kind of seemed like things were going that way it seemed like all signs were pointing to him signing there so not the answer we wanted here uh because then we talked you know go back and listen to last week's episodes as far as you know how what we thought he would do in this defense and why we thought it would be awesome if he were here but really i think kind of middle of the week, last week, it was pretty obvious that that's where it was trending.

Now, we did say that the longer it went on, the better the Titans' chances were, just because any time the team that's not the frontrunner, the longer it hangs around, the better chance it is that at least the person who's trying to make the decision is thinking over his options, and the Titans's gonna have a chance to creep up but at the end of the day he obviously liked what he what he saw with the rams when he visited them there obviously liked what they told him that his role will be in that defense and so again disappointing but not really

surprising yeah and i think it's worth mentioning since we last recorded that the Jets were supposedly in on the Sue thing. And I'm not sure how much I buy into that. That just kind of felt like an agent plant to me. It kind of drove up the price tag to me. And, you know, you look at the contract, one year, $14 million. Sue wants to hit the market again. So you see Aaronald in a contract year now sue is going to be on a one-year deal so the rams are kind of going for it here

uh and then we'll see what what sue does at the end of uh his tenure there but yeah it made sense you know west coast guy uh wanting to stay out there rams are in a slightly better spot, I'd say, than the Titans. You know, you can debate on that, but I think you can pretty much say that the Rams and the Vikings are now the favorites to come out of the NFC now. No one's going to want to deal with that defense, so I totally get it. You know, we said last week, there's still question marks about this Titans team. We can be confident all we want.

Marcus Mariota still has to prove that he can bounce back. This offense has to prove that it's going to be good. So there were probably too many question marks there for Sue with the option of the Rams still being on the table. Yeah, and I guess, obviously from a national perspective, everybody has been saying he's got to choose the Rams while he chooses the Titans. He wants to win. And, you know, we kind of understand where they're coming from there

and see what the Rams did. I don't know. Is there a chance that the Rams' offense is not as good in the second year under Sean McVay when other NFL teams have tape on them? You know, is that a possibility? Because I don't know. I get why Sue would think the Rams were better. I get why national people talk about the Rams being better.

And obviously we're biased. We're Titans fans. We see all the potential in Marcus Mariota that, you know, maybe not everybody sees. But I don't know. I just think that defense is going to be unbelievable. I mean, there's no doubt about that. They got Wade Phillips, you know, one of the best defensive coordinators of our time.

Just look at all the different places he's done and all the different defenses he's been able to turn around and how good they've been with him there. And so, I mean, I don't think I have any questions on that side of the ball. But I don't know. I just feel like maybe that offense won't be as good in year two as it was in year one. Are teams going to have answers for what they're trying to do? I don't know. I mean, I don't know.

I don't know. I just think that the Rams are not necessarily as – I think people are just assuming that they're a shoe-in to win the NFC West, to maybe even get the number one seed in the NFC, all that kind of stuff. And I don't know. I mean, I'm not sure that they're there. I think the 49ers, honestly, are going to have a chance in that division. I mean, I think they're going to be a lot better.

And so I don't know. Maybe I'm not buying into the Rams as much as some other people are. I think it's a good point. I always point back to RG3 and the Redskins this read option is going to take over the world and that's the time when Colin Kaepernick was doing it with 49ers a season later

the whole NFL hasn't figured it out I don't know if it's that simple out in LA but I'd like to see a little more from Jared Goff before I crown that one of the better offenses in the NFL. I think your concerns

there are fine. Even look at Mike Malarkey and Terry Hrabisky. That offense worked. You can contribute that to DeMarco getting old. You can contribute that to the offensive line not being as good, but either way, something fell apart last year,

and it wasn't near as good as year one. So, yeah, I think there's something to that. And that's something that we pointed out with Deshaun Watson and the Texans. Now, they only played six games, but that's something that I'm looking for, and it's early. We've got a long way to go. But we'll see if Deshaun's healthy. But I'm interested to see if

that offense works like it did through six games, you know, lit the world on fire. Is it going to be as good with an offseason for these defensive coordinators to prepare for it? Yeah, so we'll see, but more than anything, I'm just glad to get an answer on Adomkin-Sue. It just

drug on forever, and I really thought we'd have an answer, you know, Friday. And as it got into Monday, it was like, okay, just whatever you're going to decide, just decide so we can all move on. Anyway, so the Titans, like we said up top, they need bodies on the defensive line. After cutting Carl Klug, cutting Sylvester Williams, you know, again, not huge losses there, but guys that were on the 53-man roster last year, they haven't brought in anybody at this point.

I mean, they re-signed Daquan Jones, but they haven't brought in anybody new. They re-signed David King, but nobody new from last year, so you're going to need bodies up front. We talked a little bit about Jonathan Hankins kind of as a backup plan to Sue, and really he got released when we were already looking at the possibility of Indomitian Sue being here. So I think he's the natural guy that they turn to next. But Indomitian Sue wasn't going to come in here and play nose tackle.

But they need a guy to play tackle. They need a guy to play in the middle. Hankins hasn't done that. So I don't know what his fit maybe would be here. But, I mean, he's a guy that was at Ohio State when Mike Vrabel was there. So there's obviously some natural connections there. They need depth up front. So it seems like a guy that it makes sense for them to talk to.

But, you know, how do you think he – if he were to sign here, how does he fit? That's a great question. I don't really know. I think you've got three pretty similar players in Jones, in Hankins, and Austin Johnson, probably a couple notches below those guys. But still, I think you can plug any of those three in up front. You know, like we were talking about earlier, I'm not sure that this scheme talk is all it's cracked up to be.

I think it might be as simple as putting three guys up there that can stuff the run and get after the passer a little bit on the line. And I think Hankins would be an upgrade for the Titans. Right now, Austin Johnson is slated to be a starter. I don't know how I feel about that. He's just kind of an average guy. I don't think he's a difference maker. In Dominican Sioux, that's a guy that can take over ballgames.

That's a guy that can be your Albert Hainsworth, that can plug the run, that can knife through off the line, that could go get after the quarterback a little too. So with Hankins, you're getting more of a run plugger. You're getting a guy that's just going to hold his ground and a guy that's just going to really not let the opposing team run the football. So not quite the all-around player that Sue was, but definitely still a good player, has a role in this league.

So I'm interested to see if they go after him. So I think their pursuit of him will kind of tell us all we need to know about how they feel about Austin Johnson. Yeah, and, you know, again, this is a conversation for another day but you know that that second round pick there that second round where they had three picks where they went with kevin dodd austin johnson derrick henry you know the yeah it hadn't it hadn't played out really well um derrick henry obviously being the you know star of that group so far but even he has his contributions have been limited,

partly because they had DeMarco and whatever, but that's the thing that when you look back on, we all have all the faith in the world in John Robinson, but that was that first draft, and maybe they could have done better with those three picks that they got in that Rams deal,

or a couple of those picks they got in the Rams deal. Anyway, coming up, we'll talk a little bit about draft needs, where they stand after everything that's happened as free agency has played out. Okay, so in case you didn't know, Titans picking at 25. They're in a good position from the standpoint of they don't have a lot of huge holes that they have to fill in this draft uh outside linebacker obviously being the one that need they they need to help at and it could probably use a couple of guys in this draft to come in and hopefully compete but you need a guy that can come in and can at least challenge Arakpo and Derek Morgan or at least be a rotational piece with those guys.

Because, again, both those guys getting up in age, both of those guys in a contract year or so, who knows what, will be with them beyond 2018. So that's the obvious number one need. But what would you rank as the number two need currently? I'm just sitting here thinking about that. I don't know. I think you can put inside linebacker, defensive line,

even receiver, safety, and maybe even guard, depending on what happens with Quentin Spain. You can throw all of that in that number two hole, and I wouldn't argue with you. And honestly, if you didn't add a player to any of those positions, outside of a depth signing here or there, Titans would be fine. Titans would have their starters there, and they could go into the season.

So that kind of speaks to the job that John Robinson has done. So outside of pass rusher, they can really afford to go get the best player on their board. And I think that's kind of cliche, but I think it applies here. And, you know, six picks. Do the Titans need six picks? They might not. So that tells me that John Robinson could package a couple picks together and go up and get that pass rusher

if he falls into the teens yeah I think that's something to keep an eye on because like you said that there's not a lot of there's not a lot of holes on this roster and there's not they don't need a bunch of guys to come in and make the team very different than what we had a couple years ago so yeah if a guy Harold Landryry, for instance, starts to fall, is he willing to go up and get that guy that can come in and be an impact player and have a pick less than what he currently has? I think that's absolutely a possibility. And, again, to talk about, number one, the Titans being able to draft at 25,

which is, for years, they were in the top five. Last year they had a top five pick because of the Rams, but, you know, 19 or 18, 19, whatever it was with Adoree Jackson. So it's just a whole different ballgame from what we're used to. And so you really are – I mean, you can eliminate a couple of positions, obviously, from what they will pick at 25. They're not taking a quarterback. They're not taking an offensive tackle. They're not taking a quarterback. They're not taking an offensive tackle.

They're not taking a cornerback, probably, with the additions that they've had. But, you know, anywhere else, they can probably afford to upgrade or at least afford to have a guy come in and compete. I would add running back to that at 25. I think they're going to draft one, but it's not going to be at 25. Tight end, end probably as well but other than that especially on the defensive side of the ball i mean they could draft any position and that guy could come in and compete possibly be a starter so it's a it's a much

different position than what they've been in in the past and like you said it is cliche to say well they're going to take the best player on their board. But that's what really good teams do. They draft well. They fill a couple of holes in free agency. And then they're able to get good football players on their team and then figure out a place for them. And that's kind of where the Titans are. So it's a nice place to be.

And I don't know. It's good that they don't have to they don't have to draft a guy that has to come in and be a starter but at the same time we just like i said we just don't know really what to do right because we've had so many high draft picks over the times have had so many high draft picks over the last few years that now it's almost the draft at times has been maybe the most exciting part of the season with some of those really bad teams. But when you're drafting at 25, it's so hard to predict who's going to be available

and with this team which way they're going to go. It's so much tougher to have a conversation about that than it has been years past. Yeah, draft talk is kind of boring this year from a Titans perspective, and that's weird to say because draft talk is always exciting. But, yeah, to me, they've got one clear need to go find their pass rusher of the future. So, yeah, I don't think that's going to change. So maybe we can get a guy on to debate some pass rushing prospects with us in the future.

But circling back around real quick, Titans haven't signed a receiver. You know, for all the talk of Sammy Watkins and Allen Robinson and all this, the Titans haven't signed a receiver. They're pretty much rolling with what they've got at this point. Is adding a rookie receiver, is that smart? You know, I think it's more likely at this point that they go dumpster diving and find a veteran cheap

presence to bring into that room. You've still got Tajay Sharp, who's essentially a second-year player, along with Corey Davis, Taylor Taylor, who are second-year guys, along with Rashard Matthews. I don't know. Receiver made my needs list, but

I feel like I need to put an asterisk there and put a veteran receiver there. Yeah. I think you're a hundred percent right on that because if you're not drafting a receiver in the first round, I don't think. And then, I mean,

I don't think they can afford to do it in the second or third round either probably. I mean, those probably need to be outside of an interior offensive lineman those probably need to be defensive players so yeah what what are you going to bring in a guy in the fourth round that can that's going to start over the guys that you mentioned i mean i think that's a that's a thing so yeah they need to they need to get a guy like a jordan matthews is the guy that we talked about i don't know if we talked about him on air or off air.

But a guy that could make sense for this team to come in and be a veteran guy that could help them, that kind of thing. So, I mean, I do think that's the route they go. Could they draft one? Sure. But I don't think they're going to draft anybody that they're really going to depend on just because they've got so many other guys. And, again, you know, Taewon Taylor, Tajay Sharp,

not guys that are household names or that have huge upside, but guys that are quality players. And when you're talking about your third and fourth wide receivers, you're okay with those names. So, you know, I don't know. Because that was when Alan Hearns got released last week. Everybody was like, oh, the Titans need to bring in Alan Hearns. And they didn't, I mean, as far as we know, they didn't even kick the tires on that.

So, I mean, I think they feel pretty good about where they are with that group. And, again, you know, Taylor was the third-round pick last year. I know things didn't look great in year one, but you've got to consider the offense and all those types of things. So, I mean, I think they have a good feeling for those guys. But it would make sense still for them to bring in a veteran, a la Eric Decker last year, to help that out. So, anyway, that will be something to keep an eye on.

All right, anything else that we need to hit tonight? Yeah, real quick, just to wrap up the receiver talk, just a new hit on it. Eric Decker was a late signing. Even Andre Johnson was a late signing. Even Andre Johnson was a late signing. Even waiting until some of these roster cutdowns, the market is going to replenish there during training camp. Don't panic

if the Titans don't sign one. Don't draft one. I'm assuming they'll sign one just from a numbers perspective. I don't think it's a huge deal. You've got this new office of staff to really maximize these playmakers that you've invested in last year. So, yeah, I'm still not buying into receiver being a real big need.

Yeah, I'm with you. Anyway, like I said, we'll keep an eye on all this stuff as it plays out. And, again, we'll get more heavily into draft and talk about some of these guys because, you know, free agency is going to basically grind to a halt here. You'll have a thing, you know, a signing here or there, but it's not going to be anything like it was the last couple weeks. So we'll keep up to date on that, too, but we'll dive back into the draft over the next couple weeks.

So stay with us. Like I said, we'll get a couple draft guys on to talk about some of these guys and pass rushing prospects, interior offensive line prospects, which I think is still a possibility in the first couple of days. So we'll break all that stuff down over the next couple of weeks. Like I said, if you have any questions that you would like to hear us talk about or hear us answer at LockedOnTitans on Twitter, send those there, and we'll try to work those into the episodes

the next couple of days, next couple of weeks, whatever it may be. So follow us on Twitter. Again, I'm at jmorphsmcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. Museummiracles.com is the website that we write for. Like I said, all the most up-to-date information is there. So subscribe to the podcast, LockedOnTitans, on iTunes, Stitcher, wherever you get your podcasts. So that to the podcast Locked on Titans on iTunes, Stitcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

That's all for tonight. We'll be back in the next couple of days to talk a little bit more about the draft. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for Locked on Titans. Thanks for listening to Locked on Titans and we'll talk to you again later this week.