Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Talking the Titans' draft class with Jonah Tuls

Episode Date: May 4, 2018

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I am your host, Terry Lambert. No Jimmy tonight, but I will be joined by Jonah Toles of NDT Scouting. We're going to talk about the Titans draft class, a class that Jonah's going to be a big fan of. We'll get into that in a minute. I wanted to let you know before we do that, we do write for musiccitymiracles.com. Jimmy and I do.

Latest Titans info, all the news and notes, all the off-season discussion can be found over there. This is the Locked on Titans podcast. If you're not already subscribed, go ahead and do so for us on iTunes. If you're not already subscribed, go ahead and do so for us on iTunes. We're going to have two to three podcasts a week up, even throughout the offseason. So without further ado, let's bring in Jonah Tulls. Jonah, thanks for joining us tonight.

Hey, thanks for having me on. I really appreciate coming on the show to talk about the Titans draft, man. A guy that you're going to love just based off of your rankings, Dane Cruikshank, the Titans took in the fifth round. Tell us a little bit about him, a guy that you had in your top 50 on your big board. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was, like, in terms of all the analysts that I covered and I followed and stuff like that, I'm pretty sure I was the highest on the Arizona safety, Dane Cruikshank. And it's because I see a guy that's really similar to Mika Fitzpatrick

in a lot of ways he plays, the physicality he has coming downhill, the reliability as an open field tackler, and his ability to play man coverage. I even argue that I think Dane Cruikshank is a better man coverage player than Mika Fitzpatrick right now. I think he's a better athlete. I think he's more sound in the way he plays with his back to the ball. I think when you look at the difference between the two,

I think Fitzpatrick's just a smarter player. So if you want to say, well, he's Minkah Fitzpatrick light, the reason why Minkah Fitzpatrick's higher than on my board is because he has more understanding of his own concepts and the ability to play his own coverage and the ability to attack the ball coming forward as opposed to not thinking and playing just man coverage and playing strictly on the man that's where i thought fitzpatrick had the edge over him so i think he could play a little bit

more single high play the free order strong whereas i think dan crookshanks more of a true strong safety to where you put him on tight ends in the box play him a little play you can play him in a big nickel role um he can play coming downhill on the run game so i think he's very versatile in that aspect of the game. But Fitzpatrick is the edge of his place for safety, but that's why I'm high on him. He has that versatility. He has the cover skills. He has the physicality. He's a great athlete. You know, a 4'4", 40, a 38, 39 inch vertical.

This guy is a good athlete. This guy has the chops of a man coverage corner. He has a cornerback background, play a full-time corner, covered John Roswell in the Washington game a couple years ago. This is a guy that has a good background. I'm really surprised it fell to the fifth round. I think it has to be something with the character or something of that note because his film does not show fifth-round value at all.

I saw a guy with second-round tape, a guy that I would consider in the top 50 for sure. You said 46-year-old role player on my board. I'm really a big fan of this pick for the Titans in the fifth round. And I know that they didn't have many picks in this draft because they traded for Harold Landry. But the way that they maneuvered this board by getting Rashawn Evans, trading back in for Harold Landry, and all of a sudden getting Dane Cookshank in the fifth round

with a limited value of draft picks, that was a great haul for the Titans. I think Dane Cookshank can start immediately for this team at strong safety or at least push John Ciprian through reps at strong safety for sure. Yeah, like you said, 6'1", runs 4'4", went the Juco route, and then shows up at Arizona, and he played some corner there. Am I right on that? Yep.

And how did that go, and where did he go from there? So he started out as a corner at arizona so like when his first year arizona he was guarding like guys like john ross and like judas miss schuster it's like that in his first year i thought he did pretty well i think where you look at him i think you have to see you know the change of direction obviously he's not gonna be as great an off man against some of these quicker guys like these taller lankier players are i'm just it's just nature it's human nature. You're not going to be able to change direction with that tall guy like

5'9", like Dante Jackson would. So Dan Crookshank, I think he was more of a press man guy in Arizona. But you could see that zone contact is a little bit lacking. He's the guy that I think you want him playing with his back to ball as much as possible. You don't want him playing side on the sideline as much, like in a free safety role. I think you saw that when he was playing a little bit of the cover three at

corner. So I think putting him in the box, putting him in the slot to where he just, you know what you run, he's down the hip to the receiver, stay in phase. This is what this guy's best at. Put him on tight ends,

come on slot receivers, man covers. He's going to be able to be a great asset for you. And I think as a strong safety role where he coming down the box and do that kind of stuff, I think he's a great fit for what the Titans want to do. There's been some rumblings that the Titans could try him at corner. Just from your comments here, I take it that would not be the route that you would take?

Here's my thing with Crookshank at cornerback. You've got to have a distinct role for what you want him to do because if you want him to play cover three concepts and cover two concepts right away i don't think he's going to be that guy who's going to come in and give you immediate contributions if you want to play him in a press man role where he's playing his back to the ball and he's able to stay in the face of the receiver you put him in off you put it just strictly man coverage i think he'll do fine i just think he's not ready for this zone constantly to be thrown at him right away in a cornerback type role on the on the outside which i think it ties what they want to do but at him right away in a cornerback-type role on the outside, which I think the Titans want to do.

But if you put him in a strong safety role, I think that's where his fits in the best. I already talked about how you want to put him in the box on tight ends and slot receivers, and that's his best role, where he's going to be. But if you put him on the outside, it's a different ballgame. He's going to have to kind of relearn what he did in the 2015 season. I think playing in the role he just played in,

I think he'll be able to transition more comfortably there. That's definitely something that we talked a lot about coming into the draft. The Titans had a need at safety, but it was more of a depth need. But, you know, you could talk us into getting an upgrade there on Jonathan Ciprian. Not sure that we thought it would come in the fifth round, but, hey, it could happen there. So glad to hear you're so high on Crookshank. When we come back, we will get Jonah's thoughts on Rashawn Evans and Harold Landry.

All right, so on Thursday, the Titans traded up and got Rashawn Evans, middle linebacker out of Alabama. A lot of people thought that they were moving up to get Harold Landry. They end up getting him on Friday, which is just insane. First off, what are your thoughts on Rashawn Evans, the player at Alabama? Yeah, Rashawn Evans is this guy who's going to bring this physical tone-setting mentality to Tennessee. He's a guy who can plug the gaps in

the middle, a guy who can get downhill, get physical. He's a guy who will pop you right in the mouth. He has a stopping power. He's a physical player that you really need in your middle of the defense, the guy who can set the tone for you. I think he's a great two-down player right now. I think the reason why he didn't go ahead, the guy's can set the tone for you. I think he's a great two-down player right now. I think the reason why he didn't go ahead, the guy's a Leighton Vander, a Tremaine Edmonds, a Roquan Smith. He's inexperienced in coverage. I think he's the guy who's best coming downhill

and working a sideline-to-sideline role as opposed to moving backwards. So I think he's a guy that is a little bit limited right now in terms of what he does, but in terms of what he brings to the table right now, the physical nature and his ability to be effective against the run, I think he suits what the Titans want to do really well. I think the Titans need that physical tone

center in the middle of their defense, and he's going to provide that. I think he has the intangibles of a guy who could be a future captain for a defense, and he's a guy who could really rally the troops behind him and say, you know what, we're going to get this job done, we're going to do this. I think he has the intangibles of what you want in the linebacker position, and I think he really

fits everything you want in the middle linebacker position, sans the coverage experience coming out of Alabama. Yeah, I was going to say that. You pop on the tape and everything looks great. He's hitting people in the mouth and you see him in coverage, you see some lapses there, you see a little bit of

limited athleticism. Am I right on that? Yeah, I think you don't you see a little bit of limited athleticism. Am I right on that? Yeah, I think you don't necessarily see a stiff player. You see a guy who's a little bit laborsome, I think, when it comes to changing directions. I wouldn't say he's stiff, but I think he has enough athleticism to get someone on the sideline. But you do see that kind of laborsome stuff where he's trying to move.

He's trying to move and run with players in coverage. I think that's not what he does. I think you want him coming downhill in a blitzing role or someone who's reading and reacting as opposed to running back in coverage and guarding tight ends and man coverage, something like that. He's definitely a 3-4 inside linebacker for sure. Really interesting front seven now. You've got Brian Arakpo, Derek Morgan coming off the edge.

Now you've got Rashawn Evans who can give you some pass rush, maybe on a blitz, maybe a little bit of a presence on the edge. Do you think Rashawn Evans has any sort of game on the edge in the NFL, even if it's just in situational downs? I think you could talk me into situational downs because that's what he did a little bit in Alabama this past season. I think when you see me into situational downs because that's what he did a little bit in Alabama this past season. I think we see when Sean Neal on Hamilton went down, I think you saw him be a guy who could come off the edge a little bit

and be a guy who could use situational pass rush ability. But for what he's going to be with the Titans and three points on linebacker spot, I think you want him just staying inside. I could see them kicking him down on third down, but rarely do you see that in the NFL anyways. So I think you're going to see him play inside linebacker on all three downs, if not

just two downs right away, and someone will take his spot on third down and they go packages. Alright, moving on to Harold Landry. Top ten player on your board. Athleticism is there. Production is there. I get the injury. I get the down year last season.

Still, that's not a guy that should fall into the middle of the second round. What happened there? Yeah, so everything I've heard is just it wasn't the injuries. And that's what I initially thought because, you know, he had the ankle injury and all of a sudden it kind of just, you know, his whole season went downhill from there because he had a 16 and a half sack season or whatever it was in 2016 in 2017 he just fell off a cliff so you're wondering what happened there i thought it was an ankle injury well a lot of the scouts i talked to just thought

it was a character thing like does he love football is it a passion thing and they think he quit on his teammates so i think that's why he fell to where he did. If character wasn't an issue there, from everything I've heard, he would have been a top 20 lock. I mean, this guy has pass rusher ability. He has probably the best pure pass rusher in this draft. And I don't say that lightly because I love Bradley Chubb. Top

six player on my board. A guy who I think has Everson Griffin potential as a pro bowl guy. A three down player with run and pass potential. But this guy, Harold Landry, he's a knee-bender, a guy who can win the corner. He's a guy who can angle flexion, get around and close on the quarterback. Look at every trait you want in a pass rusher. Harold Landry has it. He's like Vic Beasley.

That's what I compare him to. I think he's a guy who can give you 10 to 12 sacks right away in this league. I don't say that lightly because rookies don't usually do that. But this is a guy who has that pass rush potential and that ability and that athleticism to do that. So I think the Titans got steel where they got them. But the scouts I talk to and the people I've communicated with about this is that it's a character thing, not necessarily a medical thing.

And that kind of surprised me because Harold Landry is a guy who I thought was a high-character guy who loved football, but apparently that wasn't the case and that's why he fell to the 40s. You've heard, if there's one ding on Landry, it's how he plays the run. Are you concerned at all on that? Are you concerned with anything about

his game, injuries aside, translating to the NFL? I get it. Teams are going to find a way to exploit a defensive end or outside linebacker if they can't defend the run i get it but you're paying these guys to be pass rushers and this guy can get you 10 to 15 sacks a year it's worth it it's worth in the top 10 drive that guy because you don't find those guys walking on the street every day.

This is a guy that I think has pass rush potential out of the roof. I think his run defending skills are inconsistent, but it's not as bad as what people think it is. I think people over-exaggerate it, and they try to over-correct it because he's such a good pass rusher. He has to have some sort of weakness and try to pin it on his run defending ability, even though it's not that bad.

I think it's just a little bit inconsistent. I think he needs to get a little stronger. His play strength could get a little bit better. But I don't think it's an issue to where I'm not going to draft him in the top 10. And he ended up being drafted in the 30s and 40s. So it's just like I think the Titans got a major steal top 10 part of my board. And if it's something where he doesn't love football or something that was manufactured to where he fell down the board

or someone just wanted to get him to slide, I get it. But I think the fact that he has that pass rush potential to be a 10, 12-sack guy, if it's nothing criminal and it's nothing injury-related, I think you have to take him to the first round. The Titans got steel in the second round. All right, that was Jonah Tolles. He's working for NDTScouting.com. You can find all of his work over there.

And NDT, y'all did great work all throughout this draft season. It was one of the best draft sites out there. Jonah's one of the best up-and-coming draft writers there is out there. So thanks for joining us tonight. It was a lot of fun. Hey, thanks for having me on. I can't wait to come on back soon. Yeah, we'll make that happen.

All right, tomorrow we are going to have Mark Schofield on, breaking down Luke Falk, the Titans' sixth-round pick from Washington State. So that will be an interesting conversation there. So, again, check out all of our work on musiccitymiracles.com. Subscribe to the podcast, Locked on Titans, on iTunes. We will talk to you all tomorrow.