Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: What draft pick were you convinced on -- one way or another?

Episode Date: February 26, 2019

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joining us today about Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you today? Pretty good. What's going on, Jimmy? Not a whole lot. We are one day away from the combine starting, so we're recording this on Tuesday. So tomorrow is Wednesday, obviously, and then Mike Vrabel and John Robinson will both be speaking tomorrow. So we'll actually have some stuff to talk about, which will be exciting because it feels like it's been a while since we've had even any kind of news, any kind of news about the events to talk about. So we'll start rolling into that tomorrow, that, and then we'll have the combine, obviously, throughout the weekend and into next week. Today we're going to talk about kind of an idea we stole from Twitter, draft picks that

we were 100% sure were going to be good that didn't end up working out, and then vice versa or whatever. Guys that we just, when you saw their name pop up on the screen, you never thought they had a chance to be any good. So that's what we're going to get into today. Before we do that, remind you we're right from NewCityMiracles.com, where we cover the Titans for SB Nation, so you can check us out there.

You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlambertfb. Follow the podcast account at LockedOnTitans. You can get the podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts, just search out LockedOnTitans. If you have a smart speaker in your house, in your car, whatever it may be, just say play podcast LockedOnTitans, and you will hear us there. You will also have the option of calling in and leaving us a voicemail. If you want to ask us a question, give us feedback on the show, 615-787-8762.

Call in, leave about a minute long voicemail. We'll get to it on a show later on this week. I thought you all might have some opinions on these topics that we're going to touch on today. All right, so the first one that we'll talk about is a draft pick that we were just really confident was going to work out that didn't end up working out. The most obvious one is the one that Terry's going to take. I think a lot of us probably fall into that same category, so we'll save that one for just a

minute. I think mine's Vince Young. You know, I think as the and you can probably relate to this, most of you that are listening as Titans fans, or probably really any NFL fans, you kind of go through this cycle with draft picks where if you're not excited about it when the name pops up on the screen,

you read something or you get on Twitter nowadays or whatever it may be, and you get in this group and people are talking about how good this guy can be and what he can do. I know it didn't work out in college, but he wasn't in the right system. If he gets with this guy and that guy and blah, blah, blah. And I think that's kind of what happened with me on Ben Chung. I think I was a little bit skeptical of the pick when it first happened. But by the time that first season rolled around, I mean, I was, you know,

Ben Chung was going to the Hall of Fame. There was no doubt in my mind. And they just needed to get him in there, let him run the offense. Everything would be fixed. And if you remember back to that year, he didn't start until the 10th or 11th game. The first game he started was a Cowboys game where Hainsworth stopped on the guy's head. Then he brought the Titans back. They almost

made the playoffs that year. They made the playoffs in his second year. The debacle happened the third year. As you watched film on him and that kind of stuff, I think he obviously had limitations. There was a football IQ.

I don't think his was great, obviously, with his reported score on the Wonderlic and all that kind of stuff. But the dude could obviously get out there and make plays. He was dynamic when the lights were the brightest. I mean, obviously, going all the way back to that Rose Bowl game when he was at Texas, all that kind of stuff. And so, like I said, with all that stuff going on, I just kind of bought into, hey, man, this guy's going to be great.

He's going to revolutionize the position in the NFL, all that kind of stuff. And we know how that played out. I think a lot of it had to do with his makeup. You know, there was obviously the clashes with him and Jeff Fisher. I'm not in the camp of people that blame Jeff Fisher for Vince Young flaming out in the league but I do think it was a it was a match that just didn't mesh

for quite a few reasons I don't know if it was the reported that Fisher wanted Leinart but Bud wanted Vince I don't know if that was necessarily it I think it was more of the mental makeup of the two guys. But when I think back to the time leading up into that first season, and then obviously, you know, we had to wait a long time for him to get on the field.

But the way that he, you know, brought the Titans back that first year, won offensive rookie of the year, almost took them to the playoffs, all that kind of stuff, that was the one for me that, man, leading up to that year and then even after that year, almost took him to the playoffs, all that kind of stuff. That was the one for me that man, leading up to that year and then even after that year, I was convinced that he was going to be the guy following McNair's footsteps, all that kind of stuff. For a various amount of

reasons, it just didn't work out. It was hard not to be totally convinced after his rookie season. If you weren't on board with the Vince pick, you certainly were after his rookie year. It was something that you really hadn't seen in the league. You know, you had Mike Vick, but this was different. I mean, Vick was a smaller guy.

Vince is 6'5", 225 pounds, and out here just got a cannon and running around. He's a long strider. He was just really different. It was something that the NFL really hadn't seen much of. And it's just you wonder about Vince. I always wonder this. Would he succeed in today's NFL where, you know, coaches aren't as cookie cutter?

You know, you had to be this, this, and this. You had to fit this parameter. You had to play in this offense. Just wonder if the creativity of today would have helped Vince a little bit. But ultimately, I just don't think Vince had the want to. And honestly, probably just didn't have everything he needed mentally to be an NFL quarterback. It's a little harsh to say, but time and time again, we kind of saw that.

So I certainly don't blame you for picking Vince there. Mine is going to be Chance Wormack. I mean, I think every Titans fan that year wanted Chance Wormack. I think we had seen what this team was. They were a ground-and-pound team that was struggling up front. They needed a guard in the worst way. They needed someone to blow holes open for chris johnson uh they take chance warmack i remember chris johnson tweeting you know thank god when when that happened uh i don't think there was any any question that whether or not this guy was going to perform we just all were assuming

that he was going to be plug and play from day one. You know, looking back, he was probably a product of that Alabama system where everybody's just great around him. You know, and the Alabama dynasty was just getting rolling at that point. You know, they had won a couple titles, sure, but it was still in the beginning stages. So I feel like we've learned our lesson a little bit with these Alabama players, and maybe it's unfair, but you've got to consider all the pieces around. And I think that was the case with Wormack.

He really wasn't an elite athlete. Hit the taco bell pretty hard in the league. You talk about want to. I'm just not sure Chance had the want to. But, man, we were all convinced that Chance was going to come in here and fix this rushing attack and bring Chris Johnson back to the 2,000-yard player that he was. Yeah, it's crazy when you think about it. I'm glad you didn't talk about saying, you know, you like to say you love Taco Bell more than you love football.

I think that absolutely kind of played out to be true. But, like you said, it's amazing. It's like Groundhog Day as a Titans fan, right? We're talking about interior offensive linemen that we really need and wide receivers. It just seems like that's been the case since the beginning of time. And same thing that year. They had to rebuild the interior of that offensive line.

That was the thing. And Wormack was, for 99.9% of the people out there, I mean, I obviously can't speak to what teams thought, but coaches, GMs, I mean, player personnel guy, everybody that you heard talk, talking about how much they love Chance Wormack, you know, he's a decade-long starter. You draft him, you don't have to worry about that position forever. I mean, all those types of things, and it just didn't play out that way.

And like you said, I think, you know, and I think you could kind of say something similar for Vince. I think when you have somebody who it's always come easy to them, that they've always been the best guy out there because they're bigger than everybody else or faster than everybody else or whatever it may be, when you get to that point to where you have to put in that work because it doesn't come as easy anymore, some guys are able to do it. Some guys are able to put in those extra reps and get to that next level, and some guys just aren't.

They don't want to or they can't or whatever it may be. That just kind of seemed to be the deal with Chance Wormack. Like you said, that pick made so much sense. Very rarely do you see these things where, you know, you have this huge need, you have this supposed great player, and you get a point where you can get that guy. And, you know, it just seemed like everything came together for the Titans in that draft. And it just didn't work out. And, you know, again, ever since then, the Titans are still looking for a guard or two that can play.

So it's funny how those things kind of cycle out. But anyway, so that'll do it for that topic. Coming up, we'll talk about guys that we knew from the beginning weren't going to make it. So my guy, I mean, again, we're going back a little bit, but I just remember the Paul Williams pick. That was the draft where it was pretty clear that Jeff Fisher was calling the shots. You know, he had kind of won the power struggle with Floyd Reese. The name just came there for a second.

You know, it was the year where basically, if you believe, I guess, accounts from different people. Floyd Reese wanted to fire Alan Lowry. Jeff Fisher didn't want it to happen. Jeff Fisher went down and talked to Bud Adams. Jeff Fisher won. That kind of created a rift between Fisher and Reese. Eventually, Reese was out.

Mike Reinfeldt came in. But it was pretty clear to everybody that had knowledge of the situation that Jeff Fisher fisher was the one calling the shots again this is going all the way back to 2007 so the year after the vince pick but so you had that draft where they took chris henry in the second round uh and paul williams in the third round and you know we talk a lot about guys that fit john robinson profile um guys that have, guys that have been productive in college. Chris Henry and Paul Williams were the exact opposite. They went to the combine, put up freakish numbers, but did nothing in college. People nicknamed Chris Henry the cockroach because he reigned in darkness.

Paul Williams wasn't even good at Fresno State. And then you expect him to come into the NFL and be good. And he was with the team for, you know, what, four years, had 72 catches over that time. I mean, they did have a 43-catch season, so I guess there's something, you know, that's – we've had receivers here that have been worse. But just those two guys, it just – unless you just wanted to look at their combine numbers and believe them, you had no basis of looking at them, seeing what they had done, and saying, okay, that translates to success in the NFL.

And I think it just fell into a – it was kind of a Jeff Fisher ego thing, where, hey, look, these guys are elite athletes. I can coach them and make them football players. And it just – the picks never made sense. It wasn't anybody that was on anybody's radar. And then they come across and, you know, you think, okay, but then again, listen, we go through this thing where, hey, this guy can be good. He can do this.

He's really fast. He can do that stuff. And so by the time, you know, the season rolls around, you've kind of talked yourself into maybe this guy can be a player. But if you go back to really like, if i go back to my first initial thought when those two guys were drafted i just there was no shot at them ever being productive nfl players i'll go back to what 2015 uh the third round pick jeremiah patasi uh was drafted to be the right tackle here and you know that was back when i had enough time to really watch

about 200 players coming out each year in the draft. Patasi's tape was just terrible. I don't know how anybody had a draftable grade on him, much less the third round. So when I saw his name come across the screen and I saw the responsibilities that were falling on his plate, you know, protecting Marcus Mariota in his rookie season uh I just I knew that was going to be bad I was hoping I was going to be wrong I tried to talk myself back into it I tried to go back and watch and it just

it was not there and unfortunately uh Patasi you know backed up my my exact findings you know from his college day he He was just terrible. I'm pretty sure he was out of the league in, what, two years or less. I think he bounced around with Jacksonville. But more obvious, I'll go back to Jake Locker. Quarterbacks who struggle with accuracy, they don't improve. Teams think they can fix these accuracy issues. Quarterback coaches think they can fix them.

They never get fixed. I remember watching a college game and Jack Locker went 4 of 20. That was his final stat line. He completed 4 of 20 passes. So just wild inaccuracies. It wasn't a mechanical thing. He just could not

hit open receivers. And for that to go in the top ten, you know, we see it every year just about, it seems. These teams force the quarterbacks. You know, Christian Ponder and Blaine Gabbert were in the same draft class, I think just a couple picks apart. So, you know, the Titans forced that one. And I remember on draft night just knowing that wasn't going to end well.

And, you know, Jake Locker did everything he could to prove me wrong. There was a time where he figured it out and was a pretty good passer for about a month or two. But injuries finally derailed him, ended up retiring. It just never did work out in Nashville. Yeah, and again, I don't know if you read the story about Jake Locker. It was, I don't know, about a year ago, maybe during his last football season, where they got caught up with him at his place where he is now, and he's coaching football and doing whatever.

He's another guy that just didn't seem to have the love for the game. And if you believe the reports and the things that went on with him and Ken Wisenhunt, I think Wisenhunt probably broke his spirit a little bit throughout that process as well. But, yeah, like you said, I mean, the main thing you can look at is accuracy. But, again, like you could go back and, like, all these Washington receivers, they dropped all these passes, and those guys won't do that in the NFL. And, I mean, I remember going back to the heyday of you know the wake up

zone when you had Wycheck on and you had you know the weekly segment with Kaharski and I remember Wycheck and Kaharski just going back and forth about locker and his accuracy and all that stuff and because Wycheck was a big locker guy said you know he throws catchable balls

and all this kind of stuff and then you got into the debate of you know where did if a quarterback should be able to put the ball and all that kind of stuff and it just yeah it just it seemed doomed from the beginning um like you said that was just one of those things where they needed a quarterback and so they they reached up there to get him um and you know who knows what would have happened if if munchak would have stayed um you know because there had been some have happened if Munchak would have stayed. You know, because there had been some progress made there, but it just didn't, I don't know, it just didn't, that one seemed doomed from the beginning. And, again, I think, like you said, the biggest thing to point out, too, is the accuracy issue. To go back to Patasi, I was looking at his career path.

You know, I forgot he was only here for a year. He was on the team in 2015, and the Titans cut him in that final roster cut before the 2016 season. He did bounce around a little bit. Jaguars, Rams, Broncos, mainly a practice squad guy for all those teams. He's currently in the AAF playing for the Salt Lake Stallions. Oh, boy. So, yeah, that's something, I guess.

Rest in peace to that quarterback. Right. But, you know, that one just, just i don't know i remember that was one of those picks that was like everybody hated it like all the analysts everybody you know um it just it just it never made any sense and like you said i i mean y'all you may not remember back when when terry was the draft guy at mcm um a lot of the stuff he nailed i mean going back to kevin dodd uh just saying that one was doomed from the beginning. I mean, just a lot of that kind of stuff that just hadn't made sense. And unfortunately, I mean, this may depress you, but go back and look.

Just kind of go back through the years and look at the drafts the Titans have had, especially during the Russell Webster years. It's amazing that they had any success at all just because you see these drafts, and they maybe had one guy that stuck for a little bit of time. But you don't see a draft where they got two or three or four guys that came in and were really productive for them and so i mean when you when you go back and look at the draft class it makes sense why you know the titans had such a long playoff drought all that kind of stuff hopefully things are swinging in the other direction now um but man it was it was kind of brutal there for a

while all right that'll do it for today's show. Like I said, tomorrow we will be back. We will have some things to talk about because we will at least have some Combine news. Like I said, Braylon Robinson are both speaking tomorrow. And then you always get some nuggets coming out from franchise tags or teams signing their players to extensions when the Combine week comes up. So we'll be following all that. Again, bcmiracles.com. You can see us writing about that.

Twitter, at jmorrismcm, at tlambertrt. And again, if you want to react to this show, if you've got a guy that was your guy that you were so sold on that ended up not working out, or a guy that you knew wasn't going to make it from the beginning, 615-787-8762. There was about a minute-long voicemail there, and we will play it on the show later this week.

So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to Locked on Titans, and we will talk to you again later.