Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Mock Draft Monday - The Draft Network's Mock, Mock Draft Round-Up & Rowland's Rant

Episode Date: February 17, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a mock draft Monday. We are back. I hope you guys enjoyed the Ultimate Division crossover. A lot of you reached out to me on Twitter at TicTacTitans, said you really enjoyed it. I actually got a lot of requests to get another update from the guys around the division, and I had a really good time recording it as well. So if you guys didn't get a chance to listen to that, it's kind of evergreen content. You can listen to it all the way up probably until the draft,

and afterwards we'll try to get an updated version for you guys as we keep going through the offseason. But yeah, go check that out Monday through Thursday are the teams. Friday was kind of a Valentine's Day special where we talked about the players that we loved and some other common opponents we're going to have going into the 2020 season. So just really happy about the way that turned out and want you guys to go ahead and check that out if you haven't already. Before you do that, please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you listen to podcasts so you can get this content real time. As for today, it is a Mock Draft Monday. We are going to kick off that tradition once again going forward until the draft actually takes place. So of course,

the Locked On Podcast Network is partnering with the Draft Network. We are going to talk about their Mock Draft Monday release every single Monday. Now, here's what's going to happen because I record the show late on Sunday evenings, as most of you guys know. So you have it no matter what state, region, or country that you're listening in. You have the Locked on Titans podcast for your morning commute, your morning workout, whatever it happens to be. You have it at any time you need it.

And that's what works for the most viewers. However, as the name implies, the Draft Network releases their Mock Draft Monday on Monday. So we are going to review the previous week's Mock Draft Monday release, get you guys ready and caught up for the current day's release. And I implore you guys to go over to the Draft Network and check out their latest Mock Draft Monday with all the information that we covered and see how things have changed for the Titans, how the board has moved around. It'll give you a good way to track player value and the Titans team needs as they evolve over the next two months until the NFL draft does arrive. So we are going to keep that up and we are not going to stop with just a conversation about the draft networks release. After we talk about that,

we will follow that up with a trip around the football sphere. Look at tons of other mock drafts from different analysts from different outlets. See what they have to say about what the Titans could do in this upcoming draft and see if we agree with the selections that we find. I'm going to wrap up the show today with a little bit of a Roland's rant for you guys. It is Monday, so what better day to rant than a Monday. So we will finish out the show with that. A lot to get into. Glad to be back with you guys. Let's get it. This edition of Mock Draft Monday from the Draft Network comes from Jordan Reed. And Reed has a very interesting mock draft for the entire NFL.

He has two rounds of mock coverage here. Excellent insight about each of the prospects, including the team that they are going to and the position that they are in. But focusing in on the selection for the Tennessee Titans with the 29th pick in the position that they are in, but focusing in on the selection for the Tennessee Titans with the 29th pick in the first round, Reed has the Titans selecting Christian Fulton, cornerback out of LSU. Fulton is about six foot tall, 200 pounds, was a senior, so tons of experience. Now, he did miss time in 2017 after being caught tampering with a drug test by the NCAA. Not a huge fan of the NCAA as a governing body, but that is something that will be monitored

by this organization, and John Robinson will have to decide if he wants to take a chance on someone like Fulton with that in his history after taking a chance on Jeffrey Simmons last year, but it's just tampering with the drug test. Nothing outlandish. So if Fulton proves that he's matured from that incident, there's no reason that the Titans wouldn't consider him a possibility, especially this late in the first round. Fulton is considered a high-level cornerback prospect, so to see him drop all the way to 29, it would be a great outcome for the Tennessee Titans because on the field, Fulton is a menace in coverage.

Very smooth, very fluid with his hips, with his strides. He understands different concepts and different coverages. He understands different route combinations as well. He's shown that he can make plays on the ball and he has a high level understanding of coverage. However, on the downside with Fulton, he struggles in run defense. It doesn't seem like he enjoys tackling. He doesn't enjoy the physicality of playing run defense on the outside as a cornerback. He tends to dive for ankles instead of truly trying to wrap up and you'll see that a lot with cornerbacks. That's something that hopefully at the next level once you're finally getting the paycheck that you deserve for your talent maybe

Fulton will be more dedicated to the run that's something in Tennessee that he'll be required to do it's very important in the defense that the Titans run that the cornerbacks show physicality on blitzes and in the run game and go along with that, his struggles with physicality bleed into coverage. He isn't as aggressive or physically dominant at the point of attack when trying to win balls down the field or getting pushed off routes when wide receivers get handsy with him, which we see in the AFC South with someone like DeAndre Hopkins, who is one of the best of all time at getting separation through his hands and

doing the dirty work that wide receivers have to do to get open in the NFL. Can Fulton handle that at the next level with how he struggles with physical play at the point of attack in not only run game, but also in pass coverage as well? Moving into the second round, Reed has the Titans selecting Jonathan Taylor running back out of Wisconsin. 5'11", 219 pound junior, has been incredibly productive not just in college but at every level of football. Go ahead and look up some of his high school stats and you will be amazed but he was also very productive at Wisconsin including his junior year rushing for over 2,000 yards with 21 touchdowns.

He had his best year in the air as well, getting 26 catches, 262 yards and five touchdowns. Now, on the downside of things, Taylor had 926 carries in his career at Wisconsin. That is quite a bit, and when you're looking for somebody who is going to either be a compliment to Derrick Henry or possibly be a replacement for Derrick Henry you feel like you might be putting yourself in a worse position with some of the other options available when you go with a guy like Taylor who has that many carries Derrick Henry had that concern as well with the type of workload he had in college and in high school, but Derek Henry is a physical marvel at 6'3", over 250 pounds of pure muscle and

stamina, and Taylor at 5'11", 219 pounds. You can't expect a guy of that stature to be able to carry the workload as well as someone like Derek Henry. So while Taylor is a pounder, he can get the ball 30 times a game, which is something that makes sense if you're replacing Derrick Henry. You want to have somebody in that vein. It's going to be hard to get the type of durability you get from someone Derrick Henry size from someone like Jonathan Taylor. So you see an offensive tackle like Lucas Niang still on the board. I would think that might be a route that the Titans would go as well. And if I'm honest, I don't like the pick for Taylor for the Titans. And here's my reasoning. The Titans are either going to be looking to compliment Derrick Henry,

or they're going to be looking to replace Derrick Henry. And either way, I don't like the route that Taylor offers the Titans because he doesn't add enough versatility in the passing game. Although I mentioned the receiving stats from his most recent season, 26 catches, over 250 yards, five touchdowns, catching the ball out of the backfield. That's not the type of versatility that I would hope the Titans would be looking for. If they're looking to compliment Derrick Henry, then you definitely want a running back that has more ability in the passing game. then you definitely want a running back that has more ability in the passing game. If you're replacing Derrick Henry, I would hope you would be doing so with the idea in mind that the Titans are looking to get more versatile in the backfield.

Have someone, not that you're going to get the talent level of these players, but a Christian McCaffrey, an Alvin Kamara, someone who can give you both the running game and the passing game and is a complete threat in the backfield. Derrick Henry, while he improved his ability in the passing game as well, still lacks the ability to run a normal route tree for some of the running backs that I mentioned. So you would like to see more versatility from the Titans running back than Taylor offers you, whether the Titans choose to replace or compliment Henry. So not a huge fan of that pick, but I understand the value of that pick and the fact that the

Titans may be looking to select a running back very high, whichever route they go with the fork in the road of Derrick Henry's looming contract. That is going to wrap up our conversation about Mock Draft Monday from the Draft Network though. Make sure you go check out the most recent Mock Draft Monday that should be dropping later today from the Draft Network, though. Make sure you go check out the most recent Mock Draft Monday that should be dropping later today from the Draft Network. Those guys have great content over there, led by Joe Marino from the Locked On Bills, who was on our show earlier this season.

They have in-depth player profiles from multiple different analysts. They have mock drafts coming out the entire week with their Mock Draft Monday special, of course. So just a lot of really good content, draft-related content over there that I implore you guys to go and check out. Also, make sure you're subscribed to the show, as I mentioned earlier, as we continue going throughout the offseason here on Locked on Titans. We are going to come back with a mock draft roundup, go to multiple different outlets,

go through multiple different analysts, see what they project to the Titans in the first round, and see if we agree with all these selections, and we'll know who's doing their homework, as every single year there are draft picks for the Titans in these mocks that make zero sense, and you can tell which analysts are the ones that you should rely on for your draft coverage, and which are maybe a little more questionable. So we'll get into that next. Fellas, let's talk about the bedroom. Remember the days when you were always ready to go?

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Just pay $5 shipping. Again, that's B-L-U-E-CHEW.COM promo code LOCKEDON to try it for free. Blue Chew is a better, cheaper, faster choice, and we thank them for sponsoring the podcast. Let's continue our Mock Draft Monday with a little National Mock Draft Roundup. Let's go around the football sphere and see what some other analysts from some other outlets are projecting to the Titans. So we will start with Josh Edwards from CBS. And this is the new tight end for the Titans. for the Titans. I recall for the last three years, everyone always mocked tight ends to the Titans when it wasn't clearly, clearly wasn't the type of need that they would spend a first round pick on. The new tight end is off the ball linebacker. That's got to be a big clue that someone isn't

really paying attention to the Titans roster here. And Mr. Edwards from CBS selected Zach Bond from Wisconsin. Now Bond has more versatility than your typical off the ball linebacker. He is being pegged as an edge to some folks but one of the big draws of Bond is his ability to not only rush the quarterback but drop off into coverage where some pundits are even saying that he projects as an off-the-ball linebacker, a more successful off-the-ball linebacker at the next level in the NFL than he would as an edge. And when you have someone like that who's getting comparisons to Anthony Barr, who's a very versatile linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings, while that's a great player and of course Mike Grable could use a versatile player like that as a chess piece,

as I have mentioned throughout this draft conversation, if the Titans go after an edge this early, I want a very twitchy, very athletic guy who pops off the charts at the combine, who can be taught some of those skills because a lot of those athletic freaks are the guys who turn out to be the big difference makers because the coaching in the NFL gets them better. And we've talked about outside linebacker coach Shane Bowen as somebody who might call plays, as somebody who might have been promoted to defensive coordinator. Well, the reason for that is he's a good coach.

So if you give somebody with the raw athletic tools and he can teach them those different techniques, skills, the different things you need to know to play edge in the NFL, then that's the route that I would go. Then someone like Bond, who, while being incredibly versatile, doesn't jump off the page with the athleticism like you would think. Moving into Bleacher Reports, Christopher Knox mock draft. This is where things really get off the rails. Bond makes some sense for the Titans. really get off the rails.

Bond makes some sense for the Titans. While I don't think it's the right selection or close to what the Titans will do in the first round, if he were to drop to the second, then maybe I would understand. With this pick from Knox at Bleacher Report, he has linebacker Kenneth Murray from Oklahoma going to the Titans. And with Rashawn Evans, David Long, Jayon Brown, all under contract, I just don't see how the Titans would go with a pure off-the-ball linebacker like Murray with the selection. Just doesn't help them in any way going forward,

unless Murray is some kind of absolute stud who will just take over for Evans and Brown and Long and jump all of them on the depth chart. I just don't see the Titans going off the ball linebacker. It's the new tight end, like I said jokingly. It's not crazy to think that the Titans may draft someone in that position at some point throughout the draft, but using their first round pick and that sort of value on an off the ball linebacker just makes no sense whatsoever for the Titans there. Now moving into a pick that makes a little bit more sense for the Titans,

and it comes from Maurice Jones-Drew, the former running back in the NFL, most famously with the Jaguars, from NFL.com, NFL Network. He selected J.K. Dobbins, running back from Ohio State, for the Titans, and I think this pick makes sense if they let Derrick Henry walk. As I talked about earlier when discussing the mock draft from the Draft Network and the pick of Jonathan Taylor in the second round, I would want someone like J.K. Dobbins for the Titans who has more versatility, has less tread taken off of his tires from the workload that he had in college. Dobbins makes a lot of sense to me as a really explosive, muscular, small guy who can hit holes, help you out of the backfield. In the pass game,

he can run angle routes, he can run flat routes, and he can really help you in the pass game and the run game. Now, they would need to get someone to compliment him in free agency, a bargain value there, have a veteran in the room if they did let Derrick Henry go and go with a first-round running back, but I don't think that that pick is out of out of the box so far that the Titans wouldn't consider that they would definitely consider a first round running back if you have someone like J.K. Dobbins or DeAndre Swift staring you at the face at pick 29 moving into Mark Johnson's mock draft from Fantasy Pros he had the Titans going to beef up the defensive line with Neville Gallimore, defensive tackle out of Oklahoma. I saw some guys behind Gallimore who were picked after the Titans

like DeAndre Swift, as I just mentioned, and Jeff Gladney, the cornerback out of TCU, who I have a draft crush on for certain for the Titans. I would rather the Titans go that route than go defensive line. This early in the draft, it's a pretty deep class at edge in the interior defensive line, so I would think the Titans could wait a little bit longer to kind of stack that position, but with Jarrell Casey's age, Daquan Jones could be a sneaky cut for salary reasons. The Titans do need to address the defensive line and the offensive line, even if they don't stick out as huge needs, but I wouldn't want them to do that in the first round I would like to see them go with Jeff Gladney if for some reason he does fall to 29 even though

I'm not expecting him to and then the last mock draft that we will take a look at this week is Michael Renner from Pro Football Focus and he had Kaylevon Chasen the edge from LSU we've talked about Chasen before on previous iterations of Mock Draft Monday. In my notes, I just wrote yes. He is the type of twitchy edge rusher that needs a little bit more refinement in his technique that I described earlier. He has dropped back into pass coverage as well quite a bit at LSU, and while there is a stigma with edge rushers from LSU that they don't necessarily pan out all the time, at 29 in the first round, that is a stigma with edge rushers from LSU that they don't necessarily pan out all the time. At 29 in the first round, that is a great opportunity to take a chance on someone like Chasen and let Shane Bowen teach him the technique that he has taught Harold Landry

and hope that that will help him improve his game and become a big-time pass rusher with all the traits that he has athletically that really jump off the charts. So that is going to do it for our National mock draft roundup on this mock draft Monday. I'm going to come back with you guys with a little bit of a Roland's rant. So we saw ticket prices go up for the Tennessee Titans for the 2020 season. It's been quite the conversation online. I just want to speak my quick piece about that before we head out for the day. Roland's rant. I wanted to finish off this Monday show with a little bit of a rant for you guys,

and I want to preface everything by saying that I do not want to spend any time telling other people how to spend their money what they should spend their money on how much of their money they should spend and as I ranted about in the season the amount of money you spend on the Titans is not directly tied to how much you care about the team or what level fan you are or how much you support them. So all of those caveats in place. I just want to say there's been a lot of talk online about the amount of season tickets and ticket prices in general for the upcoming 2020 regular season. And while I'm not going to go into all the exact figures and the percentage increase it is proven that there's been a pretty decent increase in the past four seasons but you know

what else has increased in the past four seasons the wins the playoff appearances the playoff wins all of that has to go into account and while I am just a regular person like everyone else with a budget, with bills, and try to maximize my dollars, and especially when it comes to the Titans, maximize how I can use my dollars to experience the team live in different ways, the reality is if you want a better in-game experience, if you want a better team, you're going to have to pay more for the tickets. And you have to ask yourself, would you rather pay the cheaper prices that you had during the dark ages?

Or would you rather have the increase in prices and have the team that the Titans have now? You see a lot of people online talk about how they wish the Titans would improve their in-game experience inside the stadium. And one of the only ways you can do that is with more capital. We're seeing the Titans make improvements to their facilities, to the jerseys. We're seeing the draft being held in Nashville. All of these different things are not a coincidence. The result is the Titans are playing better on the field. And if you get a better product, you're going to have to pay a little bit more for that. So at some point, you just have to ask yourself, would you rather pay the price that you're

seeing now for a good, competitive, consistently competitive football team, or would you rather pay the cheaper prices for the type of product that we were getting during those times? So just something I wanted to say. Like I said, I'm never going to tell anybody how to spend their money. If you think they're too expensive and you can't afford them anymore, you don't want to buy the season tickets or go to the games or whatever you decide to do that's what you decide to do and it doesn't make you any more or less of a fan in my opinion based on what you can do with your budget but I don't think that the ticket prices

are insane I don't think that they're out of the box and considering the type of performance that we've got from this team the last four seasons I think it only makes sense that you would see that increase because it's not just all of the little things that I mentioned earlier the jerseys the in-stadium experience the facilities it's also the staff if the Titans are performing their coaches are going to want more money if the Titans performing, the executives and the scouts and the videotape analysts and all of those people who are involved in the process are going to want more money or they're going to leave and go to a team that will pay them so and pay them what they think their value is.

So the Titans have to keep that in mind too. And as fans and as people who cover the team, we all have to keep that in mind as well. That if you want quality, you're going to have to pay for it. And one of the ways that the Titans are going to be able to continuously keep talented people in the building, not just players, but executives and front office staff to do that, they're going to have to charge for their product. And that's why you're going to see the increase. You're going to see an increase all the time anyway, every year, because that's just the

way the world works. Things just get more expensive by the year and inflation incurs. But I don't think that what the Titans are doing right now is asking too much when you take into account the quality of the team's performance the last few years. So I'm not going to preach to anybody, as I've said, about how to spend their money. But that's my take on the situation. Hopefully you guys are able to still get out to as many games as you possibly can and enjoy this team up close and personal because the team needs the fan support as well but that is going to do it for today's show was a mock draft

monday in concert with the draft network we talked about their most recent mock draft monday to get you ready for today's release later on today for you guys. Make sure you're checking that out. Did a little bit of a Mock Draft roundup as we will continue to do until the draft does show up on our doorstep. Can't wait for that. We're going to have more draft coverage throughout the coming weeks ahead. Then rounded out the show with a quick Monday rant. Monday is a great day to just get things off of our chest. Remember, we are going to be doing the Friday mailbag again now that the Ultimate Division crossover is over. So make sure that you are leaving your questions in the reviews on Apple Podcasts

and getting a hold of me on Twitter at TicTacTitans and leaving me your questions as we get ready for that mailbag segment on Friday. So a great week ahead. Glad to be back recording live shows with you guys daily. I will be here Monday through Friday. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans.