Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Post-Julio Titans Monday Mailbag: Answering All Your Questions!!

Episode Date: June 14, 2021

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You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome! Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Visit rockauto.com today and tell them Locked On sent you. We are kicking off this week of the Locked On Titans podcast with a Mailbag Monday. That's right, the return of Mailbag Monday after all of the madness from the Julio Jones trade.

So excited to get into all of your guys' reviews, get into all of your guys' questions, breaking down everything that you asked me, going to make sure I give you guys some shout outs as well. Before we dive into that Monday Mailbag, have to remind you guys, I'm going to be putting out daily Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast, not only during the season, but all year long. Make sure that you follow or subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream.

Follow me on social media, on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans and on Facebook at Locked on Titans pod. But we are going to dive into all of your guys' questions on a Monday mailbag here on the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it! Titans fans, I do got to say, it's pretty funny that four out of the five days of the week, my intro advertisement is for the Peacock and Williamson podcast. And of course, today, it was rockauto.com, but today, I am on the Peacock and Williamson

podcast. I did the entire episode with Brian and Matt. It was an honor to be on, so make sure that you guys check out the Peacock and Williamson podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, wherever you get your podcasts, specifically today because your boy is on the show. But on the Locked On Titans podcast today, it is a mailbag Monday.

And of course, you can always send in your mailbag questions on Twitter at TicTacTitans or by giving me a five-star review on Apple iTunes. Quite honestly, I'll read it if it's not a five-star, but my heart would be broken. So greatly do appreciate all your guys' support. We are going to get into those reviews first. That's what I'm always going to give precedent to. I'm always going to make that the top billing. So coming from

Caleb Dyson. Caleb Dyson said Best Titans Podcast. Been a listener on Spotify for a few months now but wanted to give a proper review. Tyler does a fantastic job bringing all news and analysis with the Titans. There is a perfect blend of critical analysis along with

fandom that creates a show that gets me excited to listen every day. Tyler is extremely knowledgeable in football with such a great Let's get it! Definitely do appreciate that. Some people are probably going to question whether I wrote that myself and just added that in. But, no, thank you very much, Caleb. I do appreciate that. Also, my guy Spurge Nasty, he got in a second question via Twitter.

Look at him cheating the game or taking advantage of the game. Pretty smart guy there, Spurge Nasty. But he said, best Titans pod. I listen to this podcast every day at work. Tyler Rowland is a great host and is very knowledgeable about the Titans and football in general. If there are any negative reviews, especially the Oilers guy, that's hilarious. That's legend now. It is because they disagree with Tyler's opinions. That's true. Some people are going to disagree with my opinions on things and they're not going to like the show because they just don't like my opinion on a

certain topic. There's nothing I can do about that. All I can do is be myself, give you guys my honest opinion, my honest take on everything. I'm never going to lie to drum up engagement or anything like that. I'm always going to shoot you guys straight. And if people don't like what I have to say based on that, then that's something that you have to live with in life. That's just a lesson for life. You can't please everybody. But Spurge Nasty kept going. He said, I love that he keeps it real. Even if it's not a popular opinion. Let's continue to keep it 100. Let's get it. Yeah, let's get it, baby. Absolutely.

And I will do that. The next review here, actually, it is from a continuous reviewer, FatboyGuar. You've given me about three reviews now, so I appreciate it. But he had a question along with his review, and this is something, of course, that I encourage. But he said, best Titans podcast around thank you I read that Melvin Ingram wanted to be a package deal with Julio Jones is this him saying he would play for a discount and has there been any talks with him this would make this the best offseason ever if so tighten up okay so I don't know if the Titans have had any direct conversation

with Melvin Ingram I'm not certain on, but he did say on Twitter after the Julio Jones trade last weekend that he thought that they could be a package. So clearly he has interest in coming to Tennessee. That's something that he's expressed online. So if there's interest from the player, that's the first toughest thing to get going from the Titans perspective. So if a guy wants to be here, well, if he's willing to want to be here, he might be willing to take a little bit of a discount, whether he will or not, I don't know. There's another question a little bit down the line that I may be able to answer that specific question for you in terms of price. out there first. Wanted to give you guys precedent, but one more mailbag question here in our first segment coming from my guy, Kyle Fulton. And basically, he was asking about how I would rank

tiers of positions. Now, obviously, when you have a real roster of actual players, things change. Think about a Travis Kelsey from the Kansas City Chiefs. He's going to change

my tiered out calculus. But Kyle Fulton wanted me to do position rankings based on level of importance in tiers. So number one, and Kyle gave me his tiers, and I kind of agree with most of his. In his first tier, he has QB, pass rusher, offensive tackle, and center. I would not put center in that equation. I would have quarterback, pass rusher, and offensive tackle as the top tier guys. Now after that, I would go with cornerback. I would have quarterback pass rusher and offensive tackle as the top tier guys now after that I would go with cornerback I would go with wide receiver and then I would go with the interior offensive line and the interior defensive line and I may be cheating a little bit by using interior o-line and interior d-line rather than center and guard who he has split up differently

but I think the best players along the interior o-line can play any of the three positions so I'm going to group those together so tier two cornerback wide receiver and the interior of both lines tier three these are all guys I think you can get complementary players like I said if you get a stud at one of these positions it can definitely change things around change the calculus but for the most part in a vacuum, I would have safety, inside linebacker, tight end, and running back as the third tier position guys. I can put just another guy there and if they're competent and average, if I have studs at other positions, we're going to be a fantastic football team. And then fourth, the fourth tier, I have the special teams guy, long snapper, kicker, and punter. So the special teams only players having in the fourth

tier just purely because of versatility, because of the value that they add to the team. Of course, you can have an excellent player at any of those positions and it definitely helps, but we got to, like the previous reviewer said, got to keep it 100 with you guys. Those guys have to be at tier four. So those are my position rankings in a vacuum. We are going to continue going into your guys' questions. Got a ton of them to go over. Before we do, want to remind you about betonline.ag, the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Football season may not be going right now, but baseball is in full swing. The NHL, the NBA are in the playoffs. Ton of great UFC, MMA, combat sport action to bet on throughout the summer so make sure that

you don't sit on the sidelines anymore this is your chance to get into the game head to their website or use your mobile device go to betonline.ag sign up for free use the promo code locked on that's one word locked on and you'll get a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit bet online your online sportsbook experts. We will continue a Monday mailbag answering your questions from Twitter or from the five-star reviews on Apple iTunes. So let's dive right back into the mailbag. Waste no time and get right in here. First question comes

from Nathan Godsey and I also love that his Twitter name is Godzilla underscore 29. Having the last name Godsey and making Godzilla your Twitter name is pretty funny man I gotta admit good job I'm a sucker for things like that but anyways he said first off I'm finally coming off my Julio high good I'm not whoo uh just kidding had my three-year-old telling uh telling me Julio all day I love hearing that it's all about the kids. Get the kids involved. This is a two-part question. One, I think we do need to add defensive pass rush help. Ingram or Houston would be nice. Prefer one

or the other. What kind of money would it take? Well, Justin Houston has been more reliable in terms of health out there on the field. Ingram has dealt with some health issues, but I think Justin Houston ultimately goes back to Indianapolis, and then Ingram was online saying he wanted to be a package deal.

So just my heartstrings want Melvin Ingram more than Justin Houston. I know that Houston's more reliable. He's been healthier, but give me Melvin Ingram. What kind of money would it take is what he said, and this alludes back to the question that I answered in our first segment. So, Ryan Kerrigan was a veteran pass rusher that I've been talking about throughout the offseason as a guy I think made a lot of sense for the Titans.

I wanted them to address the pass rush double down. Twice in the draft, early rounds, late rounds, twice in free agency, high level, low level. They only did mid-round in the draft and high level in free agency, I think, at minimum. There has to be one more addition at pass rusher. I would like it to be Melvin Ingram, and based on what Ryan Kerrigan got, which was $3.5 million, I think Ingram will come in right around there, so about $3.5 million. The Titans right now have about six to eight million dollars in cap space so they could definitely make that happen the next question that I have here Spurge Nasty man like I said game in the system finding a way to get two in but you

guys can get two questions in of course anytime as well uh he said what do you have to say about those peeps saying that Tennessee should have kept Corey Davis and further developed him instead of trading for Julio Jones I disagree disagree with that, by the way. I'm loving the trade in my honest opinion. Well, I'm with you, Spurge Nasty, and I'm against those peeps in Tennessee who are saying that. The reality is Julio Jones and Corey Davis are right around the same amount of money, and even Julio Jones in his early 30s, mid-30s,

is a better player than Corey Davis. That's just the reality of the situation. If I'm going to pay, I want to pay for high level upside. And we are two years removed from Julio Jones having about 1,400 receiving yards. Okay. We're talking about two different caliber of players here, even with the age difference. So to me, I think this is the, if you were somebody who was mad that Corey Davis was let go, let walk, this is the, if you were somebody who was mad that Corey Davis was let go, let

walk, this is the optimal solution. You get a guy at similar money value who's even better. So I think that those people need to quit being so negative. Question here, Canadian Titan, a Bud Dupree stan account on Twitter, but he had this to say and he's been waiting very patiently for me to answer this mailbag question. He said, Is it possible Julio holds this offense back? Watson played better football without Hopkins by a large margin.

Baker Mayfield played better without Odell. Does a true star wide receiver hold back a team? The answer is no. The Chiefs have Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey. The Buccaneers had Mike Evans. Chris Godwin is a very good player as well, although I wouldn't call him a star wide receiver. The Baker situation

is, and I get what you're saying, if you try to force it to a wide receiver, you can get yourself not thrown to open man. You can get yourself taken unnecessary risk because you're trying to get somebody the ball. But I don't see Ryan Tannehill as the type of guy who's going to do that. And you bring up Deshaun Watson playing better football without DeAndre Hopkins.

He may have put up better numbers, but the Texans were certainly a better team with DeAndre Hopkins, right? Right? So to me, you say take a step back. Maybe the Titans offense doesn't score as many points maybe they aren't as effective yards per play but I think the offensive ceiling ultimately is better having Julio Jones than not having Julio Jones so I know that you're just asking the hypothetical question because there are some examples but to me this the circumstances and the reality make

that not the case he will not hold the Titans offense back. The next question that I have here comes from Kenneth. He said, it was noted that Jim Schwartz was keeping a close eye with the secondary and coaching. If the defense struggles early on, do you expect Bowen to be out and Schwartz elevated? I don't think that you would see Schwartz elevated, but I do think that if the Titans defense really got out to a rough rough start, we would see Shane Bowen

let go and then Mike Rabel would not name a defensive coordinator for the rest of the season. He would say it was by committee. He would basically take over and him and Jim Schwartz together would lead the defense. Jim Schwartz would do all the meetings. Basically what Shane Bowen was last year where he wasn't officially the defensive coordinator, but he was leading meetings. He was

installing game plan, but really Mike Vrabel had his hand over top of him the whole time controlling the Marinettes. I think that would be the case, but with Jim Schwartz, which I think ultimately would lead to some fireworks and some arguing and some butting of heads, and that could be a bad thing. So let's hope that that just uh that just doesn't happen for the titans last question i'm gonna answer in this segment before we cap off the show in our final segment comes from my boy k sesh and he says an nba starting five made of titans players still hasn't been answered to my knowledge k says you just exposed yourself i answered that question in two different ways previously.

You just didn't listen to that episode. So bad on you. Shame on you. But does Julio make an appearance on the squad now? And yes, I don't think you can turn down having an athlete like Julio Jones out there. I think originally I said I would have Taylor LeJuan at center. Big body, really tall too, so he can bang with some guys. I would put Jeffrey Simmons

in there at power forward, I really want a tough physical front line, like I'm thinking grit and grind, like the old Memphis Grizzlies, you got Zeebo and Marc Gasol, Taylor and Jeff Simmons, I think that would be nasty up front, I'm gonna bring Ryan Tannehill as the small forward there, I'm not gonna lie, a little bit of a stereotype. White shooter. He can be a secondary playmaker. I'm thinking like a Gordon Hayward type at small forward. Maybe not a superstar, not the primary scorer. Maybe he can give you some Joe Inglis,

Bojan Bogdanovic type impact as a secondary ball handler who can playmake but also spot up and hit some shots, be in the right place defensively. At shooting guard, I am going to have Kevin Byard. I think that KB flying around is a defensive Joe Dumars type shooting guard. Look, I'm big on defense, guys, real big on defense. And then at point guard, you know what? Here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to put Julio Jones at small forward, have him flying around. He is our superstar, our offensive creator. And then I'm going to have Ryan Tannehill play that point guard, that Steve Kerr role, though. I don't want him to be too ball-dominant. I want him to be a cog in the offense as we kind of play team ball, backdoor cuts, letting Taylor operate from the high post, the pinch post, things like that. I think we could have a real grit and grind style team in Tennessee. I'm going to have A.J. Brown coming off the bench as the sixth man as well

because he's going to give you a ton of energy, going to give you physicality, can play some shooting guard, can play some small forward, and he's going to be that bench creator, that bench scorer that we're going to need for secondary offense. So that is my answer, long-winded answer to that question, but that's going to to need for secondary offense so that is my answer long-winded answer to that question but that's going to do it for this segment we are going to move into the final segment of today's show before we do got to tell you guys about the best tasting protein bars ever from our friends over at builtbar.com right now they have nine delicious flavors on their website

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so they know that I sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com Titans fans, we are going to cap off this Monday mailbag edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. off this Monday mailbag edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, finishing out the mailbag, emptying the clip, and answering all of the questions that you

guys asked me. Before we do, gotta remind you about the Locked on Today podcast hosted by Peter Bukowski. It's all of the biggest sports stories in all of the major sports in under 20 minutes every morning. Like having the sports section read to you. It's absolutely fantastic.

Make sure you check out the Locked On Today podcast. But the first question that we are going to dive into here comes from Mike Inclon, and he says, defense is the key now. How are we looking? What moves do we need to put us over the top? Okay, well, it's coming full circle. There is a name that we continue to fall on after all of these questions.

The defense is looking good. I think they put significant resources to the secondary with Jackrabbit, with Farley, with Molden, having Amani Hooker step up. I like Breon Borders as a fifth cornerback. I like Christian Fulton in year two, getting a full offseason and showing up to OTAs and all that early.

I like all of that. I think the Titans defense is in a good spot. Tons of depth at interior linebacker with Rashawn, Jayon, David, Monte Rice. I mean, I like what the Titans have on defense, but I still have questions about the defensive line and specifically about the pass rush. Bud Dupree is coming off of a torn ACL.

Jeffrey Simmons is not shown to be a consistent pass rush threat. Danico Autry should be that, but he's in his 30s. Harold Landry, are the Titans ever going to give him ample opportunity to rush the pass, or are they going to drop him back in coverage over and over again like last year? to rush the pass or are they going to drop him back in coverage over and over again like last year? So, the Titans are one injury away from being completely mediocre again at the pass rush.

They have to go out and get Melvin Ingram. They have to go out and get Justin Houston. They have to go out and get some reinforcements at that position. Plus, at minimum, you want a solid rotation for your pass rush so everyone stays healthy throughout the game and throughout the season. Fresh and healthy to rush the pass. So I think that the defense looks good, but the Titans have to find a way to add a veteran pass rusher to this mix.

I think that is key now going forward. Derek Shuler, my guy Derek, said, will you be attending any Titans games this season? Come out to LA and join me for the Rams and Titans game. I think that will be an awesome game. But I got to tell you, man, flying all the way out to LA. I'm from Ohio. So flying all the way out to Los Angeles, California, paying a ticket to go to a game in LA, all of that together,

it's a lot. This is a lot to do. And I got to record the show all the travel things recording the show really hinders me from traveling very often I don't want to miss out I don't want to record from a hotel room you know I just I don't want to get caught slipping and not be able to give you guys the content that you deserve and that you need so kind of makes me not want to travel all the time luckily I'm going to get out of the house and travel a little bit at the end of this month but maybe tough as for the games that I plan on going to I do going to get out of the house and travel a little bit at the end of this month, but may be tough. As for the games that I plan on going to, I do want to go to a decent amount of games

this year. Definitely going to go to the game in Indianapolis. That's about an hour and a half drive for me, so I like to go to that game every single year. I am considering going to the Bills-Titans game on Monday Night Football. I would love to do that, but probably going to be one of the more expensive tickets. And Titans fans love selling their tickets to Bills fans, so it might be tough to go.

The games I am really interested in are the 49ers-Titans game on Thursday Night Football late in the year. I think that's going to be awesome. And two days before Christmas, I can make that a Christmas present to myself. Would love to go do that. And then one of my best friends is a big time Dolphins fan.

So the Titans playing the Dolphins in Tennessee on January 2nd. I think we're going to find a way to make it out to that game. So hoping to go to about two or three games this year. Unfortunately, I don't know about making my way out to Los Angeles. The next question comes from Tyler Chandler. He said, are we going to roll into mandatory minicamp on Tuesday with two kickers on the roster, Tucker McCann and Blake Heibel? He thinks Blake is going to win that job. Who do you think wins the job or shows enough this offseason, or are you still hell-bent that Gostkowski is coming back? Gostkowski is coming back.

Right now, Tucker McCann and Blake Heibel are fighting for who's going to be the practice squad guy. There's no way that the Titans go into the season and rely on one of those kickers I'm sorry I just don't I just don't buy it now Hybel I do agree I think Hybel wins uh he's a big physical guy 6'4 big athlete big leg if he can stay accurate that would be great but um get get the vet in here and Gostkowski was phenomenal last year. Once we changed long snappers away from Bo Brinkley, and now we have the all-pro long snapper in the NFL on the team,

and Morgan Cox, get Gostkowski back in here. That's how I feel. Tyler followed up with another question. Just got back from the store and bought some broccolini. Rate your top three veggies. Okay, greens only. He said greens only. Okay, so I made, if you don't follow me on Twitter, broccolini. Rate your top three veggies. Okay. Greens only. He said greens only. Okay. So,

I made, if you don't follow me on Twitter, you didn't see my picture on Saturday night, but I made a pan seared and a cast iron, 12 ounce ribeye. I covered it with a cream and Bella mushroom sauce that I made from some heavy cream and some roasted garlic and some shallots and things like that. Paired that with roasted broccolini with olive oil and salt and pepper and then homemade hand mashed mashed potatoes with roasted garlic, salt and pepper on top of that too. It was absolutely phenomenal. I don't post all my food. I cook a lot. I really love to cook, but I don't post a lot of my food on Twitter because I'm scared of embarrassment if I think something looks really good and the internet, you know, drags me for it. So maybe I should just fight my fears and post more. But based on that picture,

Tyler said that my three greens are easily broccoli, broccolini, and asparagus. If you want to put broccoli and broccolini together because broccolini is just baby broccoli sprouts if you want to exclude that for me there I would have to go asparagus broccoli and green beans whether that be traditional cut I really love Italian cut I have a green bean recipe where I use pan fried bacon, chop the bacon up, leave the grease in, cook the Italian style green beans in it, add in some Worcestershire, some roasted garlic, some white onion, add the bacon back in, just a dabble of either A1 or barbecue sauce. You can do whichever you want. You want a little more sweet element, add in the barbecue.

You want a little bit more of a sultry element. That umami flavor. You add in the A1. Either way, absolutely delicious. Love those green beans. One of my favorite recipes. So green beans, asparagus, and broccoli. Top three green vegetables.

I love vegetables. Gary Kester. Shout out Gary. He didn't really ask a question, but posted it. J-Rob posted a picture on Instagram, said back in the lab with him on his phone on the boat. I don't know if that means he's working on an additional trade or it's just a picture from last year, but if I had to bet money, I would say it's for a tight end, preferably Zach Ertz. I know a lot of you guys don't agree with that, but hey, it is what it is. I think he would be an addition to the team. John Porter said, I know it's early,

but how do you think Downing will use Evans now that Julio's in the mix? Can you see the Titans running 21 personnel packages? Good call, John. 21 is two running backs, one tight end, three wide receivers. Or sorry, two running backs, one tight end, two wide receivers. Yes. Some people call it pony when you have two running backs in the backfield. I'd like to see some pony formations utilizing Evans as a pass catcher, utilizing Henry as a runner, and then mixing things up. But I would like to see Darrington Evans not only used as a kick returner, but I would like to see him used on jet sweeps,

running back screens, flash screens to the outside, tunnel screens. I'd like to get him on orbit motion where he's in the slot on one side and he kind of takes a round motion around the running back to the other side of the formation and then toss out a screen to him there I just want to see him used as a gap gadget player on jet sweeps things like that I think that'll not only get Evans more involved but it'll help diversify the Titans offense as well and then the final question that I have here is from Ender and Ender said do you think the Titans could bring Casey back or is the bridge

too far burned he's talking about Jarrell Casey there. One, I think that the bridge is way too burned. Casey was very mad about getting traded in the way that things were handled at the end of his time with Tennessee. Unfortunately, I don't think John Robinson did anything too crazy, but that's for Jarrell Casey. That's his opinion and he feels the way he feels and I'm not going to tell him to think differently.

But on the flip side of that, I don't think Jarrell Casey is a good enough player for the Titans to add to their system right now the Broncos didn't want him back they parted ways with him and I think there's a reason for that Casey was on his last legs in his last season with Tennessee despite that late season renaissance that he had I think his career is winding down similar answer as I give you guys when you ask about Delaney Walker guys I just don't think that they're NFL players anymore, and I think the Titans knew that before any other team. So I don't see Casey coming back. But that's going to do it for this Mailbag Monday.

I had a great time answering your guys' questions. Remember, you can get in your questions early. Send them to me on Twitter, at TicTacTitans. Put them as a five-star review. I always do appreciate the support, of course, as always. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.