Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward Titans Top Options, DON'T DRAFT QB & Learn From Colts Benching Richardson

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

The Tennessee Titans could be looking at quarterbacks in the NFL Draft and Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward are the clear top options. However, the Titans should pass on drafting a passer and take one of the top position players or consider a trade back to collect more picks. Finally, the Indianapolis Colts benched Anthony Richardson on Tuesday and while Joe Flacco gives them a better chance to win, the Titans need to learn from the Colts' mistake and make sure they continue to play Will Levis over Mason Rudolph.Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Bilt RewardsEarn points now by paying rent right now by when you go to joinbilt.com/lockedonnfl5 Hour ENERGYWhat’s your Fan Fuel this week?! Whatever it is, do it with a 5 Hour Energy!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Titans could have their choice of quarterbacks in the NFL draft. I'll tell you who the options are and why they shouldn't go quarterback on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

You could start the second half of the NFL season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win that first $5 bet. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. On today's show, I'm going to talk about a lesson the Tennessee Titans need to learn from the Indianapolis Colts benching Anthony Richardson. We'll talk about why the Titans should not draft a quarterback in this draft, but first, we'll look at the options the Titans have at quarterback in this draft. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, Stay subscribed. It's your team every day.

And speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one because tomorrow we're going to have a crossover episode with my guy Mike from Locked On Patriots to get you ready for the game this weekend. I'm going to have a game plan episode. And I think the Titans win this game this weekend.

And I'll be going live after the game finishes to break down whatever does happen. But let's start right here with really the big question for most Titans fans right now. At the end of the day, if we're being honest, the Titans sitting at one and six, the season and where the season could go. This team isn't going to the playoffs. This team isn't going to be one of the better teams. They're probably not going to turn it around in any significant way. What we're looking at is a team that will probably have a top pick in the draft. And right now, the Tennessee Titans have the number two pick in the NFL based on where the standings are at. They're right there with Carolina, one of the only two teams in the NFL to only have one win. Now, there are a lot of teams with only two wins. I believe

there are 10 teams in the NFL with two wins or fewer right now. So things can change fast when it comes to draft order. But I think a lot of Titans fans look at the quarterback situation for the Titans with Mason Rudolph and then Will Levis, and hopefully Levis is able to come back, and we'll talk more about that at the end of the show when I talk about the lesson the Titans can learn from the Colts. But a lot of Titans fans out there are just simply fed up with the quarterback position.

And look, I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong if you feel that way. It's perfectly justified to look at what Will Levis has done this year and said, no, I'm out on Will Levis. Perfectly justified to look at what Mason Rudolph has done and be like, no, there's no future with Mason Rudolph, which is something that I've been talking about for quite some time now. Good backup, but he's never a guy you want to go into the season as your starter.

So, the obvious next step in the conversation is what quarterbacks are in the draft? Should the Titans go get a quarterback in the NFL draft? And you start looking at the options. And clearly for me, there are two options that are at the top. There are two guys that are by themselves, and they're the only guys that I would personally consider in the first round. And that is Shader Sanders and Cam Ward.

Shader Sanders is obviously Deion Sanders' son from Colorado. Pretty much everybody knows about him. Cam Ward is a dynamic player from the Miami Hurricanes. And let me just say this, because I know that my haters out there like to go make these clips and pull this stuff. It is early in the process. I am not going to sit here and tell you

that I know everything there is to know about these quarterbacks, that I feel strongly about my take on these quarterbacks. I have not done any of my draft scouting. I've just watched these guys play on TV like the rest of you, all right? So I'm not going to sit here and act like the way that I feel today is how I'm going to feel in March after we actually scout these players and have seen the full season of college football. But again, to me, there's only two options the Titans could consider at the top of the draft,

and it's Sanders and it's Ward. And they're totally different players, in my opinion. I know that Sanders has been criticized for holding the ball a little bit and not getting rid of the ball quick enough, but the offensive line at Colorado has really struggled during his time there. And recently, when the offensive line has played a little bit better, Sanders has been fantastic.

Like, to me, he is the number one quarterback. And I would take him over Cam Ward at this moment in time. Sanders has an incredibly accurate skill set. He gets the ball where it needs to be. He can throw to all three levels. He may not have a rocket launcher of an arm, but he's a guy who can throw it to all three levels of the field, deep, intermediate, and short.

He's played with a ton of pressure on him throughout his entire career because of his family and because of all of the media around Colorado. He's a guy who may not be a freak athlete in terms of his mobility, but he's mobile enough to operate in today's NFL. It's not like he's a statue pocket quarterback. I think he's a guy with good awareness. He understands where the ball needs to go, when it needs to be there. He can get through his progressions. He's not a first read quarterback or anything like that. So to me, and I've said this for a few weeks now, if you talk about a fit and Brian Callahan's timing-based, precision-based offense, I think Sanders is the best fit. And I know that some people will say,

Deion Sanders won't let his son come here. I don't agree with you on that. I think with Ran Carthon being the relationship-focused guy that he is at general manager. I think with Nashville and the market that it's become, I do not think that Deion Sanders would tell teams, would tell the Titans that he doesn't want his son to go there. I think if you look at the Carolina Panthers or you look at some other teams like the Cleveland Browns at the top of the draft, I think that Deion Sanders would welcome his son

going to the Tennessee Titans. And look, some of you guys are going to hate Shader Sanders and say you don't want the circus. You don't want the attitude. I do want the attitude. I do want the swagger. I think that type of swagger and that type of attitude is something that this Tennessee Titans franchise desperately needs.

So I am not opposed to that. Now, on the opposite side, you look at Cam Ward. Cam Ward has more natural talent than Sanders. He is a better athlete in terms of his mobility and his ability to run with the football. He has a stronger arm, but he's played in college football for quite some time and he still makes some decision-making errors.

He still makes questionable decisions with the football. He still doesn't read the defense quite as quickly as a guy like Sanders does. Again, remember, this isn't a full draft scout profile on these quarterbacks. It's very early on in the process. We're only halfway through the college season and going through all the tape, but that's just my initial read on these quarterbacks. Now, if the Titans wanted to commit to one of these two quarterbacks,

I would be on board to at least see what it is. Like, who knows? A lot of times people say, this is a weak draft class for quarterbacks. Well, I mean, people thought that it would be a strong draft class two years ago with Bryce Young and CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson and Will Levis. People called that a strong draft for the quarterback position. And it wasn't.

Only CJ Stroud is still a starting quarterback in their second year. Will Levis can come back in, but he hasn't played very well. So, like, it wasn't a strong draft class, even though some people said so. So, we never really know what we're going to get here. And I would just say that either of those quarterbacks, while I don't think that they're a generational prospect, like, you know, Joe Burrow looked like or an Andrew Luck or things like that. Who knows?

You know what I mean? It might be worth a shot to take a shot on those guys. Now, there are other options later in the draft. You could think about a Jalen Milrow. You could think about Quinn Ewers, a Carson Beck. The guy out of that group that I'm most interested in is Garrett Nussmeier. Now, again, I'm not going to pretend like I've watched every LSU game and every dropback from Nussmeier,

but I've seen him compared to a guy like Tony Romo. And out of all of those kind of second-round quarterbacks, if the Titans wanted to take a chance on somebody, Garrett Nussmeier is a guy who I think has enough mobility, has a good arm. I'm intrigued by him. Again, we'll have full conversations on these guys when we get to scout them fully in the draft during draft season. But that's where I'm at right now with the way that I would rank these guys and what I would be interested in. But I wouldn't take any of them right now over some of the non-quarterback options

in the draft, and we'll talk about that right now. Before we do, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Built. All right, Built Rewards. I'm telling you guys, you got to check it out. If you're a renter, okay, you ever feel like you're stuck in a loop of rent payments, just watching your money vanish into thin air? It is time to turn the rent game around and start earning some serious rewards. That's where Built Rewards comes in. B-I-L-T.

Built is breaking ground as a neighborhood rewards program that hooks you up with points on your rent. Every month, pay your rent and watch the built points roll in. Use points to jet off on a dream vacation. Put your points towards a flight or a hotel stay with 500 plus airlines and 700 plus hotels or properties. Earn points by paying rent right now when you join built.com slash locked on NFL.

That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com slash locked on NFL. Join built.com slash locked on NFL. Make sure that you use our URL so they know we sent you. Join built.com slash locked on NFL to start earning points with your rent payments today. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

We talked about the different quarterback options in the draft for the Titans, and it looks like the Titans are going to have a high enough pick to maybe get their pick of the litter in that regard. Again, I like Sanders the most. I like Ward after that, a little more riskier of a pick, but higher upside probably as well. And then for the second round group, I like Garrett Nussmeyer from LSU, but I don't think that the Titans as things stand right now should pick a quarterback. And I know that a lot of you

guys will freak out when I say that, like, how could you possibly believe that? But I'll explain why. Before I do, thanks again for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content, all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. If you ever wanted me to speak quieter,

that's your preview of what it would look like. I just don't have it in me, though, folks. I really don't. But there are two different schools of thought here when you look at the way to build a roster in the NFL. Some people say you find the quarterback first and then you build around that quarterback. We've seen that work before. Think about like the Bengals with Joe Burrow. But there are other schools of thought where you build up the roster as best as you can

so that when you do draft the quarterback, he has a proper supporting cast around him. And where this Titans roster is at right now, they need help in the pass rush. They need multiple young wide receivers. They need another right tackle. Like, I don't think the Titans are too far away from being a competitive football team, but I think they are missing talent in some key spots.

Like, to me, pass rush, edge rusher, we'll say pass rush in general because interior defensive line is pass rush as well, but the Titans have Simmons and they have Sweat. I think they're good there. Sebastian Joseph Day has been a really nice addition to the team. But that second edge rusher position outside of Harold Landry, and who knows what happens with Harold Landry after this year.

The Titans could choose to move on since he doesn't have any more guaranteed money on his contract. He's going to be a 29-year-old edge rusher. Like maybe the Titans want to move on and save some money there. I don't think that would be wise, but we don't know what they might do. So, to me, with the type of talent that is available at those three positions, wide receiver, offensive tackle, and edge rusher at the top of this class, I would not feel comfortable taking a shot on one of the quarterbacks that I think is more risky. You may like Shadur Sanders. You may like Pam Ward. You

may like one of the second round options that we talked about. You may like those players, but I think if you're honest with yourself, you have to admit that these quarterbacks aren't nearly as clean of a prospect as Caleb Williams or Jaden Daniels or maybe even Drake May. A lot of scouts say that, you know, if Shadur Sanders would have come out last year, he would be QB5, QB4, QB6 maybe even in last year's draft class. So while the Titans do need to consider quarterback, I think taking a quarterback is super, super risky when these prospects are not as good of prospects

as we've seen in recent years with the amount of talent that is available at other positions of need for the Titans. So let's talk about what I mean there. Look at wide receiver, Travis Hunter. You could say you play Travis Hunter at cornerback, but if I'm the Titans, I take Travis Hunter and I play him at wide receiver. And I have a stud wide receiver right now

who is great at making plays on the ball, can beat man coverage. Do you see the release that he had against Cincinnati on the goal line? What a nasty release to get open. Does he maybe need a little bit of development because he doesn't play wide receiver full-time? Probably so, but just the talent jumps off the charts. I think Travis Hunter is the best football player in the entire draft. So I would take Travis Hunter and figure it out later. Like, period. Also, uh, Teteroa,

McMillan, T-Mac from Arizona, I am desperately hoping that T-Mac gets drafted by the Titans. You know, like, fantastic. And I would add Luther Burden from Missouri. I think T-Mac is a better fit for the Titans. The Titans need a big physical X receiver to pair with Calvin Ridley, who is the Z speed receiver. I think that T-Mac and Calvin Ridley are a perfect match together. I think Luther Burden could be a guy who's better in the slot for the Tennessee Titans. So I would favor T-Mac.

But Luther Burden is fantastic. And I would be hype if the Titans got Luther Burden out of Missouri. Like, I would favor TMAC, but Luther Burden is fantastic, and I would be hype if the Titans got Luther Burden out of Missouri. Like, I would be overjoyed. It would be an excellent pick. So you look at where the Titans wide receiver group is right now and what they need. All of those guys to me are much more of a sure thing than the quarterbacks. Then you look at offensive tackle. Will Campbell out of LSU. Kelvin Banks out of Texas. You go even further. I don't know how to say the guy's name right now.

It's like Seneva or whatever out of Arizona. The guy out of Oregon, their left tackle right now, Connelly, I believe is his name. There are some solid offensive tackles available for the Titans that could sure up that right tackle spot right away. You know what I mean? Also, you look at edge rusher. Abdul Carter from Penn State has been awesome this year.

He has been awesome. James Pierce from Tennessee. I know a lot of you Volves fans are listening. James Pierce had a slow start to the year, but he has been great during SEC play, which what matters more, out-of-conference early season play for Tennessee or games against the SEC?

Games against the SEC matter much more. So James Pierce Jr. would be a fantastic addition for the Titans. You look at Nick Scrouton. You know what I mean? Like, there are a lot of options available for the Titans at major positions of need. So, with all of that being said, it's hard for me to say, take a chance on these quarterbacks.

Like, it's hard for me to go there. So, my personal opinion right now, as things stand right now with subject to change, once we do more scouting in the off season, I would favor the Titans, not drafting quarterback, drafting a position player rolling with either a bridge quarterback next year or given Levis another year. And then going into the 2026 draft and then considering a quarterback from there that's what I would be looking for build up the roster so that when you do find the quarterback they are in a good situation I would also say that with all of the names that I just mentioned that I'm interested in trading down what if the Titans pulled a Chicago Bears?

Where they traded down from a top pick, say first, second, third pick. They traded down from a team that wants to go up and get a quarterback. Stayed in the top 10 to get one of these names I just mentioned. And picked up an extra first round pick, maybe two first round picks by dropping down that right there, the Titans trading back, but staying in the top 10 and collecting extra draft capital, that would probably be the ideal scenario for the Titans. So for that reason, right now, the way that I feel is the Titans should not draft a quarterback. They should take one of these position players or consider trading down. And having a high pick, one of the top three picks in the draft,

give them the ability to do that. But with that being said, we got huge NFL news. On Tuesday, the Colts are benching Anthony Richardson. And the Titans have a lesson that they can learn from their situation. Before we dive into it, though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

Get ready to tackle, tackle, tackle, tackle, tackle the second half of the NFL action this year with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The FanDuel Sportsbook app gives you everything you need

to place live bets on the NFL all in one place. I've made a lot of money this year on betting for the Titans to punt in the second half. So, I'm just saying if you get a hunch, and when you do, in the middle of a game, you can go check out the latest stats,

you can view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. Make sure that you visit fanduel.com to join today. And remember, you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. And I think the Titans are winning this week, so you should consider that. Make sure you go to FanDuel.com.

Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the quarterback options in the draft for the Titans and kind of my rankings of them right now. We talked about why I don't think the Titans should go quarterback in the draft because of the other options that they would have available at positions of need or a trade back.

But now I want to go to some of the big news in the NFL on Tuesday. The Indianapolis Colts are benching Anthony Richardson. And speaking of that, thank you for making Locked on Titans your first listen. But for your second listen, check out Locked on NFL. So I'm the lead host of the Locked On NFL podcast. And on Wednesday's show, me and Luke Braun from Locked On Vikings spent the entire first segment talking about the decision to bench Anthony Richardson, which I don't agree with

for the Indianapolis Colts. So you get your Titans news here with me. Get your NFL news with me on Locked On NFL. It's free on all platforms all year round. I would appreciate your support over there. But with that being said, the Colts did announce that they're going to bench Anthony Richardson. They're going to start Joe Flacco. Anthony Richardson has not played well this year, no doubt about it. He's been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. But I think the final blow that

caused this was him saying that he checked himself out of the game because he was tired. That is disrespectful to your entire football team, to the offensive linemen who are killing themselves to block for you, the wide receiver taking hits over the middle of the field to try to catch your errant passes, the defenders taking a beating going up against other offenses. Like your coaches, your whole entire organization. What a slap in the face for Anthony Richardson, who Dan Orlovsky said it on ESPN, and I echo the sentiment.

Quarterback is the least taxed position on the field in terms of physicality. Like quarterbacks get hit the least compared to all the other positions. They have to exert themselves the least of all the other positions. It's absurd for a quarterback to say that I check myself out of the game because I'm tired. That's pathetic. So, to me, the Colts probably would have kept playing Anthony Richardson if he was just playing poorly. But when you say that, that was probably why they're doing this.

But either way, the Colts are making a massive mistake here. All right. And it's the same exact thing that I have been arguing about with people who want Mason Rudolph to start the rest of the year. The reason that Anthony Richardson needs To start the rest of the year. The reason that Anthony Richardson. Needs to start the rest of the season. Is the same reason that Will Levis. Needs to start the rest of the season.

It's the same reason Bryce Young. Needs to start the rest of the season. With the Carolina Panthers. What are you getting. With Joe Flacco. With Mason Rudolph. With Andy Dalton. What is your ceiling here?

You may win a game or two more than you would with your young quarterback, but where does that leave you? For the Titans at one and six, it's just going to hurt their draft pick more and give you less answers on Will Levis. Same thing with the Panthers. They're 1-7. They're not going anywhere with Andy Dalton. What are you really doing by playing Andy Dalton? Nothing. And with the Colts, they may be 4-4, but we saw this with Joe Flacco last year with the Browns. Yes, Joe Flacco and the Browns go 11-5.

And then they get into the playoffs and they play good teams and they get shellacked. What was it, 45-14 against the Texans? You're only going to embarrass yourself in the playoffs. You're going to be a fraudulent playoff team. And the Titans aren't going to the playoffs with Mason Rudolph. The Panthers aren't going to the playoffs with Andy Dalton. So the Colts would rather go 8-9, 9-8, get demolished in the playoffs with a 40-year-old quarterback

than give Anthony Richardson more opportunity to develop and climb out of this hole that he's in. He's only started 10 games. And Will Levis, likewise, has started, what, 14 games now? He got the eight games in his rookie year and then week one two three started week four but was out in the first quarter started week six

I mean 13 games for Will Levis you have to think about the upside okay what is going to get you closer to being a championship contender consistently? Is it playing Mason Rudolph and winning four games? Or is it seeing what you got in Will Levis and figuring out for sure that he's not the guy? Like, I get that people want instant gratification. There are coaches who are coaching for their job. There are general managers that need wins so that they don't get fired. There are other players on the football team that deserve the opportunity to go win. But at the end of the day, what is most important for this

franchise, for the Titans? Is it short-term gratification and maybe an extra win this year? Or is it letting Will Levis continue to play and letting him either take you to a bad record that gives you a good draft pick? Or, and I know that a lot of you have completely ruled this out as a possibility, and I don't think it's likely either, but maybe Will Levis turns it around. Maybe he starts to play better. Maybe sitting on the bench for a couple of weeks and watching Mason Rudolph will help him. That is a possibility as well. So to me, this is a terrible move by the Indianapolis Colts. They're not going anywhere with Joe Flacco.

It hurts their organization in terms of their long-term goals. And the Titans need to learn a lesson from them and not make the same mistake. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today, folks. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Throw a Titan up down in the chat if you're watching on YouTube.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans.