Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Should Tennessee Titans Trade for DJ Moore, Offensive Quick Game & Defensive Standouts

Episode Date: October 11, 2022

The Tennessee Titans have many needs currently and with the news that the Carolina Panthers are firing Matt Rhule, there may be some options in Carolina. Should the Titans trade for DJ Moore, Tyler has changed his mind from his initial take! Next, dive into the Week 5 All 22 Review!! The Titans added a nice wrinkle to the offense in Week 5, Tyler goes over what it was. Finally, the defense had some standout performances in a familiar gameplan against Wentz.Follow 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!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BetterHelpIt’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners: get 10% off your first month at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, there may be a fire sale in Carolina as the Panthers fired Matt Rule. Should the Titans trade for DJ Moore? I'm going to tell you why I have changed my mind since the news broke. Then we're going to dive into the week five rewatch Wednesday. We're going to talk about a wrinkle the Titans added on offense that I hope sticks around and we'll go over some standout performances on defense against the commanders.

All of that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. Titans fans, should the Titans trade for DJ Moore? I've changed my mind on the topic since this morning, and I'm going to go over my thought process with you guys before I get into it.

I do want to let you know that today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. It's not a crisis line. It's not self-help. It's professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash locked on. Thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen or you just haven't subscribed yet, make sure you stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm going to be putting out daily Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all

year long and on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there, smash the notification bell, and throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. And throw a thumbs up on the video if you want the Titans to trade for DJ Moore. So let's set the stage. The Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rule. With that in mind, people around the NFL are expecting a bit of a fire sale in Carolina where they may look to offload some talented veteran players

not only to clear out cap space for the next head coach coming in, but also Carolina is short on draft capital and obviously they need to rebuild that roster not only in general, but in the mold of the new coach that they do fire. So people expect names like DJ Moore and Robbie Anderson at wide receiver, maybe Taylor Moten at offensive line, a guy like maybe Brian Burns or maybe one of the cornerbacks and Dante Jackson

or JC Horn or CJ Henderson, maybe linebacker Shaq Thompson. You guys get what I'm saying. Carolina's got some decent players that could be on the move. And the conversation for the Titans I have found throughout the day is whether the Titans should trade for DJ Moore. In my opinion, Brian Burns or JC Horn, they're guys who I wouldn't give up. They're still young and the next coach is going to want good players too. Okay? And when you look at Taylor Moten on the offensive line, I just don't think he's going to move the needle enough. The Titans already got one offensive lineman

from the Carolina Panthers this year and it's not working out. Let's not do that again. So that leaves us with the wide receiver position. Robbie Anderson. Is Robbie Anderson going to do anything to change this team? No. Now, I woke up on Tuesday morning and I thought to myself, the Titans should not trade for DJ Moore. You don't want to give up draft capital. He's a guy who doesn't fit the offense as well

as A.J. Brown did. He's only 6 foot, 210 pounds. He's not the big physical receiver that the Titans would typically want. And I thought, hey, he's got a big contract. He just signed a three-year, $60 million extension with $40 million guaranteed dollars.

His salary cap hit goes way up the next few years. Why would the Titans do that? But I'm not going to lie. I started thinking about it more. Read a nice article done by A to Z Sports going over the salary cap. And I think, I think I've changed my mind. And I think the Titans absolutely should go out and get DJ Moore

for nothing more, nothing more than a second round pick at max. But let me go over this. Why my mind changed. You look at DJ Moore's contract. He's only $6 million cap hit this year, but $5 million of that is bonus money, which means only $1 million is salary. The Titans would only have to pay DJ Moore a little more than $700,000 if they acquired him right now for this season. Not even a million dollars on the cap this year, so they could do it. Not only that, but looking at his contract going forward, yes, his cap hit balloons next year to $25 million.

The year after that, it's 20. The year after that, it's 20. But $20 million has already been paid in bonus money to DJ Moore, which means the Titans don't have to pay that bonus money. So take $5 million off of DJ Moore's salary the next three years. So that's $20 million in cap hit next year. Well, not take it off the salary, but take it off as cap hit. So that means cap hit against the cap, $20 million next year, $16 million and then $16 million.

Not only that, but you talk about dead money if things go poorly. Like with Robert Woods, because the Titans don't have any of the bonus money that they'll have to pay, there is no real dead money problems

for the Titans going forward. Because the dead money problems come from guaranteed money. When guys are owed guaranteed money and you still cut them. That's when the problems incur with dead cap. So the Titans wouldn't be in a bad spot from a dead cap standpoint going forward. Not only that, but since they don't have to pay the bonus money because it's already been paid by Carolina, his cap hit is $5 million less than what it would have been otherwise.

And for the money, another thing I want to say is you get DJ Moore in here, his cap hit is $20 million next year. But since you don't have any of that dead guaranteed money, you can restructure DJ Moore, get that salary cap figure for next year down to about $15, $13 million, convert that to bonus, which will be spread out over three years.

You're talking about $2.5 million, $3 million at max in dead money going forward, even with a restructure next year. And if the Titans restructure DJ Moore and they get him down to about a $10 to $12 to $13 million cap hit, well, that's exactly what Robert Woods is going to cost next year. Robert Woods is a $13 million cap hit. So what you do is you cut Robert Woods with zero dead money

and now you have DJ Moore on the cap for $13 million with Traylon Burks in year two. Do you want Robert Woods at 31 and Traylon Burks in year two? Or do you want DJ Moore and Traylon Burks in year two next year? So not only could DJ Moore severely help this offense this season for less than a million bucks, but he could be relatively around the same price as Robert Woods next year with very little punitive dead money in the future.

And then he's $16 million and $16 million in 2024 and 2025. And with the way the cap is going to go up, guys, the cap goes up all the time and coming out of COVID, the cap is going to go up, guys, the cap goes up all the time and coming out of COVID, the cap is going to spike up with new TV deals. So DJ Moore at $16 million is essentially a bargain wide receiver at that point. When all these wide receivers are making 20+, 25+, 28+, on the cap.

So, like I said, my opinion has totally done a 180 since I woke up on Tuesday morning. DJ Moore is a productive wide receiver. He's a durable wide receiver. He's played in 16 games, 15 games, 15 games, 17 games. He's had over 1,000 yards three seasons in a row going into this year, nearly 1,200 yards. And he's played with awful quarterback play. Also, DJ Moore fits perfectly with Traylon Burks.

DJ Moore fits perfect with Traylon Burks. He is the speed guy. He is the speed guy. He is the quick guy to go with the big physical wide receiver that is Burks. So, I've changed my mind here. I started out the day saying no way, but if you look at how it works in the future, my big concern was not about this season. I don't think that DJ Moore is going to turn the Titans

into something that they're not this year, but going forward in the future he could be a perfect pairing with Traylon Burks. And when you look at the salary cap situation, it's nowhere near as bad as maybe it seems at first glance. So I'm saying for a

second round pick at max, maybe a third round. Remember, the Panthers need to shed salary. The Panthers need to shed salary. The Panthers need to collect draft capital, which means you could get DJ Moore at maybe a discount compared to what you would get him for otherwise. I'm on board. John Robinson, go ahead and make the play.

Second round pick at maximum. I'd love it to be a third. Third round pick, I'd do it all day. So I changed my mind. Shows you guys I'm willing to consider things and be open-minded. But either way, we're going to move forward. It's time to get into the tape. What did I see on the film in week five from the Titans?

I'm going to tell you a wrinkle that the Titans added to the offense that I'm very excited about. And I'm going to tell you guys some standout performances we saw from the Titans defense as well. Before we get into it, a word from our sponsor, BetterHelp. Got to tell you guys, I've had a great experience with BetterHelp personally. It's online therapy. It's not self-help.

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Tyler that woke up on Tuesday morning is an idiot. Tyler recording the show right now is a genius. So that's how you guys know the dichotomy is working. I'm trying to keep an open mind here, and I have been persuaded. The finances of it all is really what kind of set me over the edge. But I know there were some other Panthers that some people considered for a trade. I think you've heard Robbie Anderson, but that's not going to move the needle. For me, Brian Burns and JC Horn, I'd be shocked if they got rid of those guys. And Taylor Moten, I just don't think really solves a big issue

for the Titans long term, so I don't want to give up the draft capital. But with that in mind, it's time to step into the film room for Rewatch Wednesday. I've got a lot of notes from the film. And as always, my Tic Tac Tuesday film thread on Twitter with all the plays, all the breakdowns, all of that is available right now in the comments, in the description of the show.

Whether you're listening on podcast, whether you're watching on YouTube, it's there, so go ahead and check that out. But moving forward here into the offense in week five, Moving forward here into the offense in week five. One thing that I really liked is a wrinkle that the Titans added. And it's quick game. Quick outs. Quick flats.

Quick curls. The Titans don't have a lot of time with pass protection. They simply don't. So what is one way to get some quick yards on early downs without sacrificing yourself and also without running the ball? The quick game, West Coast, quick throws. The Titans started doing that, and it's going to work because teams play cover three or they play man cover one against the Titans because they want to put eight in the box,

and that requires you have one of your safeties down low. So that means that those flats, those quick outs, those quick smoke routes, throwing it quick out to Robert Woods, a quick curl, those are going to be open because teams are not going to play cover two where the cornerback is going to be sinking into the flat on early downs. So it's an easy way for the Titans to supplement their run game by getting to, I mean, the Titans got 12 yards on the first quick throw.

They got nine yards on the second quick throw. They got 10 yards or would have gotten 10 yards on the third quick throw, but it was a drop by Robert Woods. They got three yards on the second one. These are easy snap, three-step drop, get the ball out quickly. I mean, these are easy plays that the Titans don't typically run. They can get them quick yards on early downs and help keep the offense moving forward

and quit taking so many negative plays. They're basically run plays that are passes. I think that would be incredibly helpful to the Titans and adding that quick game into the offense consistently week by week I think would be a major, major help. Moving forward though, looking also at some other things in the passing offense. So the Titans couldn't really hold up and pass protection early in the game. So what did they do? They decided to keep some people in, but what they

were doing is they were keeping seven people in initially. They'd have the tight end on one side of the formation. They'd have the running back on the other side of the formation, or they just have two tight ends out there. And what they would do is they would have one guy help the right tackle, one guy help the left tackle. That's four people out of the seven dealing with two edge rushers. And then that would mean you'd have your three interior offensive linemen dealing with two interior pass rushers. Now, because one of those guys was Dylan Radins,

more often than not, Ben Jones would be helping Dylan Radins. So you've got a tight end with one tackle, you've got a tight end or a running back with the other tackle, you've got Ben Jones helping Dylan Radins, and then you've got Aaron Brewer one-on-one normally against Jonathan Allen. And Brewer held his own, but he lost some as well. But the problem with that is, this is how the issues with the offensive line and pass protection compound the rest of the offensive problem. Because

when you keep in seven, even if they're just chipping and then sinking out into flats, you're only putting three guys out into routes initially. Well, when the team is dropping back seven into coverage because they're getting pressure with four, now you've got

seven guys covering three guys. And when those three guys are Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Akina, and Cody Hollister, or Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Akina, and Kyle Phillips, well, now you're compounding the issue because those guys aren't that explosive. They're not guys who are going to be consistently open all the time either. So now, because your offensive line is so bad in pass protection,

you've got to keep seven guys in the block, only release three out into routes. You're making yourself easy to cover. It's a snowball issue. It's a domino effect. So those are things that I noticed with the passing offense that I like one of them. And if they continue to have to do the other one,

keeping seven in all the time, it's just going to be a struggle because you only got three guys and what you're doing is you're accentuating the fact that you don't have very good wide receivers because you're only releasing three into routes initially. So the offensive line issues not only hurt the pass protection, they hurt everything.

It's a domino effect that can roll downhill quickly on the Titans. So the quick passing game, good. Problems in pass protection, bad. Also, want to make this note. I know I mentioned it, but the screen game. On the first scoring drive of the day, the Titans got 34 yards and a touchdown on two screen passes. They ran one screen the rest of the game,

and it was on a third and long in the shadow of their own goalpost, where they probably weren't going to be able to pick up a first down or get anything significant anyways. Why did they stop running screens? I don't understand. Also, one thing in the run game I did want to note for you guys, it got tougher to run later in the game because the commanders started squeezing the A-gaps.

As we know, the Titans offense is predicated on double teams at the line of scrimmage and then guys getting up to the second level. Well, when you're squeezing the A-gaps and you're having two defensive linemen on the inside shoulder of the guard or two defensive linemen on the nose of the guard, well, it's harder for one of those interior guys

to get through and get up to the second level. So the Titans were having it where the front, they would have the guard on one of the defense, interior defensive lineman, the guard on the other one. And they were getting Ben Jones through those two to get up to a linebacker. Well, when they started pinching down that a gap with the two interior defensive lineman, Ben Jones couldn't get through to get to the second level. And I can think of at least three plays specifically where a linebacker from the commanders was able to free flow to Derrick Henry

because the interior offensive lineman couldn't get to the second level because the commanders were pinching down that A gap. So that's an interesting way to play the Titans. And we'll have to watch that going forward. The last thing that I want to say is Dylan Radins was not that bad. I have plenty of film in the description in the Tic Tac Tuesday film thread link. I thought Dylan Radins had a pretty good day.

I have a lot of hope for him going forward. They got to find a way to get him reps. I think he could be a full-time starting left guard for them as Aaron Brewer moves to center eventually, but I just don't think Dylan Radins is a lost cause like a lot of people do. Either way, we're going to cap off today's Rewatch Wednesday by going over some of the stuff I saw on defense. The Titans did a few things on defense I think are interesting, but for the most part, just some standout performances from some guys on defense. Before we get into that, though, do want to tell you guys about our friends over at BetOnline. BetOnline is your number one source for football betting information.

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They have e-sports. They have MLB, NBA, MMA. I mean, golf, boxing. Do I have to continue? They have everything you could ever want. So head to betOnline.net today. You can use your mobile device or your laptop. Go there and check out all the trends and all the action. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, we're going to cap off today's re-watch Wednesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Going over my film notes from the defensive side of the ball, and it's all about standout performances from David Long and T. Air Tart. Before we get into that, I want to thank you guys again

for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream for daily, free, Monday through Friday, year-round Titans coverage on all platforms. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. For your second listen, check out the Peacock and Williamson podcast. They're giving you a national spin. Matt Williamson is a former NFL scout,

so he does great work there. Check that out for free on whatever platform you do stream. But going into the defensive side of the ball, David Long and T. Air Tart. Ballin'. I mean, T. Air Tart is one of the top interior defensive linemen in the entire NFL right now. T.R. Tartt has five pass breakups already.

The franchise record for the Titans is nine. He's got five. That's pretty incredible. Javon Kers got that record with nine. So, T.R. Tartt is just on a mission, quite frankly. He's been absolutely incredible this year. And as a matter of fact, you don't believe me. I see you, Shannon. I see your comments.

You don't believe me? T.R. Tartt is one of the top 10 graded interior defensive linemen in the NFL right now with an 81.1. So, whether it be on the film, whether it be in the box score, whether it be the grading, Tartt has been phenomenal. And it wasn't just, it wasn't just

Tartt knocking passes away. In the run game, he was incredible. Tartt was stacking up double teams. And I said that the two standouts in this game, excuse me, the two standouts in this game were David Long and T.R. Tartt. Why do you think David Long was able to roam around and make so many plays?

Why do you think David Long was all over the field? It's because Tartt was taking up two guys. And the interior offensive line of the commanders could not get up onto David Long and get a body on him. Tartt kept David Long clean all game long. Now, you can be clean, but you still got to make plays, and David Long made plays he was

darting down the field I talked to you guys about the issue with David Long and it's funny because Mike Rabel brought it up in a press conference last week he said David Long is an instinctual player and you're going to get some good with that

and you're going to get some bad with that, and you're going to get some bad with that, but there's more good and bad. That's David Long. He's a downhill, instinctual player. He sniffs out what he thinks he sees, and he makes a freaking play on it. Sometimes he guesses wrong, but more often than not,

he guesses right, and God, he guessed right a ton against the Commanders. So Tartt was incredible, taking on double teams, holding his ground, shedding blockers, getting to the guys, but he kept David Long clean so that he could roam and make

plays as well. It doubles down. I do want to say, other than just those standout performances, from a game plan perspective, this is a classic Titans game plan against Carson Wentz. The Titans ran a ton of rolled coverages. They'd start in single high, roll the safety. So the other single high safety was, so the other safety was in single high and rolled the other one down. They ran a ton of invert cover too, where they'd have one of the out, one of the safeties be a

deep half. And then the slot cornerback on the other side would be the deep half. They ran invert cover too where an outside cornerback is deep half and then a safety is deep half. They're trying to confuse Carson Wentz consistently. Another thing that they did to try to confuse Carson Wentz is dropping defensive linemen. Not just at the end of the game, but throughout the game, there were different times where the Titans would drop a defensive lineman

in a different way than they normally do with their sim pressures. And especially at the end of that game, right on the goal line, the Titans were dropping defensive linemen from the interior rather than their edge rushers, which is what they normally drop. Because they knew that if you just make Carson Wentz thrown to tight windows, he's going to make a mistake. And it may have taken the entire game, but when all of the chips were on the table,

Carson Wentz made the mistake. So rolling coverages, using cover to invert, and dropping defensive linemen. All things that really help against Carson Wentz that the Titans have had success with. And they worked in this game as well. And it wasn't just David Long at the end or Tart at the end with the pass breakup. Rashad Weaver had a pass breakup dropping into coverage.

Tart had a pass breakup dropping into coverage. I mean, they really know how to play Carson Wentz. And the last thing that I want to say here, the last thing that I want to say, I don't want to be mean, but Josh Kalou is not good enough to be out on the field covering people. Just simply not. Sorry.

That's all I have to say about that. But that's going to do it for today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Talked about DJ Moore, how I've changed my mind on that at the beginning of the show. Went into how the Titans added quick game into the offense

and how it needs to stick around. And then talked about David Long and Tierra Tart dominating on defense. I'll be back tomorrow. I'm going to do kind of a measuring stick episode where I talk about where the Titans stack up on offense and defense within the NFL after five weeks as they head into their bye. Friday will be a mailbag episode.

So make sure that you check in for that. And then next week, we've got a lot to discuss as another game is on the horizon. 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. you