Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Talking Titans Draft with Jonathan Hutton

Episode Date: May 14, 2019

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you tonight? Doing pretty good. What's going on with you? Not a whole lot. Tonight we are also joined by Jonathan Hutton. Really glad to have him on the show again. Hutton, thanks so much for taking the time to join us. Absolutely, guys. Great to be back on. I think my last visit was in October, maybe November. And it's good to be on with you guys in the offseason again. Yeah, absolutely. I didn't realize it had been that long.

So that'll be good. We're going to get into, we're going to do a couple shows here with Hutton. One mainly focused on the draft. And the second one we'll get into the rest of the roster and then some of the other stuff that he does, Titans Radio, Midday 180, that kind of stuff. All right, before we jump in tonight, I want to remind you that Terry and I write for MusicCityMiracles. city miracles.com where we cover titans for sp nation so you can check us out

there you can also follow us on twitter i am at jay moore's mcm terry's at t lambert tn get the podcast wherever you get your podcast just search out locked on titans you can also play us on your smart speaker in your house or your car just say play Play Podcast Locked on Titans. You can also follow Jonathan Hutton on Twitter at Hutton1045. All right, so first thing from me, obviously there's been a lot of talk about everything with Jeffrey Simmons, the off the field stuff, the injury, all that kind of stuff. So I think all that's been covered pretty well. My question for you on Simmons is, you is, given the fact that, I mean,

I think best-case scenario this year, we see him probably November, is kind of maybe best-case scenario, and we don't know how effective he'll be at that point. But if you're John Robinson with him at 19 and all the upside that he seems to have, is that a pick that you would have made knowing that you could possibly not have that whole first year of what's a four- or five-year contract? It was a pick I was interested in on the show

leading up to the draft for about a month. And in every scenario, I was interested in the titans trading back and drafting him that that's that's everything i threw out um i knew there would be some interest because of the type of player that he would present on the field and what i didn't know was anything off the field with him i didn't know the player so uh i think part of my caution with him was trading back to see if you could get him at a later pick. But as you assess, first of all, let's look at the player on the field.

When you watch him and you talk with anyone across the league, at least anyone that I have talked with across the league and in this market, they all say, dude is a top 10 talent, would have been drafted in the top 12 this year, maybe a top five selection this year in terms of talent. Then he gets hurt in February preparing for the NFL combine. So a terrible injury with the ACL, but he's a top 10 talent with everything on the field and off the field. Everyone's saying that.

If you're the Tennessee Titans and you're expecting to be, their whole thing is trying to go from good to great. You have to weigh, do you take a top 10 talent at 19 with the hopes that you're not going to draft another elite type player at that position for the foreseeable future and miss out on a year of his play or do you take a player that you don't view as quote-unquote elite at 19 but a player who will help you in 2019 and beyond and i think robinson looked at the player in simmons and said we've got to go elite talent and we're not going to pass up on a player who

fell to us right here and we're not expecting to draft higher than this position moving forward so it's not like we're going to have another elite player in the draft fall to us in this situation without us trading some capital and moving up let's take the guy who fell to us let's wait a year and let's get him healthy and you mentioned november as uh as the the on the bright side jimmy i'll be honest man in in the whole scenario that in my in my mind i've created I've kind of already canceled out 2019, and I've started to look at 2020. No one's told me to do that,

but I'm not factoring him to the overall equation and depth chart. I still think they need to add a piece in free agency. I'm not willing to just go out there and say this was the year that they can gamble and say you didn't need a piece to the puzzle in the first round, but I think the overall piece and the body of work, if everyone truly views him as elite and a no-brainer in the top ten and he's there at 19 and you don't have to trade up to get him, take the player that you view as a no-brainer and move on with the draft. I think they're very happy with the selection,

even though they're not going to get anything out of them this year. I think the coolest part of that for me was the press conference after. It just seemed like Vrabel and John Robinson and Amy, they were all on the same page. You could tell they had put a lot into this pick, a lot of work with the domestic incident. Obviously, the knee threw another wrinkle into it. Just seemed like there was a certain level of comfort there.

My question for you, you're kind of closer to the team than we are. Is this a pick that John Robinson makes maybe two years ago? That's a good question. As I think, yeah, I do think he would make it. Now, do I think that he would have the same? I think the sales pitch two years ago is easier than the sales pitches this year, honestly. And I still think it's a good sales pitch this year. And I think what you're getting at, Terry, is two years ago,

could the roster afford to give up on a first-round talent? Two years ago, they're going to have a higher pick. But if they're just picking at 19 and all things are equal, which I understand they're not, but in this equation they are, I think he still makes the same decision. And the reason being, you mentioned the press conference afterwards. Keep in mind, throughout this entire process, all the background work that goes into this type of situation and player,

it's hard to find anyone who didn't have something good to say about Jeffrey Simmons and how he's handled everything throughout college. With the incident that happened the senior year of high school and then moving forward, everyone from Dan M uh to the high school coaches that they spoke with to people in the community said he was a great guy once he you know matured and moved on to the college ranks and had to prove that he was the guy he says he was not the guy he he showed to be in that situation. And I thought the personality and some of the traits that he tries to say he is showed up in that interview, and it clearly showed up in the meetings that they had with the Titans.

I think a lot of the coaches that stood up on his behalf and put their name behind him, which in this day and age, and rightfully so, if you have something like that in your background, it's not like people just want to put their name with a comment and say, I'm standing up for this guy. I vouch for him moving forward. And so many people did, including the Titans, by the way. They're on board with that, too.

And I think that speaks volumes. All right. Coming up, we will continue our interview with Jonathan Hutton all right so AJ Braille is a guy that's getting a lot of publicity uh and pretty much everybody that I I've listened to uh comps him to Juju Smith Schuster um as a Titans fan uh a guy who's been a Titans fan since the team came here, we've had so many receivers that have come through here with these high hopes, and we always end up getting crushed for one reason or another.

It just doesn't work out. Tell me why A.J. Brown is different. Well, with A.J. Brown, I think he's going to be asked to do things that some of the higher picks in the past have not been asked to do you know and I'm specifically just the the high picks and Brown's a second rounder but I mean the guys that immediately come to mind Corey Davis Kenny Britt Kendall Wright as well but as far as the the high picks those are the three I think of. And Kendall would be more in line of what I think A.J. Brown is capable of. But Davis and Britt, I think more of just outside threats,

big body receivers, physical, and using their speed once they get their gallop going on the outside boundary. And I think Brown, he's not going to be known for his speed as much as he is his power, his tough he is his power his toughness his grit and determination and I think that's going to fit him well in the role they're going to use for him and and also too I mean I like the idea of bringing in a player at 51 who has a chip on his shoulder trying to prove that yeah he was a first-round pick. I think the value was too good to pass up on. And, I mean, honestly, as you start to look at their receiving core and what they could transition to after Delaney Walker's career,

I don't mind the idea that the offense could go more to a three-wide receiver set moving forward using the idea that you go with Brown, with Corey Davis, Humphreys and others mixed in there. And I also think it helps out the overall offense, helping role players quickly become role players instead of chess pieces to move around the offense, specifically Taewon Taylor, for instance. I think he can play a role in a specific role within the offense now.

All things being healthy, of course. All players being healthy. And now you have Brown to mix and match throughout that receiving core. I like it. But, again, there is some hesitation, of course, based on the history that they've had with wide receivers and through the draft and free agency. But I'll say this.

If he brings a production value of a Corey Davis even, I'll use him with the 60 catches, and a mentality of a Nate Washington that Nate Washington brought whenever he signed here and got the big money, he still had a chip on his shoulder. I would love that player, that combination, that wide receiver. And just so far in what Brown has said and what his production level was whenever DK Metcalf went down with the injury at Ole Miss,

I'm all on board with that pick. I don't have any issue with it. Maybe the most immediate need was on the offensive line after Josh Klon gets let go. You've got a hole at right guard. They end up getting Nate Davis. Jimmy and I were kind of sweating after they took Brown.

We both loved the Brown pick, but still hadn't shored up that offensive line. They end up doing it with Davis there. That seems like a spot where you're going to see your main roster battle, your main battle for a starting spot there with Kevin Panfield and Davis. How do you think he comes along immediately?

I think the consensus says that we're going to have to wait a little bit on him. So in that case, how do you feel about rolling into the season with Panfield as your starter? Yeah, the thing with Pam Field as your starter? Yeah, the thing with Pam Field that we don't know is how much of a factor he could have played in the overall decision-making of the offensive line last year. I'm not saying he can't. I rolled into camp thinking there was going to be a battle at guard, and there wasn't. And same thing goes at

some other positions for instance running back uh with david fluella no one really pushed him what wadley didn't push him last year and and so when pam phil didn't push for that starting job but then he got hurt he was kind of the forgotten guy so i i don't really know what to expect from kevin pam phil even though he can play all those positions and with Nate Davis while you know this is the time of year where everybody wants to buy into all of the accolades and the strengths listed in a profile when you read some of the weaknesses I mean it's not hard to see he played at Charlotte and and then he needs to work on his stance coming off the line of scrimmage, which he's already done and apparently had done

between the time the Titans met with him at the Senior Bowl to the time they brought him in and some of the things that he spoke to and said during that meeting helped them make the decision that they did. But they like the fact that he played up to the competition at the Senior Bowl, that he can play multiple spots, but this is an offensive guard, and I think eventually a starter at right guard, but I'm with you. I mean, on draft night, you're thinking,

oh, they just drafted their starting right guard. They're good to go. They have their five. They're ready to upgrade the line from last year and move forward, but then when you actually sit back and assess things, he's probably more of a guy that sneaks into the starting role around midseason if you're just projecting things. And again, everything we say from here on out, it's kind of like I shouldn't have to say it,

but everything I speak of is a healthy 100% roster. That's how I view it. And that's with Pam Phil coming in and playing well. And also, too, let's not throw this out to wash yet. If Dennis Kelly is the best option at right tackle, Dennis Kelly is going to be the right tackle. I don't know why they would not put their best right tackle there and move Conklin inside by not picking up his option.

So I'm not willing to put the Conklin at right guard to bed just yet as we sit here in May. I want to let things shake out in camp and see how the preseason goes, because it's a big preseason for Jack Conklin for sure. Just because he doesn't want to play right guard doesn't mean he will not play right guard. And that's, I have no insight to that at all. But I know a lot of people have said, oh, Conklin's the right tackle, including the coach and the GM. But, again, it's the offseason. Whenever August rolls around, if Dennis Kelly,

coming up for a contract year and deserving of an extension, when he shows up ready to go, he's a valuable piece that may not be someone that you just want to sit on the bench to start the season just just throwing that out there because I think if we start if we talk right guard we at least owe it to the conversation to mention Conklin right now yeah and just a quick follow-up on that you know that's the thing I mean I think even didn't Greg Cosell when Conklin came out I, didn't he say he would probably be a guard in the NFL? I mean, I feel like I remember him saying that.

He said the guard role fit his body style and play better than at right tackle. And then right after those comments, you know, the season after that, he went out and became all pro. But now, fast forward a couple of years, and he's back to saying, look, he just fits the guard position better. It's not a knock on the player. It's just saying his position type, he said he would have him at guard. Yeah, and so then my question is, I mean, they have been adamant.

I mean, Conklin is obviously, but even, you know, Frabel, Robinson, whoever, have been pretty adamant that Conklin is a tackle. Does Dennis Kelly have to beat him out at that position before they consider that move? Do you think that – I mean, obviously it would be speculation, but is that something they're talking about internally now to where – I don't know. The way I'm just kind of playing it out in my head is Kelly has to beat him first

and then they start to play like a roster battle, a guard? Or is that something they would have at least some kind of idea that they might be thinking about doing when camp starts? Well, I think they have to keep the options open until camp starts privately. I mean, I'm approaching it with what, how I would approach this privately. I would be saying Conklin needs to show up and prove he's healthy because at the end of the season, he wasn't healthy. He finished on IR. But prior to that, the best tackle, the best two tackles last year were Taylor LeJuan and Dennis Kelly.

I mean, that's just being honest to what we saw. Conklin didn't play well in part because, again, I don't think he was fully healthy. And while he's healthy enough to play, I don't know how effective he was with that ACL injury coming back. And it just takes some of the bigger guys longer to come back from that injury. So he would have to show that he's back from that injury if he's back he's the better tackle on paper but he's still got to prove it um and there's a reason that he they didn't pick up his

options because of the injuries you know back-to-back years he's finished the season on ir so i i can't help but wonder especially especially if we're putting Kevin Byard at the top of the list for extensions, number two might be Dennis Kelly on this roster for extensions. If that's true, then you value Kelly pretty high on your roster, even though he's the sixth offensive lineman right now on the depth chart. And because of that, I have to factor him in as a starting threat. Yeah, it doesn't make any sense to me to not at least try to get your best five on the field. And that's been my whole frustration through this whole process.

The Titans just seeming kind of unwilling to even entertain the idea. And by the way, the best five, Conklin may be able to play solid at right tackle. But to me, that still doesn't mean, just my opinion, that the best five doesn't include Conklin at guard. Because if Pam Phil doesn't play up to par, and the rookie's not ready to go at guard, maybe Conklin is the best option at right guard for the team. It doesn't mean Conklin sucks.

It just means that the best five includes Kelly at tackle. So I think that should also be mentioned. It doesn't have to do 100% with the play of Jack Conklin. The other guy beside Conklin is going to factor into all of this too. Exactly. Totally agree. Shifting back to the defensive side, Amani Hooker is a really interesting draft pick that I'm a big fan of.

But immediately looking at this roster, it's kind of tough to find a spot for him. You know, both safety spots are filled. You've got the Nickelback spot filled. Logan Ryan coming back. Where do you see him fitting immediately this season on that defense? Yeah, well, I mean, on the defense, it's not a starting role. You know, he's a mix-and-match player week to week based on how they want to play the tight ends and running backs.

I think he's a chess piece in his rookie season. Ultimately, he's in a perfect world this year. The secondary stays healthy, and he's able to learn from some crucial vets, get in a year where he's going to come in and play some limited reps but big reps for the defense based on the matchup and down distance. And aside from that, he's going to be an excellent special teams player. Again, that's perfect world.

But last year we saw what happened in training camp when Ciprian went down. They had to go out and find Vaccaro. Now they necessarily wouldn't have to do that because they would have some other pieces to the puzzle that they've added for depth. They needed help at the safety spot for depth when you started to look at it before the draft. And that's the one player they decided to trade up to go get. So they do think he fits them well with how they're going to be asked

to roll those safeties within Dean Pease's defense. And we know how Pease has used the safeties in the past. I think he's an intriguing player based on what he did at Iowa. But right now, do I think he pushes Bayard or Vaccaro or Logan Ryan in the nickel? No, I don't. But I think he's going to be a piece moving forward that they felt like they couldn't pass up on this year.

All right, coming up, we will finish up our draft conversation with Jonathan Hutton. All right, so last one from me on this. They get DeAndre Walker in the fifth round, a guy who, you know, based on a lot of projections and mock drafts or whatever, you know, was a guy that was going a lot higher than that. They've got – it's kind of an interesting group that they have at edge now. Obviously, you hope, you know, Harold Larry takes that next step forward.

You've got Cameron Wake, and then you've got Finch and Correa and now Walker. How do you think Walker fits into this group? Do you think he's going to push for snaps this year, or is he more of a project guy that you bring on after a year of work? I think he pushes for reps this year. As long as he's able to get the injury issue behind him, I think he can come in and immediately push for reps. When I look at the depth, I think I don't look at – when I look at the depth i think i i don't look at when i look at

their depth chart i see guys that can get they can earn reps based on being the hot hand that week or going on a stretch where you just got to find a way to get him on the field much like at the end of last year they were trying to find ways to get woodyard brown and evans on the field at the same time i thought they did a pretty good creative job with that. As I start to look around at their their pass rushers, I see, you know, week to week them rolling with several different versions of that defensive lineup based to ever based on whoever's playing well. And I think Walker, because of the value where they had him in the draft, gives them some options on week-to-week lineup. I don't think he's inactive.

I think all these guys that we're going to go through in this draft class are active on game day. I think that's the value and why everyone says this is a strong class for Robinson. But do I see him playing? Yeah, I see him playing. And I don't know, if you're going to ask me who they take off the field right now. I don't know who that guy is.

But it's not like they're going to have to wait long if a guy's not producing well. And they're going to keep Kamalei Correa in there just because he's a body that they need. He's more valuable than an aging Derek Morgan. No, I think this year having the youth behind them gives them the ability to go with the hot hand more so than what they were able to do last year. I will wrap up with some undrafted free agents. Anybody stand out just off the initial list and, you know, second part, who's the undrafted free agent receiver Titans fans are going to fall in love

with this year? You know it's going to be one yeah you're right uh to be honest with you i i don't know much about this undrafted free agent class and without having the list in front of me who is the defensive tackle from the school in texas do you still do you guys have that in front of you i'm unprepared i don't even have it okay i'm gonna look it up because it's worth it's worth me bringing up uh simply because mike keith mentioned this guy's name over and over as we broadcasted the sixth and seventh rounds of the titans draft and if you'd give me one moment this is like me

on midday 180 except i don't have paul uh babbling to cover up what i'm doing derrick roberson uh from sam houston state the defensive end he is one to watch because mike was specifically mentioning him as the titans were prepared to go on the clock in the in the sixth round and then i think at one point before we called it a night said well do they do they try to go get this guy in the seventh just so you don't have to use a so you don't have to fight with them for an undrafted free agency landing spot. But clearly they liked him. And it's a guy that they brought in for a visit. They didn't draft him, but they still ended up with him as an undrafted free agent.

He's one I would watch. And then Alex Barnes, the Kansas State running back. but they still end up with him as an undrafted free agent. He's one I would watch. And then Alex Barnes, the Kansas State running back. I mentioned that Flewellen didn't have much of a fight last year in camp with Wadley, but here's another opportunity from a productive running back in college to come in and make a roster as the third back. So I would throw those two names to you. and make a roster as the third back. So I would throw those two names to you.

And beyond that, they should not have that undrafted free agent wide receiver that wows them to the point where they make this roster. Because as I look at the depth chart at wide receiver right now, I see some guys who would have made the roster in the past not really having that opportunity this year. Again, with all the players being healthy, there's some good special teams value with Jennings and Batson. Where does Tajay Sharp fit in with all of this? I don't see Ratliff Williams, one of the free agents,

even though he could come in and play well, I don't know how much value he gives your roster right now based on the depth that they have of the free agents, even though he could come in and play well, I don't know how much value he gives your roster right now based on the depth that they have of the position. You want a guy who's going to be active for you and factoring into special teams, and they've got those guys with Jennings and Batson. Yeah, you know, I said for a long time that I was going to be so happy when media members weren't at camp charting

quarterbacks you know completions and incompletions because you know teams that have established quarterbacks their media members are not you know they're not keeping count of how many incomplete passes drew breeze throws in training camp I mean once we got past that point with the quarterback I think we're hopefully there with the receivers as well to where they're not that guy that's going to stand out because you should have a group in front of him that's good enough that he doesn't look – you know, I mean, they've had some guys in here that have looked every bit as good as the guys that were drafted or that were on the roster, and hopefully with this group we're past that.

Yep, I agree. And, you know, unless the injury bug hits them where they have a few hamstrings in week three the preseason and they have some decisions to make uh this should not be i mean other than deciding what you do with with tajay sharp this should not be a very difficult wide receiving group to to pick from uh whenever you break down your roster i'm intrigued by what they do with shark now um but but but Jennings and Batson, again, Jennings,

one of the best kick returners in the league. Taewon Taylor now has a defined role, which I, which I like. I like him more on the outside. And then you have Davis Humphries and Brown. So right there, you're at five,

maybe six, and you're not going to keep seven. So where does sharp fit in in and if you want to keep sharp you can't keep either badson or jen my guess is badson would be out but again that that's that's the intrigue at receiver now it's it's more so that than it is the undrafted is going to push for a spot on special teams and that's just the harsh reality because they've done a good job building that position through free agency in the draft recently absolutely all right well john we appreciate so much you taking the time to join us to uh break down this draft class anything you want to plug on the way out i do i want to mention music city

miracles.com for for helping me out with the leukemia and lymphoma society fundraiser that just wrapped up at the end of April. What you guys did went above and beyond. I had several people approach me through Twitter saying that they had donated because of what you guys were doing with the Browns and trying to raise money for a fan base through the Titans vote.

So thank you for getting out the awareness. Jimmy, I told you the amount. It's over 500 bucks, well over that, probably closer to 600 or 700 bucks at the end of it. But all of it went to LLS. And it was during a period towards the end of April where, or maybe it was the mid-April, where I wasn't receiving a whole

lot of donations anymore because I had focused on my big events in the final month of that campaign. So all of the online donations specifically came through the site there. So thanks to everybody who donated. Thanks to you guys for pushing it because it all went to a great cause. Absolutely. That was a really cool thing you did. And if you want to look up LLS, I mean, it's a great organization.

They're doing a lot of cool stuff. So, yeah, we appreciate you saying that. All right, so that'll do it for this episode. We appreciate you joining us so much. Again, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlamberttn. Jonathan Hutton is at hutton1045.

And, again, just subscribe to the podcast. That way you'll get the episodes as soon as they're available. We're going to have another episode tomorrow with Jonathan Hutton kind of talking about the roster as it stands right now and then getting into some of the other stuff that he does. So, for Terry and for Jonathan Hutton, this is Jimmy saying thanks so much for listening, and we will talk to you again tomorrow.