Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Team Needs Tuesday - Titans Award Winners, Position By Position Team Needs Assessment

Episode Date: February 4, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a team needs Tuesday. So our focus today is going to be on what the Titans need to bring in to take that next step going forward into the 2020 regular season. In our first segment though, we are going to give you the most up-to-date news and talk about which Titans brought home some hardware at the NFL award show on Saturday night. So we'll give you that, but then we are going to jump into our position by position team

needs analysis. If you remember last week, I gave you guys a little analogy. You can't have company over until you clean your house. When we were talking about the Titans internal free agents, who they have to make decisions on, who they need to bring back, who they need to let walk. Well, I'll give you guys another analogy that's very similar. You can't go to the grocery store unless you know what you need. So we are going to inspect the Titans cupboards today, talk about what groceries they do need. Like I said, we're going to go position by position, talk about what the Titans need to add this offseason to each group and each unit to make sure that they improve

for next season. So we are going to jump into all of that. A lot to break down. Let's get it. quarterback Ryan Tannehill was awarded comeback player of the year as expected Tannehill had an incredible journey this season after leaving where he was drafted in Miami and being under Adam Gase which seems to be a punishment all of its own coming to the Titans and accepting a backup role after being traded, finding a way to get into the starting lineup, but with a team that was already two and four, leading that team and not just leading them, but playing well and igniting a city that hadn't seen that kind of offense in almost two decades. Tannehill led the Titans to the playoffs, so you can't say that he didn't deserve the Comeback Player of the Year award. He did win that over 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who came off the recovery of an ACL

that he tore early in the season in 2018. So stiff competition there, but it makes sense that Tannehill would win that award. Derek Henry, no surprise that he would leave with some hardware. He was awarded the FedEx Ground Player of the Year for his dominance in the running game, 1,500 yards, 16 touchdowns. Henry was a beast. We all watched it throughout the season, so he definitely deserved that honor. The FedEx Air Player of the Year went to Lamar Jackson, who also won MVP, of course, for his phenomenal season, his record-breaking season, most rushing yards by a quarterback that we've ever seen. Coach of the Year for that reason also went to John Harbaugh, who was willing to put his, you know, neck out there and change this offense and try to change the way that the NFL views

offense. A very successful season for the Ravens, and they were recognized for that. Defensive player of the year, Stephon Gilmore, quarterback from the New England Patriots, six interceptions, two of those back to the house. The offensive player of the year, Stephon Gilmore, quarterback from the New England Patriots, six interceptions, two of those back to the house. The offensive player of the year, the record-breaking Michael Thomas from the New Orleans Saints, 149 catches. That's a record in the NFL, so he deserved that one as well. And then this is where things get a little hairy, I guess. Defensive rookie of the year went to Nick Bosa. No worries there, but Offensive Rookie of the Year. Most expected, Josh Jacobs running back from the Raiders.

Some people even said A.J. Brown, wide receiver from the Titans, would win that award. Most expected Kyler Murray to be up there, but not actually win. His season, realistically speaking, was pretty average, subpar even. Well, somehow, the first overall pick and quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, Kyler Murray, won Offensive Rookie of the Year. It doesn't make a lot of sense. If you look at Murray's statistics on the year, he's anywhere from 15th in the league to 23rd in the league in all of the major statistical categories, had 12 interceptions. The Cardinals weren't a great team. They didn't win a lot. He didn't look particularly good for most of the

season, quite frankly. He was an average quarterback. Now, when you're grading on the scale of a rookie, of course, when you have an overall picture of Kyler Murray, you say, hey, that's pretty decent. You know, he'll be better in the future. You hope he gets better. He gets used to the way that you need to prepare and take care of yourself in the NFL. And with the consistent coaching and the experience that he's gaining, he's going to be much better in his second year. And it's a decent outlook for him. Well, I agree with all of that, but we're talking about the best offensive rookie of the entire season. And quite frankly, it's not even bitterness that a Titan didn't win the award when one was eligible and deserving i would have been more accepting of running back josh jacobs from the oakland raiders he carried that offense for

the 13 games that he played and now he will be knocked for only playing in 13 games but he was in the top 10 top 15 of most of the statistical categories you would look for in a running back. Top 10 in yards. He had seven touchdowns on the year, which I believe is tied for 15th with Lamar Jackson. Josh Jacobs was a much more impactful offensive rookie than Kyler Murray. It just shows a favoritism towards the quarterback position that we've come to be used to, be desensitized to, but realistically, A.J. Brown with his 1,000 yards and eight touchdown catches on the year, and then Josh Jacobs' performance were much more deserving than Kyler Murray's, so that was a confusing and strange result there. Some other honors that were awarded, the Walter Payton Man of the Year

Award for service off the field went to Jaguars defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who as we know from week three against the Titans, is a pretty good player on the field as well. The Hall of Fame members for the 2020 class were announced. Safety Steve Atwater, famous for his days with the Seahawks. Wide receiver Isaac Bruce, who played most of his career with the Rams. Guard Steve Hutchinson, famous for his career with the Vikings, running back Edrin James, who played against the Titans quite a bit

during his years with the Colts, and then safety Troy Palamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you've been a listener of this podcast, I'm sure you've heard all the great advertisers working with Locked On to reach sports fans. But you may not know that Locked On Titans is a great way for your local business to reach passionate Titans fans. But you may not know that Locked On Titans is a great way for your local business to reach passionate Titans fans just like you.

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it's the same thing for the Titans they need to look at what they need and what they have and what they need to add to this roster to try to push them to the next level. Go from AFC championship quality to Super Bowl quality football team. So let's start with the offense. Go position by position. We will start things off with the quarterback. Now the Titans are going to have a starter, whether that's Ryan Tannehill, whether it's a free agent, whether they, for some reason, trade up and get a rookie.

The Titans are going to have a starter in place place but what they need to do is add a developmental backup quarterback somebody like what they were trying to do with Luke Falk but that's a sixth round pick you can't expect much of that so whether they go out and they take a low risk move on a guy who's been in the NFL for a little bit but still young. Take a Josh Rosen for example if they try to find a way to acquire a guy like that who's maybe fallen out of favor with his current team or just needs a change of scenery to switch things up for him kind of a poor man's version of Ryan Tannehill at a much younger age I could see that or if they take a quarterback in the first three rounds of the NFL draft let's say let's say a Jordan Love or a Jacob Eason drop to them at 29.

Maybe the Titans go ahead and do that. I'm not opposed to that route either. So I think the Titans for sure need a young developmental quarterback to groom no matter who they decide to have as their starter. At the running back position, they need another versatile threat, somebody more versatile than Deion Lewis and more versatile than Derrick Henry. While Derrick Henry improved in his pass protection, he improved and had career highs in the receiving game, he's still not the receiving back that you would hope to have for your three down, every down running back. And he's had a lot of carries.

He's had a lot of weight put on his shoulders the past few years from this Titans team and being the focal point of the offense. So you need somebody who can do the same things that Derrick Henry can do in the running game. I mean, not exactly the same, of course. Derrick Henry's prolific. But someone who can run like a regular running back and also adds value in the passing game.

That'll help the Titans be more multiple on offense, be able to throw defenses off more. It'll make Derrick Henry have less of a workload and be less relied upon consistently down to down, which should help his longevity, especially if the Titans give him a long-term contract. Then we're going to have to slow down on the carries and preserve him throughout the life of his contract to make sure that the Titans are getting adequate value from a long-term signing with Derrick Henry. So either way, even if for some reason Derrick Henry were to leave, even if he were franchise tag, it doesn't matter. This team needs another load-bearing, versatile, do-it-all running back in the backfield, whether they go after someone early in the draft in the first two rounds, a Jonathan Taylor, a J.K. backfield, whether they go after someone early in the draft in the

first two rounds, a Jonathan Taylor, a J.K. Dobbins, or they try to sign somebody like a Kenyon Drake, make a move like that for an NFL veteran. Whatever it happens to be, they need to get another reliable running back in the mix, and that running back's not going to be Deion Lewis. So we've talked about what needs to happen there to create some more cap space. Moving to the wide receiver position, while Corey Davis' future is in doubt, Tajay Sharp is also a free agent. Right now, there's a lot of unanswered questions in the wide receiver room, so I think this will be something I would not be surprised to see the Titans attack this very early in the draft.

And specifically at wide receiver, they need a speedster. Kalief Raymond, Tywon Taylor, those guys were supposed to fill that role. Cam Batson. The Titans need more talent on this football team in general at any position. Just more overall talent. That's a big takeaway for me from watching that Super Bowl. Just more talent on the team so you could use that at wide receiver. Someone to take over for Corey Davis when

likely he leaves this team someone to get down the field and break the defense open you know open things up deep you gotta remove the top off the defense I guess as they say blow the top off there someone more talented than Raymond to fill that role and fill that spot in this offense. Moving to tight end, the Titans could use a stud tight end. While I'm impressed with Johnnie Smith, and he most certainly could be the starter for the team, and they're going to be in a perfect position, imagine if Johnnie Smith was back to being a number two with a stud tight end like the Titans had with Delaney Walker when he was in his prime and when he was healthy and still contributing.

That's something that they would love. I mean, look at the two teams in the Super Bowl, George Kittle, Travis Kelsey, fantastically athletic tight ends. So the Titans could use one of those. It's going to be harder to find that in free agency or the draft. So if they're not going to be able to find that, which I don't think they will, then what they need to improve upon is that second tight end, the McColl Pruitt role. I think that Pruitt did a fine job as the blocking tight end, and he was the fullback

for most of the year until Blossom Game showed up. But with Kari Blossom Game now in the fold as an actual traditional fullback, I think that the Titans could use an upgrade at the second tight end position. Someone who's a little more versatile and a little more talented, talent is going to keep coming up, a little more talented than Pruitt, they could possibly look to upgrade that second tight end position early on in the draft as well. A lot of different ways this team could go.

Because the roster is so strong, you could take a best player available approach late in the draft, and that kind of opens up all of your options and avenues to improve the team, but the Titans just need a talent upgrade wherever that happens to come. They could use it at any position. There's no position that's so overwhelmed with talent that they couldn't use an extra addition. Going into the trenches, into the offensive line, at the interior offensive line, I think the Titans do need to add some competition there. Ben Jones is getting older. He'll have one year left on his contract going into this season. Roger Saffold is no spring chicken. He's not very young either, and Nate Davis played well in the limited time

that he saw late in the season. He did play better than at the beginning of the season when he was just getting acclimated to NFL football, but I wouldn't say that Nate Davis as a third-round pick was so stellar that you don't draft a more talented player if they're available and it lines up with the value that you're getting in the draft or a free agent that's a good value. Either way, the Titans still could use talent and upgrades on the interior offensive line and Ben Jones will not be around forever. Neither will Roger Saffold. So at their ages,

it only makes sense that the Titans would look to continue to add talent to that group on the edges with the offensive tackles. They just need depth because the questions are still going to be unanswered here. Is Jack Conklin coming back? Is Dennis Kelly coming back? Like I mentioned when we talked about the internal free agents, I think one of those tackles has to come back for this Titans football team. No questions asked whether that's Conklin on a decent deal or they let Conklin walk and give Dennis Kelly the starting right tackle position and sign him for a couple years, two years, three year deal. Either way, there will be one of those tackles back. So the Titans, imagine if it is Dennis Kelly. Well, then the Titans probably need to add a talented young tackle to groom to take over his spot because Dennis Kelly,

while being serviceable, is nothing more than NFL average. So if you want to have a fantastic offensive line, which is the key to a lot of these good football teams, then they need to continue to try to stack that pipeline and get a young guy in to start grooming under Kelly if that takes place. If Conklin is the choice there, they sign Conklin, then that means they're probably going to let Dennis Kelly go, which means they don't have their swing tackle anymore, so you'll have to fill that position with a veteran in free agency or in the draft as well. So either way, the Titans need to add some depth

to the offensive tackle position this offseason. That is going to wrap up the offensive portion of our team needs discussion. We are going to jump into the defense. team needs Tuesday continues as we jump into the defensive side of the football we are going to go position by position just like we did with the offense so we will start with the interior defensive line the Titans need people who can pressure the quarterback. They need to add disruptors in whatever way possible. Let's be honest here. As I mentioned with Ben Jones, Jarrell Casey is not getting any younger, and we saw that throughout the season. He dealt with a little bit more injuries, took him a little bit more time to get into a rhythm. By the end of the

season, he was looking fantastic, but he only finished the year with five sacks. The Titans need someone like Jarrell Casey at all times. His absence really hurt the Titans, and they had to blitz a lot more. He wasn't at his traditional Pro Bowl level, even though he was awarded a Pro Bowl selection, but Jarrell Casey just wasn't himself this year, and that could be due to the injuries injuries but it's also probably in general just due to him aging he's getting older and as he's getting later in his career that explosiveness that made him so good as an undersized penetrating defensive tackle is going to fade a little bit and the Titans can't afford right now to lose that production from the interior defensive line you expect Jeff Simmons to become more of a threat pass rushing next year as he gets more comfortable, has a full offseason, has a full year removed from

the ACL tear, but who knows if he's going to be quite the force that the Titans are expecting him to be, so they need to double down on that, add someone that can eventually take over for Jarrell Casey as that interior penetrator, or at the minimum, just add someone who they can put into the rotation who's going to give you more of a threat in the pass rush than Austin Johnson, Daquan Jones, or Isaiah Mack, any of the other beefy guys that they had up front. The Titans need another quick, athletic penetrator up front on the interior defensive line. On the edges, my notes here, I just wrote down, dear God. The Titans need more depth.

The Titans need more talent on the edges. Harold Landry had nine sacks. The closest person was Casey with five. Logan Ryan had 4.5. Correa had five. Just not good enough on the edges or the interior defensive line, as I mentioned. And the Titans just need more talent on the defensive front to try to get to the quarterback. They weren't able to put enough pressure on Pat Mahomes, and that's one of the

big reasons why the Titans weren't able to advance to the Super Bowl. So they need to address that in a major way, especially on the edge. I would look for a big free agent signing. They can't really rely on rookies at this point in time in the team's window as a roster and their championship title contention. Chances here, the Titans cannot play around and try to invest in another rookie and hope that they hit miraculously. The Titans need to go get somebody and probably add a rookie. They need to do both,

but whatever it takes, they have to upgrade the talent on the defensive line and the pass rushing talent. That has to be the number one priority of the offseason, as I've mentioned throughout the entire season and the offseason so far. Moving into the off-the-ball linebacker position, edge, whether we run a 3-4, 4-3, all that stuff doesn't really matter to me. The Titans are in sub package, nickel package. Most of the time they're on the defense. So the edges, the interior defensive line, and then the off the ball linebackers, the Titans just need depth here. They don't really need a bunch of talent. They're not starving for talent at this position. Even if Jayon Brown eventually moves on when his contract comes up here shortly, the Titans have

David Long, who's a guy in a similar mold, if not nearly the talent and nearly the experience that Jayon Brown has. But David Long has some similar qualities. So the Titans are stacking their positions and trying to get ready just in case they aren't able to retain all the players on their roster. So they just need to continue adding depth there with Long, with Evans, with Brown. They have a fantastic trio there of talented linebackers. If they can bring back Darren Bates, if they can bring back Wesley Woodyard,

one of those veterans would be great. But they probably still need to add another inside linebacker to add depth for when eventually Bates or Woodyard leaves, most likely the season after that. So just depth at the linebacker position is all they're really looking for. Another big position, like the edge rushers, the cornerbacks. Logan Ryan could leave. Malcolm Butler is getting older and coming off a major injury. Adoree Jackson will have a contract coming up here soon. I mean, the Titans could be completely wiped out at the cornerback position in the matter of two seasons. So they need to get ahead of that now. I wouldn't be surprised for the Titans to grab somebody in free agency at a good value, a mid-level cornerback,

and try to draft somebody decently high to start getting them worked up and ready to go. The Titans really had trouble in pass defense when they saw Malcolm Butler go out when Adoree Jackson got hurt. The Titans didn't have, they had some depth. They had guys that could get in and play, but they didn't have enough talent. So the Titans just need to try to add more talent to the cornerback room. And I would expect them to grab two different guys in whatever way possible to add to that mix here in the off season. At safety, similar to linebacker position with Amani Hooker, Kevin Byard, Kenny Vaccaro, Dan Cruikshank. The Titans are pretty set there. They're looking pretty good at that position.

So if anything, maybe out of depth piece, somebody to compete in training camp. But I don't really see that as a very big need for this team. With inside linebacker, off the ball linebacker, and safety, the Titans are in a great place. That's probably the best position groups they have on the team right now going into this offseason. So that is going to wrap up our conversation about team needs for this Titans team. We went over all the awards, went over offense position by position,

went over defense position by position. So now that we've seen what's in our cupboards, we can worry about what we need to get at the grocery store. So we're going to continue to go through this offseason plan and get you guys ready for the draft for free agency as they will be here before you know it. But I will be with you every step of the way, Monday through Friday, breaking everything down. So make sure that you're following me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans and you're subscribed to

the show on whatever platform you do stream your podcast. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.