Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans All-Time Defense, Jeffery Simmons v Jurrell Casey, 2nd Best Safety & Adding a Legend

Episode Date: July 9, 2023

The Tennessee Titans have been in Tennessee for nearly 30 years and have had a great group of defensive players. Who are the best defenders in team history though? Tyler goes over the list. First, is Jeffery Simmons already better than Jurrell Casey?? Next, who is the second best safety in team history behind Kevin Byard? Finally, if you could take any of the legends and put them on the 2023 defense, who would it be?Greg Arias Full List: https://www.si.com/nfl/titans/news/inaugural-tennessee-titans-all-time-team-defensive-editionFollow 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 qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is Jeffrey Simmons already ranked ahead of Jarrell Casey on the Tennessee Titans all-time list? We'll talk about that, plus go over the all-time starting defense for the Tennessee Titans 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. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. Who is the all-time starting defense for the Tennessee Titans?

We're going to talk about that. Plus, Jarrell Casey or Jeffrey Simmons, who would you put on that team and who's the second best safety? And if you could add any of those Titans legends on defense to this year's defense, who would you put on that team and who's the second best safety? And if you could add any of those Titans legends on defense to this year's defense, who would you pick? We're going to discuss all of that on today's show. Before we get into it, do want to let you know that today's show is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs.

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember,

Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, where it's your team every day. We finished off last week doing this with the offensive side of the ball. We went through the Titans starting offense all the time, had a few discussions about running back, some discussions about tight end, which legend that we would add to this year's team, all that.

So today, we are going to dive into the defense. And of course, the list that I'm going to be going off of comes from my guy, Greg Arias from Sports Illustrated. He writes for AllTitans.com, my co-worker over there. We're putting in a lot of good work before training camp kicks off. Make sure you check out the site for all of your Titans news and everything. But Greg has been covering the team since they came to Tennessee. He knows everything that you could know about the history of the team. So I want to go through his list because I agree with it for the most part. But there are a few stopping off points. Excuse me. I'm excited that I want to get into. So let's dive into the list real quick.

At defensive end, Greg has Javon Kearse and Kyle Vandenbosch. I agree there. You're not going to be able to get me to change the opinion there. That's good to go. Then we get to defensive tackle, and he goes with Albert Hainsworth. Absolutely understandable. Hainsworth, absolutely understandable.

But then, Greg goes with Jeffrey Simmons over Jarrell Casey. He has Casey as an honorable mention. Says he's a heck of a rotational player for this group. I mean, the Titans have a really good set of defensive linemen I would think.

Greg even put it in here. If you had Big Jeff and Albert Hainsworth, Kyle Vanderbosch and Javon Kirst, what a defensive line that would be if the Titans could have them all at the same time. But regardless, the conversation really comes down to here, would you put Jarrell Casey or Jeffrey Simmons in that second defensive tackle spot?

That is a tough one. My first, I guess, thought, my initial thought was it should still be Jarrell Casey for right now maybe Jeffrey Simmons catches up to him I think it's probably likely that Jeffrey Simmons catches up to him I think that Simmons is the most talented defensive tackle the team has ever had I think he's got more natural talent than Albert Hainsworth even and I know Hainsworth was absolute game wrecker for a few years for the Titans. So it's a tough call. But for me, I still have Casey over Simmons.

So Casey's a five-time Pro Bowler. He had 10.5 sacks in 2013. Made All-Pro second team. Jeff Simmons has yet to have a double-digit sack performance. And it's funny because last week, my everydayers will remember this, I had an episode where I said, is Jeffrey Simmons worth the contract that he got? And I think that he is, but I think a big part of that is

he needs to get double-digit sacks. He needs to be that guy. Look, it's not just box score stats. I get that. A lot of it is about impact on your teammates, on the opposing offense that isn't necessarily measured in the statistics. But the best players of all time and the best players in the NFL also put up the numbers.

And I think that Jeffrey Simmons needs double-digit sacks. And if he had a double-digit sack season, got another All-Pro, now we might be able to say that he's better than Casey because Jeffrey Simmons also already has one more all pro than Jarrell Casey ever had. You can talk about pro bowl, this and that. All pro is what really matters in my opinion. But Casey had five straight pro bowls. Jeffrey Simmons has had two straight. Let's see if he's able to keep that going. I think he will. But Casey didn't have less than five sacks for seven straight seasons.

Seven straight seasons of over five sacks. I mean, that is incredibly impressive with the five Pro Bowls, with the double-digit sacks in 2013 and the second-team All-Pro. Also, like I talked about with Delaney Walker on the offensive edition, Casey played on some of the worst Titans teams. So it's not like he had a ton of help around him all the time. Okay? So to me, Jeff gets a little bit of more help

than Casey necessarily got at all times. So I'm still going Casey over Jeffrey Simmons, but again, if Big Jeff makes all pro again, another pro bowl this year, goes over double- double digit sacks. I think then it's fair to say that Jeffrey Simmons is over Jarrell Casey. But for right now, I would have to disagree with Greg. And I would have to go with Jarrell Casey.

That would be my choice at this moment in time. But very interesting debate. Let me know down below in the comments who you would take on the Titans all-time starting defense. Would it be Jarrell Casey? Would it be Jeffrey Simmons? Let me know why. Let me know, like I was joking last episode, am I a genius? Am I a bozo? Am I both? You let me know down below, but I thought that was an interesting decision to already put Simmons on the list. There's another interesting decision ahead in the Titans secondary that we're going to dive into in just a moment. Before we get into it,

though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. All right, guys, LinkedIn Jobs is the best place to post your new job. These days, every new potential hire feels like a high-stakes wager for your small business, and you want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the right people

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to post your job for free, terms and conditions apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're breaking down the all-time starting defense for the Tennessee Titans. Coming from a list from my guy, Greg Arias from Sports Illustrated. He writes with me over at alltitans.com. Been covering the team since they moved to Tennessee. Greg does excellent work with me over again on alltitans.com, getting you guys ready for training camp. But going through his list,

I disagreed with putting Jeffrey Simmons over Jarrell Casey already, but for the most part, I agree with a lot of what's going on here with Greg's list. But we're going to move forward. We're going to go into the back seven positions on the defense. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each

and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year long, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. We did the offense on Friday night. If you missed

that, make sure to go back and check that out. Shout out to my everydayers. Let me know who you are down below. I know you guys didn't miss that at all, so appreciate that. But moving right along here. Getting into the linebackers. Outside linebacker, Keith Bullock. Of course, Keith Bullock. I played linebacker for a long time growing up until I got into high school and I got fast. But then they had to move me to defensive back. But anyways, I, now it's kind of funny. I feel a little silly bringing up my playing career,

but a lot of you guys play peewee football and stuff like that. You know how it was. I wanted to be the best linebacker ever. I used to watch Keith Bullock, and I know it's sacrilegious, but Ray Lewis, if you played linebacker, how could you not love Ray Lewis back in the day? I mean, I know from a Titans perspective, it sucked. There was the rivalry and him and Eddie and blah, blah, blah,

but you got to respect Ray Lewis, right? You got to. He's the best middle linebacker of all time. All right, you got to respect him. So with Keith Bullock, though, I mean, watching him make those plays on Monday night football though, I mean, watching him make those plays on Monday night football games, I mean, he's Mr. Monday night. He's Mr. Monday night.

I just wanted to give a special shout out to Keith Bullock, who was my favorite linebacker growing up, made me want to play linebacker. I always used to pretend I was Keith Bullock with the arm sleeves and everything. I mean, you know, the reason that we love the team so much is because of stuff like that. You know, I just remember how awesome it was to watch Keith Bullock play, and that's a big reason why I love this team so much now.

And here we are talking about it for 30 minutes every freaking day. Get subscribed, stay subscribed. But Randall Godfrey as middle linebacker, 169 tackles in 2000. I mean, that's impressive stuff. And then Greg put Harold Landry as the other outside linebacker, which, again, took me off guard. But trying to think of someone else that, you know, maybe not pure outside linebacker, maybe like David Thornton,

you could throw in there as an option. Maybe Wesley Woodyard deserves some consideration. Now it was outside linebacker. So I know that, but I mean, for me, like Keith Bullock was a four, three outside linebacker.

He wasn't an edge rusher. And then Harold Landry is a three, four outside linebacker is more of a pass rusher. So it's a little bit different there. Maybe you put a second middle linebacker spot in there, but yeah, those are conversations worth having how you want to judge that. Because I think that like Wesley Woodyard should be ahead of Harold Landry on the all-time list right now.

So, but I get from the outside linebacker perspective, Wesley Woodyard was a middle linebacker. So anyways, moving right along, we get into the secondary and that's really where my next big disagreement with Greg is. And at cornerback, he has Samari Roll and Cortland Finnegan. I don't think there's any fight there. Christian Fulton has the talent to make that push, but there's no way that's happening. I don't expect him to be on the team much longer. And missing 20 out of a possible 50 games isn't going to get you on this kind of list.

So Cortland Finnegan and Samari Roll, that's pretty easy. Safety, Kevin Byard. You've Samari Roll, that's pretty easy. Safety, Kevin, you've heard how I feel about Kevin Byard. So, if Greg didn't put Kevin Byard as the number one safety on the list, then we were going to have a conversation offline. I was going to drive to his house, beat him up. Just kidding, Greg.

Love ya. But, anyways, obviously Kevin Byard is the best safety. Kevin Byard is the best defensive back in the entire team's history. So, whatever. Fight me on that. Kevin Byard, of course. But the other safety spot. The other safety spot. Greg went with Blaine Bishop.

The hitman. And I get it. Greg said the hitman was a physical enforcer on the back end of the Super Bowl team throughout the rest of his career. He's also a frequent visitor to the team's practices even now as a local media member. So shout out to Blaine Bishop. Obviously, big fan.

But for me, I think I would go with Michael Griffin. I think I would give Michael Griffin the nod and maybe this is, like I said, Greg has been covering the team, like professionally covering the team since they moved to Tennessee. In 1999, I was eight years old. So Greg probably has a more professional recollection of some of the early teams, the Super Bowl squad, that core.

He probably has a better recollection of that. So I'll give Greg a little bit of the benefit of the doubt there. But for me, I went with Michael Griffin. I just think he was more of a playmaker. Blaine Bishop, of course, again, the hitman, the physical nature really set the tone for the Titans. But Michael Griffin took the ball away from the other team. And I think that at the end of the day, that's more impactful than anything else. You look, Bishop had five seasons with the Tennessee Titans, with the Tennessee Titans, or the Tennessee team. When they moved to Tennessee, he had five seasons,

four Pro Bowls in his career. He was an all-pro second teamer, I think in like 2000 or 2001. 352 tackles, six forced fumbles, 11.5 sacks. He had 10 passes defended. Only one interception, though. Like, he made a lot of big hits, but just didn't take the ball away. You look at Michael Griffin. Michael Griffin made two Pro Bowls. He made second team all-Pro once, which is tied with Blaine Bishop. And remember, All-Pro means a lot more to me than Pro Bowl. Michael Griffin had 773 tackles,

11 forced fumbles, 7 sacks, 60, 60 passes defended, and 25 interceptions. Kevin Byer is like the interception master. He only has 27. Michael Griffin had a ton of interceptions.

I think he had seven one year. So, to me, turnovers in the back end is what's most important. And I'm going to put Michael Griffin over Blaine Bishop. I know that the physical nature and the enforcer role and all that really gets people going, and Michael Griffin didn't play on as good a Tennessee Titans teams. I get that as well, but for me, Michael Griffin just made so many plays,

gave the ball back to the Titans offense all the time. For me, Michael Griffin is the second best Titan safety behind Kevin Byard. But with that in mind, what I want to do now is just have a little bit of fun. All of these names that we've talked about today on this all-time list that Greg put together, who would you add to the 2023 Tennessee Titans defense? That is an interesting conversation. And if you guys know my philosophy on football like I talked about earlier, Tennessee Titans defense. That is an interesting conversation.

And if you guys know my philosophy on football like I talked about earlier, then you may not be surprised here. But some of you may be surprised as to who I pick to add to this Titans team right now. But before I get into that, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you

by Bird Dogs. know that today's episode is brought to you by Bird Dogs. Y'all know I love my Bird Dogs. They are the most comfortable shorts, joggers, khaki shorts I have ever worn in my entire life. I have a pair of their regular like athletic shorts that I like to work out in. They're gray. I've showed you guys those before actually. Got a little scandalous on the Locked on Titans podcast a couple of weeks ago. My everydayers remember that one. Had to show a little skin. You know what I mean?

Show off these bird dogs, but they have like a lining inside of them. So you don't at least, that's what I've been instructed and I think it's the right thing. You don't wear underwear. Like you don't need to wear underwear. There's a lining inside of them. So you don't, at least that's what I've been instructed. And I think it's the right thing. You don't wear underwear. Like you don't need to wear underwear. There's a lining inside of them that is really comfortable. It's stretchy. It's not restrictive. It's not cotton either. So it's breathable and it doesn't soak up moisture and get heavy and look all boxy and dumb.

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We are going to continue and cap off today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We're going through the all-time Tennessee Titans defensive lineup from my guy Greg Arias over at Sports Illustrated. I'm going to have the link for that article down below in the description so you guys can check that out if you would like. But we went through a few debate points. Jarrell Casey versus Jeffrey Simmons. Blaine Bishop versus Michael Griffin.

Let me know down below in the comments how you would go about those two matchups. Let's call them. Who would you pick out of those two debates? Let me know down below. Be interested to see your guys' answers and how it differentiates from mine. But with that being said, training camp's right around the corner. We are in the midst of our defensive positional preview. We've done the offense the last few weeks. We've done one side or one position of the defense. Tomorrow, we are going to do edge rushers on the Titans roster right now. Then we'll do linebackers the following day and then get to the secondary the rest of the week. So excited to dive in that as training

camp is literally right around the corner. It it's unbelievable. But either way, what I want to do now is, out of the players that we have talked about on today's show, who would you add to this year's team? Let me know down below as well. Let me know who you would add of the legends of the Titans defense, who you would add to this year's roster. And for me,

like I told you guys earlier, like I teased right before we jumped over here, I care about pass rush. I'm going with Javon Curse. Number one, Harold Landry is coming off a torn ACL. You don't know if he's going to be at his peak. Number two, even if you have Harold Landry at number one, Harold Landry is not a top-tier pass rusher.

Like, Harold Landry is a versatile weapon that can pass rush. He can drop into coverage. He can line up at off ball outside linebacker in a 4-3. He can drop down and play on the line of scrimmage in a 3-4. He can even play with his hand in the dirt as an edge guy in a 4-3 front if you need him to, or just a four-man front like he does on pass rushing downs. I mean, Harold Landry can do everything. He allows the Titans to have multiplicity within their defense, which is what Mike Vrabel wants. And I think that the defense did well last year, but they definitely missed Harold Landry.

Okay, they definitely missed Harold Landry. But regardless of that, again, the point is, Harold Landry is not a top-tier pass rusher like Miles Garrett or T.J. Watt or Nick Bosa. You know what I mean? He's not even a Brian Burns or a Hassan Redick or, you know, that's what I'm saying. You're looking for Harold Landry to get 10 to 14 sacks,

somewhere in that range, and you'd be incredibly happy. If he goes any higher than that, it would be a shock. It's not expected. And he doesn't necessarily maybe get all the opportunities because he does drop into coverage a little bit and get used as a versatile weapon. So, I mean, Harold Landry was shadowing the slot wide

receiver in certain defensive formations last year. So, that just tells you what you need to know there. So, for me, I'm not banking on Arden Key and Rashad Weaver who are shown to be rotational players and maybe backup level edges. Give me the freak, okay?

Give me Javon Curse. Curse had like 35, 36 sacks in his first three seasons. Unbelievable, man. The research that I did going back and looking at some of these, I was like, man. Like, I remember because I watched it, but like, I was, you know, eight, nine years old. I wasn't into it as much as I am now.

So like it was pretty fun to go back today and do some of that research or throughout the last couple of days and do some of that research. But for me, I'm taking Javon Curse. If you had Curse as your primary rusher and then Landry as the secondary versatile piece off of him and then Key and We the secondary versatile piece off of him, and

then Key and Weaver as the two backup, that is maybe the best edge rush group in the entire NFL. I mean, I'm doing the chef's kiss hand symbol. Like, it's magnificent. That would be incredible. So, to me, that's what I would do. If I went down, I'll give you guys three picks here. If it wasn't Curse, I would still go with Samari Roll.

While I like the Titans' talent, basically having Samari Roll as a lockdown number one corner, a six-foot tall with some length, basically it would give the Titans what they thought they were getting in Caleb Farley. So, now you would have Christian Fulton and Sean Murphy bunting, and then Roger McCreary is in a backup role. I mean, that is a great cornerback group right there. So that's why I put Samari Roll second.

And number three, Keith Bullock. I mean, inside linebacker, off-ball linebacker has diminished in positional value in the modern NFL. No doubt about it. But at the end of the day, Keith Bullock turned over the ball. I want pass rush more than anything else. And after that, I want turnovers from everybody else.

Make interceptions. Deflect passes. Create fumbles. I mean, Keith Bullock, at the linebacker position, you want interceptions and turnovers. Who else could you want? You know what I mean?

So, I would love to have Keith Bullock in the middle. And again, look, everybody is higher on Monty Rice than I am. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. But I just don't think that Monty Rice is a, like a bona fide, oh yeah, that guy's a starter in the NFL. I'm not there.

I'm not there. So I like Aziz, and Aziz can be one of the middle linebackers, but if you make Keith Bullock your number one pro bowl level linebacker, and then let Aziz be number two, and then Monte Rice is the third rotational linebacker, would obviously be a better situation

for the Titans defense. But either way, again, tomorrow, unless there, I mean, if there's huge like breaking news or anything like that, obviously I'm going to pivot and do what's most important to talk about. But the plan is tomorrow to talk about the edge group for the Titans,

break down who they have on the roster heading into training camp. We'll do that with linebacker. We'll do that with cornerback and safety as well as we continue moving forward and getting closer and closer to training camp. But either way, that's going to do it for me today. That's going to do it for today's edition. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is Locked on Titans.