Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Amani Hooker Gets PAID, Titans Injury Updates & Titans Merch Giveaway

Episode Date: September 9, 2022

The Tennessee Titans locked up their young safety Amani Hooker on Friday! Tyler explains the contract details and why Hooker is so important to the defensive scheme. Next, we got our final injury update from the Titans and Giants on Friday. Tyler goes over the latest and what it means for each squad. Finally, get details on the Locked On Titans Merchandise giveaway and find out how you can win!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport 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!BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedonPrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONTuroDitch boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.com 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, on today's show we got a little Friday night live edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We've got some big Titans news on Friday. bag. The Titans paid Imani Hooker and locked him up for years to come. We'll dive into the contract details. Also, we got the most recent update on injuries on both sides from the Titans and the Giants. Got a couple of Titans players headed to injured reserve. I'll tell you who they are and what it means for this weekend's game. And then finally, I am doing my kickoff Locked On Titans merchandise giveaway this weekend. I'm going to give you guys the details on how you can get involved, how you can enter, maybe win yourself a Titans book bag, a Titans koozie, something like that. So going over Imani Hooker's contract and the most recent injury updates

on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans. Let's get it! Titans fans, welcome to a Friday Night Live edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Imani Hooker got a bag. We're going to talk about Imani's contract to start off today's show. Before we get into it, I want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts.

Also, I got to thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms, including the Locked On Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash the notification bell.

Throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you think the Tennessee Titans are going to beat the New York Giants this weekend. You can check me out on Twitter for my film analysis and in-game instant reactions at TicTacTitans, and that'll be important for the end of the show. And check out the show Facebook page at LockedOnTitansPod. Again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Nearly 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic and a certified film junkie ready to talk all the latest news and notes out of Nashville

and break down the X's and O's on a weekly basis. But we have to talk about Amani Hooker. He got a major contract from the Tennessee Titans just days before the season was set to begin. Amani Hooker gets $33 million on a three-year deal. He's going to get $19.5 million guaranteed, and he's going to get a $10 million on a three-year deal. He's going to get $19.5 million guaranteed, and he's going to get a $10 million signing bonus. And the first comment that I see here from YouTube, from Travis Johnson says,

Hooker got underpaid. I agree. I agree. So when we talked about Amani Hooker's contract early on in the process, when I was kind of thinking about what it might look like when Imani Hooker got paid, I was expecting probably $12 to $14 million. $12 is the franchise tax, so a little more than that for the Titans to get him on an average annual value of $11 million.

Absolutely fantastic. When you look at the $10 million in signing bonus money, that's probably going to become a majority. Early on, it's going to keep his cap hit low. The way they're going to structure the contract, having a ton of bonus money and a low salary in year one, that should help the Titans keep Amani Hooker's cost low next season, which in turn should allow them to give a monster deal to Jeffrey Simmons. So that's my expectation. I had a few people ask me on Twitter what this means for Big Jeff.

I don't think it means anything for Jeffrey Simmons. I think Jeffrey Simmons is getting his money, and he's going to get his money from the Titans, and that hasn't changed from this. What this really means is the Titans may be choosing here between David Long and Imani Hooker because when you looked at the four free agents, the Titans were going to be really dealing with Simmons

and then David Long, Imani Hooker, Nate Davis. When A.J. Brown was traded, we all had the discussion, okay, this will allow the Titans to keep a couple more of those guys. Well, I think that the Titans are going to end up keeping Imani Hooker as we see and then Nate Davis. The issue here is I love David Long. David Long is a fantastic player, but he's oft injured. And at the end of the day, he's a sixth round linebacker. And I think that the Titans probably believe that they can get another late round linebacker in there to replace that production. Now, does this mean I don't like David?

No, David Long's one of the most underrated players in the league. But at some point, you have to choose. At some point, you have to start choosing. And I think with Jeffrey Simmons, big payday coming, the Titans may not be able to keep Nate Davis or David Long. But let me know in the comments, if you could only keep David Long or Nate Davis next offseason, who would you like to keep? For me, I'm going to go with Nate Davis

just because I like having some continuity on the offensive line. I think Nate Davis has been a good guy. But, yeah, that's a conversation basically that comes after this. But good for Imani Hooker. Imani Hooker is so important to the Tennessee Titans defense because of his versatility. The Titans ask their safeties to do everything. This isn't the old school Legion of Boom where you have the box safety

like Cam Chancellor and then you have Earl Thomas as your deep single high safety cover and everything. That's not how the Titans operate at safety. The Titans safeties do everything. Kevin Byard and Imani Hooker will play single high and back deep. Kevin Byard and Imani Hooker will play split safety in a two high coverage. Kevin Byard and Imani Hooker will come single high and back deep. Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker will play split safety in a two-high coverage. Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker will come down to the line of scrimmage and play one-on-one against a tight end in man coverage

or be a robber over the middle of the field. So, heck, the Titans even asked their safeties to blitz from time to time. You remember Kevin Byard had that awesome sack last year on a blitz up the middle. So, the Titans' safeties are expected to do a million different things. They have to be versatile enough to do it. Not only is Imani Hooker versatile enough and physical enough to do everything the Titans ask him to do schematically, but he's also a ball hawk.

What would I call it? A ball hawk eye if we're having a little bit of fun with it. But I'll leave the corny jokes for later. But either way, Imani Hooker makes plays on the ball too. That interception against the Bengals was absolutely outrageous. What an outrageous interception. So that just shows you not only is he scheme versatile, he's physical, he's a great teammate, seems like a good guy,

but also he makes plays on the ball, and that's what really matters. And I think the Titans got him an incredible bargain, an incredible bargain for Imani Hooker. But that wasn't the only big news of the day. We got an update on injuries for the Titans. Two Tennessee Titans going to injured reserve. I'll tell you who they are, what that means, and why a new rule from the NFL makes this injured reserve game just a little more tricky than we've seen in recent years.

Before we get to that, though, I do want to tell you guys about our friends from LinkedIn. So LinkedIn and Locked On partnered up, and obviously, as you can tell from the names, it's just a perfect pairing for both of us. But LinkedIn Jobs is what I want to tell you guys about because it's here to make it easier to find the people that you want to talk to faster and for free. You can create a free job post in minutes on LinkedIn Jobs to reach your network and beyond to the world's largest professional network of over 810 million people. They have simple tools like screening questions that make it easier to focus on candidates with

just the right skills and experience so you can quickly prioritize who you'd like to interview and then hire. It's why small businesses rate LinkedIn Jobs number one in delivering quality hires versus leading competitors. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster. Did you know every week nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn? 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 do apply. Titans fans, we are going to continue

tonight's Friday Night Live edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Talked about Imani Hooker's contract and what it means for the Titans and what he means for the Titans defense. Covered that from all angles. Now, I want to talk about the most recent injury updates for the Titans. We got what is close to a final injury report. And not only did it rule out a couple players for the game, but a couple of players got

ruled out for four weeks. Before we get into that, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year round. Locked On Titans, it's your team every day. But number one, what I want to do here is I'm going to share my screen with you guys,

and we're going to take a look at this most recent injury report for the Titans and the Giants as well. So let's go ahead and pull that up here. As you guys can see, number one, the two defensive backs at the top, Lonnie Johnson and Elijah Molden. Neither of them have practiced all week. They will be out for Sunday's game. Chance Campbell was limited on Wednesday, didn't practice on Thursday. He's out. Jamarco Jones has been banged up for quite some time now from the end of training camp in the preseason into this week.

He was limited all week, but he's going to be out, and I think that's perfectly fine. The Titans have enough depth on the offensive line right now with Dylan Radins, who can do what Jamarco Jones does, where I'm not really going to freak out about that. Ola Dainey, a little worrisome that he was fine Wednesday, must have got hurt during practice, then he's limited, then he didn't practice. I think, and you know, I don't have any intel to say this, but based on that sequence, I would imagine that Ola Dainey may not be available, and I don't have any intel to say this, but based on that sequence, I would imagine that Ola Denny may not be available. And with the Titans' issues at edge already, that's obviously making things pretty scary. But I think that Rashad Weaver, Derek Tuska, and if they elevate David Anini,

I think they can maybe weather that storm. For the Giants, looks like they're going to have most of the guys here that they really need. But two big time issues is Aziz. Aziz Ujulari, one of my favorite draft guys from last year's draft out of Georgia. And then Kayvon Thibodeau, who obviously you guys know the top five pick this year. Both those guys are doubtful. And what you're hearing from the media in New York is that they're most likely not to play. So that's the full injury report here. Obviously, it helps the Titans, as I outlined in yesterday's

game preview, if the two starting edge rushers for the Giants can't play. But let's talk about these Titans injuries much more. So number one, not only do we have those guys ruled out for the game, Lonnie Johnson, Elijah Molden, Chance Campbell, and then Jamarco Jones with Ola Danny looking like he may not play after not practicing on Friday. But not only that, Elijah Molden and Chance Campbell went to injured reserve on Friday. So that means that they're going to be out at minimum four games.

Four games. So they'll join, obviously, Harold Landry. He's out for the year. Racey McMath, Tommy Hudson, and then, of course, Molden and now Campbell. So what does that mean for this game? What does that mean for the rest of the season? Let's talk about this game number one. So with Elijah Molden going to IR,

my expectation is Ugo Amadi is going to have a big role for the Titans. So last year, a big rotation that the Titans did in their secondary, and I point this out all the time, the Titans would have two sets of cornerbacks. They'd have early down cornerback, and then they'd have passing down cornerback. So the early down nickel set when they had three cornerbacks on the field would be Fulton and Jackrabbit, and then you'd have Elijah Molden as that nickel early down guy because he's more physical, he's a good blitzer, better against the run, things like that. He allows you to stay physical while also being in three cornerback packages and nickel. Well, when it would be a passing down because Elijah Molden maybe isn't necessarily the best man-to-man coverage guy, what the Titans

would do is they would put in Buster Screen, and Screen would play the slot, and then you'd have Fulton, and you would have Jackrabbit on the outside. Well, I would imagine that the Titans would want to continue doing that because clearly they see the nickel position as two different kinds of players, your early down physical nickels and then your pass coverage nickels. I think that in this game that Ugo Amadi is going to be the new Elijah Molden on early downs when the Titans are in nickel,

and I think the Giants are going to play a lot of three wide receiver because they don't have a great tight end group. So when the Titans are in early down nickel, they're going to have Fulton, and they're going to have McCreary on the outside. And in the slot, they're going to have Ugo Amadi, who, like Elijah Molden, is a more physical slot.

He's a guy who can play against the run. He's a good blitzer. He's physical. So I like that. And then when it's pass time, whether it be second and long or a third down, the Titans are going to go with Farley and Fulton. Farley is going to be a good matchup on Kenny Galladay.

So that's a natural fit there. And then you can have Christian Fulton against not Wendell Robinson. Kadarius Toney. There we go. Finally came to me. You got Christian Fulton against Kadarius Toney. And then in the slot, Wendell Robinson, you can have Roger McCreary going against him.

You can flip that if you wanted to when McCreary sighs. Put McCreary on Kadarius Toney if Toney's in the slot. Either way, we know that Christian Fulton hasn't played his best when the Titans have asked him to go in the slot. You've all seen Caleb Farley's change of direction. He ain't going in the slot. I would put McCreary

in the slot on passing downs with Fulton and Farley on the outsides. Ugo Amadi as the slot on early downs with McCreary and Fulton on the outsides, Ugo Amadi as the slot on early downs, with McCreary and Fulton on the outsides. That's the rotation that I'm expecting now with Elijah Molden being out. As for Lonnie Johnson being out,

I don't think that's a big change. I would have expected him to go one-on-one against tight ends, but the Giants, again, don't have a great tight end group, so I'm not 100% concerned about them blowing out or ruining the day for the Titans, the Giants' tight ends. If I a great tight end group, so I'm not 100% concerned about them ruining the day for the Titans, the Giants' tight ends. If I'm proven wrong there, then so be it. But that's not my expectation.

So outside of that, Chance Campbell, that's just linebacker depth. That's special team stuff more than anything else. As for elevations, I would expect from the practice squad that we see Joe Jones, the linebacker, elevated to take Chance Campbell's spot for special teams duty. Like I said earlier, Ugo Amadi is going to be playing that Elijah Moulton role. Well, you're going to need somebody in the back end

of the secondary to come in and take Ugo Amadi's role on special teams. That'll be Chris Jackson coming up. And then I would also expect, like I said earlier, with Ola Dainey being banged up and the Titans already having some trouble at edge with Harold Landry being out, I would expect David and Nanny to get called up as well. But that's kind of the immediate impact that I'm seeing from the injury report.

But you want to talk long-term. Two more people added to the IR. So the NFL made some changes to how rosters work during the COVID impacted seasons, the last two seasons. And some of those things stayed like some of the practice squad rules, 16 players who can be on practice squad with how many years in the NFL, some of those changes that they made have stayed the same and that's good.

But one thing where they're going back to more like what they were doing before is how injured reserve works. So over the last few years, it's been as someone goes to injured reserve, you can bring as many people back as you want once they're healthy, but you can't go on injured reserve twice or you're out for the season. Okay, that makes sense. Well, this year, the NFL went to you could be on injured reserve, blah, blah, blah, but you have to be out four games where it was three games in the last few years,

and you can only bring back eight players off injured reserve. And that creates tough roster decisions because if a guy is going to be out four to five weeks, but you've already used your eight bringbacks, well, now you just kind of have to roster that guy even though he can't play for a month. It makes tougher roster decisions for NFL teams. But,

Racy McMath and Tommy Hudson are on IR. Now you have Molden and Campbell. Let's say they bring all those guys back. Well, that's half, and those guys went out for the first four weeks of the season. So after week four, after week five, you've already used half your bringbacks for the year. There is a chance that a guy like Tommy Hudson, a guy like Chance Campbell, I think, who maybe have lesser important roles to the year, there is a chance that a guy like Tommy Hudson, a guy like Chance Campbell, I think, who maybe have lesser important roles to the team, don't get brought back from IR because they don't want to waste one of their bringbacks.

Now, you don't know what's going to happen down the line with other injuries throughout the year, but I'm just saying having only eight guys that you can bring back off IR makes things a little more interesting than they've been in recent years. So that's kind of my view on, that's what the injuries are, my view on how it impacts right now, this week,

my view on how it impacts the rest of the future. We're going to move forward here. I want to tell you guys about how you can enter into my kickoff merchandise giveaway for the Locked on Titans podcast that's already up and running on Twitter right now. And I'm also going to answer some of your guys' questions from the chat. If you want to start throwing in your questions right now,

I'm going to do a little Q&A on this Friday night live edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Before we move on, though, I do want to tell you a little more about our title sponsor at BetOnline. BetOnline is your number one source for all your pro and college football betting needs and sports info this season. Find all the latest football league developments, game matchups, news, and podcasts, including this year's opening week's games.

BetOnline is your continued source for all your sporting wagering information, including live betting, esports, and scores. The fastest and easiest way to check in on all your favorite sports and events. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about all the trends and all the action. Bet online where the game starts. Titans fans, let's cap off this Friday Night Live edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We talked about Imani Hooker's new contract.

We talked about the most recent injury report for the Titans, what it means now and into the future. This final segment, it is a Friday Night Live, a little bit of a bonus episode for you guys on a holiday week. So, want to have a little fun and do just something a little different than we normally do. Normally, we'd have

some sort of final segment, something like that. And I'm not going to follow the traditional route here because I want to let you guys know about the season kickoff Locked on Titans merch giveaway. So I'm going to show you guys the items, tell you how you can enter, tell you what you can win and then after that I'll move into some of the questions that you guys are putting in the chat

on YouTube. So number one, this sweet Tennessee Titans book bag. I love the straps. How they say Titans down them. They're sweet. Awesome. Love this Titans book bag. Beautiful.

This is the main prize. I love this thing. Titans sent me two of these. I wish I could keep one. I really do. I really do. But I'm giving it away to you guys. So that's prize number one. I really do. I really do. But I'm giving it away to you guys. So that's prize number one.

Prize number two, a sweet Titans water bottle. Got a little key chain holder. You can use it while you're working out, on your bike, something like that. Blah, blah, blah. A little Titans pennant for you guys. Pretty sweet. Titans pennant. I'll sign it if you want me to. If you want me to sign it because you think that'll be cooler, I'll do it. I will.

But if not, that's fine too. I'll be okay. Boom. And the last thing, I've got a couple of koozies. A couple of Titans koozies. I've got three of them that I'm going to be sending out. So, what you can do to sign up to enter enter, to win. Go to my Twitter account, at TicTacTitans. If you don't have a Twitter, well, one, what are you doing? I'm doing you a favor by making you sign up. Sign up for Twitter or go on Twitter. Follow me at TicTacTitans.

I have a post on my Twitter right now, a tweet, for the giveaway with a picture of all the items. You need to follow me. You need to retweet that and comment your favorite Tennessee Titan of all time. If you do those three things, follow me, retweet that post, and comment your favorite Tennessee Titan of all time,

you are automatically entered. I am going to pick the winners on Sunday before the game kicks off, Tennessee Titan of all time, you are automatically entered. I am going to pick the winners on Sunday before the game kicks off probably around 2 or 3pm Eastern Standard Time. I'll announce the winners on Twitter and then next week I'll ship whatever you want

to your house. So I want you guys who only watch me on YouTube and don't follow me on Twitter and stuff to know about that, to be involved in that. You have until Sunday afternoon to go to Twitter, follow me, retweet the giveaway post, comment your favorite Tennessee Titan of all time. You're automatically entered for free to win. I'll ship the items to you.

Wanted to tell you guys about that, but now let me answer some of your guys' questions in the chat here before we move forward and go on about our Friday nights. Number one, Travis Johnson says, how is LeJuan outlasting cuts? He's underachieved for the past few years and keeping him might have played into not paying AJ. I don't think it played into not paying AJ.

The Titans were ready to pay AJ. I really do believe that. So, but here's what I would say. LeJuan right now is not paid as a top 10 offensive tackle. Especially not left tackles. He's not paid as a top 10 left tackle in the NFL. And when LeJuan's healthy, and LeJuan played pretty good at the end of the season last year.

So LeJuan is a mid-range left tackle, and a good left tackle is hard to find. Taylor LeJuan talked earlier this offseason about how he wants to be a Tennessee Titan forever. I think after this year, with no guaranteed money left on his deal, we're going to get a Taylor LeJuan new contract that's very team-friendly, that locks him into being a Tennessee Titan for the rest of his career. I think Taylor LeJuan is a lot better than some people think.

Yeah, he had trouble coming back from the ACL, but he's removed from that. And they always say that your second year removed from the ACL is when you really feel comfortable. I think Taylor LeJuan's going to have a good year. And we're already worried about the offensive line. Nate Davis, like I talked about in the first segment, may not be kept, may not be re-signed. You don't want to go in the

next offseason totally trying to revamp the offensive line again. You just don't want to do that. So I think Taylor LeJuan is going to be fine. Realistic stat line for a wide receiver is will the King bounce back? I went through my statistical projections earlier today. I'm not going to rehash all that.

I think that Nick Westbrook-Akina has the most yards. Robert Woods has the most catches. Traylon Burks has the most touchdowns. I'll say that. And, yeah, I think Derrick Henry will bounce back with 1,200 to 1,400 yards and double-digit touchdowns. But I think they need to do a better job of pacing him is what I would say. Is there a chance that Jeff doesn't get paid? I mean, we saw that.

Well, I made the mistake of doubling down hard saying the Titans would keep A.J. Brown. But, heck, even the head coach said that. So, you know, I wasn't the only one that was wrong. But yeah, I don't think they can let that happen with Jeffrey Simmons. If the Titans lose A.J. Brown and Jeffrey Simmons, pack us up, man. Pack us up.

That would be a disaster. Next question. Is there a chance? Oh, wait. Sorry. Clicking, clicking. How are you watching the game this weekend? Next question. Is there a chance? Oh, wait. Sorry. Clicking, clicking. How are you watching the game this weekend?

I use a little method with a VPN and YouTube TV to watch the games. That's all I can say legally. Is it too late to add another wide receiver? No, but I think with Josh Gordon and the guys they have on practice squad, they'll probably be happy. I know that they did work out a couple of guys. So maybe.

Maybe. I don't think it's ever too late to do anything. I just don't think that they'll do it for this game. It'll be a week two thing. Zach says, what do you think the Titans record against the AFC West will be? I'll say two and two. I think they beat the Chargers and they beat the Raiders. And I think they lose to the Broncos and the Chiefs.

But it'll probably go the complete opposite way because I said that. Travis said, why didn't we just sign Eric Fisher instead of drafting MPF? Well, one, Fisher is an older player who didn't play very well last year. Drafting a rookie and grooming him to be in that position is a smarter thing long term. I don't think the Titans need an offensive tackle right now. I wanted to see an addition along the interior offensive line. I'm more worried about Aaron Brewer than I am NPF. Another question from Travis here.

Do you think Josh Gordon will make the 53s a better version of NWI? I see NWI as a little bit different. He's a physical wide receiver who's going to block and play on special teams. Josh Gordon is more of a sleek size speed guy. But ultimately, I do think Josh Gordon has moved up to the 53-man roster. I just think it'll be next week. There's some salary cap holes that the Titans are trying to jump through with some of those veterans.

How do you think we're going to do? I think the Titans win. I've said that all along. I think the Titans beat the Giants. I'd rather play the Giants early than late after they feel more comfortable in their situation. So I do think the Titans win. I think it's 27-23.

What I think happens is I think the Titans get some turnovers in the third quarter, and they go up 27-16, 27-17. The Giants find a way to get one more touchdown on the board in the fourth quarter to make it look close, but I think the Titans ultimately win 27-23, 27-24, somewhere in there. Worldwide Wes says, Do you think not having Moulton will hurt slightly or not at all on Sunday? Daniel Jones isn't that guy, so I'm not worried, honestly.

Yeah, I understand. I don't want to say Molden won't hurt slightly. Well, I guess I'm not that worried about Molden in this situation. I think that Ugo Amadi has a very similar skill set. I think he's going to be able to do some similar things. While I'd rather have Molden out there, I don't think it's such a drop-off that'll impact whether the Titans win or lose.

Andre Clifton says, why is everyone so high on the Colts? Feel like no one is picking us to win the South. Well, I'll make this my final answer because this is kind of a long one. One, the Colts have a great roster, guys. We have to admit that. They have a really good roster. Yeah, they have some weaknesses. Maybe they're edge rushers you could consider a weakness. Maybe the wide receiver group you could consider a weakness.

They are a perfect roster, but they're still a really good roster. They're well coached. They're competitive every year. The Colts are always fighting for a playoff spot every year. So if you look at it from that baseline, and then you add in that Matt Ryan is probably a more steady hand than Carson Wentz, Colts could probably be just as good as they were last year, if not maybe a touch better. That keeps people's minds around 9-8, 10-7. But I think the big factor is, throughout most of, you know,

you're talking about people who are so high on them to win the South. You're talking about national media folks. Well, the Colts have been consistently making the playoffs and putting out good football teams pretty much for 20 years. Peyton Manning into Andrew Luck, and even after Andrew Luck, they've been competitive. So, I think that when people make predictions, Peyton Manning into Andrew Luck, and even after Andrew Luck, they've been competitive. So, I think that when people make predictions,

they want to be as safe as possible a lot of the time. And one of the places you can feel safe is saying that the Colts will win the AFC South. Because you've been making that prediction, the national media, they've been making that prediction and being right about that prediction for nearly 20 years, right? The Colts have dominated the division for 20 years, historically speaking.

So I think it's just a safe prediction for media people. It's just a crutch that they can fall back on. So, and if you pick the Colts and you're wrong about it, you never look dumb. So I think it's just a safe pick for people who don't really invest themselves

in the AFC South or have a team like we do. A couple more. Travis says, is it just me or does it feel like the Titans are going to pump the brakes on Buffalo week two? That would be classic Titans. Classic Titans would be to lose to the Giants and then go out and beat Buffalo on Monday night football. Classic Giants.

What's your game day meal? I like to eat a heavy breakfast. Oh, well, the Titans are going to be playing late. I think I'm going to go with pizza. I'm going to eat, I'll probably make a pizza. Pepperoni,

banana pepper, onion, maybe some mushroom. That's probably what I'm going to go with. Alex, man, don't worry. That's not the case. That's not the case at all. Titans can pay Simmons just fine. If anything, this helps pay Simmons because Amani Hooker's salary cap hit next year

is going to be considerably lower than what it'll be next few years after that. Do you think the Titans are being tight-lipped on any Willis packages, or will he truly not be used at all? I hope we see packages, but I truly don't think he'll be used at all. But that's going to do it for me tonight. That's going to do it for this Friday Night Live.

Go to my Twitter account, at TicTacTitans. Follow, retweet my merchandise post. Comment your favorite Titan of all time. You'll be entered to win any of the merchandise that I showed you guys earlier. Koozie, pennant, book bag, water bottle, all of that. Thank you guys. Also, oh, tamales for game day. Hmm, that does sound good, Shane.

I love Mexican food. Jorge is my guy from one of the Spanish-speaking podcasts that I go on every year to break down the Titans. And me and Jorge always have a good conversation about Mexican food, Hispanic food. I'm a big fan. I am personally a Jimmy Chunga's guy. Me and Deadpool love Jimmy Chunga's. Bulls or Pitt tomorrow. I don't, I don't care. Go Bucs. That's all I got. O-H-I-O. Go Bucs guys. All right. I'll get out of here on that before I set all of you Bulls fans

on fire with that one. But thank you guys all so much for tuning in. I'll be back on Sunday night to go live after the game, breaking down everything that happened, and then a good week ahead. The Senas season is here. That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.