Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Andre Dillard is OL X-Factor, Is Nicholas Petit-Frere Good & Lack of OT Depth

Episode Date: June 28, 2023

The Tennessee Titans revamped their offensive line in the offseason and their biggest addition was Andre Dillard. Dillard is set to start at left tackle and his performance will likely be the key for the Titans improving on the O-line in 2023. Next, Nicholas Petit-Frere had an up-and-down rookie season, but the question is now whether he is good enough to continue to be the Titans' starting right tackle. Finally, take a look at the options behind Dillard and NPF and examine a few free agent names who could help.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND 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

Titans free agent signing Andre Dillard is set to start at left tackle. I'll tell you why Dillard is the X factor on the Titans offensive line 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, got a great show for you guys today. We are going to continue our positional preview series as we get ready for Tennessee Titans training camp. It's time to talk about offensive tackle. So we're going to dive into that today. Before we do, thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round

on all apps and 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. Shout out to my everydayers out there. Let me know down below in the comments who you guys are. Couldn't do the show without you.

And throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. Help support the channel, and the show is always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But we are going to dive into the offensive tackles today. We've talked quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end so far. If you missed any of those, go back and check those out. We're going to dive into offensive tackle. Then we'll do interior offensive line tomorrow. So make sure that you stay locked in so that you don't miss that. Hitting the defense next week as well. So you won't want to miss any of the free

Tennessee Titans content I have coming your way over the next few weeks leading up to training camp. But let's dive into the offensive tackle position right now. And we have to start with the guy who's set to start at left tackle. And it is Andre Dillard, who the Titans brought over in free agency on a three-year deal worth around $30 million, three years, 29. Looking at the guaranteed money, it's more of a two-year deal for the Titans that they could get out of with no real excessive financial penalty. Moving forward to be about $15 million in debt if they wanted to do that after this year. Probably going to be a two-year deal for Dillard in the long run. But either way, the Titans need him to step up in a major way this year at left tackle. And that's

why I think that Dillard is the X factor for the Titans on their offensive line. You could look at it two ways with Andre Dillard. Either he was a backup and couldn't beat out a seventh-round rookie for the starting left tackle job in Philadelphia after being a first-round pick in 2019. You could look at it the other way, which some people choose to do,

which is an optimistic way to look at it. Hey, it's not that Dillard isn't good enough to be a starting left tackle. It's just that Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson are two of the best offensive tackles in the entire NFL, both playing for the Eagles. So it's not that Dillard wasn't good enough to be a starter. It's just that he had really high level starters ahead of him. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle, which I think is only the logical place to be of while Andre Dillard did have two great players in front of him. You would hope that as a first round pick, Dillard was good enough to still be the starter anyway. So there's that risk that the Titans are

taking. Yes, it could be a diamond in the rough who had great, or maybe Dillard just is not good enough to start in the NFL. But we're going to find out pretty early on, in my opinion. And that's why he is the X factor, because it could go incredibly poorly. And we could find out, oh, wow, Andre Dillard is not a starter in the NFL. And then, quite frankly, the Titans would be right back in the same spot that they were at last year. The offensive tackle position is on thin ice in my opinion. And we're going to

talk about that more when I dive into Nicholas Petit-Ferrer and his performance from his rookie year here in our next conversation. We'll finish off with the rest of the group, which is not very good, which we'll dive into as well. But the Titans are really on thin ice with this offensive tackle group. And that's why a lot of people say that this offensive line is improved from last year. And the Titans offensive line is going to be so much better. I'm just not convinced. I'm not saying that it can't be, but I'm not as certain as some of you guys are. I don't have the confidence that some of you guys have. And a lot of that has to do with the offensive tackle position. Andre Dillard, Nicholas Petit-Ferrer, nothing behind him. The Titans are in a dangerous spot, and they need Dillard of all people. If they got the same play

they got from Nicholas Petit-Ferrer last year, you can stomach it if Dillard is up to par, if Dillard comes to play and actually fills the role of starting left tackle that the Titans won. I mean, looking at what he did in his career at Philadelphia in 2022, he only played 58 snaps because their offensive line was so healthy and consistent all year long. And most of those came at guard. He didn't even play any left tackle. You look at 2021 though, 337 snaps at left tackle, a 69.6 overall grade, 65.4 run blocking grade, 71.7 pass blocking grade with only one sack allowed, only 20 pressures, seven penalties, though, so that's something that'll definitely have to clean up, but that's pretty good pass protection there from Andre Dillard on a team in the Eagles that does have a balanced attack.

Looking at him in 2020, he played 338 snaps on offense with 276 of those coming at left tackle, and it was kind of rough. Didn't have a grade over the 60s. Obviously, the grades are coming from pro football focus, so shout out to them. Gave up four sacks, 25 pressures. He's a much more athletic guy than a guy like Dennis Daly. He's going to be a much better pass blocker than he's going to be a run blocker,

which seems to be something that the Titans are prioritizing. Mike Vrabel is like, look, we can't just have road graders all over the place here. We've got to have guys who can protect the passer because we got smoked last year in that department. So it makes sense that the Titans looked at Dillard as a guy who's more of a pass protector than a people mover in the run game

and still wanted to do it. But the real scary thing is what if Andre Dillard is not up to par? What if Andre Dillard is not good enough to start at left tackle? Maybe you kick him into left guard, but is he good enough there? Maybe he's just not good enough to be a starter.

And if that's what turns out to be the case, you could kick Skowronski out to left tackle, but then who's going to replace him on the interior if Dillard isn't good enough? The Titans just don't have the depth right now to answer that question. And that's why I'm less confident in the offensive line than some of you guys are because they're one player not working out away from in a really, really tough spot. Moving Aaron Brewer back to guard.

Playing Corey Levin as a pure starter the entire year. I mean, they're on thin ice at offensive tackle. So Andre Dillard has to. If the Titans are going to be the team that a lot of you guys think they're going to be this year and win a lot of games, Andre Dillard has to work out. He is the X factor on the Titans' offensive line. But we're going to move forward and talk about the other offensive tackle spot.

That's Nicholas Petit-Ferrer, who had an up-and-down rookie season, if you're honest. And there are positives. There are negatives. We're going to talk about Nicholas Petit-Ferrer and what the Titans need from him and why it's not all his fault as well. And then at the end of the show, we're going to talk about the depth that the Titans simply

don't have at offensive tackle and harken back to an episode earlier in the week, my everydayers will remember, where we talk about some options for the Titans with offensive tackle as well. So we're going to dive into all that. Before we do, though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. It is MLB season. We are in the heart of the MLB summer.

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They have a bunch of different promotions every day. Plus, when you win, you can get paid instantly. There's no better place to bet MLB than FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. So sign up today. Visit Fandle.com slash locked on to get $200 in bonus bets. That's Fandle.com slash locked on. Fandle, official partner of Major League Baseball. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We're doing a deep dive into the offensive tackle position

for the Titans as we head towards training camp. We just talked about Andre Dillard being the X factor for the Titans offensive line. Now I want to talk about the other starting offensive tackle and it's second-year player Nicholas Petit-Frayer out of Ohio State who had an up-and-down rookie season. I just want to dive into some of the production, some of the numbers, some of the numbers,

some of the conversation that should, should surround. That's a tongue twister. Should surround Nicholas Petit Ferrer going into his second year. Before we get into it, though, do want to thank you guys again for making the locked on Titans podcast. Your first listen every day,

dying here, folks, take a drink of water, everybody hydration break. Boom. We're back. Thank you for making the locked on Titans podcast. Take a drink of water, everybody. Hydration break. Boom. We're back. Thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday.

Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps, always for free. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching as well. Let me know if you're an everydayer down below. Shout out to you guys. But moving forward here with Nicholas Petit Ferrer. Is he good?

Is he good? And that's a fair question right now. And I don't think, I don't think that we have our answers. NPF played 16 games last year at right tackle as the starter. Got the starting position over Dylan Radins early on in the process. Like early in the summer, early in training camp really. It was already over. God, Mike Vrabel hates Dylan Radins. But we'll mention him later in the show when we look at the rest of

the depth at offensive tackle for the Titans. But in 16 games last year NPF gave up five sacks, 35 pressures, took eight penalties. I mean, that on its own is a rough, rough performance. The Titans don't have the worst offensive line in the NFL just because of Dennis Daly. Nicholas Petit Ferrer played like a rookie. I mean, out of offensive tackles, he was the 60th ranked,

and these are offensive tackles that played like more than 300 snaps. Just guys who actually played. NPF was 60th in overall grade. He was 46th in run blocking grade. He was 59th in pass blocking grade. So pretty much across the board, he was one of the worst starting offensive tackles in the NFL. Okay, if you think there's two on each team, 64 tackles.

I mean, he's at 59, 60, 46. He's one of the worst offensive tackles in the NFL last year. Add that to the raw stats of the sacks. There's really no way around it. But, but, if you want to be honest here, and you want to be fair to NPF, he was playing on the worst offensive line in the NFL. Nate Davis was in and out of the lineup all year long. Ben Jones was a shell of himself, really battling through injuries like a warrior trying to do his best. Aaron Brewer was ill-suited to play left guard because of his size. We already talked about Dennis Daly.

So I always hearken back to Jack Conklin and Jack Conklin won all pro his rookie year was named all pro his rookie year. And people go back and Anthony Fasano deserves half of that all pro selection. The Titans gave so much help to Jack Conklin his rookie season. Now, that's not a Jack Conklin went on to be a really good offensive tackle in the NFL. So it's not like he was some bum that was just getting help. Conklin's very good in his own right. But when you have Dennis Daly on one side and you have Aaron Brewer at guard, the amount of help and the amount of attention that you have to give to the left side of the offensive line while you have those players over there, I just think that while NPF, if you go look, NPF did get a lot of help, but sliding his direction,

maybe adding two extra blockers that way, properly helping a rookie offensive tackle is not what the Titans did last year and weren't in a position to do either. This is the same thing we talk about when we talk about Malik Willis, really. Now, NPF was better than Malik Willis if you look at him individually, like in their performance. NPF was a far better player than Malik Willis when Willis played last year, even though he wasn't great last year, NPF. The issues that we have with the support around him

are also things you can say about Nicholas Petit-Ferrer as well. Bad coaching, bad quarterback play, poor help on the offensive line around him. Nobody's getting open, so he's got to block longer. I mean, it was a tough spot. So the question is, is he good? I don't know, but if you're already determining that he's bad, I think that's a mistake, and that's a step too far.

And hopefully, Dillard does his job. You can leave Skowronski at left guard, which leaves Brewer at center. Brunskill is a veteran player who can communicate to Dillard. If you leave that intact and they're able to have a little bit of health, I think MPF will make a big improvement. I mean, even if you just compare them to rookies

last year, it was rough. Among rookie offensive tackles who had 100 snaps or more, okay, there's 14 offensive tackles who meet that criteria. Rookies who played offensive tackle played over 100 snaps or more. Okay, there's 14 offensive tackles who meet that criteria. Rookies who played offensive tackle played over 100 snaps. He was the third worst in overall grade, NPF. Eighth out of 14 in run blocking.

Fourth worst in pass blocking. He was middle of the pack in sacks and pressures. I mean, he wasn't as bad as Evan Neal, who was drafted near the top of the draft. So he just gets beat inside a lot. And one-on-one matchups with more athletic players, sometimes he can get a little off balance and get beat with speed.

But again, if Dillard does his job, and that's why Dillard is the X Factor, Dillard can hold up at left tackle. It just slots everybody in the right spot. You could properly give help with Trevon Wesco to NPF and let him actually improve at the right pace as a young offensive tackle who was picked in the third round who, you know, it's not like anybody expected NPF to come in right away and start. That was supposed to be Dylan Radins and he

wrestled it away from him. So, for me, NPF, it was rough last year. He wasn't in a great situation. Hopefully, he has the help that he needs now. If it doesn't work out this year and he has a similar performance, the Titans may have to consider moving him inside to guard. Maybe they move NPF to left guard and they move Skowronski to right tackle and see what they have there, but I'm just saying don't write off NPF yet, just based on what we saw last year because it was a tough spot

for him. And hopefully, hopefully we'll see some improved play from him if the rest of the offensive line holds up their end of the bargain for a young player in NPF who will still be the youngest player outside of Peter Skowronski on the offensive line. So, let's wait.

We need to see it this year, but hopefully in a better environment, NPF can do a much better job than what we saw from them last year in a very bad environment. But moving forward, those are the two starters. We got to talk about the other offensive tackles on this team, and it's ugly. Ladies and gentlemen, it is ugly. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

Talking about the offensive tackle position as we continue our positional preview through the roster. We did quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end. Before, we're going to be doing interior offensive line tomorrow, we're going to talk some defensive free agents at the end of the week before we go into our defensive preview next week. So make sure, again, you stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day, Monday through Friday,

Tennessee Titans content for free all year long, all apps. Do want to give a shout out to you guys before we move forward. Had a, I don't even know how to explain it because I really don't feel like going into the details. It's my business, but it's not all my business. So just had a tough situation in my house earlier this week. Not like in my house, but just in my household.

It was a tough, tough day for us on Tuesday. So I didn't have a show out on Wednesday morning. I didn't have a show out on Tuesday night on YouTube like I normally do. I'm pretty consistent for you guys, I'd like to think. And it was just a tough day. And I needed just a mental day to kind of reset, uh, take a break. Um, everybody's good medically going to be good.

So, uh, just wanted to give a shout out to you guys who, you know, had nice things to say. Um, not a religious guy, obviously, but, uh, the sentiment of prayers, I definitely do appreciate. Uh, I really do appreciate it. Good vibes, positive energy. I don't know. Whatever you want to put it.

Just anybody who reached out and was kind and courteous, I appreciate you guys. And everyone who was understanding that just needed a day to kind of process some things. So definitely do appreciate you guys. And just wanted to say that before we move forward but whatever all that aside moving right along back into the Titan stuff

just appreciate the listeners so much man you guys are awesome but outside of Andre Dillard and Nicholas Petit Ferrer guys it is ugly at offensive tackle John Ujuku.

I think that's the right. I get a different pronunciation in a DM every week. Boise State offensive tackle. Jalen Duncan. The sixth round pick out of Maryland. Not very high on Duncan, but he's got a great opportunity to make the roster. He really does.

John LeGlue. Undrafted free agent signing. Andrew Ripsich, Zach Johnson, I guess Jamarco Jones, Dylan Radins, put them in an offensive tackle. Those guys have been primarily looked at as guards, but they have some tackle history. So maybe I'm not really including Radins in any conversations

because of how late he tore his ACL. I've said that all season. I'm sticking with that. But if NPF or Andre Dillard gets hurt, what are they going to do? You can move Peter Skowronski to left tackle, but now you're you don't have a lot of depth on the interior offensive line either. I just think that the Titans really, out of this group, the Titans really need to bring in a veteran offensive tackle to compete with these young guys

for that swing offensive tackle position. They need to learn their lesson. They are one offensive tackle injury away from having a last year situation on their hands. Like, they're getting close. So, we talked about it earlier this week. My everydayers remember. We talked about some offensive linemen, offensive tackle free agents.

George Fant, Chris Hubbard, they make a ton of sense for the Titans team, and they're still free agents. I mean, Fant, 6'5", 320, athletic guy. Yes, he's 30 years old, but that's what you want in a swing tackle, a veteran who won't be freaked out when he's got to be thrown in the game in the middle of the second quarter after an injury.

He's played in 85 games in his career, started two seasons for the Jets in the past three years. I mean, George Fant makes a ton of sense. And I put out a tweet one time about the Titans' offensive tackle position, and George Fant liked it. So, he clearly was interested in the Titans. I just think that Fant would be a great swing tackle.

If MPF doesn't cut it, you got him there. If Dillard doesn't cut it, you got him there. If one of them gets hurt, it just... John Leglu, Jamarco Jones, Jonu Juco, Jalen Duncan,

Andrew Ripsich. You guys want any of these guys playing at left tackle? I just think the Titans need to be conservative here. They need to be safe. They can have faith in these young guys all they want, but if they're trying to win with Derrick Henry and Ryan Tano this year and they're going for it, they need more depth on the offensive

line than what they have. They simply do. There's no way around it. So I think George Fant is a perfect option. Chris Hubbard, another guy with a ton of experience, started games for the Browns a couple of years ago. Those guys could make sense. They seriously need to consider that. But with that being said, that's my deep dive

into the offensive tackle position. Again, like I was saying earlier, we are going to get into the interior offensive line on tomorrow's show and then finish out the week with some free agents on the defensive side of the ball. But that is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titan.