Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans BATTLE FOR TIGHT END 1 | Receiver Depth Chart Issues | Sorting Out O-Line Backups

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Tennessee Titans biggest roster battle on offense is for starting tight end and I think the rookie Gunner helm is who wins the spot. I'll explain why on today's edition of locked on tight You are locked on Titans your daily Tennessee Titans podcast part of of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rollins, Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:00:39 Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins on today's show. We're going to take a look at the biggest roster battles on offense for the Titans. Look, we're through the main part of free agency. We're through the NFL draft. The majority of the Tennessee Titans roster is set in place. So let's take a look at who's going to start at tight end. The offensive line depth, wide receiver three, running back three, a lot of questions. We're going to get into all of them on tomorrow's show. We're going to take a look at the defensive side of the ball.

Starting point is 00:01:13 Talk about who's going to start at edge opposite Arden Key. Who's going to be the depth rolls in the secondary and who's going to start at middle linebacker. Also on Friday, we are going to take a look at rookie mini camp. Rookie mini camp for the Titans starts on Friday, goes on to Saturday. And I'm going to have a full preview of rookie mini camp for you guys to end our week. But with all that being said, do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round,

Starting point is 00:01:46 always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Shout out to my every dayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. But with that being said, let's start with the position battles on offense. And we got to start with QB one.

Starting point is 00:02:04 Is it going to be cam ward? Is it going to be Will Lipp? I'm just kidding guys. Let's talk about tight end one. Who is going to start for the Tennessee Titans? And again, I think that it's going to be Gunnar Helm, the rookie out of Texas. That is my pick for who is going to get the majority of the tight end one snacks. Now, of course, you have Chigga Conquist going into his fourth year in the NFL. Obviously, a very talented player in his own right. You have Josh Wiley going into his third year in the NFL. Guys who definitely have that experience in the league over Gunnar Helm, but at the end of the day, it comes down to skill set. And I think Gunnar Helm is a blend between those two players. He has ability after the catch and he has ability to be a good receiver like Chigga Conquo. Is he as explosive as Chigga Conquo? Absolutely not. But he's more explosive. I don't like using the term explosive

Starting point is 00:02:59 with Gunnar Helm because he's not like a freak explosive athlete, but he's more explosive than Josh Wiley, who's a little bit more stiff in the hips. But Gunnar Helm gives you some of the height and ability to win matchups and one-on-one and contested catch stuff that you thought you were going to get from Josh Wiley when he was drafted. And he's also a better blocker than Chigga Conquo and a better blocker than Josh Wiley at the next level, in my opinion. So, I mean, he kind of gives you a little bit of what all of those guys give you.

Starting point is 00:03:27 And in the Tennessee Titans system, I know a lot of people are going to say he's not a good enough blocker. Well, guess what? You want to look at the blocking from the tight ends last year, from the Tennessee Titans. Chicka Conquo had the lowest run blocking grade per pro football focus of any player on the Tennessee Titans offense with a 36. A 36, a 36,

Starting point is 00:03:46 that's in 230 run blocking snaps. You want to look at Josh Wiley. He was 27th out of 33 players on the Tennessee Titans offense who actually blocked on a run play, which included people like Will Levis and Josh Kelly. Josh Wiley had a 49.5 run blocking grade. And listen, if you want to cut on the tape, it looks that bad. The Tennessee Titans tight ends got dominated in the run game, and that's part of the reasons the Titans were so inefficient in the run game.

Starting point is 00:04:13 Is Gunnar Helm a great blocker? No, he is not a great blocker at this stage, but as I'm going to show in the film breakdown that's coming out on the Tic Tac Titans channel this week, I'm going to go into why I'm so excited about Gunnar Helm and what he can do. And look, he is a physical willing blocker. He needs to clean up his technique. He needs to get stronger and add more muscle just as a player overall. But I think what he does right now immediately gives the Titans the most versatile tight end

Starting point is 00:04:40 that they could have out there. And in Brian Brian Callahan system, where he mostly wants one tight end, three wide receivers, one running back, having a guy with more versatility, I think is important. Now, Chigga Conqua was going to play his role. He's going to be so good in the RPO game with Ken Ward, the quick screen game with Ken Ward. It's not like I think that Gunnar Helm is going to take 75% of the tight end one snaps and that's going to leave nothing for Wiley or Chig. But the reality is I think that he will take the majority of the tight end snaps,

Starting point is 00:05:10 making him tight end one. Chig Aconqua will be used in those quick game situations and in passing situations as the secondary tight end. Josh Wiley can be, you know, that immediate backup for Gunnar Helm in the third tight end. And then you add in David Martin Robinson, you add in Thomas Hoda-Coyer, who can give you something, see how that shakes out. We'll talk about, you know, my 53-man roster prediction.

Starting point is 00:05:31 We'll do one of those here within the next couple of weeks. But at the end of the day, I just think Gunnar Helm is clearly the best option for the Titans. I think that from what we saw from him at Texas last year, he showed they can be just as good of a blocker, if not better, than both of those guys right away, and gives you a little bit of both of the worlds in terms of a receiver. Some after the catch ability, not quite Chig, but some contested ability, which is better than Josh Wiley, in my opinion.

Starting point is 00:06:01 So, that's why I think he's clearly the best option for tight end one out of chig or Josh Wiley again, I think that Josh Wiley or even chig is going into the final year of his contract guys. Are you going to pay $8 million to resign chig a conq for three years? Are you just going to draft another tight end next year? Who's the chig a conq type? Like you could have got a Harold Fanon in this year's draft, you know, not quite the athlete, but gives you similar upside and can play a similar role.

Starting point is 00:06:28 So I just don't think that Chig Aconquo is a good enough player. I felt the same about John New Smith when he left. And I think John New Smith in his final years when he really went crazy, I think that John New Smith is a better player right now, marginally than Chig Aconquo is. Now, Chig has been in bad offenses. So he could have a massive breakout this year from Cam Ward and it changed the dynamic.

Starting point is 00:06:49 But at the end of the day, Chig Aconquo's blocking limitations are never going to allow him to be a true tight end one. He's always going to have to be the secondary guy, even if he's a high level secondary guy for a tight end. So I think Gunnar Helm, because of that reality, even if Chig has a great year, Gunnar Helm will take the most tight end snaps. But do you want to at least mention quarterback here? I made the joke about QB1 because I know we've been hitting the Will

Starting point is 00:07:12 Levis thing too much. I get it. We're moving on, but we talk about like, who's going to be the backup quarterback. For me, it's going to be Brandon Allen. Brandon Allen will be the backup quarterback. I think Tim Boyle will be a camp arm. I think eventually Will Levis is out of here. I've been adamant about that. I have a hard time believing anything otherwise. But the only conversation about quarterback is who exactly is

Starting point is 00:07:36 going to back up Cam Ward. And I think Brandon Allen was Joe Burroughs backup for his first couple of seasons in Cincinnati. Or I think it was 2021 and then 2022. So his second and third year. Brandon Allen is, was brought in. Brandon Allen wasn't brought in because of his quarterback skills. He's not any good. He was brought in to teach the offense to Cam Ward and to teach Cam Ward how to watch film, how to prepare. He's basically a translator for what Brian Callahan

Starting point is 00:08:07 Watson is saying and what Nick Holtz is saying and what Bo Hart agree the Titans quarterback coach is saying. He's basically a translator from that into a player. It's a Dan Orlowski told a story recently about Sean McVeigh bringing him in and telling him like you're basically going to be an assistant coach. You're on the roster, you're a player, but you're going to be an assistant coach. I really do think that's what Brandon Allen is because that's why Brandon Allen was the

Starting point is 00:08:31 Bangalore's backup during the Joe Burrow years. If Cam Ward gets hurt, we do not want to win games. We do not want to do that. We're just going to sink with the ship, let Cam Ward get healthy, and have a better draft pick. Like you don't need to do that. You need someone to teach Cam Ward right now. And that's Brandon Allen. So even if Tim Boyle is a better player, he's got a better arm, a little more athletic, he's not going to be the backup. I think it's going to be Brandon Allen, but let's talk about wide receiver

Starting point is 00:08:59 three and running back three. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Skylight calendar, say goodbye to sticky notes, scribbled plans on the fridge, overlapping calendar invites. The Skylight calendar is here to bring clarity to the chaos and help families stay organized without the stress. This sleek digital display syncs with your existing calendars like Google, Apple Outlook, making it simple to track appointments, practices,

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Starting point is 00:10:48 We need to talk about wide receiver. We need to talk about running back and I'll tell you the wide receiver three conversation. Very, very juicy before we dive in. Thanks again for making the locked on Titans podcast. You're at first listen each and every day, make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed for free year round daily Tennessee Titans content. But, wide receiver three man. So we know Calvin Ridley and I think Tyler Lockett. No matter what happens, Tyler

Starting point is 00:11:15 Lockett is going to be one of the top three wide receivers. No matter where one of these young wide receivers ascends, the top three wide receivers will include Tyler Lockett. Whether that be two, whether that be three, let's say somebody really takes a leap and pulls an AJ Brown and is way better than we ever expected. Then Tyler Lockett would slide down to three and that player would be two and Calvin Ridley is one. You know what I mean? That's where we're at.

Starting point is 00:11:40 I mean AJ Brown ascended to number one right away, but if some somebody, if one of these receiving options ascend to be the Tennessee Titans, number one receiver over thousand yard receiver Calvin Ridley last year, ladies and gentlemen, we are cooking. And I will tell you who I think that player will be if there is going to be that. And it's Ellic Iow Manor. It has been all along. It will be, he was a steal for the Tennessee Titans. An absolute steal where they got him at 136. It makes sense that they traded up. Although the Baltimore Ravens just literally gave him away to the Tennessee Titans for fun.

Starting point is 00:12:18 I do not understand. They gave the Titans five spots in the fourth round to get back five spots in the fifth round. But the fifth round's five spots are worth less than the fourth round's five spots, right? Because it's fourth, whatever you want to do over there, Ozzy, that's thank you. We appreciate it. But if you have Tyler Lockett and you have Calvin Ridley, number three wide receiver to me, who's going to win that battle? I think it will be Elec Iowamander. I do.

Starting point is 00:12:45 And it's the same reason that I have talked about him as my favorite option out of the young wide receivers. And he just fits what the Titans don't have. The Titans don't have that big bodied physical X receiver. NWI played that a little bit. That was meant to be Traylon Burks. It was AJ Brown before that. The Titans just simply don't have that guy. I don't think that Van Jefferson could play that kind of role.

Starting point is 00:13:20 Van Jefferson is not small by any means. He has the size, I guess, that you could say he could do that. He is a six foot one, 200 pounds. So maybe I guess you could say that, but I just, I don't see Vance Joseph, I want to see Vance Joseph every time I don't see van Jefferson as somebody who was physical enough to consistently play that role. I just don't. So to me, that'll give an opportunity to IO manner immediately because his skillset can not be replicated by anybody else other than Jefferson.

Starting point is 00:13:54 I mean, listen, we can talk about Traylen Burks. I even made a joke on Twitter, like Traylen Burks comeback season, you know, like it's a joke at this point. I'm not talking about Traylen Burks comeback season, you know, like it's a joke at this point. I'm not talking about Traylon Burks in these situations. I'm just not doing it. Yeah. It's the same thing I said last year. Traylon Burks is a ghost to me.

Starting point is 00:14:15 I am not a, when I talk about the wide receiver group, I'm not going to say, Oh, well, you know, they got enough receivers. They got this, this, this Traylon Burks. No, I pretend I have for the last two all seasons, this last all season and this all season right now, I have pretended that Traylon Burks is not on this team. When I talk about the roster and who should make the team and all that,

Starting point is 00:14:37 because he just has proven that he does not exist. You know, it's a figment of our imagination. We all literally, it's like the matrix got plugged in when AJ Brown got traded. I don't remember much since, you know, it's just what happened. But again, being able to be the big physical X that IO manner is that can jump over guys has elite flashes of contested catchability on his tape from college.

Starting point is 00:15:06 That sort of skill set dynamic and fit in the Titans offense is one that they don't have. He can play the T Higgins role. I'm not saying that he's T Higgins. I'm not saying he's that good, but am I? But am I? No, I'm not, But, but he's not as athletic as T Higgins. But at the end of the day, I think it could be a lesser version of that. You know, like that's, that's what I think. And we also have to talk here about the other rookies that could potentially vie for this spot. Chim Dike, Xavier Restrepo. Look, I think that Restrepo speed is a sort of limitation for him, but I think that he could come in on third downs. He could be involved in passing situations.

Starting point is 00:15:56 If it's second down, this and that red zone, short yardage, goal line, all of that. I think Restrepo could have a role in the Tennessee Titans offense in those situations. I would say it's similar to like the Wes Welker, Danny Amendola type role. You know, they, they were wide receiver three, but they weren't the most common wide receiver three, especially when the Titans are going to be in three wide receiver sets

Starting point is 00:16:23 all the time. I think you're not going to have Restrepo out there on first and 10 as your third wide receiver. I just don't think that's the case. I think Jim Dekay similarly could have a limited role during passing situations. Like it's going to be very interesting to see how the roster shakes out, because I think Dekay and Restrepo could be fighting for snaps directly against each other.

Starting point is 00:16:47 That's what, that's what I think will happen. So look, Jefferson's the veteran with low upside. I don't know if he's physical enough. DK is more versatile. We could play Z could play slot, but he can't play that X receiver spot like IO man or can cause he's just not physical enough and the short, the intermediate routes aren't quite there. Berks I wrote LOL.

Starting point is 00:17:07 Like I told you guys, he doesn't exist for me. So going through that thought process, it's gotta be IO manner. He's the one who fits the best. So that would be my answer. Now looking at running back three, you could talk about maybe Jabari small getting back into the conversation. Although I think he's too similar to what the Titans already have in Tony Pollard and Tajay Spears. That's why for me, it really comes down to Julius Chestnut and the rookie, Kal-El Mullings, Superman Mullings.

Starting point is 00:17:39 It comes down to that. And maybe, listen, I got to admit my biases here. Throughout the entire existence of me hosting this podcast, there has been people on this roster that I just simply cannot fathom. I just can't accept that they keep getting opportunities. Logan Woodside, David Flewellen, if we want to go back that far, and I call them the roster pirate. Now, Mason Kinsey is probably the current roster, uh, pirate at the end of the day.

Starting point is 00:18:16 I don't know. He has blackmail on, he just continues to get chances, but he has basically been on the practice squad the entire time. He's not on the main roster all the time. He's not like getting roster spots. Julius chestnut has found a way to like stay on the roster at all times. He is the current true roster pirate in my mind and I'm sick of it. And I want to go to Calo Mullings and I know that chestnut runs with power.

Starting point is 00:18:43 He's five 11, two 25 and he runs with power, but Mullings is way bigger. It's six foot two, two 25. So bigger guy, better athlete with more speed and Julius chestnut is a project on special teams. He did some returning, but they were trying to get him to do coverage units last year. He made a critical special teams mistake in the Jets game that led to one of those pump blocks. So I'm done with the Julius Chestnut experiment. I know he's a bit of a fan favorite.

Starting point is 00:19:17 I never bought it. He's a roster pirate. It's time to send him to the plank. I'm done. Kal-El Mullings, Superman Mullings. I don't care if it's bias. I'm rooting for Superman the entire way to win the RB3. So wide receiver three RB3. Now, let's talk about the offensive line. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. The NBA playoffs are in full swing. What a great night of basketball games on Monday night was awesome.

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Starting point is 00:21:07 Talking about the biggest roster battles on the offensive side of the ball. Again, on tomorrow's show, I'm going to do the defensive side of the ball. We'll talk about who's going to start at linebacker next to Cody Barton. Who's going to start across from Arden Key at edge? What about depth in the secondary? So many juicy questions as we head towards OTAs and mini camps. Rookie mini camp is on Friday. I'm going to have a full preview for you guys.

Starting point is 00:21:31 Football never sleeps, baby. And neither do I make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But looking at the offensive line, at center, you have Brendan James. You have Corey Levin, good old Corey Levin, Stalware, also one of the roster pirate gang. At guard, you have newly signed Blake Hans. You have Sam Mustapher.

Starting point is 00:21:59 You have Jackson Slater, who was just drafted out of Sacramento State, who could play center as well. And then you have Andrew Rupcich, who is still hanging around. I think this is his fourth season now. I mean, Ruppey has been around for quite some time. It's at least his third. I've kind of lost track at this point. How long he's been around. He definitely came in under Mike Vrabel. Okay, he's going into his third season. Alright, great. Then we go to offensive tackle. You have the newly signed free agent, Olly Udo.

Starting point is 00:22:28 Remember, the Titans brought in Jamie's, uh, Mustapher and Udo all at the same time. Totally revamped the offensive line room. But then you have two hangovers, and Jalen Duncan and John Njuku. And then you have an undrafted free agent, who I'm very, very interested in, and it's Brandon Crenshaw Dixon out of Florida. So that's what the offensive line depth is right now, because obviously you have

Starting point is 00:22:51 Dan Moore at left tackle, Peter Skoronsky at left guard, hopefully Lloyd Cushionberry. They say he's going to be ready for training camp. We'll see how that goes. But Lloyd Cushionberry at center, Kevin Zeitler at right guard, and then JC Latham now at right guard, and then JC Latham now at right tackle. So your starting offensive line is absolutely set right now. After that, again, all the names we just went through is where things

Starting point is 00:23:15 really, really get spicy because there's no clear answers. And a lot of these guys are new. Also, how will the Titans prioritize development? Because a guy like Jackson Slater and a guy like Brandon Crenshaw Dixon, or a guy like Jaylen Duncan, who I have never been a fan of, even after the Titans picked him a hundred picks after what he was projected to go, I think he went like 188 or something like that. He was projected to be a top 100 pick by a lot of people. I still didn't like it at pick six or in the sixth round. I didn't think he was a good enough player.

Starting point is 00:23:56 I didn't think he worked hard enough. He may be a hard worker, but he still isn't good enough. But they clearly like him. They wanted to play him over all over John Adjouku. They wanted to play him over NPF. They wanted to play him over Leroy Watson. Like they wanted to play Jaylen Duncan over all those guys. So clearly there's something about him that they like, whatever. So maybe he sticks around, but if I had to pick my winners here, I'll pick three of them out of this

Starting point is 00:24:26 group of 10 players and that's not even everybody. I'm going to go with Blake Hans. Hans is a versatile guy and I have continued to say, and I've continued to make the argument and then when you look at what the Titans have done in the draft and you look at what their national scout said in the last press conference from the draft on Saturday, the Titans want to be bigger. They want heavier. They want longer arms.

Starting point is 00:24:54 They want taller height, bigger, stronger, faster is what the Titans are looking for now as a program. Blake hands is six foot five, 300 plus, like 310. So playing on the interior, he is a bigger bodied guy. And he can play a little bit of offensive tackle and has. So the And has so the versatility there in the size, I think gives Blake Hans the, the edge to be the number one backup guard for the Titans. The number one backup guard. And I'm going to go with Jackson Slater at a Sacramento state, sixth round pick for the Titans. Love the pick. He needs to add some weight, but 6'3", 3'15", really good athlete. I think he's going to be the Titans primary backup center and their second backup guard. So on the depth chart, it would look like Lloyd Cushinberry, Jackson Slater, and then at guard, it would be Peter Skowronski, Blake Hance, Jackson Slater, Kevin Zeitler, Blake Hance, Jackson Slater.

Starting point is 00:26:16 That's how I would do that. And then you move to offensive tackle. And to me, I'm going to go with the veteran guy that they brought in, and that's Ali Udo. Another big, strong guy with tons of experience. All the guys that they brought in in that wave, from Mustapha to Jamie's to Udo, all have great experience. But I think the Titans have better prospects

Starting point is 00:26:42 and better players at center and guard than they do at offensive tackle. They have Dan Moore, they have J.C. Latham, but after that, out of Jalen Duncan, John Ajuku, do you really think either of those guys should be on this roster anymore? I do not. I do not. So I would go with Ali Udo, who has 20 to 40 games of starting NFL experience. Can't remember the ticket right off the top of my head. It's either 19 or 44. I'm getting one is 67, one is 44, one is 19

Starting point is 00:27:13 between all three of those guys, whatever. But I think it'll be Ali Udo because they don't have better options. Mustapher and Jamie's, you have better options with Slater and Hans. You don't have a better option than Olly Udo. So I'll go with Olly Udo there at tackle. So Hans, Slater, Udo as my three backup offensive linemen

Starting point is 00:27:31 to go along with the starting five, if they were to keep a ninth. I think I'm gonna go with Brandon Crenshaw-Dixon. Let's take a look at somebody new. Jalen Duncan and John Njuku, they're not good enough to be NFL players. They've been around for multiple years now. It's time to move on from them. Let's get a younger guy and see if, you know, he can develop even more. That's what I would

Starting point is 00:27:58 be looking to do. That's what I hope they do. And on tomorrow's show, we're going to look at the defensive side of the ball. We're going to talk about who's going to start at middle linebacker next to Cody Barton. We are going to talk about edge rusher secondary, so much to discuss. And then again, rookie mini camp preview coming out at the end of the week. You'll have that Thursday night, Friday morning, Gunner Helm film breakdown, Tic Tac Titans YouTube channel coming this week as well. Keep an eye out for that. But that's gonna do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

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Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans BATTLE FOR TIGHT END 1 | Receiver Depth Chart Issues | Sorting Out O-Line Backups

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