Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TENNESSEE TITANS BIGGEST QUESTIONS: Cam Ward's Ceiling, O-Line Uncertainty & L'Jarius Sneed's Future

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

The Tennessee Titans had a productive offseason so far, but make no mistake, there are still a lot of unanswered questions that we won't get finality to until the games kick off. First among them being the uncertainty around Cam Ward's status as the Titans franchise quarterback. Ward has everything you need, but how it unfolds in 2025 still remains a mystery. Ward will need his offensive line to make a big step for him to have success, but it is impossible to have immense confidence in the offensive line when so many uncertainties remain. Finally, L'Jarius Sneed is looking more and more likely by the day that he will never play for the Titans again and there are too many scenarios possible that include the Titans manning the corner spot without him. WANT MORE DAILY TENNESSEE TITANS CONTENT? Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…  🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOTitans?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. 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)

Can Cam Ward be a true franchise quarterback? That's the biggest question facing the Tennessee Titans. And my answer is an obvious yes. I'll break it down on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans. Your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day. 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 Rolland, Titans fans. On today's show, we're going to look at the biggest questions remaining for the Tennessee Titans as they head into summer break and go towards training camp. We're going to start with a conversation about Cam Ward and Brian Callahan. I'm going to talk about my doubts with the Tennessee Titans' new offensive line, and we'll talk about whether Legerrius Snead will ever play for the Tennessee Titans again. Before we dive into all of it, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans

your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content, all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, shout out to my every dayers out there. Tuning in Monday through Friday, couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't an every dayer, you need to be one.

It may be summer break for the Tennessee Titans, but there's never a summer break here on Locked on Titans. I still go five days a week, Monday through Friday. Next week's going to be division rival week on tomorrow's show. I'm going to go over what I do know right now for the Tennessee Titans at this point in the off season. And then Friday's show, we're going to look at where the Titans go from here and what comes next and all the important dates that

will lead us up to kickoff on week one. But we got to start with the biggest question, the biggest question of them all facing the Tennessee Titans by far. And you could say that you have an answer and I'm going to give what I think my answer is at this stage to all of these big questions. But the truth is we can't know. We don't know. There's no way to know just how great Cam Ward will be. Will Cam Ward be the franchise quarterback that we have been waiting on, a homegrown, true top five elite franchise quarterback

that we have all been waiting on forever? Will he be the one? That is the biggest question that the Tennessee Titans face. It's just like last year at this time, the biggest question for the Tennessee Titans was, is will Levis the answer? Now, the answer to that question is no. He is not. And now we get to ask a brand new question with Cam Ward. But quite frankly, I'm much more optimistic that Cam Ward will be the answer than Will Leavis. Now, you have to remain hopeful. I made this point on a recent episode that throughout most of my life

and even early on on this podcast, my idea was, Hey, if you expect bad things to happen, it won't be as bad when they do. But that's not true. You know, when bad things happen, even if you say you expected them to happen, it still isn't fun. You know? So why not just be optimistic? You know, why not just hope for good things to happen? Now we can hope for good things to happen.

And that's what I'm hoping for. But at the end of the day, we can't know. And that's why it will be the biggest question. And quite honestly, it's a question that can't necessarily be answered in one season. Look, Will Levis was a second round pick, and it was about as ugly as it could be last year when it was bad. So that makes it much easier to move off, to not worry about it, but with a first round pick. Cam Ward isn't gonna be a one and done full-time starter.

Cam Ward is going to get two or three years with this franchise at minimum, okay? So you can't necessarily answer this question in one season, but you could go pretty far to get your answer. Think about CJ Stroud, year one, you know, right now, if you're going to ask me, will Cam Ward be the one? Why would I say no? What's the, what's the point in that? Yes. Like, I think that he has more of the mental aptitude to be a franchise quarterback than maybe Will Levis, who seems to be more up and down emotionally. You get more high highs, you get more low lows. You get changes. You know what I mean? Just mental consistency. Cam Ward sees to have

that in spades. Total opposite situation of, you know, getting big time offers to big time schools transferring so that you could start after losing a battle, like everything just waiting for you, given to you. And then when you're Cam Ward, you're a zero star recruit and then, you know, you got to go to Incarnate Word and then you got to go to Washington State and then you finally do earn an opportunity to be QB1 at Miami immediately and then you dominate, you know, like it's just a different path that requires a different level in my opinion. So yeah, I am more optimistic and if I'm honest, I tried to be as hopeful as I could with Will Levis, but if you go back to

my thoughts about Will Levis coming into the draft, I didn't want him. I wasn't very, I was a never Levis guy. And then the Titans took him and we had to give him a chance and stuff. But like my general optimism during the pre-draft process this year, I said, hey, these quarterbacks have concerns for me. I don't know if they're worthy of the number one overall pick right now, but if the Titans believe that and they think that one of these guys is a franchise quarterback, then you have to take them number one overall.

You have to. And the Titans did think that. And with Cam Ward having just a different journey than Will Levis, and with the Tennessee Titans' confidence to take not a second round, but to take Cam Ward number one overall with Mike Borganzi at the helm.

That does give you a different level of optimism for Cam Ward and how great he can be. But make no mistake about it, we don't know. And that's the biggest question for the Tennessee Titans this season is how good is Cam Ward, how great can he be, is he the one? Now, to me, the second biggest question outside of that by far, and these two are far and away, the biggest questions. Is Brian Callahan the guy? Because look, I'm excited about Brian Callahan. I was last year.

I remain excited. I defended Brian Callahan at points and times last season when I thought he was overly criticized for certain play calls and things like that. But I also during the season admitted, hey, team didn't come out prepared. Playing Will Levis against the Colts in week six coming out of the by when he physically was not ready to play probably cost the Titans a win now that led them to Cam Ward, but in real time. That's a bad job by Brian Callahan. You lost the game for your team keeping Colt Anderson around early in the year.

He did that because he didn't want to fire a friend during the season because it looks so bad. He's like, we're going to keep you through the year. But that decision cost the Tennessee Titans the ability to compete in multiple games. So there is no argument for Brian Callahan being scot-free last year. That can't be the case. He has to get blamed and Brian Callahan is nice. He's transparent. He's thoughtful with the media.

He seems like a good dude. He seems like a better dude than like Mike Vrabel, you know, like Vrabel is a rugged winner, you know, I don't want to say he's a, he's a BA, you know what I mean? Like he's, but he's also a jerk. You know, he doesn't seem like he's like as pure of a person as Brian Callahan seems like a boy scout. You know what I mean? And Mike Grable is not a boy scout by any stretch of the imagination. Have you heard any stories about Mike Grarabel as a player behind the scenes

and the way he speaks and acts, like if you don't know already. Okay. So, uh, my point here is I want Brian Callahan to succeed. And he seems like a guy deserving of success, but he was not ready last year. He did not have the right staff around him. And he did not have the football team prepared to play football on multiple occasions. Those are inexcusable things.

And if those things happen again, and Cam Ward struggles, and the Titans win three or four games again, Brian Callahan is gonna be fired. So we can talk about how good Cam Ward's going to be, but is Brian Callahan the guy you want to lead this new generation of the Titans? Is Mike Borganzi going to keep a coach that he didn't hire that was hired because of his great connection to Rand Carton? We could talk Cam Ward, but Brian Callahan, maybe not as much of a question,

talk Cam Ward, but Brian Callahan, maybe not as much of a question as important of a question, but a very, very big time question is Brian Callahan the guy and my answer to be honest with you guys is I don't know and I can't give you anything more than that. But let's talk about the Tennessee Titans offensive line and some of the weapons as well. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Between dining out, online shopping, entertainment, it's easy to lose track. That's where Monarch Money comes in. Your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances.

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Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code LOCKDONNFL at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's MonarchMoney.com code LOCKDONNFL for half off your first year. Titans fans. Let's continue today's edition of the locked on Titans podcast. Looking at the biggest questions facing the Tennessee Titans. This season, we talked about Cam Ward, we talked about Brian Callahan. Now I want to dive into some of the other questions that the Tennessee Titans face. They may not be as critical and as a big time question as will Cam Ward be the one? Is Brian Callahan the right coach for the Titans

and Cam Ward? Those are the biggest, most important questions that the Tennessee Titans have, period. But going down and zooming in just a little bit more, I gotta start with the offensive line because we assume that the Tennessee Titans offensive line is gonna take a big step forward. We assume that. In theory, it should. J.C. Lath that in theory, it should. JC Latham should be a lot better. Last year, JC Latham was an average starting left tackle.

I would say he was average to maybe a little below average at times. Um, if there are 32 starting left tackles in the NFL, I think JC Latham was probably 18 to 24. So do with that what you will. So we assume that moving the right tackle dropping the weight being in better shape. We assume that all of that is going to turn J.C. Latham into a much better player and he's going from year

one to year two. It's expected that you'll get better. So there's a lot of factors here that have us very, very excited. And remember, Nick Holtz said he's been our best offensive lineman in the program, you know? So there are reasons to get very, very excited about J.C. Latham,

but what if he moves to right tackle and he's just average again? You know, the Titans offensive line could be better if J.C. Latham is an average right tackle, which the Titans had far below average right tackle play last year, right? So average right tackle play would be an improvement. And then if you get Dan Moore on the other side to give you average left tackle play, in theory, the offensive line is better, right? Just from that, not having average here and devastating here, average and average, that's better. But from that not having average here and devastating here average and average

that's better but is that enough is that enough with these weapons and a rookie quarterback and brian callahan like is an average offensive line enough my answer to that is no an average offensive line is not good enough for two first round picks. The contract of Dan Moore, the contract of Lloyd Cushinberry, the contract of Kevin Zeitler. Like that is a massive investment in the offensive line and for them to just be an average offensive line, honestly, I don't think that that's good enough. I don't think that's good enough to help a rookie quarterback. Cam Ward's not going to be at his best behind an average offensive line.

He's not quite ready to navigate that yet, in my opinion. And then we know, and we'll talk about it in just a second, that this group of weapons has optimism, but, you know, we'll get there. But my point here is this. There is a version where J.C. Latham is just average and Peter Skowronski doesn't turn into a pro bowler, all pro level guard. He's just average. And Lloyd Cushionberry is not ready to come back from his Achilles or you know, you know what

happens when you have big injuries like that. You start having small injuries in other places because your body's not ready and starts to compensate. And Cushionberry just misses time here and there out throughout the season. Kevin Zeitler is 35 years old. He has been incredibly healthy, but he's 35 years old. And then we get to Dan Moore. He gave up the most sacks in the NFL last season and yes, some of that had to do with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson being guys who hold on to the ball. But you don't give up the most sacks in the NFL just because your quarterbacks didn't help you. He got beat quite a bit too. And then people say, oh, well, you know,

he had to face TJ Watt and Miles Garrett and Trey Hendrickson. And that's difficult. Well, I got bad news for you. There's good pass rushers every single week. Every week. The Titans play in a division where multiple teams have multiple really good ones. I mean, Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson both might be top five edge rushers or top like

seven or eight at minimum. So it's no cakewalk anywhere that you play in the NFL in terms of being a left tackle. That's why they get paid so much. But I'm just saying we cannot pretend like we know that this Titans offensive line is going to be mightily improved. We can't we can't know that and there is an obvious clear and maybe not likely but logical path to the Titans offensive line just be an average and maybe even a little worse than

that like that's possible. So one of the biggest questions remaining to me, whether you can admit it or not, is the Tennessee Titans offensive line and what it's going to be. We don't know. Now, I think the Tennessee Titans offensive line will be improved, but I'll tell you, I do not think that this is going to be some top 10, top 5 offensive line overnight. I just don't buy it. I just can't believe that. I hope that that would be incredible for the competitiveness of the team and most importantly, the development of Cam Ward to have a great offensive line in front of him, not only for pass protection,

but for running the ball. But if you're acting like you're incredibly confident that this offensive line will be massively improved and one of the better units. I'm sorry, I just cannot know that. The offensive line remains a big question. Now also, like I was hinting at earlier, we're all excited. Okay. The Titans are zero and zero, new quarterback, tons of new young weapons, rookie weapons, you know, hope Springs eternal during the summer for football fans this year could be. There are Titans fans who truly in their hearts believe the Titans are going to have a Jaden Daniels Washington commander's turnaround this year.

Like they will get mad at you and say you're being a hater if you don't think that. So know that there are Titans fans out there that are that optimistic about where the Titans are at right now. And a lot of it has to do with the excitement around the rookie pass catchers and El Hacayo Manor and Chim Dike and Xavier Restrepo and Gunner Helm. But they are all rookies and if we're honest it would be incredible if two of them turned out to be starting level players whatever two you want to pick but if two of them turn out the Titans hit big that's an undrafted free agent and three fourth rounders. If you hit on two of those, you're cooking. One of those good job.

So I, there are some things that I know. And on tomorrow's show, I'm going to go over, there are things that I know about this football team that I know for a fact. We could be as excited as we want. I'm going to remain excited and optimistic because I am. Because I do think that actually three, at least three of these guys will work out because I believe in IO Manner. I believe in Helm. I know that. And then one of Restrepo DK is going to turn into a decent player in some way. So I'm overly confident in the rookie pass catchers, but we have to be honest with ourselves here and say they're rookies. They're rookies. We don't know.

We like. I think it's incredibly unlikely and I've said that over and over. But Xavier Restrepo is an undrafted free agent. What if he doesn't even make the team? What if Xavier Restrepo is on the Cardinals in November? You know? And we're going to sit here and be like, man, we were so confident. You know? Like, again, we just don't know who is actually going to be worth their salt out of these four rookie pass catchers. We can't know that, and that'll be,

that's why it's so fun to discuss. That's why it's so, I would say it's the second most fun on-field topic for the Titans this off-season, because there's so much mystery there, and I think that multiple of them will be good, but you have to be honest, that that's a big question. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Looking at the biggest questions remaining for the Tennessee Titans as we head into the summer break. Now, I'm going to go over some of the questions on the defensive side of the ball that we have to talk about.

We've talked about Cam Ward, Brian Callahan, the offensive line, the rookies. Remember, tomorrow's show, I'm going to go over what I do know about this football team. Before we dive into the final segment, though, I do want to thank you again for making Locked on Titan your first listen for your second listen. Check out Locked on NFL Scouting. Training camp's getting closer and moves are still being made. Host Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find Locked on NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts, but on defense, will a Jerry, a Snead ever play again? Will a Jerry, a Snead ever get out on the field again for the Titans? I felt pretty confident about this a couple of months ago.

I don't know. I don't. a couple months ago. I don't now. I don't. You know, with the knee being a reoccurring problem, like they talked about maintenance on the knee, they did it in Kansas City, they did it in Tennessee, you know, they're going to have to keep doing it throughout the rest of his career. They're going to have to have maintenance on the knee. All right. We know about that. on the knee. All right. We know about that. But the quad, the quad injury that he suffered last year is being the way it's been discussed. The little nuggets that you've heard about Brian Callahan talk about how it was an unusual injury. It was severe. Not only was it a quad tear, but there was bruising, a bone bruise that wouldn't heal and all these different things like

it just makes you think and then you know you come to this summer and he's he's rehabbing the knee and rehabbing the quad it's like even if Legerius need gets healthy enough to like practice even if Legerius need gets healthy enough to like practice. Even if Ligerious need gets healthy enough to play in a game. How long will that last? And how committed will Ligerious need be to the Titans? Like, think about this. Let's say Ligerious need has to start the season on the physically unable to perform list. Six weeks.

And he can't play. And the Titans are two and four. And it feels obvious, oh the Titans are just going to cut Ligeria Sneed after the season. It's over. You know, it's not going to work. Why would Ligeria Sneed come back? Why would he? Why would he do that?

Why wouldn't he just say, I'm just going to continue to rehab my injuries, make sure that I get to absolutely 100% healthy with, you know, a year and a half fully off two years when you add in the next off season, you know, and get ready for my next team and hope that I get a decent contract to go to my next team. I'm not saying that is going to happen, but right now, if you had to ask me, would Ligeria Sneed ever play again for the Titans, I would lean towards no. That I would lean towards no. Excuse me. Whoo, battling folks. This is my MJ flu game with my sinus infection, but... Regardless of Snead and whether he plays or not, his uncertainty brings bigger questions about the cornerback room. Jarvis Brownlee Jr., good player, but, you know, he wasn't always great last year. He had some bad moments, and honestly, I don't think that he's been incredibly impressive in this training camp or in this mini camp

that just happened. I don't think he was terrible, but it's based on everything you see and you read and you hear and you know, didn't seem like he was a standout. Let's just say that. Roger McCreary is on the last year of his contract and we have proof now.

Roger McCreary is a the last year of his contract, and we have proof now. Roger McCreary is a slot-only player. Okay? Can't play him outside. He gets dominated. Short arms, short in general, like, it's just not a good use of Roger McCreary. And Jarvis Brownlee Jr. may ultimately be a slot player. That's what he said he wanted to play when he came out of college. He just has to play outside because Cheeto was hurt, Snead was hurt, and McCreary is so much better in the slot than he is outside. So what if Jarvis Brownlee Jr. is just okay, you know, doesn't turn into a superstar like we were all hoping? Roger McCreary is a slot only guy and who's gonna play the other spot? Darrell Baker? I

mean he played pretty solid last year but let's not forget he was a cast off of the Colts and they had a terrible secondary. And then game Judy Lawley. Hopefully he breaks out this year and becomes a rosterable player, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. What are we really counting on here? What are we banking on here? And then we have the two rookies, Jermari Harris, who's pretty good, who's had a pretty good mini camp. Marcus Harris, who has great speed, Titans taking the sixth round.

But those are two rookies who are truly undrafted free agent level talents. So Roger McCreary, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Darrell Baker, Gabe Judy, Lollie, Marcus Harris, Jamari Harris, that is one of the worst cornerback rooms in the NFL if that's what it looks like for the majority of the season. That's not good. That's trouble. Especially if Jarvis Brownlee Jr. doesn't become like a high level starting corner. Not even, I don't, not saying he's got to be elite, but like there are level starting corner. Not even, I'm not saying he's gotta be elite, but like there are two starting outside corners. So if he's not in the top 32 of them,

that can be trouble. You know, think of Jarvis Brownlee Jr. was a, you know, of the 50th best outside corner and Roger McCreary was, you know, the eighth best slot corner. And then you had Darrell Baker or Gabe Judy Lawley or Jamari Harris or Marketlike, that would be bad. So, the quarterback room, massive question, and I would just not be shocked if the Titans went out and added another veteran, like an Asante Samuel Jr. or a Kyle Fuller or, uh, Rosal Douglas, someone of that nature, you know? Because it could, it could get bad if Snead is not there.

Now, finally, we got to talk about the pass rush. And I want to, I want to sink my teeth into the pass rush more tomorrow when I talk about what I know and what I don't know. But Femiola Dejo and how good he's going to be, that really could change the dynamic of the pass rush and what it's capable of. Now there's a ceiling to the pass rush, which I'll discuss tomorrow based on what they have and what they can add and what they can realistically do. But the biggest question I think for the pass rush is how good is Femiola De Gio going to be right away as a pass rusher?

How good right away? Massive question that will ultimately determine what the ceiling or how close the Titans get to the ceiling for their pass rush. Femi is the key to that. So the final question,

out of all the biggest questions for the Titans, will Cam Ward be the guy? Is Callie the man for the job? The O-line, how good the rookies will actually be as pass catchers? The cornerback room? And then how good is Femi Oladejo really gonna be? Massive question for the Titans.

Because he's your second round pick. And this is a rebuilding team. So the Titans can have patience. But when it comes to the 2025 Tennessee Titans and their biggest questions, how much can Femiola De Gio give you right away? Is as high up there as any of the secondary ones we talked about throughout the show. But with that being said, again, tomorrow, I'm going to tell you what I do know. Friday, we're going to talk about the Titans schedule going forward. Division Rival week. Next week, summer content never slows down, but that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rollin, and this was Locked on Titans.