Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Biggest Strengths, Weaknesses & Derrek Tuszka Scouting Report

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

The Tennessee Titans continued to deal with the loss of edge rusher Harold Landry over the weekend when they signed former Pittsburgh Steeler Derrek Tuszka. What can he bring to the defense? Tyler gives you a quick breakdown. Next, the Titans kick off the season against the New York Giants this week. Going into the year, what are the Titans top three strengths as a team? Finally, what are their top three weaknesses??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, it is officially game week. The Tennessee Titans take on the New York Giants this week. And before we dive into all of that, I want to take one last look at the roster as a whole. What are the top three strengths of the Tennessee Titans team going into the year? What are the top three weaknesses? And we're going to talk about Derek Tuska, who was signed over the weekend to help deal

with the loss of Harold Landry. So all of that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are a 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. Titans fans, we are talking Titans top three strengths, Titans top three weaknesses,

and a little scouting breakdown on Derek Tuzka on today's show. Before we get into it, I do want to let you know that today's episode of Locked on Titans is presented by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Pick two to five players and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projections,

you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First-time users can get a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with the promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepix.com, promo code LOCKEDON. Do want 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 Tennessee Titans content all year round

on all platforms, always free. That includes the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash the notification bell. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. All that stuff goes a long way. We talk about supporting the channel.

But missed you guys over the long holiday weekend. Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable one out there. I know I did. Probably my favorite weekend of the year getting ready for football season. And I want to dive back into the story that we finished last week with. And of course,

that's the Harold Landry ACL tear. Completely unfortunate. I know at this point, after Friday, when it was still raw, we've probably had some time to process things a little bit. And we're seeing solutions that the Titans are trying to create. We talked about Rashad Weaver. We talked about Ola Adani, David Anini.

I mentioned how I think it's really Bud Dupree who has to step up now that Harold Landry is out and be worth the $20 million that he's getting paid this year. It's time for Bud Dupree to be worth the money. Big season from Bud Dupree here can really help deal with the loss of Harold Landry, specifically in the pass rush. But the Titans went out and got another body that they think can help with the loss of Harold Landry, and it's Derek Tuzka.

So Tuzka was a seventh round pick out of North Dakota State in 2020. He went to the Denver Broncos. He ended up playing nine games for the Broncos. That year he had a 76.9 run defense grade. That first rookie season with Denver. So not bad. He got injured. Ended up on IR.

2021, he's with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Plays 15 games for Pittsburgh. Has 18 tackles in his career. Two sacks, five pressures. He is 6'4", 250 pounds. So a big-bodied guy. And I talked to my guy over in Pittsburgh, Chris Carter, the host of Locked on Steelers,

who works for a number of publications in Pittsburgh. And we talked about Tuska and what kind of player he is. And here's the reality. Tuska's not an explosive athlete. He's not going to be winning in the pass rush nonstop. But he is a guy who's physical. And as an outside linebacker and an edge rusher, he can set the edge, play against the run.

Like I mentioned his run grade on PFF prior. That is the best part of his game. He's willing to be physical. He's willing to get in there, take on a lead block, take on an offensive tackle, set the edge, and not get blown off. That's the one thing Chris Carter from Locked On Steelers said. He's not going to make a lot of splash plays, but he's not going to get absolutely blown away a lot either.

He's just a solid guy who will come out there, and I think that within the Titans scheme and within the Titans rotation, that's going to be incredibly valuable. Rashad Weaver, great pass rusher right now. That's the best part of his game, relentless pass rusher. Yeah, he doesn't have all the moves in the world, but his energy, his motor, again, the relentlessness, it's something that Rashad Weaver talked about himself during the preseason

is that's what sets him apart. Obviously, we know Bud Dupree with the advanced handwork, another guy who is known for being a relentless pass rusher. Ola Dainey, while not incredibly polished, does have a little bit more speed that can get around. And David Aneni is a project we've talked about a lot. Great bend, great length, great athleticism from the undrafted free agent out of Houston, but he just needs some help with run defense. Well, in comes Tuska.

So that's perfect. He kind of gives the Titans outside linebacker group something that they didn't have after the loss of Harold Landry. So, no, Tuska's not going to come in and be a pro bowler. No, he's not going to come in and be a pure starting level outside linebacker. He's going to be part of a three-man rotation that will mostly include Weaver, Adani, and him, Tuska, Derek Tuska. And that's what the Titans are going to try to do to create a combination of things in hopes that it can equal 75-60% of what Harold Landry gives. The other 40%

is going to have to be done by a second level linebacker or defensive back, quite frankly. So I like Tuska personally. I think it's a solid addition. Again, you're not going to solve this problem with one signing or one trade or one move,

but putting Tuska and his skillset as a physical run defender and a special teams player, he's played over 150 snaps of special teams two years in a row. You add that into the mix, and you're trying to make the best of a bad situation. So I didn't think that was a bad move. I thought it was a smart move by the Titans to get somebody with that skill set to put in there. So that's my thoughts on Tuska and what he can give to the Titans defense. I do want to mention that in practice on Monday for the Titans,

the only two Tennessee Titans who did not participate were Elijah Molden and Lonnie Johnson. Now, both those guys are going to be, in my opinion, the tight end stopper, the new Dan Crookshank rule. They're going to be tight end stoppers on third down, but got to tell you, I think the New York Giants have the worst group of tight ends in the entire NFL. So if there's one team that I'm not super concerned about the tight end group, it's the Giants.

So hopefully Moulton can get back. Lonnie Johnson can come back. Hopefully they can play this week. But if not, I'm less worried about it than I will be against Dawson Knox in week two or, you know, Darren Waller early in the season against the Raiders. You see what I mean? Go look up the Giants tight end group. Cody Bellinger or Daniel Bellinger.

Cody Bellinger is the baseball player. Multi-sport brain. Daniel Bellinger, the rookie, is their number one tight end basically. So not too worried about all of that. But do also want to mention that Tuska and Josh Gordon did practice on Monday. I think Gordon's getting called up to play in the game on Sunday, but we'll wait to see. That's quite a bit of

ways. I do want to tell you guys coming up later this week, tomorrow I am going to be basically giving you my season projections. I'm going to update my season win-loss total. I'm going to give you stat projections. Who will be the Titans MVP. I'll do some general NFL predictions. Wednesday, we'll have crossover Wednesday with Patricia Trainor, the GOAT,

who's been covering the Giants for a long time with Locked On Giants. We'll have our game preview late in the week. And then on Friday night, I'm going to do a little bit of a Friday night live and get you guys some information on a Titans merchandise giveaway that I'll be doing later this weekend. So still a big week here on the Locked on Titans podcast, ready for some football. Before we get into strengths and weaknesses on the Titans team, I'm going to dive into those in just a second. Before we get into them, I want to tell you a little bit more about our title sponsor

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Go to prizepix.com or download the PrizePix app. And again, use that promo code LOCKEDON for an instant deposit match up to $100. Titans fans, as I mentioned, it is game week. We have made it to the beginning of the NFL regular season. Could not be more excited to have an actual game to talk about. I got to tell you guys,

I usually do quite a bit of scouting before games throughout the year. Our rewatch Wednesdays that we have, and then our game previews that come out on Thursday night or into Friday morning. I really talk scheme related items that I'm expecting to see. Well, the Titans are probably going to have a similar problem that I have with the Giants. You don't know what they're going to look like. You can go back and look at some old Buffalo tape.

You could maybe look at the preseason, but it's always very vanilla. But you don't truly know what this team's going to look like, how they're going to use their players. So there's a little bit of uncertainty there. It may make it difficult for the Titans to have a great game plan. It'll be important for the Titans to adjust in-game to what they're seeing from what the Giants are doing. The only way that they're really going to be able to get a good read is to make great in-game adjustments. So, looking forward to the season, though.

Now that we know who the Titans are, what the roster is going to look like, what are the Titans' top three strengths as a team? Well, I am going to start somewhere that I think is obvious. And it's the backfield. And Derrick Henry, number one. Do not forget. Do not forget with all the hubbub. Derrick Henry is the most impactful offensive player

in the NFL when healthy. That is not a quarterback. BetOnline, in partnership with Locked On, did a top 50 NFL players based on betting value list. Derrick Henry was the first non-quarterback. based on betting value list, Derrick Henry was the first non-quarterback. When Derrick Henry's on the field,

defenses are tilted. The numbers bear it out. The Titans see more eight-man boxes when Derrick Henry's on the field than any other team in the NFL by far. Eight-man boxes open up the passing game for you. So, so, eight man boxes open up the passing game for you so if Derrick Henry is healthy and ready to go which it appears he is and the Titans just gave him two million more dollars

just because they wanted to be nice I know it's to help clear out some cap but I mean they basically committed to Derrick Henry for two more years guaranteed and gave him a $2 million pay bump last week just because we love him. I'm expecting big things from Derrick Henry again. Period.

And I believe in that. And I count on that. That is still a strength. And I said the backfield, not just Derrick Henry. Because although I, I have been incredibly critical of

Ryan Tannehill and many in the fan base have been incredibly critical of Ryan Tannehill. We're talking about his performance in the postseason when we talk about that. Tannehill, last year everyone wants to make the team

excuses based on the injuries last year, but no one wants to make Tannehill, last year, everyone wants to make the team excuses based on the injuries last year, but no one wants to make Tannehill excuses with the injuries. The offensive line was god-awful in pass protection. We had the worst right tackle in the NFL last year. Des Fitzpatrick, Cody Hollister, Chester Rogers. Like, the wide receiver group was pathetic last year at times during the season.

Ryan Tannehill is a baller for the Titans. Okay? He's been a top 10 quarterback the first two years that he was the starter. And then last year, with all of that around him he still led the Titans to 12-5 with garbage around him quite frankly at points and times during the season because of all the injuries

so I'm just saying while we're all generally down on Ryan Tannehill having Ryan Tannehill in the backfield with Derrick Henry is a strength of this team. If you give Ryan Tannehill a little bit more time, if you give Ryan Tannehill some better weapons, he can be good for you during the regular season. He can be a top 10 quarterback during the regular season. He can. And that leadership and just the continuity of having Tannehill back there with Henry, the Titans' backfield is continuing to be a major strength for them with Henry and Tannehill back there. Again, I know we're all down on Tannehill,

but we can't let that go too far. We're talking about his playoff performances. He's been good in the regular season. He's been good. And last year, there were some more turnovers, but he was under constant pressure. Had guys like Des Fitzpatrick out there running routes for him. So, just keep that in mind.

I think the next strength that I'm going to talk about here is maybe going to surprise some people. But it's the tight end group. I truly do believe the Titans have a great tight end group. And if you've listened to me throughout the offseason and throughout training camp and the preseason, you would know that my philosophical view of what the Titans need to do this year

is predicated on the tight end group. I think Austin Hooper will be a light in the darkness, a drop of water in the desert for the Titans offense to have a chain mover that Tannehill can count on and a guy who has the versatility to be somewhat of a threat in the passing game, but also be able to block. The Titans did not have that on the roster last year. Swain can only block.

Berkshire could only catch passes. Pruitt is kind of in between and doesn't do either of those super well. So, I think that having Hooper and Chigaconquo, who remember the Titans offense

with Arthur Smith when they do those bootlegs and Jonu Smith would come behind the offensive line into the opposite flat and they dump it off to Jonu and he'd get 12 to 15 yards just running. Chigaconkwo isn't Jonu yet, but that opens up those type of plays in the offense again. Last year, they were relying on like Michael Pruitt to run those routes. Berkshire, if he's in, it wasn't believable because he can't block. And Pruitt just simply isn't the level of player you want with the ball in his hands making those plays.

Okay? I just think having Swaim as the third tight end and the secondary blocking tight end, having Austin Hooper as a versatile number one, having Chigaconguo as an explosive option, I just think the tight end group is a major strength for the Titans, and it will allow the Titans to play more heavy tight end personnel, which will allow them to tilt the numbers in the run game the way that they need it

and let them get back to pounding the ball consistently and then hitting and literally being able to throw the ball to the tight ends after they do that. That's great if you can run the ball like the Titans did last year, but when no one respects the tight ends, who cares about the play-action game off that? So I'm just excited about the tight end group. I think it's a major, major strength.

And finally, I'm just going to say the defense as a whole. I mean, the defense has to be the number one strength for the Titans this year. It simply has to be. It has to be. And I believe that it still will be. Although Landry's gone, think about the pass rush still. Simmons, Autry, Budd, Weaver. I mean, even I would say Naquan Jones is a solid pass rusher from the interior.

So I still think that the Titans pass rush and defense overall can be top five. I still think so. I still believe it. Landry is a major loss. I still think the Titans have enough talent on defense to be a top tier defense in the NFL and for it to be a major, major strength for them. But what about the weaknesses? What about the weaknesses for the

Titans? And I'm sure that there will be a ton of disagreement on this, but I'm going to dive into those weaknesses and tell you why the biggest weakness for the Titans that we saw at the beginning of the all season is still the biggest weakness for the Titans that we saw at the beginning of the all season is still the biggest weakness for the Titans as we head into the season. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's show talking about the top three weaknesses for the Titans going into the season. We talked about Derek Tosca. We talked about the strengths for the Titans.

I want to get into that. Before I do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, here on the Locked on Titans podcast, it's your team every day, Monday through Friday, daily, free, Tennessee Titans content, all year round, on all platforms. Make sure that you stay subscribed.

But diving in here to the top three weaknesses for the Titans. As I teased, it's still wide receiver. Everyone wanted them to upgrade at wide receiver. When we got the trade for Robert Woods, everyone was hype, felt like Woods, he who must not be named,

or the chat goes crazy, Nick Westbrook-Akina, add in two rookies. Now the wide receiver group is great. Well, they added the two rookies. They look good. But they lost he who must not be named. And with that in mind,

yeah, the top four is pretty solid. Okay? Nick Westbrook-Akina, more of a three, four, a third or fourth wide receiver in my opinion, but all right. Within the Titans system, he fits better than he fits on other teams.

So he has more value to the Titans than other teams. Woods, Woods has always been a very, very solid number two wide receiver. So he's not just going to fall off the map. I believe that Robert Woods is professional enough to still have a great season. I like Phillips and Burks, guys. I do, but they're rookies.

They're rookies. I do, but they're rookies. They're rookies. I just, like people are putting in the chat a thousand yards for Burks. Like, guys, I'll be happy if Burks has like 500, 600 yards. He's a rookie. We're just asking so, so much out of two rookies in the top four. So, so much.

It scares me. It scares me. Travis, we're pretty much in line, my man. Gotta tell you. I'll get there. So, that's an okay top four if the rookies ball out. If the rookies act like rookies, that's scary. And I'm worried about it. And I know a lot of you guys aren't as worried about wide receiver because you're higher on the rookies and you're higher on NWI. I think the rookies could be good and they're still rookies.

It just makes me worry. It just makes me worry. And the upheaval at the end of the depth chart, none of the guys the Titans had in camp proved to be good enough to be on an NFL roster except Ray C. McMath. Now he's out for four games. And I still was. We did this with Marcus Johnson and Chester Rogers last year, guys.

Everybody got overhyped, said the Titans wide receiver group had so much depth, so much depth. Should they keep seven? And then it was off. Okay. So. Just saying, I'm concerned,

I like Josh Gordon a lot, I banged the table, said that they should bring him in, you know, I did, I was on here for 30 minutes, yelling at you guys saying, bring on Josh Gordon,

so I like him, but, one of the big problems with Josh Gordon, is the unreliability, and that's why Mike Vrabel, in his press conference on Monday just said we need him to be available. You know?

So, I'm just a little worried. If you aren't a Titans fan and you look at the Titans wide receiver group on paper, you would tell yourself that's a bottom five group. Now, us as Titans fans, we're obviously more optimistic and more hype on the players that we have, but we do have to accept reality at some point. This isn't a great wide receiver group.

Hopefully, I'm proven wrong. Going with heavy tight end looks, which plays into why I think they're going to do that. Going to heavy tight end looks will mitigate that problem. But, if we skip forward right now to the NFL draft next year, there's only two positions

that people would take in the first round. It's the's only two positions that people would take in the first round. And it's the same two positions that we wanted to take in the first round this year. It's wide receiver, and then offensive line. Offensive line is another weakness, man. We all like Aaron Brewer because he's one of the guys that's been here for a while, but I don't think Aaron Brewer is a starter in the NFL. I don't. I truly don't. Aaron Brewer is a starter in the NFL. I don't.

I truly don't. Maybe, and if he is, it's at center. I could see him being a starting center. I don't know about a starting guard. I don't know. Six foot one? Just so small. I know he's tougher than a $2 steak or whatever,

but it does make you worry. And then, guys, I'm happy about NPF, but he didn't look great in that last preseason game, and he's a rookie who's still going to go through struggles. He was not a first-round rookie bona fide. Some people thought he may be a guard in the NFL. Here we go again with that. I think NPF will be okay.

We're talking about a rookie. Ben Jones is always banged up. Nate Davis practicing. Looks like he's going to be good to go, but he was banged up before the year. While I'm hoping that LeJuan comes back, you know, another year removed from the ACL,

guys usually get back to themselves. But the one still closer to the end of his career than the beginning, I'm just saying, guys. I think next year, next year, not only do the Titans have to draft an offensive lineman high, but I think they need to spend big money on the offensive line at one spot, whether it be right tackle or guard,

whatever they decide after the season, we'll know. Yeah, I certainly hope the NPF is an upgrade over Quest and Barry. I certainly do, but I don't know. We'll see. I'm just, you know, there are things that we're excited about, things we're optimistic about. But when you look at weaknesses, you just have to acknowledge some of the realities

of things that can go wrong. And the last thing that I'm going to mention as a weakness, and somebody said it earlier, is the depth in the defensive backfield. So I like the defense when you look at the starters. You look at, obviously, Bayard, Hooker, top safety duo in the league maybe. Definitely top three.

I like Fulton. And I really like Roger McCreary. And I feel good there. But outside of that, you just don't know that Caleb Farley's a guy who they can actually play. Elijah Molden's been banged up.

Then you're looking at Trey Avery, an undrafted free agent, who, again, you have to acknowledge reality. Yeah, he looks solid in the preseason, and we want him to be cool, you know, good because he's a Titans player, but he's still an undrafted free agent rookie cornerback. You know, what are our real expectations here? Ugo Amadi, the Titans just traded for him. Who knows what they're going to get out of him?

So, and outside of that, Lonnie Johnson's a little banged up, but all you got is A.J. Moore. I guess I'm just saying, I sure do hope, I sure do hope, that the Titans don't have a lot of injuries in the secondary. They certainly cannot afford it. They certainly can't.

Again, I love the starters in the secondary, but the depth behind them, a little shaker. A little shaky. That's all I'll say. A little shaky. And I agree, guys. I like a lot of these guys.

Amadi, Lonnie Johnson. They look pretty solid. But you just never know. I don't feel comfortable enough to say that it's not a weakness. It's the depth in the defensive backfield. And I would include that in the back seven at stack linebacker as well. You know, I got to tell you, I'm not as worried about outside linebacker. I like Weaver a lot.

I like Ola. I like Anini. I like Tosca. So I'm not as worried. I'm more worried about the depth at stack linebacker and at cornerback and at safety than I am outside linebacker. I like the group of outside linebackers. Yeah, Landry's a tough blow, but just simply not concerned there.

Not concerned about the interior defensive line. Not really that worried about the tight ends in the backfield or the starters in the defensive backfield, like I mentioned. So those are areas I'm not worried about, really. It's just depth in the back seven on the defense, the offensive line, and the wide receiver group. Those are where my real worries lie. And I think if you're an honest Titans fan

and you have to point out some worries, I think it would be hard to make a list that didn't include those. So that's where I came at. But tomorrow, tomorrow is all about projections. Okay? I'm going to be doing stat projections. I'm going to be doing predictions on the Titans record. I'm going to do predictions on the NFL as well,

just to throw those out there and get them on wax, as Jalen Rose would say, so that you guys have those. And then we got Crossover Wednesday coming with Patricia Trena, my game preview coming later in the week, and we'll do a little Friday night live and have a little Q&A on Friday night before the season kicks off. So can't wait. It's game week, guys. Giants hate week, a.k.a., as we could call it.

But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.