Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans BIGGEST SURPRISE Rookie, Biggest Bust Potential and Most Overhyped

Episode Date: May 9, 2023

The Tennessee Titans 2023 NFL Draft class will have a chance to make a big impact for year's to come, but there are questions to be asked right now. Who will be the biggest surprise in their rookie season for the Titans? Who has the most upside long term? Which draftee has the best chance to be a bust and which player is the most overhyped? Tyler answers these and more plus goes over his guesses from last year!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!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month.Built 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.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 third round running back Tajay Spears will be the biggest surprise rookie this season. Who's the most overhyped rookie and which rookie has the most long-term potential? We're going to break that down and more on a draft superlative 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, we're handing out draft superlatives on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Like I said, biggest surprise rookie, most long-term potential, most overhyped, best chance to bust. We're going to cover that and a lot more. Before we get into it, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who could take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit betterhelp.com slash locked on to get 10% off your first month today. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, nearly 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic and a certified film junkie breaking down the X's and O's with you guys every single day on the Locked

On Titans podcast. It's Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year long and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed and 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 listening to the show Monday through Friday. They'll be excited to know that the schedule comes out this week. I'm going to have a ton of content coming out on Friday, breaking down the Titans schedule.

Usually the last show of the week comes out on Thursday night, but with the schedule coming out on Thursday night, we'll have the last show of the week up on Friday, breaking down the toughest stretch of the schedule, the best X-Factor games, the must-wins for the Titans, a lot of content coming your way. But with that being said, let's get into these draft superlatives. And number one, as I teased at the top of the show, who will be the biggest surprise rookie

this year for the Titans? For me, it's running back Tajay Spears. And I know that may be a little bit of a surprise to some people, but I think Spears can come in and have a big time role on the offense. We talk about replacing Dontrell Hilliard and being that complimentary back out of the backfield on passing downs for the Titans. But I think Spears can do a lot more than that. I think that yes, he can come out of the backfield and catch passes. Yes, he can protect the quarterback and pass protect situations on third downs. But I think Spears is somebody who can help the Titans on early downs as well. And this is a little bit of a difference from Dontrell Hilliard over the last year and a

half or with the injury year total. If you take the last half of 2021 and then the first half of 2022, Hilliard didn't really have the ability to consistently impact the offense as a runner, as a guy who they can literally hand the ball to. He's just not a guy who's going to be able to execute those situations well enough. He did a great job being that scat back, satellite back, out of the backfield, all that, but he couldn't really spell Derrick Henry and run downhill hard and get yards in that way. He had some brief moments and some flashes of doing that, but consistently just not something that Dontrell Hilliard was going to be able to do.

So bring in Spears who can give you that. Spears not only can do all the third down back responsibilities that we talk about, but he's a guy who can actually run the ball and spell Derrick Henry appropriately. If you're somebody who wants the Titans to maybe keep Derrick Henry around for a couple of more years, then Spears is the best thing that could have happened because he's someone who can extend Derrick Henry's career by giving him a meaningful partner, a meaningful partner, not just a specialized role player on third downs,

but a meaningful partner to go with him who could take some food off Derrick Henry's plate. Just taking the third down responsibilities doesn't really change Derrick Henry's workload over the past few years. He's never been a guy to consistently take that weight. So if you really want to take work off of Derrick Henry's calendar, per se, his agenda, if you want to take things off that, then Adam Spears is big. So me, Spears is a guy who, he was kind of third in the pecking order

of things to discuss after the draft, talking about Levis, talking about the wide receivers, and then there was Spears, and it was mostly just talking about his knee injury. So to me, Spears is a guy who people haven't talked about enough as someone who can truly make a real contribution

to the offense, and that's why he's my number one surprise rookie. In terms of who will have the most productive season in year one for the Titans, for me, it's Peter Skowronski. He's going to start from day one. I think he's probably going to be the Titans' best offensive lineman from day one. At least that's the hope. That's the expectation. And if that holds in any way, and even if it doesn't reach its peak, even if it's, you know, comes out B level of what you want, I still think that that would be true. So Skowronski will be the most productive rookie in year one. The last one that I want to tackle here to start the show is which rookie

has the biggest upside. Now, I really thought about going with Peter Skowronski here because I think Skowronski has a chance to be a Hall of Famer. I think he could be that good on the interior. Pro Bowl at minimum. But, you look at the size,

look at the arm strength, look at the mobility, look at the work ethic, you gotta go with Will Levis. And if you ask the Titans, they would tell you that same thing. And that's why they went to get him. That's why they were trying to trade back up in the end of the first round to go get Will Levis because they think he has big time upside to be a real franchise quarterback for this team.

So you got to go with Will Levis there. Can I tell you, I almost went with Jalen Duncan. You guys know I'm not a big fan of the pick. I have my doubts about Jalen Duncan, but, but, he does have all the athleticism

and all the tools to be a really, really good offensive lineman. Like, really good. So, maybe, maybe Jalen Duncan would have been the pick there, but you got to go with Will Levis for biggest upside. So, biggest surprise rookie, Tajay Spears running back. Most productive in year one, Peter Skowronski.

Biggest upside, Will Levis. We're going to talk biggest bust, best long-term potential, most likely to get cut from the team as well. And at the end of the show, I'm going to go over my superlatives from last year's draft class and we'll see if I got them right or if I got them wrong. And as with everything, it's a bit of a mixture of both. But with that in mind, we are going to move forward here. I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you

by BetterHelp Online Therapy. Guys, life is difficult to navigate. There's no easy way to go about it. Whether you dealt with traumas in your past, current stress that you're going through, or you're just looking to go on a journey of self-discovery. Either way, therapy can help you get there. And I think better help is a great, convenient, flexible way to do therapy, in my opinion. So there's a questionnaire at the beginning, kind of let's better help figure out

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So find your balance. Find yourself. Whatever you're looking for, BetterHelp can help you get there. Visit betterhelp.com slash locked on to get 10% off your first month today. That's BetterHelp.com slash locked on to get 10% off your first month today. That's BetterHelp.com slash locked on. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's draft superlative edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just did productive year one, rookie surprise, biggest upset. We got a lot more great superlatives to go through going forward

before we get to it. Do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year long and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. The schedule comes out

later this week. I'm going to have a schedule wish list episode tomorrow. I'm going to be breaking down on Friday because all the schedule comes out on Thursday night. On Friday, I'm going to have a podcast out in the morning, breaking down the schedule exactly. I'm going to have short videos coming out on the YouTube as well.

So just make sure that you stick with me here. A lot of content coming your way. And that doesn't even count rookie minicamps starting next week, different OTAs, going into mandatory minicamp in June. I mean, so much content coming your way here on the Locked on Titans podcast. My everydayers aren't going to miss it. Let me know down below

in the comments or tag me on Twitter at TikTok Titans. Let me know if you're an everydayer out there. I appreciate you guys. But moving right along. Which pick could be the biggest bust for the Titans? Well, I just did biggest upside, and I picked Will Levis,

so it's only fair that we keep it real and say the biggest bust here is also Will Levis. He has the potential to be the biggest bust. There's no way around it. He has the highest bust potential. He's a highly drafted quarterback. He needs work with his footwork and decision-making and processing and all that stuff. So with the gamble, and this is different.

Last year with Malik, the Titans took Malik Willis with pick 86 in a nine-man draft class. This year, they take Levis with the 33rd pick, which they traded a third-round pick to go up and do in a six man draft class when you really need to reset the roster. So the Titans sacrificed a lot to go get Levis. So not only him as a player, but what the Titans gave up to go get him.

It definitely has the potential to be the biggest bust. The next one though is another highly debatable one. And it's which rookie has the most long-term potential? And, you know, honestly, I wouldn't hate you if you answered Will Levis to this one, too. But for me, I had to go with Peter Skowronski.

Like I said at the top of the show, I think Skowronski has a chance to not only be a day one starter for the Titans, but be a Pro Bowl level player, be an All-Pro level player, potentially a Hall of Fame level player. Skowronski has that ability if things go correct for the Titans.

Now, when it comes to Hall of Fame, it comes to Pro Bowls and All-Pro, all, some of that stuff does depend on the team's success and the situation that you're in. Football is the ultimate team game, so there's no way around that. But, he's got great strength, great balance, good work ethic. His grandfather played for Vince Lombardi and won Super Bowls with the Packers as a team captain in the 50s and the 60s.

I mean, this guy played for like six to eight years and then went and did service in the military for two years and then came back for another eight years. I mean, that's pretty impressive. Shout out to Skowronski's grandpa. Bob Skowronski? Just a guess there. Eight years. I mean, that's pretty impressive. Shout out to Skowronski's grandpa. I think it's Bob Skowronski. Just a guess there off the top of my head.

But with that family pedigree, with the work ethic, with what we know about Skowronski and the fact that he can play some tackle, he can probably be awesome at guard. There's just too many different outcomes where Skowronski is a good player. And look, we're talking all pro, pro bowl, blah, blah, blah, all this stuff. I mean, we could just boil it down to who will be a starter the longest in the NFL. And to me, that answer is easily Peter Skowronski.

Gun to my head, it's got to be Skowronski. So that's where I land on that one. And then the last one here that I want to talk about in this little section, before we get into my final superlatives and last year's guesses, see how I did there. The last one is, who is the

least likely rookie, out of the rookie class, draft class, I should say, to make the team. Who is the least likely to actually make it? Now, Colton Dow may be an option. He's a seventh round rookie.

Doesn't really mean a lot. I mean, I think of, but Cole McDonald and Brady Bze and Theo Jackson. And we could go through the list. I know that's a different regime, but just the odds are that there's going to be at least one late round rookie that doesn't make the team. The Titans' circumstance as a team

and how they're going with a youth movement, basically, while still holding on to some aged veterans. Interesting approach. But there's a better chance than ever for a young rookie to make the roster this year. It's a small draft class, only six guys. And why not? You know, it's not like the Titans

have a veteran-laden team with not a lot of spots available. There's a lot of spots available on this roster. So I understand that this year, doing this guess is more likely to be wrong than in previous years. But for me, the least likely to make the team is Jalen Duncan.

The Titans have some options on the offensive line now with the free agency and the draft. Dillard, Skowronski, Aaron Brewer, Daniel Brunskill, Nicholas Petit-Ferrer, probably your starting lineup as things sit right now. They're not going to cut Dylan Radins.

And he may be back. Word is he's progressing well, which is a surprise to me, I admit. And then you have Jamarco Jones, who the Titans apparently aren't cutting bait with yet. Maybe that's a post-June 1st thing, but still haven't caught him yet. You have Corey Levin brought back. So that right there is eight guys.

And while I think Jamarco Jones could be cut, who knows what happens with Radins, there is a chance that the Titans keep nine offensive linemen. Maybe Jalen Duncan is one of those. But if I had to pick somebody who's going to get cut, I think Colton Dowell can definitely stick at wide receiver more than Duncan at offensive line. And then the other guys,

Wiley, Spears, Levis, Skowronski they were getting cut so had to go with Duncan on that one but with that being said we're going to move forward I got three more superlatives and we get to go over how poorly I did last year when I was guessing these things

let me know your guesses down below in the comments as well throw thumbs up on the video if you're watching greatly do appreciate the support. But I'll be right back with you guys to go over my final superlatives of the day. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're doing draft superlatives. We talked most productive rookie season, rookie surprise, biggest upside out of the draft class to start,

went with biggest bust, best long-term potential, least likely to make the team second. Now I want to talk about which rookie is maybe the most overhyped. Which rookie will be the first out of this draft class to make a Pro Bowl? And which will have the most special team's impact? I'm going to be adding that one in from last year's list.

Before we continue, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year long, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed, get subscribed, stay subscribed. We're going to have a ton of scheduled content, scheduled reaction coming your way at the end of the week, going into next week as well.

So make sure you don't miss any of that. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans on Instagram at LockedOnTitans, on Instagram at LockedOnTitans, on Facebook at LockedOnTitansPod. I'm everywhere for you folks. Obviously, LockedOnTitans YouTube channel and any podcast platform, including SiriusXM Radio. Shout out to those guys. Looks like they are partnering up with LockedOn.

You're going to be able to get our content on there as well. But going with the most overhyped rookie. And when I say overhyped, I just mean somebody that a lot of people are expecting to contribute in year one who I think may not contribute quite as much as people expect, whether that be injury, whether that be playing time, whatever it is, it's just that's the point. We think they're going to

be a big factor and they end up not being a factor in any significant way. I'll say that. And for me as much as it hurts me to say this because this is one of my guys again another guy

that I was pounding the table for the Titans to take late in the draft they do and I think he could have an impact on the Titans offense and more than the way that most people are thinking and it's Josh Wiley

the tight end out of Cincinnati and again hurts my soul to say it because I liked Wiley throughout the whole process I mean early in the process I identified Wiley as a guy like 6'6 245

250 pound tight end can split out as a wide receiver, go up and get it in the red zone. Good athleticism, size, speed, combination. Has improved as a blocker, all of that. But, rookie tight end. We saw how explosive and how important Chigakonkwo was

to the Titans last year. He barely got over 50% snaps until the second half of the season. Mike Vrabel is not going to let a rookie tight end come out and play as much as we're hoping to see Wiley play at the start. And Wiley isn't

the blocker that Mike Vrabel is going to trust from day one. He's going to put Trevin Wesko out there. Like, I can already envision complaining about snap counts

of Trevin Wesco to Chigaconqua. I can already tell you, we're going to be here one day in the postcast after a game and we're going to be saying, how did Trevin Wesco get more snaps than Chigaconqua? How does that happen? We can get as excited as we want about Chiggy Conquo, and I am.

Mike Vrabel just wants an extra offensive lineman. And that's going to be Wesco. And if it's not Wesco, then Chiggy is going to get the snaps. Which means that I think Wiley is going to have a much more muted year one than maybe we're hoping for or expecting. As for the first member of this draft class to make the Pro Bowl, got to be Peter Skowronski, right? Maybe it's Levis.

Maybe it's Spears. Those are all guys who I consider. But I think we got to go with Peter Skowronski. I think there's a good chance that if Derrick Henry has a great year running the ball, the Titans are more competitive than people expect. They win 9-10 games, and Skowronski makes a huge

difference. I think he can make the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Now, the Pro Bowl, I know a lot of you guys are going to, what does the Pro Bowl mean anymore? But I'm just saying. Just using it as a general parameter. And then finally, I added this one this year. Which rookie

is going to have the biggest special teams impact? And I went with Colton Dow. And yes, I made up this category just to mention Colton Dow, because he's the only one who didn't get a spot. So there you go, Colton. This one was for you. Biggest special teams impact. Colton Dow. As for how I did

on last year's guesses, very fun. The most productive rookie, I thought it would be Kyle Phillips. Just right away, coming in, a defined role as a slot guy with punt return duties

and he dropped a couple of punts early, couldn't stay healthy and I was wrong. The answer to that is probably Nicholas Petit Ferrer just because he played all year long. You know what I mean? I know production, we can't like point to statistics for

Nicholas Petit Ferrer, but he started all year long on the offensive line on a team that was ridiculously injured so that counts. Of course, you could say Chig if you want to just go pure box score stuff. On the defense side, McCreary, same thing.

It wasn't like he was excellent in year one, but he played all year. That's production, right? Just playing. So that counts. Best upside, I went with Malik. But I think the answer right now is either Burks or Chig.

So I think I got that one wrong. Uh, biggest bust. Nicholas Petit Ferrer is what I said. I thought there was a chance he got beat out by Dylan Radins and didn't even factor in. Uh, I was wrong about that. Probably say it's Malik Willis. Maybe it's not fair. If you don't think it's fair, I'd say Hassan Haskins.

Because the Titans took Haskins because the Titans took Haskins in the fourth round and he's not really a guy who's going to be able to run the ball for you. He was a great special teams contributor, so I feel bad even mentioning him in there, but in terms of being taken in the fourth round, expected to maybe be a complimented running back, Hassan Haskins

is an RB3. He's going to play special teams on coverage units. He is going to protect the quarterback in pass pro situations, but he's not going to be a guy you can give the ball to or can catch the ball out of the backfield consistently. So maybe you could say that. Long-term potential, I said Burks. I think it's Burks.

Sleeper, I had Phillips. It was obviously Chigaconquo. Year two leap was a category I had last year. I had Chica Conquo, but can't tell whether that's right or wrong. I actually, if I had to redo it, I would say Burks. Um, most likely to not make the team, I had Chance Campbell. And while he didn't play all year,

Theo Jackson actually got cut. So, uh, gotta got cut. So, gotta be him. First person to make a Pro Bowl, I picked Traylon Burks, but it might end up being Chigga Conqua because the tight end position just doesn't have a lot of studs in the NFL.

There's some really good ones at the top, but not a lot. So you see some random tight ends make it every year. And then most overhyped, I picked Kyle Phillips and... Probably Kyle Phillips. Again, I know he got injured. It wasn't like he was bad, but people were acting like Kyle Phillips was like,

you know... I mean, there were people writing articles that Kyle Phillips was going to have the best season for any rookie slot wide receiver ever. So shout out my boy, Will. We've talked about this before, but yeah, seems fair to say that he was a little overhyped,

but that's going to do it for me today, folks. I will be back with you guys tomorrow for a schedule wishlist edition of the locked on Titans podcast. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

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