Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cam Ward BREAKOUT is NOW, Xavier Restrepo Deserves More & Draft Pick Improvement

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

The Tennessee Titans have not had a good season, but seeing the performance of Cam Ward over the last few weeks has the fanbase as hopeful as it has been all year. Rightfully so, as Ward has taken big steps forward and continues to show signs he is a franchise quarterback every week. Helping him in Week 12 was running mate Xavier Restrepo, who didn't set the world on fire, but did exactly what folks expected he would do and that means he deserves more opportunities going forward. On defense, rookie cornerback Marcus Harris had a fantastic performance and is looking like someone who should be penciled in for a starting role in the slot in 2026. Finally, the Titans draft positioning got some help on Sunday when former Titan Dre'Mont Jones picked up one and a half of the two sacks required to advance the Ravens traded pick into the fourth round. Not only that, but the Cleveland Browns won a game moving one more competitor up in the race for the first overall pick. 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!PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload 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 bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cam Ward is having his rookie breakout moment, and he looks like the quarterback that Tennessee Titans fans were hoping for. That and more on today's edition of Locked on Titan. 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 Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast Is brought to you by Fandul Right now new customers can bet just $5

And if your bet wins you'll get $300 in bonus bets To use across the app on today's show We're gonna talk about how Cam Ward is having his rookie breakout moment The numbers show it the tape shows it And everyone around the NFL seems to be taking notice also We're gonna talk about two rookies that really stood out to me on the tape from the game and that Xavier Restrepo on

offense and then Marcus Harris on defense both those guys I thought had a great game particularly Marcus Harris who we have to discuss also I got to tell you why the Tennessee Titans draft situation got even better on Sunday and I'm not even talking about the Tennessee

Titans game before we get into all of that I 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 here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there.

Tune in Monday through Friday. The Tennessee Titans are about to have an exciting finish to the season and we have a head coaching search right after that. Make sure that you stay locked in with the Locked on Titans podcast. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Again, it's your team every day. With that being said,

Cam Ward is having a breakout moment here, folks. We are seeing it. We talked about it last week, what we saw on tape, the way that he was not only making high-level throws, taking advantage of the playmaking, but he was being more mobile, using his legs more often to move the chains, the simple, boring quarterbacking plays

that he was being able to make with consistency, very encouraging. And we got another addition of that, and I would say an even better edition of that from Cam Ward against the Seattle Seahawks. And again, he does it against the Houston Texans, follows that back up with a game against the Seattle Seahawks, two of the best defenses in the entire NFL and then you look at what these defenses were able to do

against their previous opponents, what Seattle did against the Los Angeles Rams, what Houston did against Josh Allen, and you're like, wow, that makes what Cam Ward was able to do even more impressive and look, I don't like to be beholden to the stats, to the analytics, I rely on the tape and the tape backs up the stats of what you see the last two weeks, Cam Ward, fourth and QBR in the NFL this week.

Pretty impressive. Fourth and pro football focused grade at the quarterback position out of 27 qualified quarterbacks. And not only that, but last week in QBR, Cam Ward was 10th. So we're talking about back-to-back weeks where Cam Ward is a top-10 quarterback performance in the NFL. And think about the circumstances with Cam Ward is doing that. Looking like a, I don't want to say looking like a top 10 quarterback,

but having top 10 quarterback performances on the week. With the cast of wide receivers, Van Jefferson is his wide receiver one. With the offensive line allowing four to five sacks a game. The starting center out, the starting left tackle now out. the first round right tackle struggling mightily. One good offensive linemen on the Titans it's Peter Skoronsky, that's it this year.

It's the only offensive linemen that's actually been good. Everybody else has been at minimum okay. His top three target getters are two rookies in DK and Helm and then an undrafted free agent. And James Prochet and Van Jefferson and in Mason Kinsey. With no running game whatsoever,

Cam Ward back-to-back weeks, that's what makes this even more insane. In these last two weeks where Cam Ward has had his rookie breakout moment, he has been the leading rusher for the team. And it's not like Cam Ward is a Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hertz, Josh Allen type, where there's obvious runners who you can use in design run situations.

Cam Ward ain't running quarterback power and quarterback counter and all these different things that's not his style of play so the fact that Cam Ward is throwing to who he's throwing to behind the line that he's behind with the run game that doesn't exist where he's leading the team in rushing just on three or four scrambles

to be in that sort of environment with the coaching that he's getting and going through the tape I'm making notes on the good Cam Ward plays that I like and the things I'm seeing and I'm also making notes on why are these two wide receivers right next to each other? Why is this wide receiver not coming out of a break

until after Cam Ward has hit his back foot of his drop? Why are things not timed up? Why are things not spaced out correctly? Why are we running up the gut on 4th and 1 with Julius Chestnut? I'm asking questions and taking notes. And I'm like, what Cam Ward has done the last couple of weeks since the buy has been impressive on its own.

When you take the bucket of context and you dump it on, it's even more impressive. And the thing is, back-to-back weeks, 65% completion percentage, no interceptions, back-to-back weeks. He had no turnover-worthy plays in this game against the Seattle Seahawks, a team that has been really good at forcing turnovers.

You look at his shot chart. Like, you know, in basketball, they have a shot chart that shows where all your shots came from and the ones you make. You look at the shot chart for Cam Ward where his throws are going, ethical hoops. Dotting it all over the screen, left, right, middle, deep, short, intermediate, everywhere. Spreading it around, taking what the defense is giving him. And again, I call it a rookie breakout moment because Cam Ward, I wouldn't say that Cam Ward is breaking out like he's going to be a superstar

because usually when you're having a breakout, you're turning into a pro-bull, all-pro-level player, turning into an elite level player or something like that, you're breaking out. But I think you can have gradual breakouts. You can break from one level to the next. And I think Cam Ward sensed the buy

over the last two weeks against two of the best defenses in the NFL. He has played his best games, completed his most number of passes, had a bunch of drop-backs, made plays, did the boring stuff well. He has checked every single, box and I think he's gone up a level from the first version of Cam Ward, the start of his rookie career, tough, difficult circumstances, him not playing his

best football at times admittedly and I've been honest about that too, we are breaking through to the next level of development for Cam Ward right now whereas oh this is a good starting quarterback in the NFL like this guy is a good player, he's making a difference, he's elevating his teammates, he's making taking plays. He's getting the Titans down the field in situations they would not have gotten down the field without him. We are breaking out into the next level of Cam Ward as a player. It's what we're seeing happen right now, breaking through to the other side. And again, the entire NFL has taken notice, whether it be, you know, the big time national analysts who actually know what they're talking about,

you know, like a guy like Dan Orlovsky who actually breaks down tape and study stuff. You talk about, you know, some of the Twitter national level experts, some of the film guys from different, you know, what do I want to call it? Websites and media ventures and things like that they cover. And, you know, when you're a fan in the modern NFL era, being online and seeing the analysis and how people represent your team is part of the struggle. It's part of the experience as how your players are discussed

and how they're respected and how people see. see them and the fact that I'm actually pretty shocked about it the fact that throughout this season most people who cover the NFL nationally have been able to look at Cam Ward's tape and say wow what Cam Ward's doing

on tape is pretty good the situation he's in is pretty bad and those same people who are accurately analyzing Cam Ward's performance early in the season are also now seeing oh wow this guy's gone to a different level It's some of the stuff that you saw from Caleb Williams in year one.

Some of the stuff you saw from Drake May in year one where the coaching is not good, the characters around them. Although Caleb Williams had a much better situation than Drake May or Cam Ward as a rookie. But the point is, and I talked about it last week. Some of these young quarterbacks, these rookie quarterbacks, think about Cam Ward.

Think about Bryce Young, Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, the previous number one overall picks. Think about other guys like Drake May. They didn't have excellent first seasons, but you could see the flashes. And you could see that they needed more help around them. And once those players got more help around them, now their teams are thriving and leading their divisions.

So we're seeing Cam Ward breakthrough to the next level of player that he is going to be right now and again it's satisfying not only as a fan for me to see Cam Ward do it but to see Cam Ward be recognized for the play that he's putting up there in the environment that he's in very satisfying as a fan

and you know what else was very satisfying as a fan watching Xavier Restrepo get an opportunity and make some plays and you know what you were right, the Titans were wrong Xavier Restrepo should have been playing all along and he should get more opportunities going forward. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you

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But now I want to recognize some other rookies who played very, very well in the game against the Seattle Seahawks and Xavier Restrepo and Marcus Harris. Before we dive in, thanks again for making Locked On Titans, your first listen, and thank you for making the Locked On Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. But Xavier Restrepo, I found it very, very interesting. According to Pro Football Focus, he was the second best best

offensive player for the Titans in the game. 71.3 offensive grade again, second best, only second to Cam Ward, who was the highest graded offensive player on the Tennessee Titans on Sunday 78.7. But Xavier Ostrepo had 19 snaps in the game. 15 of those were on past plays, and he was second in the NFL,

or second in the NFL, second on the Titans, and separation score, only behind Chick-a-conquah. He had six targets, caught two of them. I know that you would love for that to be better, but a couple of them were tough situations. Like, the one should have been a penalty where he got hit in the head. That was a personal foul, hit against a defenseless receiver,

should have been a first down for the Titans. Also, the play in the back of the end zone, he could have pulled up, sure, stop, jump, caught it, maybe he could have made a better play on that ball. but we saw the instant chemistry with him and Cam Ward. We saw the quick throw on the outside to get it to him. Like, the way that the Tennessee Titans were using him, cross or across the middle of the field that took two guys' attention on the 4th and 1,

that were 4th and 2 that went to Gunner Helm, he got open. He was there. He made plays. And Mike McCoy, Titans head coach, said that, you know, he had a good performance. There were a couple of routes, you know, he could have run a better route

out of the 15 that he got to run, what have you, could have done, could have done a little bit better, this and that, but that's what a coach is going to say, and he should say, coach should never go out there and say, yeah, he played a perfect game, he's awesome, nothing he can get better at.

Because that's never going to be the case. But again, the fact that Restrepo looked like he belonged out there. He got separation against NFL cornerbacks. On multiple plays, the deep crosser that I talked about on the 4th and 2, on the seven route that they threw to him in the back of the end zone. Like, he didn't look devastatingly slow out there or something,

like he didn't even belong on the field. And he already got more opportunities than Mason Kinsey. Kinsey only had eight snaps on offense, if I recall correctly. Xavier Restrepo got 19. So the coaching staff is already admitting, hey, he's a better receiver than Mason Kinsey is. And he had one special team snap, one special team snap. And like I told you guys last week,

like I've been saying the entire season since the summer. Playing other players like James Prochet or Mason Kinsey over Xavier Restrepo because what, they're better on kick coverage, they can be a backup punt returner, they're better gunners on punt coverage team, you're putting the cart before the horse

you're overvaluing the thing that doesn't matter as much as the other thing Xavier Restrepo and what he can bring as a wide receiver is infinitely more important than what Mason Kinsey can bring as a special team what are we talking about so the fact that Xavier Restrepo came in

elevated off the practice squad immediately gets more opportunities as a wide receiver immediately gets targets immediately gets open, immediately contributes to the team. That's what we've been saying all along. That's what Titans fans have been saying. And again, I go back to what I said yesterday. No one has said that he's going to save the season

and he's going to overall change the way the Tennessee Titans operate on offense and he's going to turn into an all-pro player who is blah, blah, blah. No. What we saw from Restrepo on Sunday is what Tennessee, Titans fans expected. Small contribution that's better than what the Titans would get from Tyler Lockett or again, Mason Kinsey.

Like, it's not like the Tennessee Titans have a great group of wide receivers that makes sense for Xavier Restrepo to not get opportunities ahead of them. That's not the case. This is a terrible wide receiver group and all the young players should get all the opportunities and that includes maybe the guy

that had great chemistry with Cam Ward when they were in college together and went for over 1,000 yards. Again, sometimes it just seems like NFL teams and the Titans can overthink things. They can overdo it. They can big brain 200 IQ these things.

Oh, well, special teams is too important. What are we talking about? So to see Restrepo get out there and look, it's limited snaps. It's limited opportunity. He didn't set the world on fire. But he did exactly what Titans fans have thought. that he could do. He did that exactly.

And if you give him more opportunities and the Tennessee Titans must give him more opportunities going forward. If the Tennessee Titans give him more opportunities, he is going to continue to give you production. Is he going to be a wide receiver 1, a wide receiver 2? Even a wide receiver 3, probably not. But he can be your utility wide receiver 4 a guy that could play on passing downs in the slot and rotate in for you.

The Titans will still need a star alpha number one wide receiver. They still need to add probably two wide receivers in the draft. But we all along thought Restrepo could be just a solid contributor as a utility wide receiver and that's exactly what he looked like. He didn't look like a guy who didn't belong on the field. He shouldn't even be out there. He wouldn't be in the NFL if not for Cam Ward. He didn't look like that.

And that's all we've been saying all along. That's all we've been saying. Now, I do want to move to the defensive side of the ball where Marcus Harris, Marcus Harris, the Titans rookie cornerback out of the sixth round, finally gets full opportunity to be a starting slot cornerback. And what does he do? Posts the highest, by far, the highest best, defensive grade per pro football focus of any Titan.

89. An 89 grade on pro football focus means you were elite in that game. You were elite. Marcus Harris was targeted three times. He gave up zero catches. He had a pass breakup that almost was a pick six. And I think year two, Marcus Harris, year three Marcus Harris, that is a pick six.

He had a pressure on a blitz, he blitzed twice, got a pressure on one that caused an incompletion, had two tackles on the day, got involved in run defense. 30 total defensive snaps for Marcus Harris. He was fantastic in the game. Absolutely fantastic. And think about the ramifications of a Marcus Harris stepping up and turn it into a building block player. And we talked about this last week of how important it would be. but if Marcus Harris

can be the Tennessee Titan starting slot cornerback next year if that is a position they don't have to worry about because right now right now the Tennessee Titans have to worry about all three starting cornerback positions they don't have a starting cornerback in any spot right now but if Marcus Harris as a sixth round rookie can turn into the Titan's starting slot

corner and through the last couple of games when he's gotten the opportunity to do that he's been good he was good last week he was great this week great and you go back to Mike Borganzi trading away

Jarvis Brownley Jr who is a slot cornerback he played outside for the Titans but if they would have kept Jarvis Brownley Jr. and let Roger McCreery go in free agency Jarvis Brownley Jr. would have been the slot cornerback. So, trade and Jarvis Brownley Jr.,

trade and Roger McCreery, both slot cornerbacks in their nature, looks even better when Jarvis Brownlee Jr. keeps getting bad penalties every single week for the Jets. But looks better if you have an answer on Marcus Harris, who could be a really good slot corner. It's early, it's just a couple of games,

It's just 30 reps against a really good team in the Seattle Seahawks. But Marcus Harris was sticky in man coverage, sitting in the right spots in the zone. There was a play where Sam Darnold's rolling out in the red zone, and Marcus Harris is guarding his guy, guarding his guy, guarding his guy, rolls out with Sam Darnold, prevents him from running, guards his guy, it turns into an incompletion. There's a play in the red zone where he's in zone, he's looking, he's looking,

he mirrors Sam Darnold again and then makes a break on a ball carrier or knocks a ball away that would have been a touchdown. Like, he was moving. And remember, 4-3 speed for Marcus Harris. This is a guy with great speed, good ball skills, he's feisty. I think we got a building block, folks. I think with Restrepo and Harris, the Titans are finally given opportunities to guys who can be

good utility players for the Titans going forward. And again, I think Marcus Harris can be the Tennessee Titans starting slot corner back in 2026 and beyond. And if they have an answer at cornerback, that's one of three open spots they needed an answer at. That would be a great development going forward. But you know what else is a great development going forward? The Tennessee Titans draft picks looking even, even better as Draymont Jones did the Titans a big favor when he was playing with the Ravens on Sunday. Today's show was brought to you by friends over there at Peloton.

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It counts your reps so that you can do it smarter, safer, and more efficient. Let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton, cross-training, treadplus at one peloton.com. Titans fans. Let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about Cam Ward having a breakout moment in his rookie year. We talked about Xavier Restrepo and Marcus Harris being very impressive on the tape. I'm going to have some film breakdowns from them later on this week on the TikTok.

Titans film channel. The film situation has been very strange early in the week so I'm working on everything a little behind on all that appreciate you guys support in the delay but the Tennessee Titans draft pick continues to get better and better and better the Browns won against the Raiders they got three wins so now instead of having five other teams or five or six teams with two wins there's only five the Giants the Saints the Jets the Raiders the commanders I think the commanders are going to get another win

because Jaden Daniels is going to come back this year so I think the commanders doing and the commanders are just a scrappier team with good coaching it's been a down season for them but I don't think the commanders are going to be a real threat to the Titans number one overall pick now the problem is the other four teams are the Raiders and the Jets

the Saints and the Giants that is four teams right there that are absolutely miserable. They're absolutely miserable. Now, you look at those teams' schedules going forward, I think that there is a chance that they get some wins. And some of these teams play each other, for example, in the second to last week of the season,

the Giants and the Raiders play. So that's going to do it right there Now remember the Titans play the Saints in the second to last week of the season as well So you know That's going to be a very important game To watch the Titans against the Browns But the Browns got that win

So they moved up to three So in theory the Titans could beat the Browns They would only go to two wins They would still be ahead of the Browns But it's everybody else that you got to worry about Now and even more good news the Saints play the Jets

so the Raiders and Jets play the Saints and the Jets play that gives the Titans a great opportunity for one of those teams to move forward to move ahead you know what I mean? What I hope happens here what I hope happens here I hope all these teams get another

win and get to three and the Titans can get another win on the year I'd like to see them get one more win and still keep the number one overall pick. Because here's the problem, guys. Here's the issue.

The Titans have the hardest strength of schedule in the entire NFL. Literally the entire NFL. And when you're talking about the number one overall pick in the draft, the tiebreaker of both teams have the same record. It isn't head-to-head. It isn't, oh, I lost to you, so it's strength of schedule. because in theory, if you have as many losses as someone else but they played a tougher schedule, they're a better team than you.

Because they have as many losses as you, but they played harder teams. You had just as many losses, but you played worse teams. So strength of schedule is the number one tiebreaker for draft pick and again, the Titans have the strongest schedule in the entire NFL. Most difficult. So if they have the same amount of losses as another team, they're going to get jumped. Like if the Titans had two wins right now,

if they would have won that game against Seattle, for example. The Titans would drop all the way to the seventh pick in the draft instead of the first because strength of schedule. It's a disaster. So, every win that these teams can get ahead of the Titans, absolutely critical.

Absolutely critical. So the Browns winning this week, very helpful to the 10th, Tennessee Titans, but again, that is not the most helpful thing that happened. Well, it probably is because the first pick is much more important than a day three pick. But remember, the Tennessee Titans made a conditional trade with the Baltimore Ravens that if the Ravens make the playoffs and Draymont Jones has two sacks, the Titans fifth round pick they got from the Ravens becomes a fourth round pick

and Draymont Jones had one and a half sacks on Sunday against who did the Jets? The Ravens played the Jets right? Yeah, Draymont Jones had one and a half sacks in that game. Massive. The Ravens won. The Steelers lost. The Ravens are now leading the AFC North at six and six. five? I mean, we're a half a sack away and the Ravens staying in first place from that fifth becoming a fourth. What a great, great trade by Mike Borganzi. What a great trade. And speaking of those draft picks, speaking of Cam Ward breaking out, Restrepo and Harris

being building blocks for the future on tomorrow's show, what I'm going to do is I'm going to take a look at that future. I'm going to talk about what the Titans ideal future looks like this all season and beyond what it can all, you know, turn into for the Titans in the next couple of years because I got to tell you, I woke up feeling very optimistic about what we could see from the Titans over the next few seasons. But with that being said, that is going to do it for today's edition. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans. You know,