Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cody Barton MUST TEACH 2nd Years, Backer Backup Battles & D-Line Depth Concerns
Episode Date: July 15, 2025The Tennessee Titans linebacker position will be led by veteran Cody Barton, who looks to be one of the best offseason moves the Titans made, but he will also be tasked with bringing along one of the ...young second-year linebackers in Cedric Gray and James Williams. Behind them, the battle will rage for backups spots and a player like Otis Reese really needs to carve out his role on the roster to stay on it. Finally, the defensive line has some solid talent at the top, but once again the depth concerns are obvious and there are not a lot of answers to be found outside the roster. 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 $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl 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)
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One of the biggest roster battles to watch for the Tennessee Titans in training camp is the linebacker two spot.
And I think James Williams is the one who wins the fight. I'll explain on today's edition of Locked on Titan.
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I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.
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On today's show, we are going to continue our 2025 Locked
On Titans training camp preview.
We've gone through the entire offense.
We talked about the edge rushers on yesterday's show.
Now we need to get into the middle of the front seven.
Talk about the linebacker group.
Talk about the interior defensive lineman.
On tomorrow's show, we're going to cap off the entire roster, talking about the secondary with
the cornerbacks and the safeties. If you've missed any of the training camp preview, it's evergreen
before things kick off next week on Wednesday with the first practice. So make sure that you check
out all of that if you missed any of it going through the entire roster. But before we dive into the linebackers and the interior defensive line, 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 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. Now is the time training camp kicks off next week. And
then the season is right around the corner. With that being said though,
let's dive into the slime backer group. As you guys know, I like to do my
training camp preview series, looking at the locks to make the roster, the guys on the bubble to make the roster, and then the guys who
are long shots to make the roster. And for me, there are only three locks at the linebacker position.
Only three. And I think the Tennessee Titans will want to have five or six inside linebackers on
the ultimate roster, which leaves, you know, like we talked about with
wide receiver at the beginning of the week, we talked six wide receivers. I thought we're a lock
to make the roster. That doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room when it comes to guys who are on
the bubble, but at linebacker, there's only three guys who I think are locks to make this team.
And number one at the top of that is Cody Barton. We're going to talk about the linebacker two spot.
We're going to be talking about it for the next month and a half,
for the next two months, quite honestly.
That battle will probably wage into the regular season.
They'll probably bounce back and forth at times,
but matchups, who's playing well,
but at the top of the snake is Cody Barton,
and that's not going to change.
Obviously, barring injury, we don't want to see anything
like that. The Titans would have to make changes. You have no choice at that point but granted
everyone is healthy. We know that Cody Barton is linebacker one with no questions and thank
the heavens above for that. If you guys have been listening to this show for any length
of time you know that there were three offseason moves that I did not have a positive reaction to last year. All right? And one of them was Kenneth
Murray. I did not like the Kenneth Murray signing. I think he's a limited player in
coverage. He's limited with his versatility. He is a very physical player that can go downhill.
But for the Tennessee Titans to trade Kenneth Murray, get a draft pick back and then give a similar similarly priced deal to Cody Barton a
more versatile player a player that is more of a three down linebacker in my
opinion where I don't think that Kenneth Murray can play that kind of role now
your number one linebacker isn't so limited has more versatility has a more
diverse skill set, and that allows
him to be out on the field and be effective more often. And that's exactly what you want
from your number one linebacker. The guy who's probably going to wear the green dot and call
the plays and communicate with the rest of the defense. If you have somebody who has
a skill set that it makes sense for that player to be out there for three downs. That's obviously
going to improve what you can do on defense. So very excited about Cody Barton and the player that Cody Barton's been throughout the off season program. He's been there. He's been a leader. You see in the mic'd up videos, the way he's coaching up all these younger linebackers, trying to be real with them, trying to get them in the spotlight. I just think that not only does Cody Barton give you a more versatile skill set on the field than what the Titans had last year,
but he gives you better leadership and he could truly be the heartbeat of the defense
and a guy that can bring guys with him, which has been a big emphasis for the Titans this year.
But that number two linebacker spot is where the questions come in.
That's where we start to have the interesting discussion of, okay, so who's's gonna start next to him and with the Tennessee Titans I could
see in passing situations some dime linebacker activity especially when Kevin Winston the safety
out of Penn State gets healthy for the Titans and is fully ready to go I could see him having some
dime linebacker rolls early on as they ease him into a defensive role I could see the Titans
bringing a Monty Hooker or Xavier Woods down as a dime linebacker next to Cody Barton in passing situations,
but that won't always be the case. And for the Titans, they like to play in nickel, and
if they can stop the run in nickel with five defensive backs on the field, then you're
always covered for the pass too. It's just a safer way to be. And that means you're going
to need two linebackers.
If you're playing on first and second down
and you're a nickel and you're going against
two tight end sets and you need to match that physicality,
if you're already having five DBs on the field,
you can't afford to have six and be in dime
when you're in these early down scenarios
where it's more game call neutral.
You could see more runs than you would on a third
and long obvious pass situation when you can go to six dime, you know, and have six DBs
out on the field. That's the whole point of the personnel package. That's why
people don't do dime on early downs because you would be exposed. So nickel
is really the perfect in between and you're gonna need two linebackers out
there which makes that second linebacker position so, so important.
And look, there are guys on the bubble who could make a push and who could ultimately take this spot.
It's not impossible. But the reality is there are two guys who were both drafted last year for the Titans,
who are fighting for this spot. And it's James Williams, who was the seventh round pick out of Miami,
a converted safety, six foot four, 230 pounds.
He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school that again went to the University of Miami.
He's 22 years old and then you have Cedric Gray who was the fourth round pick out of North Carolina
who was a linebacker in college. He's a little bit smaller, 6'2",
230 though, bulky guy, but 6'2", a little smaller, but he was a better guy. This sounds crazy because
James Williams is a converted safety, but Cedric Gray is a guy who I think is a little bit more
instinctual in coverage. He's a little bit better in coverage where James Williams is more of a guy
who can come downhill. But in mandatory mini camp, we were hearing great
reports about James Williams being in coverage. And if he
has settled into the linebacker position and feels way more
comfortable there after making a position change, I think the
increased physicality, the increased explosiveness in
general as an athlete, along with the coverage instincts that he could transition to the linebacker position that I didn't necessarily see at all times last year.
That gives James Williams to me a higher ceiling, and Cedric Gray was injured quite a bit last year. He only appeared in seven games for the Titans, 22 tackles. Looking at the, you know, the snap count, he only played 48 snaps on defense last year, Cedric Gray.
126 of his snaps came on special teams, and look, you need to be effective on special teams,
but he just didn't have a lot of experience on defense last year, whereas James Williams played in 13 games, had 111 snaps on defense, and 264 on special teams.
Much more, got much more experience, and got to put himself in front of the coaches much more often.
I am betting on James Williams to win the linebacker two spot.
I think he's the one who takes it, but it's gonna be a battle, and we're gonna be talking about it for a while now.
There are some guys on the bubble though though that absolutely couldn't make a push, but they
need to make that push right now.
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Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, continuing our 2025 Locked on Titans training camp preview series. We did the offense. We started on defense with Edge, now hitting the interior of the front seven.
Talk to the linebacker right now, but I am going to hit interior defensive line at the end of the show.
I guess I just, I don't have as much to say about the interior defensive line because just like last year
I'm just not a big fan of what they have but we'll get there. We'll get there right now
Let's talk about who's on the bubble. So my locks to make the roster at linebacker or Cody Barton James William Cedric Gray
But on the bubble and I don't know if I felt this way about this player
a month ago two months, three months ago even.
But Otis Reese is squarely on the bubble, in my opinion. Now, Otis Reese is an explosive athlete,
for sure. Six foot three, 214 pounds, can move around, sideline to sideline, for sure.
pounds can move around, sideline to sideline for sure. But in his two years with the Tennessee Titans after being an undrafted free agent, he's played in 20 games, has 38 tackles. You start to
look at the snaps that he's actually played. 90 on defense in his year one, 89 on defense in year
two, only 11% of the available snaps for him.
Otis Reese just isn't someone who's taking a step forward. He can get too far ahead of himself and misread on the run.
Look, when he reads it right and he triggers downhill, he plays with explosive violence.
But he doesn't have enough consistency to his game and when he's going into year 3 and you have guys who are actually drafted like James Williams and Cedric Gray who appear to be ahead of him and then Otis Reese got a little banged up for mandatory minicamp coming out of the voluntary workouts and he's not as available as the two guys ahead of him. He didn't get drafted, which means he's not making as much money as the two guys ahead
of him.
There's not as much investment.
He's not as young as the two guys ahead of him.
He's 27 years old.
Otis Reese is 27.
We just talked about James Williams, who is 22 and a half years old.
We just talked about Cedric Gray, who is also 22 years old, if I can remember off the top of my head.
Twenty... 22? Yeah, he's a little bit older than James Williams. I think he'll turn 23 soon.
But Cedric Gray also, another guy, and both those guys are five years younger than Otis Reese.
So, you know, what are we doing here? What are we doing?
It's now or never for Otis Reese. That's why I put him on the bubble.
I'm at the point right now where I don't think that Otis Reese has a real chance to be the starter.
If I'm honest with you, I think right now Otis Reese is fighting to make the team because there are some younger players who I also have on the
bubble who I think have a great shot to make an impact and number one on that list is Anthony
OJRI. So the Tennessee Titans claimed Anthony OJRI, I want to say Anthony but it's Am-fer-nee
you know what I mean it's spelled like that that. But anyway, the Titans claimed Osri off
waivers from the Saints who cut him.
Okay, he's 6'2", 230. So bigger and bulkier than Otis Reese.
He's 24. He's gonna be turning 25 this year.
So he's two years younger than a guy like Otis Reese, another physical player that plays
with violence, okay, which is what you have to be for the Titans as one of those backup
linebackers who played 353 special team snaps last year for the Saints.
This guy is going to be great on special teams.
So you look at Otis Reese, he could also be great on special teams. So you look at Otis Reese, he could also be great on special teams. Otis Reese is a really
good special teams player and could be even better with the proper coaching, which hopefully he gets
from Bones Fossil this year. So I think both these guys do ultimately make the roster, Otis Reese and
Anfreny Ojeri, but they're certainly on the bubble, okay? You can't lock them in to the roster. They might be fighting for one spot.
The Titans might be interested in having one of those guys at that spot.
I think both of them make it, but, you know, we can't know what the ultimate final roster truly looks like right now.
I'm just saying, but OJERY, coming off of a waiver, is fighting for a roster spot, and and I think Otis Reese at his age, we talked
recently when we talked about the wide receivers, the wide receivers at the bottom of the pack,
the long shot wide receivers, how it's guys like Mason Kinsey, Jaquan Jackson, Colton Dow.
These are guys who have been around for, well not Jaquan Jackson of course, who was around last year,
but you know think about Kinsey, Dow, they've been around for a year, couple years, three years, four years.
You know, and it's like at some point in time, why are we continuing to give you a roster spot when you're this certain level of player and there's not much potential?
When we could just get a younger player who's already at that level, who at least has a little bit more potential even if it's also unlikely. And Otis Reese at his age is at that point. Now, a guy on the other side of that is David Benda
from Texas. Undrafted free agent. Titans brought him in. He's a little bit undersized.
Titans brought him in, he's a little bit undersized. A little over 6 foot, 235 pounds, and that's why he went undrafted.
Because he's a little undersized with the height.
But he's another guy who's violent. And gets downhill and he's an intelligent player.
He's a high IQ player.
So he may be a little undersized. He may not be as big as Otis Reeves or Anthony Oshery. He may
not be as explosive, but very intelligent God and the Titans don't
have a lot of linebackers which is crazy because they used to have quite a bit.
Think about the Jayon Browns and the David Longs, you know what I mean? Like
they used to have a lot of undersized linebackers
under Mike Raible, but not a lot of the linebackers
that we've talked about have been, you know,
right around six foot like Benda is, but he's smart.
And that's one of the videos of Cody Barton
in his mic'd up thing is going over
different things with Benda.
And he's just soaking it up.
He's just a guy who wants more and more and more and more.
And I just have a feeling
that when we look at the names that aren't locks,
like Otis Reese,
Anfreny Osri,
then some of the long shots
we're about to get into.
Like a guy like Curtis Jacobs.
Curtis Jacobs is a guy
who,
out of Penn State, I think initially was with the Chiefs, if I recall, bounced around a little bit,
was with New England though, right before the Titans got him, played nine games for the Patriots last year,
had four tackles, did play 136 Special Team Snaps. So he's a guy that can play on special teams, and that's where all of these guys that we're talking about right now, as I said earlier, gonna be important.
But he's a thicker guy. He's a big heavy guy. He's 6'1", but he's 240. And Jacobs is someone who's going to have to beat out Reese and OJRI on special teams if he wants to get
himself a roster spot. And then there is one undrafted free agent on the team. Oh, I'm lying
to myself. Wrong notes. We'll get there when we get to the interior defensive line. But then we
have another claim. Amari Burnie. Listen, Amari Burnie is a guy who's been in the NFL for a couple of years,
Las Vegas Raiders, played some defense, but again, you know what we're talking about here,
special teams.
384 snaps on special teams, Burnie was brought in purely as a special teams competitive guy.
Burnie is here to push Reese and Osri. Bernie is here to push
Benda and say, hey, this is how good I am on special teams. What are you going to do? But I think
when you look at a guy like Bernie, who is a little skinnier, 6'2", 228, but I think that helps him on
special teams because he's just a little bit faster, But he's 25 so he's a little bit older
than some of these other guys. He's just a little bit older, not quite as old as Otis Reese.
But again when you look at who's available to the Titans and you look at Curtis Jacobs, you look at
Benda, you look at OJRI, guys who are a little bit younger than a guy like Reese and Bernie,
it's like okay that gives you a little bit of an advantage That's just the way that it works But all of these dudes are special team because you talk about playing on defense our locks Cody Barton James Williams Cedric Gray
Those are the only guys we truly want to see out on the field this year
That that's the reality okay, but with that being said talking about guys that we want to see out on the field
And how limited is the Titans once again have me very, very concerned with the interior defensive
line depth and quite frankly, there's nobody really out there who can help.
Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast.
Doing our training camp preview series. We've talked about linebacker.
Now I want to move into the interior defensive line before I do want to remind you guys that the
Locked On NFL Top 100 will be released today, Wednesday, July 16th at 10 a.m. Eastern on
Locked On Sports Today. The NFL Top 100 was voted on by all of the hosts of
the Locked On NFL shows and there are some stoners folks. Don't miss where your
favorite players were ranked, although I don't think there's gonna be a lot of
Titans if I'm honest with you. Subscribe to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube or
wherever you get your podcasts. Looking at the Titans interior defensive line, I
think there are four locks to make the team, and if I'm honest with you, they are the same exact four locks that I had last year.
Because they're the only players that I am certain are going to make the team, that I even believe in.
It's Jeffrey Simmons, it's Tevandre Sweatt, it's Sebastian Joseph Day, and then it's Keandre Coburn. Remember, Keandre Coburn was
teammates with Tevandre Sweat in college. He was a guy who they even mentioned when they drafted
Tevandre Sweat as like, hey, Jeffrey Simmons is gonna be a leader for him. Keandre Coburn is
gonna be a leader for him, and I just heard like babysitter, but regardless, I don't think any of
that's changed. They want to keep Keandre Coburn around to mentor Tavandre Sweat.
So Sebastian Joseph Day, underrated player last year for the Titans.
He was out there.
He was productive.
Two and a half sacks last year, 18 tackles.
He's an interior defensive lineman.
So it's not like his stats are going to pop off the charts or anything like that,
but participated in all 17 games was durable.
I mean, he played like 500 snaps for the Titans defense last year.
So Sebastian Joseph Day is someone that they can count on.
He's a reliable player and he could play.
You don't really want him in your pass rush group if you don't have to,
but he could play out there if needed and you know
As part of a rotation
But he could be an every down five technique defensive tackle defensive end in a Titans base look of a 3-4
So I just love the versatility of Sebastian Joseph Day the situations he can be used in and it's just reliability
He's just a reliable good average
he can be used in and it's just reliability. He's just a reliable, good, average defensive lineman in the NFL. He's just the exact kind of guy that you want to fill out your roster with. So I really like that signing when it happened.
I like bringing him back. I wanted to have him back. He is part of my locks.
But after that, man, I just, I really wish the Titans had better interior defensive line depth.
Now, they brought back James Lynch. Lynch is 6'4", 295 pounds, another versatile guy he can play.
Kind of that Sebastian Joseph Day role where he can be your five technique, your defensive end,
in a three, four alignment. He's a guy who can play on the interior as well if you need him to
as a defensive tackle in a four-man front
Played in all 17 games for the Titans last year now
He didn't get a ton of snaps on the defensive side of the ball
Like I think he played like 23% of his possible defensive snaps, but he was a solid reliable player now
I will tell you this
Solid and reliable because he was out there. When we
saw the Tennessee Titans run defense getting destroyed, a lot of it had to do with the
backup defensive line and the backup defensive line had a lot to do with James Lynch and
Keandre Coburn. So the linebacker play was really, really awful when a lot of those bad run defense occurrences for the Titans, but the defensive line was getting blown off the ball too.
And while James Lynch knows the system, he played all 17, he was durable, he was reliable, he wasn't great, He wasn't good. So it's like, I guess bringing back the devil, you know, is better than bringing back the devil that you don't know that you can't rely on, especially for this Tennessee Titans coaching staff that has to win games this year to save their jobs.
But the talent level is still very, very low. Carlos Watkins is an interesting guy.
So Carlos Watkins is an interesting guy.
He was a highly sought after recruit,
was a good player at Clemson and some of their really good teams, well-known player.
He's more of an interior guy, 6'3", 305.
I mean, he's an interior defensive lineman,
but like we talked about Sebastian Joseph Day
and we talked about James Lynch, who can kind of be that five technique guy.
I think Carlos Watkins is more of your three technique, more of a Jeffrey Simmons backup.
In my opinion, a ton of experience in the NFL, but in the league since 2017,
guy who never really, I guess, took the step that people thought his talent would suggest.
He was with the Cowboys
last year, 15 games, was with Washington for one game as well, but he's just a rotational guy who,
in my opinion, you know, Watkins is 31, he'll be 32 this season. He's been a decent depth player in the NFL, a decent depth player, like end of
the rotation interior defensive lineman, but one of these younger guys man, gotta
find a way to come out and take the spot. So those are the veteran guys who were
on the bubble for me, James Lynch and Carlos Watkins.
And again, I explained that I think that the Titans are more likely to go with one of those
veterans because the coaching staff can't afford to fail. You know, they would rather rely on
veterans who have been in the NFL for a long time and know what to do
than some of these young guys like a Devonte O'Malley, like a Cam Horsley, like an Isaiah Rakes, like a Philip Bleedy,
all of these guys who are undrafted free agents coming in trying to find a way.
I think Devonte O'Malley and Cam Horsley have a better chance. They're a little bit more powerful in my opinion, but I
just, whether the Titans pick the two older veterans, James Lynch, Carlos
Watkins, or whether they pick one of the four undrafted free agent young guys in
O'Malley, Horsley, Raikis, Bleedy. Whether they pick any of those guys, the Titans are going to
have bad interior defensive line depth. Like it's just not
going to be good enough. And the thing is, there is nobody on
the free agent market who is really a great answer. So this
is a position where I would expect the Titans to be pretty heavily involved in the waiver claim process.
That's what I would be expecting for the Titans
from this one.
But with that being said, that is gonna do it
for today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.
Tomorrow, we're gonna look at the secondary.
We're gonna talk about cornerback.
We're gonna talk about safety.
Can't wait to dive into that.
I do have a mailbag episode coming to kind of cap off all the all season activities.
Send your questions to me at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter,
but that's gonna do it for me today.
Folks, as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland,
and this was Locked on Titans. Thanks for watching guys!