Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Draft, Free Agency or Both: Defensive Roster Holes & How to Fill Them

Episode Date: February 25, 2022

The Tennessee Titans have a ton of needs on the defensive side of the ball despite having a lot of young talent. How do they fix those needs? Time for part of Draft, Free Agency or Both!! Tyler goes position by position through the defense AND the special teams to see what the Titans have now and what they should do to add more.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!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” 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!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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 a Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. On today's show, we are going to do part two of my favorite offseason game, draft, free agency, or both, as we go through the defensive side of the ball for the Titans to look how to fill their roster needs. So draft, free agency, or both on a Friday 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. Titans fans, it is a Friday edition of the Locked On Titans Podcast. We are going to cap off a game of draft, free agency, or both. We started our game yesterday on Thursday's episode

going through the offensive side of the ball. Now I want to talk defense and even at the end of the show, a little bit of special teams. So we're going to go position by position before we start off. I 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 to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream.

Check out the show on YouTube at the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash that notification bell. Also hit that thumbs up button if you're watching on YouTube. Right now you can also check me out on social media, on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans, on Facebook at Locked on Titans pod. I am your host of the Locked on Titans podcast, Tyler Rowland.

Been a Tennessee Titans fan for well over 20 years on the show. We do focus on the X's and O's. I like to break down the tape and the film, and that's kind of the jumping off point for a lot of our conversations. But of course, always hitting the news and the notes and the latest hot topics coming out of Nashville as well. And that's what we're doing today. So let's play a game of draft, free agency, or both.

How would you fill these needs for the Titans on the defensive side of the ball? We'll start with the defensive line. And what we need to do is we got to talk about what the Titans currently have right now. And on the defensive line, the Titans have Jeffrey Simmons, the man, the myth himself. They have Danico Autry, maybe the greatest free agent signing in John Robinson's history with the Titans. It's up there at minimum with Ben Jones and Roger Sappold and some others as well. Naquan Jones, who really impressed as an undrafted free agent rookie last year. Larell Murchison, who hasn't really panned out to what you would want,

but as a fifth-round pick defensive lineman, he has added some good depth. And then we have Tyre Tartt, who isn't technically on the roster right now, but he is an exclusive rights-free agent, which means he only has the option of signing a one-year deal with the Titans. So he will be back on the team going into his third year. Another impressive undrafted free agent interior defensive lineman that John Robinson has earthed. He hasn't stuck with the team, but Isaiah Mack even was another good undrafted free agent guy that John Robinson was able to find on the interior of the defensive

line. So knowing that the Titans have those five guys, what would I do? Do they need to add depth through free agency, through the draft, through both? To me, it's a combination of both. And I'm kind of cheating on this one because I want the Titans to go out and get Kyle Pecco, who started off with the team and was pretty talented in training camp, suffered an injury, went on injured reserve, got an injured reserve buyout, and then joined the Titans back again and made some plays late in the season. Finished the year with two sacks, really performed well, and he was a guy I was high on all the way back to the preseason. So he is a free agent right now.

I would hope that the Titans would bring him back. I would love to see Kyle Pecco back with the Titans. But then, of course, if John Robinson continues to hit on productive, undrafted free agents at the nose tackle and defensive tackle position, then why would you not do that again and bring another guy like that into camp? So I'm saying both,

but I don't really want the Titans to draft an interior defensive lineman. I want them to get them as an undrafted free agent. But either way, it's going to be a player coming out of college. So my answer technically and officially is both sign Kyle Pecco back from free agency and also get yourself an undrafted free agent interior defensive lineman where John Robinson for three years in a row has found a productive player. So that's the route that I would go. Now at a more pressing position, the edge rusher spot.

So right now the Titans have Bud Dupree and Rashad Weaver. Now there are some other guys on the training camp roster that have futures contracts. I'm not really paying attention to guys who have futures contracts with the Titans. So of course you have like a Joe Jones, a Tazar Skipper, guys like that that the Titans are going to bring into training camp. But let's be realistic about the roster here.

The Titans have Bud Dupree, then they have Rashad Weaver. Now, Derek Roberson is a restricted free agent. Maybe they decide to bring him back, but I think it's time to maybe try to move on there. And the way that I want to see them do that is both draft and free agency. So, of course, my expectation is that Harold Landry will be a Tennessee Titan in 2022. So when you think about it like Harold Landry, Bud Dupree, Rashad Weaver,

what the Titans are missing there is another speed, edge rush guy. Rashad Weaver is a big, powerful man who can kind of do what they expect Bud Dupree to do role-wise. But they don't have anybody to back up Harold Landry. And I think that it would be important to go get a guy like that in the draft, in the mid-rounds. Just some names to throw out there, like Mygie Sanders from Cincinnati, D'Angelo Malone from Western Kentucky, Tyreek Smith from Ohio State. Just add another edge rusher.

Not that all those guys are perfect fits, but you're thinking about that type of player in the mid-rounds. Third round, fourth round, possibly fifth round, possibly as well. And we'll get into more of those options as we dive into our draft preview series later on in the offseason. But for free agency, I think the Titans need to bring back Ola Adani. He was excellent on special teams. Almost made the Pro Bowl as a special teamer. And I thought when he filled in as a rotational guy on

the edge, he had some good moments. I don't think that's something you want to ask him to do. You don't want Ola to be your third edge. You want Ola to be your fourth edge rusher. That's really where I see him there. And of course you're saying, well, what about, you know, Bud Dupree, Harold Landry, and then Rashad Weaver? Well, you don't really know what you're going to get from Weaver. The legal troubles are still unresolved coming off of a snapped leg. I mean, let's be honest here. That's a tough thing to come back from. And he was just a rookie last year.

So despite some bright spots and some flashes, you don't know what you're going to get in year two. So you draft a guy in the mid rounds, fourth or fifth round. a guy in the mid rounds, fourth or fifth round. And I think you pick up Ola Dainey in free agency along with a veteran guy, a guy that I've been looking for for quite some time. And that's Ryan Kerrigan spent last year with the Eagles, only $2.5 million. I think the Titans need to get a legitimate rotational pass rusher. That's a veteran while also getting a young guy. And why am I putting so much on this position if the Titans are going to have two maybe $20 million guys at edge? Well, as I've said, and if you follow me on Twitter or with the podcast, you know my feelings here.

I do not believe that Bud Dupree will be a Tennessee Titan pass this season. So they have to start to stack and fill that cupboard now. Rashad Weaver ideally would take that Bud Dupree spot if he develops into a starting level player. But if not, then you need to try to hit on some guys now who can help you there. Bud Dupree hasn't been able to stay healthy very much throughout his career either,

so you've got to have some reinforcements there if he were to go down. So draft and free agency, both for interior defensive line and edge. I think the defensive line is just so, so important that I would dump as many resources as possible as you can there after you fix the problems on the offensive end. But we're going to move into the back seven. We're going to talk some linebackers. We're going to talk some safeties. Before we get into that, though, do want to tell you guys about betOnline.net. Football season might be over, but basketball is full steam ahead in both pro and college hoops.

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BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, let's continue this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are playing my favorite game of the offseason, draft, free agency, or both. So very excited to continue diving into the Titans roster to see how they should go about filling some of these defensive needs. Before we get into that, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure that you're following the Locked On NFL podcast as well.

Locked On experts are covering the biggest stories around the NFL Monday through Friday. I am actually the host of the Thursday show along with one part of the Locked On Cardinals podcast, Alex Clancy, and every single episode is going to come in right around or under 30 minutes. So you get all your local news for the Titans with me here. Get your national news from the Locked On NFL podcast. It's free and available wherever you get your podcast. But we just talked about the defensive line.

Now I want to talk about the back seven. And we're going to start with interior linebackers, off-ball linebackers, inside linebackers, whatever you want to call it based on your football terminology. That's the one thing about football that I don't want to say can be confusing. But there are different languages to speak within football and different positions and different ways to describe them. For me, it's an off-ball linebacker because I look at the front seven.

I don't talk about outside linebacker, defensive end, defensive tackle. I talk about interior defensive line. I talk about edge, and I talk about off-ball linebacker. There are three positions in the front seven in my football philosophy, I guess. That's how I view things. So let's get into these off-ball inside linebackers. On the roster right now, the Titans have David Long, Zach Cunningham, and Monte Rice.

Now, there is a chance that Zach Cunningham is let go with that $10.5 million salary. I don't think the Titans should do that. It would save them $10.5 million because he's got no guaranteed money going forward. But I think the Titans should try that. It would save them $10.5 million because he's got no guaranteed money going forward. But I think the Titans should try to restructure Zach Cunningham's deal, which will lower down his cap hit to $4 million this year, a little over $4 million. And that would help Zach Cunningham too because with no guaranteed money on his deal,

if the Titans convert some salary to signing bonus, that would give him some guaranteed money going into this year. So it would be good for both parties unless Cunningham expects to get a better deal on the open market, which then he may campaign for his own release. But I think that David Long, Zach Cunningham, and Monty Rice will be the top trio of linebackers going in for the rest of the year. And whether you're asking me draft free agency or both to add depth to that position? I'm saying free agency.

I don't think that the Titans should be going into the draft. David Long is still on his rookie contract. Monte Rice is still on his rookie contract and is a young player. You have one veteran in Zach Cunningham. I think you need more veterans at off-ball linebackers. So what I would do is, I know this sounds crazy, but I would bring back Jayon Brown in free agency and let him know early on, no, you're not a starter for this team.

But if there are injuries, we trust you to start and you'll be one of the third down linebacker options. A healthy Jayon Brown is still a good sub-package player who can help you on obvious passing downs or third down situations. While I think that David Long ultimately is the better player, even in that scenario, we know that the Titans like to rotate and David Long

experienced a pretty serious hamstring injury last year. It's all about building depth going into the draft so you have options. And I think the Titans should not only bring back Jayon Brown as a passing down specialist on a cheap deal. Let's be honest. Jayon Brown took a one-year deal with the Titans last year in hopes that he could play one year, get through that pandemic, shortened salary cap situation last year, and then get a better deal in free agency.

But with the way he played and how he got hurt again, I mean, Jay on Brown was a healthy scratch at one point in time, late in the year, he's not going to get the deal that he was hoping to get. He's going to get a one year deal or a two year deal for low money, 3 million or less. And I think for right around two and a half million or so, the Titans would be smart to bring Jayon Brown back. You're already paying dead money for him anyways.

Might as well get his services. So I would bring back Jayon Brown to add depth and be a passing. Because I see Monte Rice as a run-down linebacker. I don't ever think that Monte Rice is going to be a guy you want out on the field in passing situations. So you have Zach Cunningham and David Long as your starters. Monte Rice is your primary run-stopping depth linebacker. Jayon Brown is your primary pass-stopping linebacker.

And then I think it would be smart to bring back Nick DeZubnar. DeZubnar has played over 70% of special team snaps for the Titans in back-to-back years. And while I think he's incredibly limited as an actual linebacker, he is a reliable special teams player. So I would go the free agent route at interior off-ball linebacker, inside linebacker. I would bring back Jayon for depth.

I would bring back Nick DeZubnar for special teams purposes. If you do find somebody and find a good value in the draft to hit inside linebacker, well, then you let DeZubnar go. Because if the Titans are drafted an inside linebacker, an off-ball linebacker in the draft, it's going to be later in the draft. Fifth round, sixth round. And if you're getting drafted that late, the expectation is that you will play special teams.

Like, that's something that will have to happen. So, from that perspective, maybe you don't need DeZubnar as much. That would make some sense. So, that's the route. I would go free agency and get some veterans at the inside linebacker, the off-ball linebacker spot. Now let's talk about safety. So right now the Titans only have two safeties on the entire roster

that are not futures contracts or practice squad guys like Jamal Carter and things like that. They have Kevin Byard and they have Amani Hooker. And I also want to say this. A lot of people get salty or ask questions when I say this. Either way, it's fine. Kevin Byard is the tight and strong safety and Imani Hooker is the free safety.

Don't get that twisted. Imani Hooker is going to be back deep more often than Kevin Byard is. I can prove that with the snap counts if you want me to, but just take my word for it here. And in their strengths as a player, Kevin Byard is more of a strong safety now than a free safety. So, anyways, moving forward past that somehow controversial topic. Draft, free agency, or both to fix that problem?

Well, my answer, like with a lot of these answers on defense, is both, but it's a little bit of cheating here. The only thing I want the Titans to do in free agency is bring back Matthias Farley. He can be your fourth safety. No, you don't want Matthias Farley out there playing defense. He's not going to do that Dan Crookshank thing where he guards tight ends or anything like that. So you don't want that. But again, special teams matters. And I thought Matthias Farley was a good special teams player for the Titans last season. So bring him back. He's somebody who you can count on to play

special teams. But as for that third safety that the Titans need to replace Dane Cruikshank, who probably is going to leave in free agency, you go to the draft. I think there are some solid safeties that will be available in the mid-rounds of the draft. Luis Sine from Georgia, Bubba Bolden from Miami, 6'3", got the ability to be a matchup guy, A guy I talked about in my dueling mock draft on Titans Wire, Dane Belton from Iowa. He really reminds me of what Dane Cruikshank brought to the table. Reed Blankenship, another guy out of Middle Tennessee State.

If the Titans want to ring that bell again like they did with the mayor. So I would say both, but really I want to hit it in the draft for an actual reliable depth piece. I just want to bring back Farley as a special teams guys. So that is the front seven and safety. Now we're going to talk about cornerback and we're going to hit on a little bit of special teams. Before we get into that, I want to tell you guys about the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy from our friends over at Built Bar. Built Bars are fantastic for anybody trying to keep up with their New Year's resolutions or even if that's out the window.

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So if you missed the offensive side of the ball, make sure you go back and check out yesterday's episode. That is evergreen content until we get closer to free agency. So hope you guys have enjoyed this two day pair up of episodes here on the locked on Titans podcast. I want to thank you guys again for making the locked on Titans podcast. Your first listen every day. As for your second, listen, check the Locked on NFL Draft podcast.

It's hosted by Ryan Tracy and former NFL cornerback Eric Crocker. They bring the NFL Draft to life every day with insights and analysis on not only college football prospects, but also NFL front offices. The Locked on NFL Draft podcast is free and available wherever you get your podcast. But as for cornerback, tell me what these first four guys have in common.

Okay? Christian Fulton, Caleb Farley, Elijah Molden, Chris Jackson. If you are yelling at your audio provider or yelling at your screen they're all young guys

then you would have it right every single one of those guys is on their rookie contract they are within their first three seasons in the NFL now Jackrabbit Jenkins is currently on the roster I gotta tell you I think he's gonna be cut so when you think about that the actual guys that most likely currently on the roster. I gotta tell you, I think he's gonna be cut. So when you think about that, the actual guys that most likely will make the roster, all four of them are young dudes on their rookie contract. That

means the Titans need a veteran. And where are you not getting a veteran? In the draft. So I think that the Titans have to go out and get a low-level veteran like they've done in the past. N I think that the Titans have to go out and get a low level veteran like they've done in the past. Names that didn't really make people happy, but like Kevin Johnson, like Jonathan Joseph. Now I don't want them to get somebody who's going to retire or who's cooked already, who's that old, but the Titans have a propensity to go out and get a cheap veteran cornerback for their cornerback room. And they're not going to spend the type of money they spent on Jack

Rabbit Jenkins this year to have that veteran because they're expecting Caleb Farley and Elijah Molden to take a big jump to match Christian Fulton. And that's fine, but you need somebody to stem the tide as a veteran, in my belief.

That has to be done going into the draft. So, like Sidney Jones from Seattle, if the Titans want somebody who can kind of be that dang crookshank cornerback and match up against tight ends, Trey Flowers from the Cincinnati Bengals played that role pretty well for them. A guy like Robert Alford had a pretty good year in Arizona last year, coming off not playing for two years. A familiar name, Jason McCourty, who played for the Dolphins last year.

Casey Hayward, who played for the Vegas Raiders. Xavier Rhodes, a guy from just up the roads in Indianapolis. Patrick Peterson, probably out of the price range for Patrick Peterson and Xavier Rhodes. They'll probably want around four to five million, maybe a little bit more than that. I'm thinking the Titans should be around two, two and a half million for this player. So maybe some of those names are priced out. But right in that, you're getting a cornerback who's over 30 years old, who wants to compete for a championship, who wants to play for a winning organization,

who doesn't need to get paid a ton of money. I think that would make a lot of sense to go with the young group of guys that the Titans are going to have with Fulton, Farley, Molden, and Seajacks. So that's what I would do there. You don't want to have all guys on rookie contracts in your cornerback room going into the year. I just think that's incredibly risky. So that's what I would do

with the cornerback spot, free agency. So, moving into special teams. As I've talked about, and makes a lot of people emotional, and it should, Brett the weapon Kern may be cut for salary cap purposes by the Titans this offseason. That is an absolute

potential option. Now he could be restructured, but all I know is Brett Kern was 23rd in the NFL in yards per punt last year. He has declined in yards per punt five years in a row, and he has suffered pretty serious injuries that have kept him out of games two years in a row as well. He's in his late 30s. It's just that time. And even if you think that Brett Kern is still a solid player, which he is,

you can't pay him $3.2 million next year. You just simply can't do that for your punter. So, if the Titans cut Brett Kern, I think there are some good options available in free agency. You got Corey... Oh, man, this is gonna... I've even looked up highlights to try to get it right, but Bo Gorkes from Green Bay.

Oh, I just destroyed his name there. That's bad. But Green Bay's punter from last year, Corey B. He had the longest punt in the NFL last year. He was 15th in yards per punt. He's a young guy, so I think you have the potential to develop him and him to get even better.

You want a little bit of an older guy who's a veteran but not quite old as Brett Kern. Brian Anger, fourth in yards per punt last year. At kicker, I would go with Randy Bullock and Sam Ficken again. I don't see a problem with that. Let those dudes battle it out. And I would bring Morgan Cox back as a long snapper. He, Michael Daney, almost made the Pro Bowl. He got the second most votes for a long snapper. He was an all pro the year before that. We saw no issues with snaps this year for the Titans on special teams. So the fact that nobody ever heard Morgan Cox's name, that's a good thing.

That's a good thing. So bring Morgan Cox back. Let Randy Bullock and Sam Thicken battle it out in training camp. Get, you know, Corey B from Green Bay, Brian Anger, restructure Brett Kern. Either way, I don't think the Titans need to go out and try to fix special teams needs with free agency. I think where the team is at right now, I just don't think that that's the right route to go. But hey, I'm going to dive into more of my draft content as we get through the month of March. And maybe after looking at a couple of guys, I will change my mind.

But right now, special teams for me is a fill in free agency. And that's kind of been something that's a trend for me. If you've noticed with, you know, linebacker with safety, I like to have reliable guys on special teams. So that's just where I'm at headwise. But that is going to do it for me today, folks. A game of draft, free agency, or both is complete now. We did the offense.

We did the defense. Next week, it is time to dive into the Locked on Titans 2022 free agency preview. Very excited. We are going to hit it hard too. Like immediately, all five days, the next two weeks, 10 days straight, all free agency preview.

I mean, the free agency tampering period starts on March the 15th. I mean, it's crazy. And then free agency legitimately kicks off on the 17th. So we got about two weeks here, two weeks and a day to knock out these positions. And I got 11 positions in 11 episodes. So ready to dive into it.

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