Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Eye UFL Defensive Award Winner, Safety Market Thins & O-Line Gets Major Love

Episode Date: June 19, 2024

The Tennessee Titans have their roster mostly set for training camp, but could be looking to add the defensive player of the year from the UFL, Breeland Speaks. Speaks would be a perfect low-risk move for the Titans who need more talent on the defensive line. Next, we saw another free agent safety go off the board this week, leaving the Titans with little room for error if they want to improve there. Finally, the Titans offensive line has been a major issue for years, but recently got some major love from an ESPN analyst who traditionally doesn't give much to the Titans. 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!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s TWO HUNDRED BUCKS you can use to bet everything from the Finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!   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)

The Tennessee Titans are currently interested in the defensive player of the year from the UFL, and he's a player the Titans must bring in. I'll explain why on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. 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 GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code LOCKEDONNFL

for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. We got a lot of Tennessee Titans news to go over on today's show. The Tennessee Titans are reportedly interested in the defensive player of the year from the UFL. I'll tell you why they need to bring Breland

Speaks in. Also, we saw another safety option go off the board for the Titans. Who is left? And finally, the Tennessee Titans offensive line ranked in the top 10. I'll tell you what's going on there as well before we get into it. Thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round,

always for free. You're not going to beat that anywhere else. 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 tuning in Monday through Friday.

Remember, it's roster week this week. And tomorrow, I'm going to go through the top two at each position and tell you what talent level they are compared to the rest of the NFL. Next week is AFC South week. I'm going to get a deep dive on every single AFC South division rival, compare the Titans to their division rivals as well. It's going to be a lot of fun. Don't miss that. But with that being said, we do got to talk about this recent report about a UFL standout that

the Tennessee Titans are interested in, and it is Breeland Speaks from the Michigan Panthers, a defensive end. He was the defensive player of the year in the UFL this year. And again, the UFL is the spring football league, the XFL and the USFL combined finally in the UFL. And again, Breeland Speaks is the guy that we're talking about here, the defensive player, defensive player of the year in the UFL. The report comes from A to Z Sports. You guys can check that out if you want to see the report directly. But Speaks makes a ton of sense for the Tennessee Titans, and I think he's a player that

the Titans must go out and sign. Now, according to the report, the Carolina Panthers, funny that the Panthers and the Panthers are also interested in Breland Speaks, but the Titans need to do whatever they need to do to get this player into training camp for them. Now, Breland Speaks, but the Titans need to do whatever they need to do to get this player into training camp for them. Now, Breland Speaks is a guy who has had plenty of time in the NFL. Speaks was drafted in 2018 in the second round. He was drafted in the 40s by the Kansas City Chiefs, so a player that was highly coveted coming out of college. Six'3", 285 pounds, defensive lineman. He's 28 years old at this point. He did play 16 games for the Kansas City Chiefs his rookie year.

Had one and a half sacks, 24 tackles, three tackles for loss. Had one forced fumble and about 400 defensive snaps. The problem was he got injured in 2019. And then at the end of 2019, which he missed the entire season of, he was popped for a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. If you want to put two and two together, you would imagine that Speaks was trying to rehab from an injury, tried to give himself a little extra boost and got caught.

After that, he spent time on a ton of different practice squads in the NFL. The Giants were a team that he was involved with. The Raiders were a team that he was involved with, but never got back out onto the field in a real NFL game. He took a turn in 2021, was with the Giants for a little bit, and then didn't resurface in the NFL again until 2023. Obviously, he was playing in some of these professional spring football leagues. But in 2023, after a good season in the USFL in 2023, he spent time in camp with the San Francisco 49ers.

He was on their training camp roster last training camp last year. But he was waived and ultimately didn't make the team. Resurfaced again in the UFL this year. Where, again, he was the defensive player of the year. He had nine and a half sacks in ten games. Had 13 tackles for loss. Now, one thing that I think is important to throw in here. Had 13 tackles for loss.

Now, one thing that I think is important to throw in here, he did have seven of those nine and a half sacks in two games. So he had four sacks in one game and had three sacks in another game. Utterly dominant against his worst matchups of the year. Well, worst in terms of the worst talent that he faced. Best matchups for him, if we're saying it that way. But here's the reality that's why I'm so adamant that the Tennessee Titans go out and bring Breland Speaks into the Titans training camp.

The Titans just don't have a lot of talent in the pass rush and on the defensive line. Like, of course, you have Jeffrey Simmons. You have Harold Landry, Arden Key, solid third rusher. But outside of those three players, who do the Titans really have? Rashad Weaver is still an unknown, a mixed bag throughout his first three seasons in the NFL. Tavondre Sweat, you guys know that my belief in Tavondre Sweat is low. And either way, even if you're somebody who believes in Tavondre Sweat, he's still a run-stuffing rookie.

You can't really expect him to have a major impact in the pass rush in year one. That's something that he's going to have to develop into over time. Sebastian Joseph Day, average replacement-level starter in the NFL. Never been an incredible pass rusher. And outside of that, you guys know from our conversations so far this summer, I do not like the depth and the talent on the Titans defensive line or what they have on the edge outside of their top three guys. So getting a guy like Breland Speaks not only gives them just more numbers,

but it gives them a high-end upside player that they may be able to get something out of. And during his time with these other professional football leagues, he may have kind of turned that corner to be the player that he was expected to be when he was drafted in the second round in 2018. Now, is it a guarantee? Is this some high-level player that the Titans are battling for? No. Look, this is a risk.

This is an unknown. But it's one that the Titans need to take. Why not is the question. It's not like they have a ton of depth at those positions and they have certified starters at every spot at those positions. Bring in a guy like Breeland Speaks, who, again, 6'3", 285 pounds, he is a power physical edge.

Okay? And I've talked about how Arden Key, long, thin, athleticism, but he's not a power player. Arden Key isn't a big physical player, and Rashad Weaver is slimmed down, looks more explosive. Maybe he takes that next step, but at this point, how can you count on that?

How is that something you can bank on? So the question becomes, why not? Why wouldn't the Titans bring in Breland Speaks and see what he can do and see if maybe he's turned that corner and turned into a legit NFL player? Why not at least bring him into training camp and see what you can get out of him and see what kind of player he might be. There is no reason why the Titans should not do this,

which to me translates to they must do this. They must bring in Breeland Speaks. So right now, according to the report from A to Z Sports, just conversations, just keeping tabs on the player, no official offer, no official agreement or anything like that. But again, I think this is something that the Tennessee Titans need to do. And even if it doesn't work out and they end up waving speaks after training camp is over,

he absolutely should get a shot on this roster considering his production in the spring football leagues and considering the lack of talent that the Titans have at those positions. They certainly, certainly need to take a look. But with that being said, there's a player that we thought the Titans would bring in that they aren't going to be able to get a look at at the safety position.

I'll tell you who it is and what they need to do now. Before I do though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. GameTime is the best place to buy tickets. I've purchased baseball, basketball, football, concert tickets all on GameTime because simply they have the best features of any ticket buying app in the marketplace. One, you get killer last minute deals. Like sometimes they have better deals. The closer that you get to the event, which never happens, you get all in prices. So you actually know what you're going to pay when you get the checkout, you get a panoramic view from your seat. So you actually know what you're going to be looking at when you sit to checkout. You get a panoramic view from your seat so you actually know what you're going to be looking at

when you sit down. And if that's not good enough for you, they have the game time guarantee. If you find tickets in the same section or row for less, game time is going to credit you 110% of the difference. Look, it's summertime. MLB season. Go out and catch you a ball game.

Get you a hot dog. Get you a beer if you're of legal age. And enjoy yourself some baseball on GameTime. Download the GameTime app. Create an account. Use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account.

Redeem the code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-CKEDONNFL for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last-minute tickets. Lowest price. Guaranteed. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the Titans' reported interest in Breland Speaks, the defensive player of the year in the UFL. The Titans absolutely should bring him in and give him a shot in training camp.

There's no reason not to. But now I want to talk about a player that we thought the Titans would bring in, but they're not going to get the opportunity to. And that is Marcus May, the safety, who will now be joining the Miami Dolphins. Before I get into that, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free.

Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. But Marcus May has been, I guess, the favorite to be the signing the Titans make at safety for the last month now, I would say. The Titans themselves, it's not just me. It's not just me sitting here telling you the Titans need to bring a free agent safety. They need to sign somebody at safety. They don't have enough talent at safety. It's not just my opinion, okay? The Titans themselves have told us that. Brian Callahan has talked about looking at bringing in a free agent safety.

Rancor Thon talked about safety and edge rusher during this offseason post-draft. So, it's not just my opinion here. The Tennessee Titans themselves, the decision makers, have told us that they are looking at bringing in a free agent safety. Okay?

Well, the options are starting to dwindle. All right? Marcus May. So, Marcus May spent time with the New York Jets when Denard Wilson was there, had his best season under Denard Wilson. There was a natural connection there. Marcus May had been out on the free agent market, obviously,

and it made sense. Now, I had said all along that I would prefer the Titans to get Justin Simmons. Justin Simmons is clearly the better player, the more talented player, the more accomplished player in the NFL. It's not like Marcus May is significantly younger. They're the same age. So it made more sense to me to go out and get Justin Simmons. But Simmons is probably going to get more money on his contract.

He's probably holding out to get more money. Also, you have the connection, like I mentioned, between Denard Wilson and Marcus May. So, and worth noting, Marcus May went to Florida, where Rand Carthon also went. So, there's a lot of personal connections between Marcus May. And that's why I've said for the last few months, my everydayers will remember that while I want the Titans to go sign Justin Simmons,

because I think he's the better player, I thought the Titans would ultimately sign Marcus May because of all the connections and that made a ton of sense, the lowered price. And the price was right. The price was right, Bob. Okay, like Marcus May ended up signing with the Miami Dolphins for a little over a million dollars, like according to Aaron Wilson, who reports a bunch of these low-level signings and training

camp stuff and practice squad stuff. Aaron Wilson does a good job. But, again, the Titans aren't going to have the chance now. Marcus May is signing with the Miami Dolphins. And also, another name that kind of made some sense for the Titans if they wanted depth on the defensive line, Calais Campbell, the longtime veteran. I thought he might be an option for the Titans. He's also going to the Miami Dolphins. So the Dolphins swooping up a bunch of veteran players

off the market that I thought did make a little bit of sense for the Titans. Marcus May at the top of them. So now that May is off the board, again, we're getting closer and closer to Elijah Molden being a starting safety for the Titans. And while I've been somebody who has been higher on Elijah Molden as a player than your, you know, regular Tennessee Titans fan, than your general tennis,

I don't mean in terms of like casual, hardcore, diehard. I just mean like, if you just asked your regular intelligent Titans fan about Elijah Molden, I'm generally higher on Molden, I'm generally higher on Molden as a player than that person would be. Okay. But with that being said,

Elijah Molden shouldn't be starting for this team. Like Elijah Molden is a good third safety. In my opinion, Elijah Molden should be a dime safety. So when the Titans have six defensive backs out on the field, three safeties, three cornerbacks, that's when Elijah Molden needs to be utilized.

Kind of like how the Titans were trying to use him last year when they had Kevin Byer and they had Amani Hooker. So I don't think Molden is a very good back deep safety. But when you're in dime, and if it's just, hey, do not get beat deep. Play center field, do not get beat deep. That's all you got to worry about. Moulton can do that okay. He could do that okay.

But where I really like Elijah Moulton is close to the line of scrimmage. As a dime linebacker. Literally line it up as a linebacker, but on heavy passing situations. He can play man coverage on a tight end. He can play man coverage on a tight end. He could play man coverage on a running back. He could play a short hook zone. He could play a spy on a quarterback. I think he could do all of those things very well as a tertiary

safety within the Titan system. Now, the scheme with Denard Wilson, does that fit Elijah Molden? Is that something that makes sense for Elijah Molden? I don't know, but his skill set seems to be perfect for that kind of role, okay? Now that Marcus May is off the board, if you don't want Elijah Molden to play that third safety role, or if you do want Elijah Molden to play that third safety role, then you need to get somebody who's capable of starting in here.

Alright? And you look at the players that are still left on the safety market. Justin Simmons, who I will continue to pound the table for, and while I'm not, Justin Simmons said he wants to play for a championship, blah, blah, blah. All these guys say that.

DeAndre Hopkins said he wanted to play for a championship and then he picked the Titans. You know what they're going to do? They're going to pick whoever pays them the most. All right. What do you do when you go for jobs? You pick whichever job pays you the most. Be honest.

Be honest with yourself. That's why I always find it funny when people online tell me, no one's going to want to come play for the Titans if they lose games. No one's going to want to come play for the Titans since they fired Mike Vrabel. Okay, a couple years ago, Jacksonville had the worst record in the league, and they spent a record amount in free agency. You know why?

Because NFL players want to be paid. You guys think NFL players care about winning more than they do. You would hope that these NFL players really care about winning because in your mind, that's what you care about. Oh, if I was an NFL player, I would want to win no matter what. I would take less to win. No, you wouldn't. No, you wouldn't.

You don't take less now when you look for jobs. NFL players want to get paid. Most of these guys don't care about winning as much as you hope that they would. They care about their paycheck, how happy their family is, their living circumstances, you know, the stuff that all of us care about when we look at jobs. But here's my point. The Titans need to go out and pay Justin Simmons. Like at this

point, you have Justin Simmons, Quandre Diggs, who's a good player, but an older player who's really been in a zone system for most of his career, not the system that the Titans are going to be playing, which is aggressive and pressure based. Eddie Jackson, another older player, played for the Bears most of his career. He's out there. Jamal Adams is a big name, but again, I am totally out on Jamal Adams. The Titans need to go get Justin Simmons now because Marcus May is off the board

and pickings are slim. So go get Justin Simmons. Go get Breland Speaks at the two biggest positions of need before training camp, and then let's go at it. Alright, then let's go to battle. But with that being said, the Titans offensive line ranked in the top 10 by an ESPN analyst? What is going on out here?

We're going to discuss that before we do. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Look, it is summertime, and sadly, the NBA Finals are over, and the Boston Celtics won. God, I'm going to go puke. But it's baseball season. The NHL Stanley Cup is still going on.

Let's go Edmonton, man. Connor McDavid, what a fun player to watch. Also, though, you can bet on some future NFL games. And the Tennessee Titans getting four and a half points against the Chicago Bears. What? Oh, I'm hammering that. Hammering that. And you get to know this.

Right now, new customers on FanDuel Sportsbook get $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $200 that you could bet on everything from the Conn Smythe Award. I hope I said that right. Obviously, not a hockey guy, but I enjoy the sport. Who's going to hit a home run? A lot of golf events going on. The Travelers this weekend.

You can bet on who's going to win. Top 10, top 5, all that. Make sure that you visit Fanduel.com slash locked on and add a big win to your summer bucket list. That's Fanduel, America's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Just going over some news items that have popped up this week. I do want to remind you tomorrow, we're going to do a complete depth chart talent analysis. I'm going to go through the top two players at every position on the team

and look at whether they're an elite player, a very good player, a good player, an average player, below average player, unproven young player, all of that stuff. Can't wait to dive into it with you guys on tomorrow's show. But before we do that, let's talk about this O-line love that the Tennessee Titans are getting from an ESPN analyst that typically does not like the Tennessee Titans. Before we do, I do want to thank you again for making Locked on Titans your first listen

each and every day. I also want to remind you that Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel. It's on YouTube, and now it's also available on the Amazon Fire TV, free Fire TV channels app. It's called Locked On Sports Today. Locked On Sports Today, again, is 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day with local experts from Locked On.

You get coverage of every league from our national shows. Why turn on ESPN? Why turn on Fox Sports 1? Screw those channels. Flip on YouTube. Go to the 24-7 Locked On Sports Today channel and just have some great background noise. You get all the best Locked On shows.

You get all the national shows. It's so good. It is so, so good. Find Locked On Sports today, now available free on the Fire TV channels app and on YouTube. But Mike Clay from ESPN. So ESPN

analysts, whether it's Mike Clay who does his projection series, whether it's, excuse me, Seth Walter, who is the ESPN analytics guy, they never like the Titans, ever. And fairly so. The last two seasons, the Titans have not been a very good football team.

I know in 2022 they started out hot, but if you look back at the level of competition, it's no surprise that the season went the way that it did at the end, regardless of the injuries. I know the injuries were a big factor as well, but the Titans weren't quite as good as their record said they were early in 2022. But last year, mediocre season, you know, not a lot of talent. It makes sense that the projections and the analytics and all that weren't very kind to the Titans. But, but, Mike Clay has been doing his projection series

based on the team's rosters right now. And he had the Tennessee Titans offensive line ranked top 10 in the NFL. Top 10. Yes, the Titans offensive line. Mike Clay had the Tennessee Titans at number 9 in the NFL. Now, his starters for the Titans, projected starters for the Titans, are J.C. Latham at left tackle, Peter Skowronski at left guard, Lloyd Cushenberry

at center, which is what we expect. But he had Daniel Brunskill at right guard and Dylan Radins at right tackle. Now, how much would these projections change if he had what we think is going to be the Titans offensive line with Sadiq Charles at right guard with Nicholas Petit-Ferrer at right tackle? Would the Titans go down in the rankings if that happened? I kind of think based on these projections that they would. Daniel Brunskill has been a very average level starter. And if you look at the last five games of Dylan Radins last year, he was honestly like the Titans second best offensive lineman behind Peter Skronoski. So I could see why the projections are friendly to the Titans based on this

setup on the offensive line. I personally think that with what the Titans want to do on the offensive line this year, that Sadiq Charles will be better at right guard than Daniel Brunskill. Although, I will say, I'm glad the Titans are giving Radins just a pure chance at right guard, just play guard and do that. I want Radins to get that opportunity, but I think that Dylan Radins might even be better at right tackle than Nicholas Petit Ferrer. So, interesting. There, we'll see what happens. But the Titans are ahead of the Green Bay Packers.

The Titans are ahead of the Chicago Bears. Like, I think those are two pretty decent offensive lines, especially the Packers. They have great offensive line coaching in Green Bay. So the names aren't, you know, Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom, Jordan Morgan's a rookie who might get a start there. Like, those aren't insane names, but I mean, the offensive line coaching is just fantastic. So Detroit at number one, I don't think anybody can argue with that. The Browns at number two, will they take a step back without Bill Callahan? Interesting to see.

The Falcons at three. The Colts at four. The Jets at five. Will they be able to stay healthy, though? The Eagles at six. The Chiefs at seven. I don't know if I agree with that. Wanya Morris is one of their starters at left tackle.

I don't know. The other four starters are good though. The Denver Broncos and then the Titans at number nine. Again, this is crazy. And the only way, the only way that that projection happens, in my opinion, is because of JC Latham. Like, Mike Clay's projections must be very high on J.C. Latham

for the Titans to be ranked that high. Like, top 10 O-line. And just imagine for me, if you will, close your eyes and imagine, if the Titans really do have top 10 offensive line play this year, imagine that. Imagine. It is going to be unbelievable.

If the Titans get top 10 offensive line play this year, the Titans are winning quite a few games. Like, my projection for the Titans right now is like 7 wins to 10 wins, floor and ceiling. If the Titans get top 10 offensive line play, they're going to win 9 games. Probably make a wild card spot. Like, that would be incredible.

It would be incredible. And look, one thing that I do like about the O-line is the Titans do have some decent depth now. I like what they've done, and I think they have some okay depth on the offensive line, which is very important because injuries are going to happen. It's the NFL. Injury rate is 100%.

Everyone gets hurt at some point. So, I like the depth. And that's very important. Now, that's not taken into account here in this projection. This is just starters, but it's giving me the warm and fuzzies, guys. I'm very excited about what this team can be and especially the improvement that they can make up front on the offensive line. But with that being said, again, tomorrow the plan is, maybe we get some make up front on the offensive line. But with that being said, again, tomorrow, the plan is maybe we get some Justin Simmons news on Wednesday night. That would be awesome.

I would be hype. I would be on live with you guys. We would talk about that tomorrow. But if we get no news, things stay a little quiet, which they're supposed to be right now in the NFL. Usually no news is good news this time of year for the Titans because the only news that you would get would be bad news around this time. So let's hope that's not the case. But if things stay quiet, I'm going to go through the entire depth chart tomorrow

too deep and talk about what talent level each player is. So very excited to do that exercise with you guys because it's always great to get your feedback. Getting your guys' feedback on the grades was excellent I enjoyed that as well so hopefully you'll join me tomorrow and take a look at this depth chart but with that being said that is going to do it for me today folks

as always I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans you