Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans FAVORITES to Sign DeAndre Hopkins, Monty Rice is Overrated & Ben Niemann Sleeper

Episode Date: July 12, 2023

The Tennessee Titans are now the favorites to sign DeAndre Hopkins, but they always should have been based on what we know about Hopkins! Next, Tyler thinks Monty Rice is the most overrated Titans player heading into training camp. Finally, Ben Niemann was signed to very little fan fare, but Niemann has the skill and experience to start for the Titans' defense in 2023.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!birddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNFL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNFL for a free Yeti style tumbler with your order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, your Tennessee Titans are now the favorites to sign DeAndre Hopkins. We're going to talk about what happened and more on today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.

That's right, DeAndre Hopkins. The Titans are now the favorites to sign him. I'm going to go over all of the recent news, what might have caused this change in perception. We're also going to continue our positional preview series today, talk about the linebackers. I'll tell you who I think the most overrated Tennessee Titan is heading into training camp, and I'll tell you who I think might start ahead of this player at the linebacker position.

So we're going to dive into all of that before we get into it. Do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there as well. Tune in to the show Monday through Friday for daily Tennessee Titans content on all apps all year round and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast.

It's your team every day. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Nearly 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic, a staff writer for Sports Illustrated, covering the Titans over at alltitans.com, and of course, a certified film junkie breaking down the X's and O's with you guys all season long. But with all that being said,

again, the Titans are now the favorites to sign DeAndre Hopkins. In the past, in recent weeks, they had been considered maybe the third best option, the fourth best option to sign Hopkins by the general public and all those in the football ecosystem. But as of Wednesday afternoon, something changed. And I don't think that there was something specific that happened, but I think it was more of a cumulative effect from all the stuff that we've been hearing in recent days.

Now, in my opinion, and my everydayers will know this, I have been saying for at least a month now that the Titans are the best fit for DeAndre Hopkins based on what he has told us he wants. Yeah, of course, DeAndre Hopkins, in a perfect world, it would make more sense for him to go ring chasing with the Bills or the Chiefs and do all that, but Hopkins has told us he still wants to be paid. He still thinks that he's one of the best receivers in the league,

and he wants the opportunity to make money more than just go ring chasing for one of these teams that's considered the favorites to win the Super Bowl. So with that being kind of the basis of what we know Hopkins wants, the Titans have always been the best option available. I did a Tale of the Tape episode a couple of weeks ago between the Titans and the Patriots, and to me, it was close, but it was obvious that the Titans were the better fit. And based on all the things that we've been hearing,

I talked about it earlier this week. We heard Jeremy Fowler over the weekend talk to Brandon Gall on the Darian Mel show on ESPN Radio. He said that the Titans are, quote, well-positioned to sign DeAndre Hopkins. He also said there was an incredible amount of buy-in from Mike Vrabel. And not only that, but then Mike Reese,

New England Patriots beat reporter for ESPN, said earlier this week in a mailbag that the Titans have been more aggressive going after DeAndre Hopkins and was asked by a fan, Mike Reese said he leans Tennessee in terms of who would sign Hopkins. So you're getting people in New England,

you're getting national ESPN insiders telling you the Titans are well positioned. Mike Vrabel, lots of buy-in. Titans have been more aggressive. I mean, I talked about this when the more aggressive quote happened in the lean Tennessee. We've talked about these three things right here.

And to me, it's pretty obvious that if you cut through the verbiage here and the coded language of well-positioned and more aggressive, the Titans are offering Hopkins a more lucrative contract. That's where the aggression comes in. And buy-in from Mike Vrabel,

that's probably about practice routine because Hopkins isn't a guy who likes to practice a ton. And that will make Titans fans shake, I know, but that's where that buy-in comes from. And I said it's probably not just that, but it's about involvement in the offense. Bill Belichick may be saying, hey, we're not going to force feed you the ball. You'll be open within our scheme. We'll get you the ball, this and that.

Well, Mike Vrabel might be saying, we're going to throw you the ball a bunch and just catering to him. And that's what the Titans should be doing. It's what the Titans should be doing because they are much more desperate for DeAndre Hopkins than the Patriots are. And that's probably why the Titans are willing to offer more money. And then after we get all of those pieces of information, Mike Lombardi, who is one of the hosts of the GM Shuffle podcast, which if you know Mike Lombardi at all, he's a former NFL executive,

really tied in with the New England Patriots organization. Obviously, he's got connections and stuff around the NFL, but really tied in with the Patriots. He said in his podcast earlier this week that he thinks that the Titans will sign DeAndre Hopkins. And he said that the Titans were willing to stretch more. The Titans are willing to pay Hopkins more money. They always should have been.

And at the end of the day, the Titans have more opportunities and more targets available in their offense. The Titans have a weaker division, which gives Hopkins a better chance at making the playoffs. That also gives them a chance to play the Texans twice a year and get some personal revenge there. Tim Kelly and Mike Rabel have a better relationship with DeAndre Hopkins than Bill O'Brien did. I mean, I wrote a story about this a couple of weeks ago for Sports Illustrated. You go back and look at some of the stuff that was talked about that Bill O'Brien said to DeAndre

Hopkins. It's despicable. I don't see how you could ever go back and work for that guy, especially when they're offering less money. And now you add in all the off-the-field stuff, living in Tennessee, he's from South Carolina, he played in Houston and Arizona. You think he wants to go freeze his butt off in the Northeast in Boston? No. No state taxes, which makes the money part even better.

The Titans are going to pay more and you get no state taxes. That's all huge stuff for Hopkins. It's all huge stuff. So to me, the Titans should have always been considered the favorites after we heard from Hopkins that he wasn't just going to ring chase, that he wanted to get paid. Once we knew that fact, the Titans should have always been the favorites. They make the most sense.

They make more sense than New England. And it's funny that it took all of this stuff kind of cumulatively piling on for some people to recognize that the Titans should be the favorites to sign Hopkins. So just interesting stuff happening all over the NFL. Hopkins is a guaranteed fit with the Tennessee Titans. And speaking of a guaranteed fit, today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors. Our partners at eBay Motors have teamed up with Locked On Fantasy Football host Vinny Iyer to bring you some of the best fantasy picks and information each week all season

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You apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about DeAndre Hopkins and the movement that we saw there. But now I want to talk about the linebacker position for the Titans. We are going to continue our positional preview series here. And I want to start with the starting linebackers. Of course, you have Aziz Alshire, who was signed as a free agent by the Titans. I think he is going to be the number one linebacker on the team. But after that, I want to talk about a guy who I think at this moment in time is the most overrated Tennessee

Titan on the roster, and it's Monty Rice. I'm going to dive into that before I do. I want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content on all apps, all year long, always for free. Get subscribed.

Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Going to have more DeAndre Hopkins content coming your way. Hopefully we'll be talking about the Titans signing him here in the near future. Also going to continue breaking down the Titans defense in the coming days. We got

to talk about the Titans defensive backs. Tomorrow I'm going to do a steal a player from a divisional rival episode where we talk about what players we would steal from the Texans, the Colts, the Jaguars. McKnight58 on Twitter

gave me that great idea, so I'm going to dive into all that. So good stuff coming your way tomorrow. Good stuff coming your way next week and the weeks to come here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But Monty Rice, overrated. I've seen fans. I've seen Titans media.

Just get really, really excited about Monty Rice for this upcoming season. And listen, he's a young player. We've seen some flashes. I mean, I get it. He's had moments of really good run defense. I mean, he was the 25th ranked run defender at linebacker in the NFL last year. Out of linebackers who played 200 snaps.

But that's not very many snaps. You should have to play about that much for me to consider you in these kind of things. So 25th, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. kind of thing. So 25th, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. Also, Monty Rice, really, really reliable tackler last year. Didn't miss very many tackles at all. I think it was like four tackles that he missed. 4% of his tackles he missed. That's incredible. So a reliable tackler, good in run defense.

He's fast. He's aggressive. He's all over the field. Mike Vrabel talked about all this stuff earlier this offseason. We kind of talked about Monte Rice because Mike Vrabel also said he needs to see more consistency from Monte Rice. And honestly, for me, it's not just consistency that we need to see out of Monte Rice. We need to see improvement as well. I'll take consistency with the run defense,

but Monty Rice's pass coverage to this point in his career is not going to get the job done. It's simply not. Not to mention, Monty Rice has only played in 23 out of 37 games. He's missed 11 games in two years. I mean, he's just got to stay healthy and stay on the field. He's only played 545 snaps on the defensive side of the ball. It's not good enough. It's not.

So he needs to be more consistent in terms of staying out on the field. He needs to stay consistent in terms of his run defense. But again, the pass coverage, like some people are talking about Monty Rice like he's going to be a three-down linebacker for the Titans, and I'm sorry, but at this time, I would take Aziz Alshayer way before I would take Monty Rice as the guy I want to put out there on all three downs. In 2022, Monty Rice had a 53.6 coverage grade,

and of course, grades, statistics coming from Pro Football Focus. Not that that's the end-all be-all, but you combine that with what you see on tape and it makes sense. But 53.6 grade in coverage. He was targeted 29 times and gave up 25 receptions. That's 86% completion percentage. He had the 65th best coverage grade out of linebackers last year. Not even

in the top 64 of starters. In both of his years, he's allowed a passer rating of 100 or more. And it's not just ranking him in the NFL. Rank Monty Rice with the other Tennessee Titans defensive players. If you look at all 14 Tennessee Titans who played over 100 defensive snaps last year, Monty Rice is the third worst in pass coverage.

So, and it's funny, I won't say names, but there's a former media, or not former, but a media member for the Titans who called Monty Rice a pass coverage linebacker last summer. Somebody doesn't watch the film. But, anyways. You look at Monty Rice, and I just don't see the hype. I just don't see the excitement.

I think he's a guy who could be a two-down linebacker and give you special teams value. Monty Rice could be your third linebacker. I don't see Monty Rice as more than that. Now, I could be wrong. If you listen to the show enough, you already know this. If you're just new to the show and you're going to continue listening, I'm going to get some things wrong. No one who talks about sports for a living is going to get things right

all the time. So that's just not what's going to happen. So Monty Rice could prove me wrong. But right now, I don't think Monty Rice is the type of player who's going to be around very long. I don't think Monty Rice is going to live up to a top 100 draft pick. I think that Monty Rice is a guy who, like I said, can be your third linebacker, a depth linebacker, who's more of a run stuffer and role player. He can help on special teams and use his athleticism and his ferocity in that way. But I just don't trust his coverage skills. I don't trust and I'm not saying that Monty Rice has no flashes in coverage. It may be, it may very well be a comfortability thing. It may be a knowledge of the defense thing,

which could improve with time. But to me, if I had to guess right now, I would tell you that not after this year, but after next year, 2024, after his rookie contract is up, Monty Rice will be on another team. I mean, David Long is a much better player than Monty Rice has been. And the Titans didn't want anything to do with David Long.

So anything's going to happen with Monty Rice. You know what I mean? So I know that right now, everybody's our favorite player and every single Titan is going to outperform their expectations. And I know that there are certain fans who think like that. Nobody's going to have a bad year. Nobody's going to underperform.

Nobody's overrated. But if you had to pick an overrated Titan, let me know down below in the comments who you think it is. Try to be honest with yourselves here. But for me, my answer is clearly Monty Rice. I don't see the hype. I don't see the potential.

Honestly, I think there's a chance that we get halfway through the season and Monty Rice isn't even the starter because there's another linebacker who I did not give enough props. I did not give enough props to. I didn't do enough research to understand. There's another linebacker who I think has a really good chance to not only be that coverage linebacker for the Titans that I've been looking for,

but potentially supplant Monty Rice and start next to Aziz Alshai. Demon! All right, Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about DeAndre Hopkins' start and the change that happened there. There's a change in the winds. We talked about Monte Rice being my most overrated Tennessee Titans player right now and how I'm not as high on Rice as a lot of people seem to be. Let me know who you think the most overrated Tennessee Titan is down below. But what I want

to do is now let's talk about who I think could be replacing Monty Rice in the starting lineup. And if Monty Rice falters, like I think he might, there is a player on the Titans depth chart at linebacker that I think could step up and make that big difference. And I kind of hinted at it a second ago. It reminds me of Seinfeld with Newman. Newman, that's where I'm going with. I'm older. Give me a break. I'm in my 30s. I love Seinfeld.

I know a lot of you guys are like, what are you talking about? But moving right along, Ben Neiman. The Titans brought in Ben Neiman as a veteran free agent signing at linebacker. They also brought in Luke Gifford as well. So they brought in some linebackers to add some depth. And I'll be honest with you, like you guys, I said, okay, you know, some depth guys who will play on special teams, maybe not make the roster.

I don't know, whatever. I'm not going to paint. But I started doing my research for today's episode, and I was like, wait a minute here. What's up with this Ben Neiman guy? Neiman's 6'2". Good size. Neiman has played over 400 defensive snaps every single year since 2019.

He played with Kansas City for multiple years and then played with Arizona last year. Neiman missed one tackle last year. Missed one tackle last year. And there are times throughout his career where he has just been an incredibly prolific tackler in terms of not making misses, getting his man to the ground. I mean, it's been impressive. Not only that,

but last year in coverage, Neiman had a 70.2 grade. Bryce had a 53.6. grade. Rice had a 53.6. A 67.6 grade in run defense. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. Neiman has struggled in run defense throughout his career.

That's where, if you want to say he's more pass coverage run, he has struggled in run defense more at times and had more highs in pass coverage. I mean, he's had some really good seasons of pass coverage, including last year mean, he's had some really good seasons of pass coverage, including last year. But he's had some run defense successes layered in there. So I think there is the possibility.

Now, I'm not going to tell you that Neiman has more potential or something like that than Monty Rice. I'm not here to tell you that. But if Monty Rice doesn't develop that consistency that Mike Vrabel asked for, if Monty Rice doesn't step up to the plate and secure that linebacker spot, the person who I think would play over him

would be Ben Neiman, who has a bunch of experience as a starting linebacker, who has had some really good moments in coverage, and he's struggled at times in run defense, but he's had some good moments in run defense as well. And I don't think that, and I know, the run defense of the Kansas City Chiefs or the Arizona Cardinals has not been anywhere near the run defense of the Tennessee Titans in recent years.

So if a linebacker struggled with run defense, if there was a defensive line that could help that linebacker by keeping him free and occupying blockers and all of that, it would be the Titans defensive line. So if any defensive line has the ability to positively impact the run defense of a linebacker, it's the Titans D-line. So if the Titans D-line can help Neiman be better in run defense while being just as good as he's been in pass coverage, that could be the number two starting linebacker for the Titans. And that player could overtake Monty Rice, in my opinion. Monty Rice isn't such a valuable asset or such a guy that the Titans got to dive headfirst into that they wouldn't replace him. So I'm just saying, keep your eye on Ben Neiman.

That's what I'm saying there. Do want to also mention Jack Gibbons. Jack Gibbons up and down play last year. He had one game of incredible pass coverage. I think it was against the Cowboys. He had one game of really good run defense against that. I think that was against the Jaguars. It might be flipped.

The pass coverage game may be the Jaguars. I think he got the interception that game. And the run defense game was the Cowboys game. So he gave you a little bit there. But Gibbons was an undrafted free agent. I'm just not going to overrate him. He's going to be fighting for a roster spot this year. But again, he's shown flashes of both sides playing great.

So if he can get that roster spot, maybe he can develop and get better. Chance Campbell, drafted last year, didn't play at all because of injury. What's he going to do? What's he going to offer? Maybe he is a guy who, if he didn't get injured, would have been able to take Monty Rice's place already.

So that's something to watch. I already mentioned Luke Gifford before. I think he's more of that's something to watch. I already mentioned Luke Gifford before. I think he's more of just a special teams guy. I look at Luke Gifford as I do Joe Jones from previous years. If he's playing on defense, panic. If he's on special teams, you got a solid player there. So that's how I see that. And then finally, you have the undrafted free agent rookie Otis Reese out of Mississippi.

It's going to be an uphill battle with all the guys that we've talked about that are ahead of him. I mean, you have Aziz and Monty, Ben Neiman. There's three. Gibbons, Campbell, Gifford. There's six. I mean, it's going to be, it's going to take a miracle. But what I would tell you this, because of the Hassan Haskins legal issues,

the Titans may choose to keep a special team centric player from another position rather than like adding another running back to the roster. They may just take one of the running backs they already have like a chestnut or a Jonathan Ward, blah, blah, blah, and replace Haskins special teams value with another linebacker or another safety on the roster. You know what I mean? And if they do something like that, then maybe a guy like Otis Reese or maybe a guy like Jack Gibbons, Chance Campbell, maybe that gives one of those guys a much better chance of sticking on the roster and having a spot and then eventually developing and who knows what they turn into. But that is my breakdown of the linebacker position for the Titans. We talked about DeAndre Hopkins as well. So that's heating up as we get closer and closer to training camp.

What a fun episode, man. It's having an absolute blast as we continue to get again closer and closer to training camp. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is Locked on Titan.