Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans GM Ran Carthon Commits to Tannehill, Carthon Concerning Comment & Kelly's Changes

Episode Date: February 28, 2023

The Tennessee Titans leaders had their chance to speak at the 2023 NFL Combine. Titans' GM Ran Carthon spoke on Ryan Tannehill's status and as usual it is being misrepresented. Mike Vrabel spoke on Tannehill as well, but his comments don't sound as flowery. Also, Carthon gave a concerning comment about his football philosophy. Finally, Titans new OC Tim Kelly spoke as well and talked about what will change and what won't with his offense.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!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get startedFANDUEL 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

Titans General Manager Ran Carthon did not commit to Ryan Tannehill, and everyone is getting it wrong once again. We're going to break down that and more from today's NFL Combine 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. It was day one at the NFL Combine for the Tennessee Titans, and we got to hear from general manager Rand Carthon, head coach Mike Vrabel, and new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly. I'm going to be breaking down and recapping all of the important comments from today's action, including this commitment issue with Ryan Tannehill that everyone continues to get wrong. And we're going to start there. But before we get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans

podcast your first listen every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year long and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. First, we got to talk about Rand Carthon's comments about Ryan Tannehill. And this continues, continues to box the ears off fans and media alike. And I just cannot believe that we can't read through the fence writing here. I think some people expect Rand Carthon to get up there in this press conference and say, we're trading Ryan Tannehill.

We're cutting Ryan Tannehill. Or, Ryan Tannehill is our starting quarterback in 2023. That's not what they're going to do. They are not going to make a definitive statement in February about whether Ryan Tannehill is going to be on the team or not. So anybody telling you that a definitive statement was made is purely wrong. They're misinterpreting the comments. And look, these comments that Rand Carthon made, I can understand

how you can misinterpret it if you just look at the initial comments and you don't go through the entire quote. But that's why it's important to go through the entire quote. So let's do that. What did Rand Carthon say about Ryan Tannehill? Well, starts out pretty positive. He says, I mean, Ryan has done a great job. Ryan has won a lot of football games. As you guys know, he has been a diligent worker and he's been in the building every day rehabbing and getting his work in. So he's under contract and I'm excited about moving forward

with him. And you know, like I said, he's done a ton of great things and I have a lot of respect for him and quote right there. So that's one thing that a lot of people are getting caught up on. I'm excited about moving forward with him. But the big thing is, is what was said right before that. So he's under contract. Ryan Tannehill is under contract. Rand Carthon is not going to come out and say, yeah, I'm not excited about moving forward with Ryan Tannehill because we're going to cut him or we're going to try to trade him. If the Titans wanted to trade Ryan Tannehill, the worst thing that they could do is come out and say, yeah, we're not moving forward with them. Again, what else is Rand Carthon going to say, folks? Taking that as some sort of commitment is just asinine, in my opinion.

And Carthon continues. And again, the entire full quote is what is important here. Carthon says, quote, well, I mean, it's a process, right? says, quote, well, I mean, it's a process, right? So you have to evaluate everybody at every position every year, and we will continue to do that. We'll continue to stack and rank our quarterbacks, whether it's free agency or the draft, because you always have to look for options at every position every year. You can't settle, and we all know the quarterback position is, you know, seen as one of the top positions in our league, so you always got to have one. He talks about John Lynch in San Francisco and how they had to use four quarterbacks, and then he continues. So you got to keep, you got to be good at that position from top

to bottom, however many you decide to keep. Ryan is under contract. I just want to speak freely for a moment. I know everyone wants to make a big deal, you know, out of the quarterback position and whether he will or won't be here, but you guys just have to accept that Ryan is under contract. You know, right now, for us, he is a Titan, and he will be a Titan. And again, people are taking that end comment. He is a Titan. He will be a Titan as some sort of definitive statement that Ryan Tannehill is the quarterback in 2023. But what did he say right before that?

You know, out of the quarterback position, people want to make a big deal, you know, out of the quarterback position, people want to make a big deal, you know, out of the quarterback position, whether he will or won't be here. But you guys just have to accept that Ryan is under contract. You know, right now, for us, he is a Titan and he will be a Titan. Right there, he's saying whether he will be or won't be here, you guys want that answer and I'm not giving it to you, but somehow people have interpreted these comments as the answer that Rand Carthon said he wasn't giving. He is a Titan and he will be a Titan. The thing that came right before that was he's under contract, so

right now he is a Titan and he will be a Titan because they're not going to make a definitive statement on whether they are committing to Ryan Tannehill one way or another in February. I mean, it's so simple. And I think what happens is people want to rush to make a story. If you say, Rand Carthon commits to Ryan Tannehill as quarterback, that's going to be a buzzy piece of information. Oh, I'm clicking on that.

He did. He did. He did. Click, click, click, click, click. But if you read the actual full quote and you look at Rand Carthon deliver the quote, as I did, as I transcribed, as I wrote articles about, it's obvious that there was no commitment whatsoever. It was a professional answer from Rand Carthon.

Just like when we talked about Mike Vrabel in Tim Kelly's opening press conference where Mike Vrabel spoke on the Zoom meeting with all the media reporters and he was interpreted as being committed to Ryan Tannehill. No, he wasn't. He gave a professional answer that said, yeah, Ryan Tannehill, flowery things, nice things. Ryan Tannehill, he's under contract. And then they just said,

we're evaluating the whole roster. Right now, he's a Titan. Right now, he's under contract. I mean, that's what you're supposed to do. Play the game. He didn't give an answer one way or another. And let's go over this Mike Vrabel quote. When Mike Vrabel was asked about Ryan Tannehill

and the openness that he would have to have a different quarterback in 2023, he said, I am open to adding great players to our roster, whether that is at quarterback, at running back, at defensive line, corner. I do believe that we have some needs and some holes. I told you that. I've asked Rand Carthon to look for players that have an element of speed, violence, and versatility.

That's what I want him to look for and look for offensive linemen who can protect the quarterback. Whether that's Ryan, Malik, that's Josh Dobbs, whoever that may end up being, those are things that we have to do a better job at. Mike Vrabel said the same exact thing as Rand Carthon. I'm open to adding great players to the roster. That is, I'm evaluating the roster.

We're stacking our free agent quarterbacks. We're stacking the draft quarterbacks. Mike Vrabel even said whether it's Ryan, Malik, or Josh Dobbs, Mike Vrabel is telling you, they don't know who the quarterback is going to be

next year. There was no commitment given, and I will continue to say, I do believe. That Ryan Tannehill. Will be the quarterback next year. But using Mike Vrabel's. Press conference after Tim Kelly was hired.

And the changes were made to the coaching staff. Or using Rand Carthon's. Little snippets of his quote. To say that he made some commitment to Tannehill. Is just absurd to me. It's absurd. And to me, it's an attention-grabbing mechanism. It's a clickbait mechanism.

And look, we all play the game in the media. I play the game with the thumbnails and the titles and the articles and all that. I get the game, but guys, you gotta find a way to wade through some of the nonsense and look at actually what was said, there was no commitment made to Ryan Tannehill in 2023.

Now, that was one of the least concerning comments to me from Rand Carthon's press conference, but Rand Carthon did make a very concerning comment at one point in time, and I'm going to get into exactly what that comment was. Also, we're going to talk about Rand Carthon's conversation about him and Mike Rabel's relationship. We're going to talk about his comment on Derrick Henry and building the roster, Rand Carthon's comments on Jeffrey Simmons, and Tim Kelly spoke to the media, Titans' new offensive coordinator. I'm going to tell you guys exactly what he had to say that should get you really excited about the Titans' offense in 2023. Before we get into that though,

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Titans fans, we're going to continue breaking down Rand Carthon's comments from the Combine. We just talked about his noncommittal to Ryan Tannehill that was backed up by Mike Vrabel's noncommittal answer to Ryan Tannehill that is somehow once again being misconstrued as a commitment to Ryan Tannehill, which is just baffling to me. But I guess I transcribed the quote.

I've watched the presser three times now, maybe fully watching his quote and what Rand Carthon said makes me feel different than people who are just taking snippets out of it, what have you, I don't know. But it's frustrating, nonetheless, to see it happening once again. But either way, Rand Carthon said a lot of other interesting things

about building the offense around Derrick Henry, about his relationship with Mike Vrabel, about Jeffrey Simmons. So we're going to dive into all of that. Also, Tim Kelly spoke at the Combine and said some interesting things about his offense in 2023. We're going to get into that at the end of the show. But let's continue with Rand Carthon's comments. And I want to start with a comment that he had about Mike Vrabel.

And I have said this since the firing of John Robinson. This is Mike Vrabel's team. Mike Vrabel is in charge. Rand Carthon answers to Mike Vrabel. They can talk about collaboration all they want, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's great. I hope there is a ton of collaboration.

But at the end of the day, Mike Vrabel is in charge. Rand Carthon is a shipped shopper for Mike Vrabel. Okay, that is what is happening here. A very well-paid shipped shopper. But Mike Vrabel is in charge. Mike Vrabel is the chef. Mike Vrabel is in charge Mike Vrabel is the chef Mike Vrabel runs the kitchen and Rand Carthon is meant to get Mike Vrabel's groceries

so that he can make a meal and nothing says it louder than this quote from Rand Carthon from the Combine today quote I lean on Mike a lot our offices are right next door to each other so I'm in there he comes into

my office. And again, this is his vision of the offense, defense, and special teams. I'm learning that, right? So the best person to learn from is him, Mike Grable. So I go to him. Hey man, am I seeing this correct? I think this guy can do these things. What are we looking for? We met, I met with the assistant coaches from each position group and had them put together 15 to 20 play highlight tape of what they're looking for at every single position. And when they're talking about hand use or specific moves

or putting examples on tape, so I can learn their specific language through that. And so again, whether it is with Mike or Shane Bowen or whether it is with Tim Kelly or Craig Aukerman, like we're spending time together so I can learn their language and see exactly what they want when we're talking to players. Go back to the beginning of the quote.

Again, this is his vision of the offense, defense, and special teams. I'm learning that right, so the best person to learn from is him. Mike Vrabel is telling Rand Carthon, I want this. I want this. Pick up this many. I want red grapes. I want sparkling wine.

I would like a grapefruit. Give me an eggplant. I need two chicken. Mike Vrabel is telling Rand Carthon exactly what he wants, exactly what to get. So once again, just further confirmation,

Mike Vrabel is in charge. Okay? Mike Vrabel is in charge. And Rand Carthon even talked about if there is like a tie-break scenario on what to do with the roster, things like that. He says this, his relationship

with Mike Rabel is, quote, it's going really well. Like I said in my presser, our foundation of football is the same, right? It's me, it helps me coming into the system that's already established of what is going to, what it is going to look like to be a Tennessee Titan, both offensively, defensively

and special teams, you know, will work through any tiebreaker on roster decisions, right? So it's not an ego thing. And again, I'm not coming into this thing with the mind frame. I am coming into this thing with the mind frame of helping him build a team in the way he wants to see it. So if there is a tiebreaker, we will cross that bridge when we get there.

But right now, we're on the same page. Rand Carthon was hired to help Mike Vrabel. This isn't Amy Adam Strunk hiring her own guy at GM to work with Mike Vrabel. No, Mike Vrabel is in charge. We've known that since he won the power play against J-Rob. That was a power play where Mike Vrabel is in charge. We've known that since he won the power play against J-Rob. That was a power play where Mike Vrabel went to the owner and said, it's me or him.

You guys can buy all the nonsense if you want, but it's obvious what happened. And then Mike Vrabel hired a general manager to pick the groceries that he wants to cook. It's all right here for you. It's all right in the quotes. So wanted to cover that for a moment, but

got some more interesting quotes from Rand Carthon. One talked about Derrick Henry, and the question is essentially, will you build the team around Derrick Henry? And I saw somebody in the comments talk about how they thought this answer was interesting, and this is what Rand Carthon said when asked about building around

Derrick Henry. He said, quote, so again, we aren't going to build around one person in particular, right? This is a football team. You know, I was just talking to Mike Keith and at the end of the day, it's like putting a puzzle together, right? You know what the puzzle or picture

is going to look like when you open the box. You just got to get there. So we are still collecting all the pieces to make that puzzle picture come to light at the end. We aren't going to build around one person in particular. This is a football team. There you go. So everyone's worried about, can you build a championship team around? They're not building around Derrick Henry. is worried about can you build a championship team around, they're not building around Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry is a part of the team. You don't build around

running backs. You don't. So I like that answer a lot better than Carthon's answer in his opening presser, but I'm sure he was trying to, you know, toe the line and do the right thing. The last thing from Rand Carthon that I want to touch on here is what he had to say about Jeffrey Simmons, because not only is it poignant, but I think it's pretty

fun too, the comment about his son. So, Grant Carthon talked about meeting Jeffrey Simmons and he said he let the guys know that his door is always open if they want to have further conversations about anything, whatever it is, they are more

than welcome to come in. Jeffrey Simmons was one of those guys who took the invite. We sat and had a 20 to 30 minute conversation and realized we had a lot of people in common. So it was really just to get to know each other and break ground and get to know each other. The first question I got when I got the job was from my six-year-old son. And he asked if Jeffrey Simmons was going to be his boy. So I had to ask Jeffrey if he wanted to be my six-year-old son's boy. So Jeffrey is cool with it right now, but I told my son, maybe Jeffrey might not like you. So we will see when we get

there, but it was a great conversation and he was a cool dude. As somebody who thinks it's absolutely imperative that the Titans bring back Jeffrey Simmons, this is just great news. It's clear that Simmons is a major priority for the Titans, and the more that Rand Carthon talks about Jeffrey Simmons, the more confident that I get that Simmons will be back with the Titans for a long, long time. So that's the stuff that Rand Carthon had to say in his press conference. Now we're going to talk about Tim Kelly,

and some people are a little bit upset or worried. I thought what Tim Kelly had to say was absolutely fantastic. There is one comment that Kelly had that I could see why it would cause concern, but there's a very logical reason for why he positioned it the way that he did. So we're going to dive off today's combine interview breakdown. We talked about Rand Carthon, his commitment or lack of commitment to Ryan Tannehill. It's being totally misconstrued. Once again, Mike Vrabel's comments are really important,

so we discussed that. Talked about Rand Carthon's other comments on his relationship with Vrabel, building around Derrick Henry, Jeffrey Simmons, all that. So, with that in mind, do want to talk about Tim Kelly and something that Tim Kelly had to say that some people

are kind of freaking out about. I don't think it's that big a deal, but before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Now for your second listen, check out the Locked on NFL Draft podcast. Damian Parsons and Keith Sanchez break down these prospects in depth. They cover all of the biggest news surrounding the draft, all the biggest prospects, deep dives into the sleepers and the biggest news surrounding the draft, all the biggest prospects, deep dives into the sleepers and the hidden gems in the draft, and hopefully it can change around

the Tennessee Titans with a good draft. Find the Locked On NFL Draft Podcast wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. Right now, it's part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. But I saw a comment that Tim Kelly made that some people are kind of tripping about. And they asked him if he thought the offense was predictable last year. And Mike Vrabel has said that the offense was too predictable last year. So we know that that's the case.

But let me ask you this. Is Tim Kelly going to just throw Todd Downing under the bus? Is he going to say, yeah, the offense was garbage. It was completely predictable. It was terrible. I'm in charge now. It's not going to be like that.

That last guy, he was terrible at the job. But he's not going to do that. We know that the offense was predictable last year. Mike Vrabel knows that the offense was predictable last year. Tim Kelly knows that the offense was predictable last year. Tim Kelly knows that the offense was predictable last year. It's not like Tim Kelly is going to go out there and just absolutely destroy Todd Downing.

I don't know. Like, sometimes the expectations, what people are expecting these guys to say, it blows my mind. You know what I mean? You think Rancor Thawne's going to get up there and say, yep, we're trading Tannehill.

Yep, we're releasing Tannehill. It's going to be a post-June 1st designation. Yep, nope, we're sticking with Tannehill. He's our starter in 2023. They're not going to talk in these definitive statements in February. And likewise, Tim Kelly is not going to go up there and say, yeah, the offense last year was terrible.

It was completely predictable. That Todd Downing guy, he's a moron. I'm glad I got his job now. It's just not going to happen. So everybody relax on the predictable comment. He's not going to go out there and crush Todd Downing. As much as you want it to happen, I want it to happen. It's just not how it works.

These guys are giving professional answers, okay, which is a lot of fence riding at the end of the day. That's what you got to do because you don't know how things are going to play out. Mike Vrabel went out there and said, as long as I'm the head coach, A.J. Brown's not going to get traded, and then he got traded. He wanted a definitive statement, and it ended up being wrong, so just think about that. They're not going to go out there and talk in absolutes. They're not. But some other things that Tim Kelly said that I liked, he

talked about the fact that the Titans needed to get Burks and Chig the ball as much as possible. He said that we need to figure out how these guys can get the best opportunities and be the most efficient, and then we need to put them in those situations as much as we possibly can,

which is a full 180 from last year when Todd Downing said, we don't really look at it as getting certain guys going. We want to operate an offense. I think everybody else in the NFL is trying to get certain guys going. Everybody else in the NFL is trying to get the ball to their best players in situations where they can take advantage. So rather than having Todd Downing say, we don't really look at it as we got to,

you know, get certain guys going. No, Tim Kelly is saying, we got to get Burks and Jig the ball as much as we possibly can. And thank God for that, man. Thank God for that. Because that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Not only that, but he talked about the fact that they need to be more efficient in the passing game. That is one thing that they are going to try to do. They can be efficient in the run game, but they have to be more efficient in the passing game.

So you love to hear that. Obviously, that's what anybody is going to say. But like I just said, we heard some weird quotes from Todd Downing over the last two years. So just hearing normal offensive coach speak, quite the change. And then the last thing that I wanted to point out here that I thought was pretty good, and maybe some of you guys won't like this, but I will. And it goes back to when Mike Vrabel said

that he doesn't think the offense is entirely broken. There's a lot of good in the offense that can be taken from what they've done and moving to the future. And it sounds like Tim Kelly is right there with him. So Tim Kelly said that some of the offensive terminology, some of the offensive terminology, some of the offensive philosophy will change, but a lot of it will stay the same.

A lot of the terms he even mentioned, outside zone. Outside zone is still going to be a part of what the Titans do on offense. And that's a good thing, because you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. At the end of the day, the Titans have drafted guys, and that's a good thing because you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. At the end of the day, the Titans have drafted guys. They've built a system that when run properly can work. We've seen the Titans with this system be a top five offense in the NFL multiple years. We saw it in 2019. We saw it in 2020.

It was just not run properly by Todd Downing. Back to the car analogy. The Titans have a car. They have a race car that can finish in the top five of the race, but they had a bad driver in Todd Downing. So if you have a better driver in Tim Kelly, this car can still get you to top five. Now, of course, the car needs some new tires. You might have to change some components of the engine because the Titans roster is different now. But at the end of the day, you know, the philosophy that you're using on offense

can produce a top five offense in the NFL if you have the right person driving the car and you have the right parts in the car as well. So, pun intended. No, no pun intended with Derek Carr anyway, but so I appreciated that because I don't want the Titans to completely overhaul their system, and Tim Kelly mentioned young players like Traylon Burks,

young players like Chigga Conquo, Nick Westbrook-Akene, Nicholas Petit-Ferrer, guys who have had success in the Titans system, you don't want to completely stunt their growth by totally overhauling a new offensive system and switching it out. So I like what Tim Kelly had to say. Now, I just want to respond to a few comments here. So you don't believe Rand when he says they're sticking with Tannehill, but believe Kelly when he says they have to get Chig and Burks the ball.

Well, that's the thing. Rand Carthon did not say he's sticking with Tannehill. Like, I don't know what to tell you. If you don't want to go read the full quote and realize that he's just playing it on both sides of the fence, then that's on you. I could do nothing more than read the entire quote to you, okay? And then the QB is the driver. No, he is not

the offensive coordinator is the driver. I would say your quarterback is your engine. The offensive coordinator is driving the entire offense. So, I mean, listen, guys, it's the same thing that I've said when Mike Rabel talked. It's the same thing when Rand Carthon spoke earlier today. If you guys want to pick and choose little parts of the quote and ignore the full quote as it is and ignore what Mike Vrabel said about evaluating the whole roster, adding good players, then I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to tell you. The Vrabel was in charge take is very good. Vrabel hasn't earned that level of power. Guess what, Kingsman2k?

You don't get to decide whether Vrabel has earned it or not. The owner of the team does. And the owner of the team has decided that Mike Vrabel has earned that level of power. And Rand Carthon told you today in his comments that Mike Vrabel is in charge. So, I don't know what else to tell you guys. You know, if you want to look at the sky

and you see a blue sky and say it's green to you, then I can't really do much about that. So, all I can do is give you guys the full quotes, the full information, and then if you choose to still bury your head in the sand, then that's what you guys are going to do. So I can lead the horses to water. I can't make you drink.

But that's going to do it for me today, folks. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow. We're going to get some more information out of the combine. We got an interesting rumor about Mike McGlinchey that I want to talk about tomorrow and we got to continue our free agent preview as we get even closer to the middle of March. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titan.