Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Gunnar Helm BREAKOUT SEASON Incoming & Running Back Three-Headed Monster Loading

Episode Date: July 15, 2026

The Tennessee Titans have improved across the board mostly by adding new players, but a major source of improvement will be internal development and the player that may be highest on that list is Gunnar Helm. Helm is an elite fit next to Cam Ward and in a Brian Daboll offense, Helm may be able to take a massive leap into one of the better tight ends in the NFL. Daniel Bellinger will be critical in that development as well as coach Luke Stocker, but after Bellinger, we have no clue what the position will look like. Kylen Granson, Jaren Kanak and David Martin-Robinson are all on the bubble fighting for spots. At running back, the Titans have a three-headed monster loading with Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears and Nic Singleton set to complement each other perfectly. After those three though, there is no need for a fourth running back.   LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/   Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans   TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop...   Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans   Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod   Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LockedOnTitans   Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started nowSquare Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gunner Helm is about to have a breakout season for the Tennessee Titans, and the rest of the NFL should be terrified. I'll explain why on today's edition of Locked on Titans. 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 on today's show. We are going to continue the 2026 Locked-on Titans Training Camp preview series

with the tight ends and the running backs. I'm going to talk about how excited I am for the Tennessee Titans three-headed monster at running back, not just a dynamic duo, in my opinion. We're going to talk about the depth spots at tight end, which I think are one of the most intriguing roster conversations that we could have, but we're going to start with the top tight end on the depth chart, a guy who I think is about to have a breakout season.

Nightmare on Helm Street is about to terrify the NFL. That's right. Gunner Helm, the second year tight end out of Texas. I think he is about to have a breakout season for the Tennessee Titans. And it's multi-layered. Part of it is Gunner Helm's skill set as just a player. Just Gunner Helm himself, what he brings to the table, what he showed up with when he got here. But I think another part of it is how he fits within the offense,

how he fits with Cam Ward, the opportunities that he's, he's about to get so it's circumstantial and then it's about the player himself. Talking about Gunner Helm is a player. I mean, built in a lab for an NFL tight end. Long arms, big hands, big catch radius, great control, 6 foot 6 frame, 240 pounds, 250 pounds, I bet he's 250, 255 at this point, putting on more weight and things like that. And he looks noticeably bigger.

than last year. Like he is definitely filled out. He's a tall guy. He isn't a skinny build. You know, he's not a thin build. Like some people are who are that tall, he looks like a professional athlete for certain. But, you know, he could be a little thin in the belly area.

I thought he's a little thin in the lower body. The arms weren't necessarily built out. And listen, this isn't breaking news. We talk about Cam Ward's fitness. It is just common that from year one to year two, Players take a massive leap. They weren't in college. They weren't taking classes.

They weren't doing this and that. They weren't limited in the amount of time. Literally every waking moment that they're focusing on work, it's football work, not class, not anything else. So it's no shot. And again, that offseason, after the draft, you're trying to catch up or before the draft like Robert Sala, the reason he didn't let the rookies participate in minicamp

because that lead up, you're working on vertical jumps and broad jumps. and bench press and 40 yard dashes and practicing for interviews. You're not really maximizing your football preparation. So it makes sense that Gunner Helm's body and Gunner Helm's physique and Gunner Helm as a man is growing right now.

Like that makes sense. So prototypical build for a tight end. But then his particular skills, again, those incredible hands, incredible contested ability. He is so cool, calm, and collected. He has never worried. he's never rattled any situation, and it allows him to outdo people.

So you add the body type with the length, the hands, the size, and then you add in the body control, the focus, the soft hands, the touch that he has. What else could you want from a big tight end? You know, as a blocker, he got way better in the second half of the year. Now, that's more than just being bigger, stronger, I don't think he got that much bigger and stronger during the season.

think that is an off-season progression for Gunner Hill in the last few months since the season ended. I don't think he got bigger and stronger during the year. That's hard to do when you're practicing and sweating and playing all the time, you know what I mean? But his technique, keeping his hands inside, not getting too wide of a base so that he can drive. You need a wide base, but you can't be too wider than you're going to be off balance. His punch, the strength of this punch, his ability to drive guys off of the line of scrimmage when he's involved in a double team with an offensive tackle or another tight end, just went to a whole different level. I remember one particular play. I forget who it was against now.

It was towards the end of the season, but he literally went to his knees on the goal line. It was a goal line play and he's trying to drive a guy and he went to his knees to keep the leverage he needed to move the guy out of the spot so that the Titans could score a touchdown. Like, he's just such a smart player, such a determined player, such a committed player. that anything technique-wise, anything that you could possibly do to make yourself better as a blocker from an intelligent standpoint,

Gunnard Helm is going to do that. And then you add in a body that is certainly capable of putting on more mass, adding more strength, getting a little bit bulkier. I truly believe that that right there, just Gunner Helm's skill set as a player and his intermediate to short route running,

his ability to glide upfield. Do you remember the touchdown he had against San Francisco on the double move down the sideline? He hit something like that against area. I mean, the one he almost caught in Denver was similar to this. That little bend it outside and then up the sideline, he is so excellently smooth at running that route. The crossing routes over the middle of the field, feeling the holes in the zone,

tempoing your route speed so that you're in the right place at the right time. Like again, anything that's instinct, anything that's feel, anything that reminds you of, oh, that's a natural football player. When you see a guy at any position and you're like, oh, that's a natural ball, like he was meant to play football, you can tell. Cam Ward's like this at quarterback. You could tell the way that he play makes, like, it is just in his instinct to be a football player.

Gunnard Helm has the same instinctual quality to me when I watch him play as Cam Ward. And then again, the second layer of this conversation, other than the build, the skill set, the feel is the environment. Last year, Gunther Helm was playing behind Chigacanquah. Shouldn't have been all along. He should have been Tide N 1 from day one with Chigakwa being used as a secondary specialist tight end, which is where Chig is at his best, in my opinion.

It can be a valuable player when he's used properly. But Brian Callahan was using Chig as their starting tight end. That doesn't work for a number of different reasons. Gunner Helm should have got those opportunities. And even after Gunner Helm proved early in the season that he was a viable target and should get more chances. He still didn't quite get them until later in the year after Callahan was gone when Luke Stocker got more involved in the offense,

his tight end coach, who the Titans retained as the tight end coach. And we're going to talk about Luke Stocker more here in just a second where we talk about the tight end group as a whole. But getting more opportunities to be a starting tight end. being used in a more creative way by Brian Dable who is just more of a creative, better offensive mind than Brian Callahan or anybody who was on the staff. So you get better coaching, more opportunities, personal improvement.

You have more... Do you think, let me ask you this. Yes, you. Do you think that having Cornell Tate and Wondell Robinson out there is going to open up things more for Gunner Helm over the middle of the field? because I do. So Gunner Helms' improvement himself, his body, his talent, the skill set he brings to the table,

the environment that he gets to be in in year two, the connection with Cam Ward, how he fits with Cam Ward. As I talked about yesterday, when I talked about wide receivers, that big, tall, long, soft hands, contested ability that's so great for a guy in Cam Ward who maybe not be pinpointed,

accurate Tom Brady style. He's a gunslinger, folks. He's going to, I've said this one time and it's going to stick with me throughout Cam's career. Cam may not throw the perfect pass where a different quarterback would throw a more perfectly accurate pinpoint placement pass. But there are throws that Cam Ward is going to get near his players that those quarterbacks will never get there because they don't play make like Cam Ward. they don't have the arm talent that Cam Ward does. So it's a trade-off.

You know, would you rather have a Jared Gough-style quarterback or a Cam Ward-style quarterback? Give me the Cam Ward. He can make special plays. So I will take Cam Ward not being super pinpoint accurate all the time. I will build for that with guys like Carnell Tate and Gunner Helm and then I'll take all of the benefits that I get from Cam Ward. So I'm going to minimize his weaknesses.

I'm going to maximize his strengths. And I think doing that with that type of player is better than the opposite. And Gunner Helm fits perfectly with that as a soft hands contested weapon that can help Cam Ward, body control, adjustment, all that different stuff. Again, I think it's a perfect match. So all of that combined, again, it's nightmare on Helm Street for the rest of the NFL. Gunner Helm is about to be a terror. With that being said, though, the rest of the tight end group, very, very, very,

interesting. Do you want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Square. If you've ever tapped to pay and thought, wow, that was fast. It was probably Square. Whether you're selling lattes, you're cutting hair, running a packed game day spot, or managing a design studio, Square helps you run your business without running yourself into the ground. Square is the platform behind the scenes of so many businesses that you already love, one connected system to take payments, manage inventory, run payroll, and track it all in one place. And businesses using Square Online earn 36% more revenue on average. Some of my favorite local spots run on Square and I can always tell because payment is seamless,

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We have talked quarterback so far. We have talked wide receiver so far. tight end today, we'll do running back at the end of the episode. Tomorrow, we're doing offensive line. We get to the defense next week. And then after that, training camp is here, folks. So make sure that you stay locked in to the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. Locked on Titans.

But we talked about Gunner Helm, and he is a lock to make the roster, obviously. And I like to talk about these roster spots and locks to make the roster, bubble guys to make the roster or long shots to make the roster. Gunner Helm is obviously a lock starting tight end, second year rookie contract, not breaking any news there.

Daniel Bellinger also an absolute lock to make this team. I don't know anything about the tight end room other than Gunner Helm and Daniel Bellinger are going to be the main two players.

what else could we possibly know outside of that? Like, they're locks. And I do want to talk about Daniel Bellinger for a quick moment before we talk about the uncertainty here at the rest of the position, but Daniel Bellinger is going to open up things for Gunner Helms so well. Having Daniel Be the guy who can do the dirty work. Having Daniel Bellinger be the lunch pale garbage man

tight end so that Gunner Helm can be more of the past catching tight end, be more of the matchup base tight end. Okay, we want to run a two tight end look against their base defense because they're going to go base 4334. If we do that, we want to get Gunner Helm matched up one-on-one with a linebacker outside. So we're going to come out

in a traditional two tight end set, think single back twins, one tight end on either side, one wide receiver on either side, just a normal single back, balance formation. Boom, we're going to formation shift. All right, we're going to leave Daniel Bellinger in at tight end next to the offensive tackle so that one of our tackles has some help. We're going to motion one wide receiver in a little bit into the slot. We're going to put Gunner Helm on the outside with an isolated wide receiver on the backside.

We're going to go into shotgun, and now we're going to run an up-and-out move, or an out-and-up move for Gunner Helm when he's one-on-one with a linebacker in Mancovers. Do you see how you could do stuff like that? That's just one example that I'm just pulling out, a scenario I'm just making in my mind. But Daniel Bellinger's existence on the roster. Think about Chig Ongwell last year.

Gunner Helm had to be Daniel Bellinger last year. The dirty work tied in. So that Chig, who was incapable of doing those things, could be the specialty matchup tight-in. I think Gunner Helm is better than Chinkgoe right now. He is already a better play. So you let Gunner Helm do that. And then you have Bellinger doing the helm role.

Remember, Helm was a rookie last year. And now you have Bellinger, who's a four-year vet, doing the dirty work, being the lunch pill guy. Letting your Uber talented, young big tight end and Gunner Helm going into year two, letting him have more freedom to get opportunities in the passing game. Bellinger's existence is just as big of a factor. It's like the whore cruxes for Voldemore and who should not be named.

But it's like, you know, Voldemort had the seven whole cruxes and they all combined or the infinity stones for Thanas. Got to put them all together. One of the infinity stones of the Gunner Helm breakout is Daniel Bellinger being on the roster and his presence. So absolutely critical. Bellinger's a lock. And that's all I know.

That is all I know about Tide-in. Folks, what's going to happen after that? Let's be honest. Do we have any clue? Does anybody have any idea? You cannot reasonably tell me you do. I don't. You have Kylin Granson,

David Martin Robinson, the rookie who they just drafted, Jaron Kanik. And then you have Joel Wilson. As well. We'll get to Joel Wilson a second. Poor guy. But do any of those names stand out to you?

Granson is more of a veteran. He has more experienced than the other younger guys. But he's been more of a special teams guy. It's kind of a small, not small in a way, but he's a thinner tight end. He's not a blocker. He's more of just like a move receiving type tight end. Jaron Kanik is talking about watching fullback tape

and was a former linebacker who played tight end for one year. He's really just a special teams player. David Martin Robinson is like a dollar tree version of Chig or Janu. He's a little thicker, but I don't know if he's a big enough. He's only like 6.2, 2.30. He's built well. But I don't quite know if he's not good enough on special teams

to justify how far he. would have to go on offense. Like, he's not quite big enough to be a good blocker. He's not quite athletic enough to be the impact player that like Chig or Janoo could be with their athleticism. That's why he went undrafted. Not big enough to block, not athletic enough to be a real factor in the past game.

He's kind of an in-between guy that it's hard to find a way. And when you had a Chigaconkwo on the team and you can reasonably tell yourself, oh, he can do similar things, so we'll keep him around. That's not true with Gunnar Helm and Daniel Bellinger. They're way bigger built tight ends than a guy like that. And I think Kylean Granson, although he's not the biggest guy,

is still a more bigger build. And he's more athletic and better at special teams than David Martin Robinson. And then Jaron Kanek should in theory be better at special teams than David Martin Robinson. I think Jirin Kanik has more versatility to play in the backfield. He was a wildcat quarterback and then a linebacker and then a tight end. At 500 yards last year at Oklahoma, though. that's pretty good for a first year tied in playing big level college football.

But I see Jaron Kanek as more of like that fullback type. And I think Kylin Granson can do a little bit of that fullback stuff, line up in the backfield and things like that. I don't know if David Martin Robinson could do that as well. I think that he could. I don't think it's unlikely. Like it's unlikely that David Martin Robinson will be as good at special teams as Jaron Kanick.

But it's not unlikely that DMR could be just as good as, like, in a fullback role. I just don't know if that's what they'll look for. Canick is a speed demon. He ran like a 10-3-100 track in high school. Like, this guy is fast, fast. He's so fast, he makes fast people look not fast. I think that Kanik could be, and again, he said that he was watching Kyle Usnett.

You used Nick from the San Francisco 49ers, Juice. And I really do see Kanek in that type of role. He can be like a third tight end, but really is a fullback, but is really a special teams player, great speed, good physicality.

That could make sense to me. But I'll be honest with you. I don't know that Granson, Canick, or DMR, any of them are worthy of keeping on the roster. I don't. And honestly, it gives me bigger questions about the tight-end position and the idea behind the tight-end position as a whole on the team this year.

I had theorized when Brian Dable was first hired that he was going to use a lot of heavy tight-end sets. He came from that old-school Patriots offense with Grunk and Aaron Hernandez, and he's used multiple tight-end sets basically everywhere he's gone. and last year with Bellinger and Theo Johnson. He used them a ton, you know what I mean? But they only have those two tight ends, Bellinger and Helm, who I think are legitimately

playable consistently on offense. And they have a lot of good wide receivers. Brian Daible may be bucking the trend. Brian Daible may be zinging when everyone else is zagging. When the rest of the NFL is going heavy tight end, Brian Daible may lean heavy wide receiver and see if he could just make it more difficult on teams to game plan for them

because they're doing something different than everybody else. So I'm curious to watch that as a scheme question conversation going forward. But Luke Stocker, well, let me just say this. Joel Wilson, I'm sorry, man. But like, I don't mean to be rude. And shout out Courtney Jackson, the Titans wide receiver. I said he had no shot to make the team. He was in the comments mad at me.

I'm sorry, Courtney, I want you to do well. It's just probably not going to end up being here. You know what I mean? Like, that's just the truth. That's just the truth. I'm sorry, if it offends you. If I were Courtney Jackson, I would absolutely be like,

oh, some bozo who couldn't guard my jockstrap is on YouTube saying, I have no shot to make a roster. Yeah, we'll see about that. If I were Courtney Jackson, I would be using me as motivation. More power to you, Courtney. Think about that YouTube bozo all the time

and go out there and ball out, dude. Like, I'm rooting for you, you know. But I still don't think you're going to make the roster. You know, I'm not going to get up here and lie. And same with Joel Wilson. Good luck, Joel Wilson. You know, hey, I don't wish ill will against these guys. I don't want their careers not to work well.

But I'm going to be honest. Joe Wilson has no shot to make this team. Let's just call it what it is. Maybe practice squad, but he ain't making the team. So with that being said, I do just want to shout out Luke Stocker. I am high on Luke Stocker, and it has been my theory

since the moment that Brian Callahan, that Brian Dable was hired, and Robert Salas said in that press conference that they have a plan. The plan is Luke Stocker. We have heard Gunner Helm has mentioned, he's brilliant, smart coach, hope turn around the run game at the end of the year after the Callahan's got kicked out of the building. I'm so high on Luke Stalker.

and having him coach up Gunner Helm and then eventually become the offensive coordinator after Brian Daible leaves next year, the year after. Probably the best that we could hope for. Probably the best that we could hope for, especially when you think about it in terms of the Tidenen Group. But with that being said, time to talk about running backs.

The Titans have a three-headed monster at running back and quite frankly, I think that's the only running backs that they need on the roster. Titans fans, let's cap all. today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Talking about the tight end position, the running back position as we continue, the 2026 Locked on Titans training camp preview series.

Talked about Gunner Helm having a breakout, the rest of the tight end room. Now, I want to talk about this running back group, and quite honestly, I think the Titans only need to keep the three top running backs. Before I explain why, though, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans, your first listen each and every day.

For your second list and check out the Locked-on NFL scouting podcast. As training camp gets closer and moves are being made, host Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find locked on NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. But looking at running back, there are three locks, and it is clear that it is Tony Pollard, Tadge Spears, and Nicholas Singleton. Outside of those guys, I don't know if the Titans need anybody. Tony Pollard is going to be your feature back.

And I think that Tony Pollard has become a little bit underrated because of the Jeremiah Love Love throughout the draft process. Tony Pollard is not an elite running back, but he's a good running back. He's a top 15, 16 running back, in my opinion. So he's going to be the feature back. And I would expect 800 to 1,000 yards from Tony Pollard this year. And during training camp, just stay healthy.

We do not need Tony Pollard to prove anything. And, oh, it's a new offense. Dude, it's running back. If there is any position that can translate to a new scheme, go to this hole, we're going to hand you the ball, run. Running back is not hard. That's why running back is the easiest position to transition from college into the NFL.

Because I'm handing you the ball, go make guys miss. get to the end. Running back is running back. It's really not going to be all that different. Now, other positions incredibly different. But running back, not so much. So I don't need Tony Pollard to get a bunch of reps to learn the offense. Tony Pollard's a veteran, consummate professional, had a lot of tread on his tires over the last four years. We do not need Tony Pollard out there killing himself in training camp. Stay healthy, old man. That is all that matters to me.

Now, Tadier Spears, it's the same thing, really. We know who Tadier is. And look, I think Tadier is a little overrated at this point because his good plays are so exciting that it makes you kind of forget about all the deficiencies. But nonetheless, Tad J Spears just needs to stay healthy too. Again, the running back position, I'm not...

Now, Nick Singleton, on the other hand, he is someone who does need to develop. in the system. Because Singleton was somebody in college who struggled with vision. Reading the hole, set in his blocks, being patient. All of that is just not necessarily his strong suit.

He is an athlete. That's what Nick Singleton brings to table. He's big, 6 foot, 200, fast, 4-3 speed, physical. Like, he is an athlete, an athletic runner,

but he's not the most intelligent running and all of the mental aspects of running back. So in a varied scheme like Brian Dable with power and with zone runs and stuff like that, you really got to understand

the intricacies of how to handle both. And again, I think Taj Spears and Tony Pollard know that intimately. They're good with that. But Nick Singleton, that was part of his scouting report coming out of college. And now in this offense,

particularly, I think that that is something that he needs. So I would personally give Nick Singleton as many possible reps as I could to keep Tony Pollard and Tage Spears fresh. Because think about the best outcome and the worst outcome. The best outcome of that is Nick Singleton explodes. He gets a bunch of reps during training camp. It totally enhances his learning curve by

the first week of the season, he's ready to meaningfully contribute because he's got so much opportunity. The downside is he's coming off of a broken foot, had surgery on it, you overwork him, he gets hurt, he can't help. Even if that's the case, you still have Tony Pollard and Tajay Spears.

It's not the worst thing that ever happened. So the best possible thing, the reward, if it's boom-bust, the boom is way more impactful than the bust. where the bust, it hurts, but it wouldn't kill you. You know what I mean? So, to me, that would be my method.

It's just hammering Nick Singleton with carries. But those are the only three guys that they need. Michael Carter, not good on special teams. Don't need them as a runner since they have Singleton. Mullings, not really ever going to cut it as a running back. Special teams alone isn't going to be good enough.

Julius Chestnut has never been an, NFL caliber player. I've called him a roster pirate for a few years now. He is simply a coach's pet like Mason Kinsey. He is just the running back Mason Kinsey. Reliable. He gives the coaches a good look. Plays hard, works hard, knows his playbook. Is a true professional. He's just not good enough to be on an NFL roster.

He's not an explosive enough runner. He's not physical enough. He's not big enough for his plotting style. Not great hands out of the back. not really versatile, not good on special teams. Just doesn't do a lot that earns him a spot on a real roster, in my opinion. But, but, but, again, very reliable, gives the scout team a good look, all that. That's just not, he's not going to make the 53. He shouldn't make the 53 as how it should go.

But with that being said, again, tomorrow we're doing the offensive line. We're going to do tackles. We're going to do interior. So much to discuss. Make sure that you're with me here to cap off the offense. if you missed quarterback wide receiver, go back and check those out. But that's going to do it for me today, folks.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.