Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Jamal Adams SHOULDN'T START, Free Agent Safety Options & Keaton Ellis Darkhorse
Episode Date: July 14, 2024The Tennessee Titans made another splash move last week, signing veteran safety Jamal Adams, but just because Adams is a recognizable name doesn't mean he should be the starter. Next, if the Titans wa...nted to add more talent at the position Justin Simmons and Quandre Diggs are still available. Finally, we know who the top 3 safeties will be, but who is going to get the final depth spots? Undrafted rookie Keaton Ellis could have a shot.Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow 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!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.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.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. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! 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)
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The Tennessee Titans signed Jamal Adams last week,
and he may be a recognizable name,
but he should not be the starter.
I'll explain why on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.
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The Tennessee Titans added Jamal Adams, but he should not be the starter.
I'm going to explain why, plus go over Jamal Adams' contract details,
which came out over the weekend.
Also, we're going to preview the entire safety position on today's show and continue our positional preview series.
I'm going to give you my locks, which obviously includes Jamal Adams,
give you guys on the roster bubble and some long shots as well,
but we'll look at some other safeties still available on the market
because I still think the Titans may need to add one.
Before we get into all of that, though,
I do want to 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.
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Make sure that you get subscribed.
Stay subscribed.
It's your team every day.
And speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there.
Tune in Monday through Friday if you aren't an everydayer.
You need to be one because training camp is next week.
The football is almost here, and I'm going to be breaking down the rest of the defensive positions
during this week of the show.
We're going to do cornerback tomorrow.
We'll hit edge linebacker, the interior defensive line at the end of the week.
Last week, we covered all the offensive positions.
So if you missed any of that, make sure that you go back and check that out.
But again, my overarching point here is I do not think that Jamal Adams needs to start.
And the reality is he wasn't paid like a guy who needs to start.
So we got the contract details for Jamal Adams' contract over the weekend from Aaron Wilson.
One year, $1.2 million.
That's it.
It's a veteran minimum contract.
The cap hit in terms of how it affects the Tennessee Titans salary cap
is $1.125 million.
So, very little cost on this deal.
But here's the reality.
If you listen to my reaction show last week
after Jamal Adams' news broke,
this was the expectation.
You know, I saw a lot of reaction of, oh, well, this money makes me feel completely different. Oh, now that we know the Titans paid so
little, I feel differently about the signing. I guess I don't understand that line of thought.
And this, this detail of the contract doesn't make me feel any different about the signing of Jamal
Adams, because this was the expectation
all along. Again, I talked about this last week when the news broke. This was going to be a one
year veteran minimum deal. And I guess I'm a bit, I'm a bit shocked by people who are shocked to
find that out. Wasn't that, wasn't that the expectation all along is that this was a vet
minimum deal. The reality is people hear the name Jamal Adams and a lot of fans think of,
you know, the Jamal Adams that was an all pro with the Jets. That is not who Jamal Adams is
right now. There is a reason that he got a one-year veteran minimum contract as a 28-year-old
three-time former all pro. There's a reason for that. He's not a very good player
right now and he hasn't been able to stay healthy. So I guess the contract is exactly what I expected
and I'm a little confused by people who expected it to be anything different than a one-year
veteran minimum deal. But again, it doesn't really change my view on the signing. I see a lot of
people call this a low risk, high reward signing,
whether it's in my comments, other people cover the team, fans in general. Oh, this is a low risk,
high reward signing. Well, I fundamentally disagree with that. I think this is a low risk,
low reward signing. That's what this is. This is, hey, you're not taking a lot of risk. It's only a
one-year deal. It's veteran minimum.
If things get too bad, I guess in theory, you could always cut him.
But at the end of the day, even if Jamal Adams,
this is my number one point.
I saw somebody online call him up.
The Titans could be getting a premium talent.
No, they can't.
Again, this is not high reward.
He is not a premium talent.
That is not in there. There is no outcome of this signing where the Titans get a premium talent.
That's not what this is.
Now, there is a way that the Jamal Adams signing is a good signing,
and he's good, cheap depth as a third safety, as a dime linebacker,
as a sub-package player who can blitz and attack the quarterback
and get downhill and be aggressive and be a tone setter in the defense.
Like there is an avenue for this signing to be a good signing.
It doesn't have to be premium talent or high reward.
Like this could just be a low level,
good depth signing.
To me,
that is the best possible outcome.
The,
the ceiling of this signing is Jamal Adams just being a good,
solid role player for the Titans in specific situations on defense. You know what I mean?
So I guess that's just my view of it. The contract doesn't really change that. Even if Jamal Adams
plays well for the Titans, they aren't getting a premium player, a pro bowl player, a difference
maker. He could just be nice, solid
depth for the team. And I think that's what you have to hope for. So obviously Jamal Adams is a
lock to make this roster that, I mean, they wouldn't bring them in right now, right before
training camp starts. If he wasn't a lock to make the roster. I mean, I think Jamal Adams has
definitely cemented the connection with Denard Wilson, the connection with Rand Carthon. I think
it makes all the sense in the world for them to keep him around.
I don't think they would be bringing him in if they didn't plan to keep him
through training camp and onto the regular roster.
So I think Jamal Adams is a lock to make the roster.
The other two locks are obvious.
You have Elijah Moulton and Imani Hooker.
And we know that Imani Hooker is going to be the starter,
at least one of the starters.
But who is starting opposite of him?
As I said at the beginning of the show,
I don't think Jamal Adams should be the starter.
I think it should be Elijah Moulton.
I think Elijah Moulton is a better football player right now.
I think Elijah Moulton is better in coverage right now as well.
And Jamal Adams, again, can be that third down sub package linebacker,
play in the box, get downhill.
Basically, Jamal Adams is going to be a linebacker,
but in passing situations.
That's my idea of the role that he should play.
Now, I've also seen some conversation about,
well, who's going to play free safety?
The Titans don't have a center fielder.
The Titans don't have that back deep,
rover, rangy safety to play in the back end.
Yes, they do.
His name is Imani Hooker.
Imani Hooker needs to be the free safety.
And now Elijah Moulton can function as a strong safety. Jamal Adams can rotate in a little bit
at strong safety in certain situations, very rarely. And then of course be that sub package
linebacker and passing situations. So to me, Imani Hooker, when he was at his best, if you go back
and look at Imani Hooker's best years with the Titans that earned him that contract when he got four interceptions
and was all over the field, the play he made against the Bengals in the playoffs,
Imani Hooker is at his best when he is a deep, rangy, free safety.
That is what Imani Hooker does best.
In recent years, the Titans haven't had good enough players
to play man coverage on all of the options.
So Imani Hooker was having to play in the box and play man coverage on tight ends
or play man coverage on slot wide receivers in the red zone.
Imani Hooker was being used as more of a strong safety,
more of a slot cornerback at times for the Titans.
So now Imani Hooker can do what he does best
and play that back end roaming free safety to read the quarterback's eyes and drive on the ball and make interceptions
and create turnovers.
That's what Amani Hooker does best.
So I feel like Titans fans who are out there saying they need a free safety,
they need a center fielder, that's what Amani Hooker actually does best.
And we heard from Amani Hooker recently in an interview basically saying
the Titans, this new defense is going to allow me to
do what I do best. Now he didn't go into the schematic details of what he does best, but I am
here to tell you as someone who breaks down the film and has been breaking down Imani Hooker's
film since he came into the league, that what he does best is be a rangy coverage guy at the back
end of the defense to break on throws and make interceptions. So the Titans have their free safety in Amani Hooker.
Now he can actually do that with Elijah Molden and Jamal Adams.
Obviously, those three are locks to make this team,
but the Titans still may need a safety, in my opinion.
I'll explain why and give you the options that are still available
here in just a moment.
Before I do, though, do want to let you guys know
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Guaranteed. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.
We are breaking down the safety position as we head towards Tennessee Titans training camp.
I just talked about Jamal Adams and why I don't think he should start over Elijah Molden,
but I also talked about the roles I expect all three of those guys to play
and why it's important that Imani Hooker now gets to do what he does best.
But if the Titans did want to add another safety,
there are still a couple of options available.
We've talked about some of these options in the past,
but in my opinion, the Tennessee Titans do still need another coverage-centric safety.
So I'm going to go over those options before I do.
Thank you again 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 that you get subscribed, stay subscribed.
Again, it's your team every day.
Do also want to let you guys know that tomorrow,
I'm going to be breaking down the cornerback position for the Titans
as part of our positional preview series.
And I am pairing that with a brand new film breakdown
from the Tic Tac Titans film channel on YouTube.
The link to that film channel is down below in the description.
Click on that.
Get subscribed to my film channel if you haven't.
Roger McCreary film breakdown coming Tuesday morning, 8 a.m. Eastern time.
I'm going to have five days a week of film content during the season as well.
So I'm going to do Roger McCreary this week.
I think I'm going to do Harold Landry next week.
A little Traylon Burks in a couple of weeks.
Might hit Otis Reese here soon as well.
So I'm going to have a ton of film content headed
towards the regular season with absolutely foot on the pedal of the gas for film content when the
regular season kicks off. So excited about the channel. I think I put out some good videos
already. I hope you guys will check that out on Tuesday morning and give that channel a subscribe
as well. But with that being said, the Titans still need a safety, in my opinion. This Jamal
Adams signing didn't really change my view of what the Tennessee Titans need. So to me,
Elijah Molden is a little more coverage adept than Jamal Adams at this stage, but Elijah Molden
isn't some coverage maverick or anything like that. Elijah Molden is basically last year, Elijah Molden
played the role that I expect Jamal Adams to play this year. So Elijah Molden is a guy who's been
used as that sub package linebacker, as that dime linebacker, as that early down slot cornerback.
Elijah Molden has been used as a box safety, as a close to the line of scrimmage
guy in passing situations. That's what he's mostly been used as in the last two years. His first year,
he was the early down slot cornerback, but after that transition to safety, he's been more of that
dime linebacker. He's been used a little bit in the back end as well as the third safety for the
Titans behind Kevin Byard, behind Amani Hooker last season. So Elijah Molden isn't a guy, in my opinion, who is like a very good coverage player.
Like the Titans have Amani Hooker as that back-end free safety.
They can have Elijah Molden as their strong safety.
They can have Jamal Adams as that third safety who's the box linebacker in passing situations.
They can do that.
But that still doesn't, like, I still don't
think that they have two starting level safeties. I think Elijah Molden should start over Jamal
Adams, but I don't think Elijah Molden is a starting level safety in the NFL, in my opinion,
and if he is, it's very, very low end. So, I think the Titans could still use, could still stand
to add a free agent safety, and they still have $22, $23 million of cap space to do that,
so they certainly could.
And the best option available remains Justin Simmons.
I mean, we've talked about Justin Simmons all summer long.
That's who I wanted the Titans to get.
And look, I'm not going to be like,
oh, they didn't go out and get Justin Simmons,
so I don't like what's going on.
No, I told you guys before they added anybody
that I wouldn't have been happy if they added Jamal Adams.
So I'm not going to change my tune just because they did.
That's one thing that I see a lot of people do online is,
and some people who cover the team, they'll say like,
oh, you know, I wouldn't want this player.
And then the Titans get the player, and then they totally change.
And now they're like, oh, he could be good.
I like the signing, blah, blah.
To me, that is the definition of inconsistency. So I'm never going to say I don't like this like the signing, blah, blah. To me, that is the definition of inconsistency.
So I'm never going to say,
I don't like this player, blah, blah, blah,
and then the Titans sign him,
and then I totally change my tune on it.
Like, I'm not going to do that to you guys.
I didn't do that with Sweat.
I didn't do it with Adams.
That's not what I'm going to do.
But the point means,
or the point is,
that I still think the Titans should add a safety,
and they still have the money to do it,
and Justin Simmons is still available. So why not? The problem is that I still think the Titans should add a safety and they still have the money to do it and Justin Simmons is still available.
So why not?
The problem is I don't think that they will sign another safety.
I think the Titans are fine with it. I think this was the safety signing that we were all waiting on.
I do not think the Titans are going to go out and sign another safety as well.
I don't think that's happening.
I really don't.
But if I'm wrong, which I hope I am,
the Titans could still get Justin Simmons.
The problem is Simmons has said multiple times this all season
he wants to compete for a Super Bowl.
He wants to play for a contender.
And you, me, and Tom, Dick, and Harry down the street
can all think that the Titans are going to be very good this year.
But I think it's fair to understand if Justin Simmons doesn't see the Titans as a Super Bowl contender. Like, I think that's fair.
You know what I mean? I can't blame the guy if he would look at us sideways for thinking that.
Okay, so that makes it very unlikely that Justin Simmons would want to sign with the Titans,
even if the Titans wanted to sign Justin Simmons anyway. So you move down the board. Who else could
be available? The next name to me is Quandre Diggs.
Nino Diggs.
Played for Seattle.
One of the most tenured veterans on the market right now.
Has played a ton of years in the NFL.
He's actually played more snaps than Kevin Byer.
That's how many snaps Diggs has played.
But Quandre Diggs for Seattle was that back-end safety.
So if I'm wrong about my view of Imani Hooker,
and the Titans still do actually want that deep free safety in the back-end,
then Quandre Diggs would be a good option.
And I think if you had Jamal Adams as your third-down linebacker,
and then you had Imani Hooker as your strong safety,
and then you had Quandre Der as your strong safety and then you had quandary digs as a
free safety in passing situations to play that center field back deep that would work that would
be a possibility as well so i think quandary digs would make some sense but again he's an older
player what does he have in the tank does he fit the titan system i think all of those answers are
maybe at best uh also worth noting that quandary digiggs did give Jamal Adams a big shout out online
after he got signed by the Titans.
So maybe they're close and maybe that greases the skids
for the Titans to bring in Quandre Diggs.
Again, I still think they need another safety here.
And the last option I want to talk about is Eddie Jackson,
played for Chicago Bears for a long time.
He's more of a versatile do-it-all safety,
but he's been really great at creating turnovers throughout his career. He's only 30 years old. I think that Eddie Jackson
could be another complimentary piece. And I think that Eddie Jackson is a better player than Elijah
Molden and a better player than Jamal Adams. So he would instantly become like a starting safety.
And then him and Amani Hooker, both are very versatile safeties who can kind of do a little
bit of everything and you could use them in that way. So I think that would make sense. But I mean, other than Justin Simmons, who I think is an
incredible long shot, other than Quandre Diggs and Eddie Jackson, there really are no other safeties
that I think would move the needle in any way for the Titans. So it wouldn't really make sense to
waste that money on those players. But overall, again, I don't think the Titans are going to bring
in another safety. I think Jamal Adams was the signing safety that we were all waiting for, but I wish they would. You know what I mean? I wish
they would bring in another one. If they don't want to pay the money for Justin Simmons, I
understand, but a guy like Quandre Diggs, a guy like Eddie Jackson, they're not going to cost a
lot either. They're going to be, you know, 3 million, 4 million, maybe even $2 million at
maximum. So I don't think it would break the bank. whereas Justin Simmons is probably looking for $8 to $10 million,
something like that.
You know what I mean?
So if they wanted to go cheap but still add another body,
I think Diggs or Jackson makes sense.
But again, I do not think that they're going to be bringing in somebody else,
which puts a lot of emphasis on who is the next safety
after the top three of Hooker, Molden, and Adams.
I'm going to go over who is also on the depth chart for the Titans
and tell you my favorite option as a long shot for this team.
So we'll get into that now.
Before we do, though, I do want to let you guys know
that today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.
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Locked on.
Titans fans, let's cap off today's positional preview of the safety position.
We talked about Jamal Adams and why I don't think he should start,
but him, Molden, and Hooker are locks to make the team. We talked about some safeties who are still available on the free agent market as well.
Titans do out of safety, although I'm not expecting it.
But what about the other safeties on the Titans roster
who will have an opportunity to step up?
There's one undrafted free agent who I really have my eye on.
Before I get into that, I do want to thank you again
for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen each and every day.
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But with that being said,
we have Hooker.
We have Molden.
We have Adams.
The other players on the depth chart, we have Mikeolden, we have Adams. The other players on the depth chart, we
have Mike Brown, we have Matthew Jackson,
and we have Shaheem Carter and Keaton
Ellis. So I'm just going to go through
these. I think all of these guys are on
the bubble. There is no true long shot at
safety because you have those three players.
And I think the Titans could keep five safeties, four safeties at minimum.
We talked about this when we were doing offensive positions about the roster math of, hey, if
you keep this, you keep that.
There aren't a lot of good safeties on the Titans roster.
So that means that they may prioritize special teams and keep seven wide receivers. Keep a guy like Hassan
Haskins and keep four running backs. Instead of having a fifth safety who's a
special teams player, you can get that special teams value from a depth player
on offense. So I think that's all involved in the roster math because you don't
have a lot of great options at safety. I do like Mike Brown. I think
Mike Brown would be
Elijah Molden's direct backup right now. I think that Mike Brown would be at playing as a safety,
not the role that we've talked to. I think Mike Brown would be a better safety than Jamal Adams
at this stage. Adams is just a more physical player who's probably going to be better in the
box, which is going to be his role. But Mike Brown played in nine games last year, had seven tackles, had a pass breakup, almost
had an interception.
I saw, I reviewed every defensive snap for the Titans this year, uh, over the past few
days, over the last week, Mike Brown made some good plays, man.
He made some almost interceptions.
Look, he's not going to be a guy who is ever going to be a quality starting level player. But in the Titans
circumstances, with the lack of starting level talent that they have, I think keeping guys who
are really good depth is going to be important. I think Mike Brown is that type of guy. Also worth
noting, 149 special team snaps for the Titans last year. That was like over 60% of the snaps. So
Mike Brown is a guy who can help on special teams.
I think he's a quality backup for the Titans and he would be my favorite right now to take that
safety four spot. Okay. But also Matthew Jackson, uh, Teron Davenport from ESPN just did a really
good article on Matthew Jackson, a little bit of a profile on him. You guys can check that out if
you want, but Matthew Jackson was an undrafted free agent last year. And both Mike Brown and Matthew Jackson are bigger kind of safeties. I wouldn't say they're
huge by any means, but they're both six foot one, over 200 pounds. So that could make sense for what
the Titans are looking for. It looks like they're looking for more positional size. These days,
the Titans want to be a bigger football team. Matthew Jackson played in 10 games for the Titans
last year, had six tackles, played 147 special team
snaps, and those special team snaps are going to be so, so important. So I think Matthew Jackson
could really make a push as well to make this team. And then finally, Shaheem Carter is the last
veteran, the last returning player at safety that we're going to talk about. He only played in three
games last year, had three tackles, 23 special team snaps. I just don't think Shaheem Carter
is an NFL level player. I think he could think Shaheem Carter is an NFL-level player.
I think he could be a practice squad-level player for the Titans.
I wouldn't mind having Carter on the practice squad,
but if he makes the 53-man roster, I don't think that's a good sign.
The guy I do want to talk about here before I go, though, is Keaton Ellis.
He's an undrafted free agent from Penn State.
Started out as a cornerback, got moved to safety
because the coverage ability is hit or miss here,
but he's 5'11", 190 pounds, a little bit undersized,
but freak explosiveness.
Great speed, 4'4", 40-yard dash, great vertical jump, really explosive.
He set his pro day on fire.
Really impressive athlete.
Played 58 games in his career at Penn State, 31 starts, had 89 tackles, 12 pass breakups, had two interceptions.
Again, very fast, explosive player.
He's a willing tackler, a guy who played on special teams coverage units,
and that's how he's going to make his NFL career as well.
But the coverage instincts are just not there.
That's why he started as a cornerback and got moved to safety.
Doesn't do a great job in man coverage. That's why he started as a cornerback and got moved to safety.
Doesn't do a great job in man coverage.
He's a bit undersized as well, so although he's a willing tackler, it's going to make it hard for him to be in the box consistently
because he's just an undersized guy.
He also has short arms, which makes it hard for him to make plays on the ball
and be a turnover machine.
I think he's a guy who maybe the Titans could have as a direct backup
to a Jamal Adams, a guy who may be a safety,
but is more of a box guy, is more of a guy who can maybe play
some slot overhang because he played a little bit of cornerback.
I just think he is a guy who has great explosiveness,
so if the Titans can coach him up and have his kind of mental ability
in the game, match his physical talents.
I think they can have something there.
And maybe they can improve those coverage instincts
because the Titans aren't going to play a ton of man coverage
where he struggled.
They'll probably play a little bit more zone in the back end,
especially at the safety position.
So maybe they can use that speed to turn him into a deep free safety
center fielder type guy.
Be very interesting to see.
But just the explosiveness, the ability, I might take a chance on that
over some of these veterans like Mike Brown, Shaheem Carter, who maybe just don't have
a ton of upside, even if they're better players right now.
That's kind of the game that you got to play, right?
Do I want to get this younger player in who has potential and develop him and see if I
can make him better?
Or do I want to go with these guys who are better right now but just don't really have much potential left to get to.
That's an interesting conversation.
But that's the safety position.
Again, tomorrow,
I'm going to be breaking down the cornerback position
and I'm going to have a film breakdown
on Roger McCreary on the Tic Tac Titans YouTube channel
coming out at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
So make sure that you guys check that out.
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.