Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Keldric Faulk ELITE POTENTIAL was ON DISPLAY at Auburn & ELITE CHARACTER Examples

Starting point is 00:00:00 Tennessee Titans' first round defensive lineman, Keldrick Folk, has elite potential, and he put it on display during his time in college at Auburn. We'll get the inside scoop 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 get the inside scoop on Keldrick Falk, the Tennessee Titans second first round pick. We got my guy, Zach Blackerby from Lock on Auburn here to talk about Keldrick Fulk is a

Starting point is 00:00:49 player, that high-end potential. And we need to hear about Keldrick Fulk as a person because as good as he is on the field, it seems like some of the stories of him off the field are just as impressive. Before we dive into all of it, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans. your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed.

Starting point is 00:01:14 It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there again. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. Tonight, we're going to talk about the long-term potential of all the Tennessee Titans different draft picks, including Keldrick Falk. Make sure that you don't miss that conversation.

Starting point is 00:01:34 And I just dropped my Keldrick Fault film breakdown over on the Tick-Tac Titans YouTube channel. Link to see that is down below in the description as well. But with that being said, again, make sure that you stay locked in with the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world locked on Titans. And we bring in my guy, Zach Blackerby. Zach, we go way back. I mean, I feel like, you know, they used to do Blood Brothers and saying like,

Starting point is 00:01:58 we ate chicken wings together. That's essentially the same thing in my mind. With that being said, this is why I trust you for this information. Caldric Fult, the conversation around his time at Auburn is up and down because production, this and that. Just roll as a player, what did you see from him during this time in college? Yeah, I mean, definitely an impact guy. You know, when you look at, okay, what did Auburn do well while Keldrick was there?

Starting point is 00:02:25 And it was front seven play every single year that he was there. Even as a true freshman in the SEC, that's tough to do. That was a big question when he came in because he played in Highland Home, Alabama. And if you're, you know, a Tennessee Titan fan tuning in, I'm willing to bet you don't know where Highland Home is because you could be 30 minutes away and still have no clue that it exists. But this is the guy who dominated every level of his competition and then translates to the SEC. And it's like, oh, he's still able to do that physically because he's that special of a player. I think he's tremendous in stopping the run. setting the edge, keeping contain.

Starting point is 00:03:05 And then in this defensive system that DJ Durkin, Auburn defensive coordinator, likes to run, is they really like to free up these linebackers behind them. You and I texted about it. Auburn has a linebacker who was an All-American last year's named Xavier Atkins. He's not an All-American if Keldrick Falk is not one of the guys in front of them, eating up blocks, demanding attention so other guys can break free. And I think you can even make the case that,

Starting point is 00:03:31 that Kiron Crawford, who got drafted in later rounds by the Raiders, I think Keldrick helped skyrocket his draft stock as well. Yeah, he was taking a lot of attention. You could tell on film, the chips, the offensive line, they were looking for him there. Now, again, a lot of this conversation about Keldrick Folk is the drop-off in production from his second to last year in college to his final year in college, the sack numbers drop.

Starting point is 00:03:57 We talked offline and you made it seem like you didn't think that his level of play really dropped off all that much. Can you go into detail of why the numbers dropped and why you might not think that that is as bad as it may look? Yeah, yeah. Well, one, you know, sacks, they're credit to an individual, but it usually takes more than one guy to generate sacks. I think we all agree on that, unless it's an incredible play, which Keldrick did have

Starting point is 00:04:20 a handful of those. But, you know, I think his final year at Auburn, like a lot of it had to do with the guy behind him. Like, they built the defense through the play of what. Xavier Atkins was able to do, and he's the guy who led Auburn and Sacks because they were able to manufacture all these one-on-one situations. I mean, go back to earlier in his time there, the guy opposite of him, Keirond was on the team for a little bit where all three of these guys were there, but Jalen McLeod, who got drafted last year by the Jaguars, I think he kind of demanded a little

Starting point is 00:04:51 bit more attention. And I think Keltrick was able to benefit from that. I think they were more even instead of, oh, we got to focus more on one guy or another. And I think there was some interior guys that were a little bit better that season as well. So I think some of it is is just the system and like what else was kind of being played in that front seven. And then I think another aspect of it, Tyler is like Auburn's offense last year was it was trash. It was awful. It was absolutely awful.

Starting point is 00:05:18 And a lot of the times they like the opposing team wasn't passing against us in the second half because the game was over. They knew that we couldn't score just don't turn the football over. And that's a lot of what happened. happen, especially towards the end of the season. No, that makes a ton of sense. And that's something that I'll be honest with you. As someone who isn't watching Auburn's games as they play out in real time,

Starting point is 00:05:39 I'm watching the defensive cut of the film. I'm watching only defensive snaps. That's something within games that you just don't feel when you're just watching on tape that somebody like you would have the experience to say that. It's funny because Keldrick Folk did say, I think during one of his interviews, that it was a lot of two gaping in the system where they want them to play two gaps. and that does help free up the linebackers. So that makes sense that you're saying that after he said that,

Starting point is 00:06:03 and Robert Solis scheme, it's about shooting through one gap and just being a penetrator and just getting upfield and attacking. So maybe having a little less responsibility and being able to just freely shoot will help Keldrick Falk take his game to that next level. That's where I want to ask you next is, as someone who not only I trust your Auburn knowledge, but your football knowledge as well,

Starting point is 00:06:24 what's the one thing that you would point to and say, I like Keldrick Folk's game, but he's got to do this better to be the player that the Titans are hoping he can be. Yeah, I mean, the next step for him is he's got to develop as a pass rusher, which you guys know this. That was kind of the big thing about him, you know, throughout the draft process is he was kind of labeled with the P word,

Starting point is 00:06:45 the project tag, which, I mean, he, I think he was the youngest player drafted in the first round. You can fact check on that, but certainly a young player, a young player nonetheless. and that's what he's going to have to do. You know, it's never, I mean, it's a good thing, but you always kind of got to squint and be like, well, is it when he's a top rated edge,

Starting point is 00:07:06 but the thing is like, oh, he's the best, you know, run stopping edge in the draft. It's like, well, that's not why you typically draft it, as you want that, but you're doing that to, you know, make an impact on third down. And so, you know, if you're a Titans fan, and you're like, well, you know, the sack numbers went down. Like, sure, there's some context to that,

Starting point is 00:07:24 but also, like, if he's being. put in a system where he can say, finally, pin your ears back and go. Don't worry about the guys behind you. Worry about going to get the quarterback. He could really benefit from that. But yeah, the next step for Keltrick is he does have to get better as a pass rush. There's no question. You know, Robert Sala talked about how he's going to be on the edge on early downs and

Starting point is 00:07:43 probably kick inside on pass downs because his length and his speed against guards is going to be pretty dead. Now, they have John Franklin Myers and Jeffrey Simmons, who also are pretty good in that realm. So he'll be part of that rotation. but honestly, when I heard that, I did not expect to see the speed that he had off the edge. Some of his speed rushes in some of these games, is it like the Kentucky game?

Starting point is 00:08:05 I felt like he was like really good off the edge with speed. I was kind of surprised. I'm like, man, he's really big to be running the arc like that. So I think there's even more potential there, but just being allowed to fire off. That made me more excited about him getting up the field. But we do want to talk about Keldrick Folk as a person because, you know, you see his potential.

Starting point is 00:08:25 on the field, the length, the speed, the power, all that. But you've been hearing, I know you've been hearing it for a while. I've been hearing some incredible stuff about who he is as a guy off the field, in the locker room, things like that. So we'll make sure to hit on that with my guy, Zach Blackerby, from Locked on Arburn as well. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Ruggiat. The NFL draft was here.

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Starting point is 00:09:49 Fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Again, we got my guy Zach Blackerby from Locked on Auburn here on the show talking about Keldrick Falk. We looked at him as a player on the field, his strengths, where he needs to improve at the next level. Now I want to talk about Keldrick Falk as an actual guy, though, because you hear a lot of great stuff. And your experience with him during his time at Auburn, you said he came in very young, obviously still very young at the end of the day, but spent enough years there. What was the most impressive part to you about who Keldrick Falk is as a person? Well, I think the most impactful thing. I don't think I'll ever forget when

Starting point is 00:10:42 he was announced to represent Auburn at SEC Media Days as a true sophomore. That's unheard of. Like you just never really hear that in the SEC. That's a prime opportunity for guys to come out and kind of either showcase their quarterbacks or returning starters or guys who have kind of been the face of their respective programs for the last three or four seasons. And Caldrick was just kind of getting his feet set. And they're like, no, he's too impressive to stay at home.

Starting point is 00:11:09 You got to come out with us. This is when it was in Dallas. And I remember talking to him. And I mean, he wasn't made available to media prior to that. So this is my first time talking to him in person and just kind of spending some time with him at SEC Media Days. This guy has been a professional for a long, long time is how he's approached the game ever since he stepped foot on campus. And then, you know, there's very few players who have been to SEC Media Days more than once. And Keldrick is on that short list of doing that, of course, representing Auburn.

Starting point is 00:11:39 last year as well. And just hearing him talk about, you know, I mean, really just kind of being all into the community, like day one. That's everything that Keldrick is about, once again, coming from Highland Home, very, very small community and then going to Auburn. I can't wait to hear how he handles Nashville

Starting point is 00:11:59 just because it's going to be so much different than what he's used to. But an impressive, impressive guy. So like last segment, we talked about how awful Auburn was offensively. You would look down on the field during timeouts when Auburn just needed literally one drive to win the game. You mentioned that game against Kentucky. Kentucky scored 10 points. It felt insurmountable. That's how bad Auburn's offense was a year ago. When you look down and see the offense in the huddle and you'd see Keldrick in the middle of it, headbutton everybody, including the quarterback, trying to fire them up saying, we need one drive,

Starting point is 00:12:34 guys. You can do it. You've worked all year for the, yo yada, yada, yada, just getting into all these guys. because that's the kind of leader that he is. He's like, I can't go out there and play offense. However, if he did, we probably would have scored more. He can't do it, but he did everything he could to kind of inspire and lead. And I think that's the kind of guy you're getting. Yeah, I think you talk about him in the community, doing the right things, being professional. But I've heard that he's like beloved in the locker room and that kind of story right there,

Starting point is 00:13:01 like you're telling that, that's a good example of that, right? Yeah, yeah. You know, state at Auburn to work out, you know, pre-draft. Every time that we saw, you know, we got to go out and, you know, do the viewing windows for 10, 15 minutes throughout spring. Keldrick was there. He took time to talk to any media member that went up to him, just like a super gracious person. In fact, we walked out. He was next to me walking out to the field before Auburn's A day game, their spring game.

Starting point is 00:13:27 He's got a tray of chicken fingers in his hands. And we're walking past fans. And, you know, he took time to meet and take pictures and while holding a tray of chicken fingers, which that balance, I think is incredible. But, you know, just a guy who's super gracious with his time. And he understands what he represents, right? He understands what he represents as far as the face of this Auburn program. And now you guys that cheer for the Titans get to see him fight for that chance to become one of the faces of y'all's franchise.

Starting point is 00:13:58 And I think after a few years with the type of effort and type of desire that this guy has, I think he's going to be one of those players at Tennessee Titan fans absolutely love and absolutely adore. Towards the end of last time, you talked about, you know, possibly scooting him inside. That's something Keldrick and I talked about

Starting point is 00:14:16 last off season on Locked on Auburn about, all right, hey, you pretty much exclusively lined up at edge. Are they going to move you inside more? And he's like, yes, because that's one thing I pride myself on is versatility,

Starting point is 00:14:30 but also I want the intention on me. So these guys on the edge, like Kiron Crawford and these other guys, Morris Williams was on the team. It's probably the other guy, mentioned, I want those guys out wide so they can have these one-on-one matchups because it's what's best for the team. Now, I think he's really good if you slide him into a three technique. We'll see if that translates to the next level. Obviously, the guards are way better in the

Starting point is 00:14:51 NFL level than they are at the SEC, but we'll see. Didn't see as much of that as I wanted to by being honest with you. I agree. He has the ability to do it. But yeah, just that general willingness to do whatever it takes to win, whatever's best for his team. That's Keldrick Falk. Yeah, it seems like he's got a great chance to be a fan favorite with his fun-loving personality, but also just kind of professional demeanor about things. Robert Sala, Aaron Whitecott, and I'm hoping that they're able to get the absolute Jeffrey Simmons, you know, John Frank, like these guys are are guys who he's going to respect, guys who he's going to want to listen to.

Starting point is 00:15:26 And I think the combination has a chance to get the best out of him and turn him into a real star for the Titans. But I think he's going to sell tickets too, Tyler. I mean, Auburn always shows up well in Nashville, whether it's a bowl game, whether they're playing Banderbilt. I think he's going to sell tickets. I think you're going to see some Auburn number 15 jerseys in Nashville this upcoming season, too. They got to get him number 15. It's open right now. I think, oh, is it good?

Starting point is 00:15:52 Yeah, he has the personality. Like, he's just very approachable, very easy going. Like, he's funny too. He's got some comedy to him in some of his interviews. I think you're right. He's going to be a fan favorite, bring some of that. Auburn fan base on, but even Titans fans are going to be ready to go to the stadium to watch him play. But definitely do appreciate you coming on.

Starting point is 00:16:12 Zach, make sure you guys check out Locked on Auburn for all your Auburn needs, everything like that. I know I got some Auburn folks who listen to the show and our Titans fans as well, a little bit of bleed over there like you were talking about. But anyway, thank you so much for coming on. Definitely do appreciate it. Guys, that is going to do it for today's show. I want to remind you to join the Lock on Titans every dayer club.

Starting point is 00:16:33 Hit the link down below. the description. You're going to get an ad-free version of the podcast in your favorite podcast app. You're going to get added to the Locked on Titans group chat with me and a ton of other everydayers. It's the true test of being a real everydayers joining the Lockedon Titans Every Day or Club. Again, hit the link down below in the description. Check out my Keldrick Folk film breakdown on the TikTok Titans YouTube channel came out this morning as well. Thanks to Zach, once again, for coming on, breaking down Keldrick folks experience at Auburn and what we have to look forward to. That's going to do it for me today.

Starting point is 00:17:04 As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Keldric Faulk ELITE POTENTIAL was ON DISPLAY at Auburn & ELITE CHARACTER Examples

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