Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans L'Jarius Sneed Creates HOUSE OF CARDS at CB, Ugly Backup Battle & Safety is Simple

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Tennessee Titans know who their top four cornerbacks are, but after that things get pretty scary. I'll break it down 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 Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. On today's show, we are going to cap off the 2025 Locked On Titans training camp preview. We've gone through the entire offense. We've gone through the front seven on defense. We've gone through special teams. And today, we are going to finish off with the secondary.

Starting point is 00:01:00 Tomorrow, I'm going to have a mail bag to kind of cap off the entire offseason. Send your questions to have a mailbag to kind of cap off the entire offseason. Send your questions to me at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter. But we got to talk about the secondary today. Of course, we're going to talk about the locks, the bubble guys, the long shots for the cornerback and safety position. Before we dive in, thanks again 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. It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, shout out to my

Starting point is 00:01:36 every dayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't an every dayer now is the perfect time to be one. The Tennessee Titans kick off training camp next week. I'm gonna have a couple training camp preview episodes looking at some big picture topics, some training camp battles, moves the Tennessee Titans could still make. And then the Titans are out on the field

Starting point is 00:01:56 for practice on Wednesday, and I'll be here to break it down with you guys. But with that being said, let's talk about this cornerback position because things are obviously all hinging on Legerius-Snead. You talk about the locks at the cornerback position. It's clearly the top four of Legerius-Snead, Roger McCreary, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., and Darrell Baker Jr. That's not a terrible group right there. That's a solid top three. Now, depending on what we get from Legerrius Snead. If Legerrius Snead comes back and plays the way

Starting point is 00:02:30 we thought Legerrius Snead was going to play, then the Titans have a really good cornerback group because Jarvis Brownlee Jr. is a very solid, number two outside guy, Roger McCreary is one of the top 10, nickel cornerbacks in the entire NFL, maybe top eight, maybe even better than that. Probably needs to get more credit for how good and reliable he's been when he's been in the right position at the corner, the slot cornerback position and

Starting point is 00:02:55 not put outside. Thanks Mike Vrabel. Great call there. But when Roger McCreary has been allowed to play slot cornerback like he should be, He's been fantastic. So in theory, that's a pretty good group and Darrell Baker last year playing in place of Ligeria Snead actually had some pretty decent games. Some pretty decent moments. It was kind of unbelievable because the Colts let him go and the Colts had terrible cornerbacks last year and then he actually was pretty decent with the Titans. Shout out to Dynard Wilson making it easy on the secondary. The Titans had a ton of different safeties last year too and they all performed

Starting point is 00:03:29 decently at times. Like it was kind of crazy to see but Denard Wilson is a secondary guy so it makes sense that he's getting the most. Think about like man like you hire a defensive coordinator with a secondary plus and then it makes their xp go up high. It's like the Nord Wilson has that feature just like with secondary players. He gets the absolute best out of them all the time. So I like that top four depending on Snead. Now if Snead is not healthy, if he has a setback, if he isn't out there, let's say he gets banged up again and he just, I'm just, you know, not going to go out there and risk it anymore.

Starting point is 00:04:07 Which, hey, right now, can't put that past him. We don't know him well enough to know that he wouldn't do that. So, without Legerrius Neen, then things get real scary because Roger McCreary cannot play on the outside. So you'd be back to Darrell Baker, Roger McCreary, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. as your starting trio. That is not good enough. That's going from what Legerrius Need could be, a top 10 cornerback, let's say even a top 15 cornerback, would be great. To a guy who should really be a backup and isn't even a starting level player, even if he had good moments last year with good coaching. That could derail your entire defense. Like that drop off could just ruin the defense's ceiling. That's why I talk about Legerius Snead being such an X factor for this football team because

Starting point is 00:05:01 the defense's capabilities totally change based on what level of luxurious need you get. In my mind, what the defense is capable of, just totally different from the floor and the ceiling of what you get from luxurious need to the floor and the ceiling of what you're going to get from the defense. So here's where we get to a little bit of the issue is after, after your top four cornerbacks with Ligeria Snead, Roger McCreary, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., and Darryl Baker, there is nothing. There is, there's really nothing that you can feel certain about. Nothing, you know, and you look at the bubble and you look at the long shot group for this position.

Starting point is 00:05:56 And it makes you wonder, should the Titans go out and get a free agent? Should they go out and get a Kyle Fuller? Should they go out and get a Kyle Fuller? Should they go out and get a Asante Samuel Jr.? For example, should they go out and get a Rasul Douglas? Those are names that are available as of this recording, I guess. As we get closer to training camp, teams start to say, alright, you know, why am I going to rely on these younger guys? Why am I going to put too much stock in these younger guys?

Starting point is 00:06:28 I probably need to just go out there and, and, and get one of these veterans that I can count on. So you have names like that, that you could potentially bring in to give you a little bit of depth. Now, the thing that I think about free agents at cornerback is the Titans probably aren't going to do that unless they do know that Legerius Need is not going to be ready. If Legerius Need is not ready for training, he said, Legerius Need in a recent interview, I talked about this last week, I think, but said, I'm as healthy as I've ever been. Well, then he better be out there for day one of training

Starting point is 00:07:04 camp. Now I know the Titans are going to tell us that even if Legerius Need is healthy, we still have to manage him. But Brownie Callahan already said publicly that they want to see Legerius Need practice more and they think they might have set him up for failure by not having him practice more. So you can already tell it's like, yeah, yeah, we like your maintenance plan, but we did your little maintenance plan last year and you missed the entire season. So maybe you need to get on the field a little bit more. So I think the first couple of weeks of training camp going into maybe

Starting point is 00:07:37 that first joint practice, I think it's the Buccaneers, it's Falcons and Buccaneers, but I think Bucks first. Going into that first joint practice, if Snead is still not out there, then the Titans probably will need to go to the veteran free agent market. But at that point, will some of these names that I talked about who I'd be interested in, will they be available? That's something that they have to consider. But no matter what you want to talk about with this cornerback position, it hinges on L Jerry's need,

Starting point is 00:08:05 because again, what comes after the top four locks is very terrifying. And I'm gonna tell you who those names are, and hopefully I'm wrong and a couple of these guys pop. Do wanna let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Look, summer sports are in full swing whether into baseball, under the lights, or golf on the greens, or high-stakes soccer action. FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You're already following the action.

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Starting point is 00:09:57 We're going to look at the bubble guys, the long shots, and I'm going to talk about safeties at the end of the show. Before we dive in. Thanks again for making locked on Titans. You are first listen each and every day again, training camp next week. Make sure that you get subscribed, be an everyday or football season is back. Let's go Titan up. But with that being said, first person on the bubble and the most likely player out of all of these names we're about to discuss to make the team is the Titans sixth round draft pick Marcus Harris. He played for Idaho for three years, transferred to Cal to get a better look at the NFL. 5'11", 188. He is a speed demon.

Starting point is 00:10:40 Pure speed demon. And he's scrappy. He'll stay with you in man coverage. The problem is, is Marcus Harris is an older player. He's 24 years old. He played, you know, all his time in college that he could. He's also a smaller player at five foot 11, 188 pounds. He's a guy who during college you look at some of the scouting reports. I will not.

Starting point is 00:11:03 I'm not watching a ton of Marcus Harris tape. I wasn't prepped on Marcus Harris, you know at some of the scouting reports. I will not I'm not watching a ton of Marcus Harris tape I wasn't prepped on Marcus Harris, you know going into the draft But the draft reports right after he drafted you look at every single scout you could it's a guy who maybe Struggled with the instincts of the position. Yeah, he could play man coverage and just guard his guy But you ask him to play zone things like that Little confused by route concepts reading the the quarterback's eyes, where to sit down. Now, the Titans are a team that probably want to play more man coverage than what they got to play last year.

Starting point is 00:11:33 They played a ton of zone coverage last year, and I think that might have to do with all the injuries that they had in the secondary, but I think the Titans would like to play a little bit more man coverage, especially on third and short situations. And Marcus Harris is a guy who has the ability to do that and something that I have been discussing that not a lot of people are talking about. Roger McCreary is in the last year of his contract. Are the Tennessee Titans going to want to give a decent, I don't think it'll be record setting, I don't think it'll be top setting I don't think it'll be top of the market cornerback but Roger McCreary will probably get a top five slot cornerback contract slot cornerback contract this offseason do the Titans

Starting point is 00:12:15 want to pay that is it worth it Jarvis Brownlee jr. is a player who coming into the NFL wanted to play in the slot. They draft Marcus Harris, a guy who I think would fit best in the slot. Does it make sense to pay Roger McCreary as a slot cornerback? The Titans are going to have to make that decision. So a guy like Marcus Harris, keeping him around and seeing what you get from him in your rookie year can help them make that decision. So I think that gives him a great advantage. Now, the other guy on the bubble that I think makes the most sense next is Gabe Judy Lawley. Remember, Gabe Judy Lawley was an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee for the Tennessee Titans who was brought in last year. Six foot one, 189 pounds. He's a guy who could play on the outside. And, want to throw in this anecdote

Starting point is 00:13:06 about Gabe Judy Lawley, during mandatory mini camp, during the offseason program, Legerius need not participating. Who was the Titans starting corner outside? Darrell Baker missed some time with some injury as well. It was Gabe Judy Lawley. So, Darrell Baker Jr. it was Gabe Judy Lawley. So, if Darrell Baker Jr. is the Titans primary outside backup cornerback to Ligerious Need and Jarvis Brownlee Jr., and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. can be Roger McCreary's primary backup as the slot corner because Jarvis Brownlee Jr. might be better as a slot corner anyways, then wouldn't it make sense for the Titans to have their fifth cornerback be an outside guy? Then you have Snead and you have Baker, you have McCreary and you have Brownlee Jr., and then you have Gabe Judy Lawley, who could play on the outside, and then you also have Jarvis Brownlee Jr., who can play on the

Starting point is 00:14:11 inside for Roger McCreary. Now, I think Marcus Harris and Gabe Judy Lawley then has you totally covered. You have Roger McCreary, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Marcus Harris, who can all play in the slot. You have Snead, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Darrell Baker, and Gabe Judy Law Harris, who can all play in the slot. You have Snead, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Darrell Baker, and Gabe Judy Lawley, who can all play on the outside. You're totally covered. No matter what version of your cornerback group you have to put out there, you're totally covered. So, I think that's what makes the most sense, but I also have to mention two other guys who are on the bubble who I think legitimately, legitimately could push. And I want to start with Iowa cornerback Jermari Harris. He's physical,

Starting point is 00:14:56 he's long, he's a guy who will press you and get in your face 6'1", 190 pounds. And I think that sort of length and the physicality on the outside coming from an Iowa defense that always seems to put people into the NFL Iowa maybe not as super successful collegiately as some of the other big schools but Iowa puts out some NFL prospects if we're talking like college football video game Iowa's pro potential is an A. Iowa puts out a lot of great pros at a lot of different positions all over the place. So I just trust the Iowa program. I think Jermari Harris has a real chance.

Starting point is 00:15:35 And Jermari Harris is an undrafted free agent this year out of Iowa where Gabe Judy Lawley is out of Tennessee from a year ago. Again, age matters, potential matters. And they may look at a guy, a Jamari Harrison, be like, eh, let's just go with the younger guy. Now, outside of younger guys, there is one veteran amongst this group, and it's Amani Uh, Oruwari. Gonna turn 30 years old in February, so I guess he'll be 29 the whole season. But his guy has played 61 games in his NFL career. First got his opportunity to play with the Detroit Lions in 2019. He's played a lot of defensive snaps in his career at cornerback.

Starting point is 00:16:24 Like, a ton of defensive snaps in his career at cornerback, like a ton of defensive snaps in his career. 2944 defensive snaps in his career. Not as much of a special teams contributor though, only played 276 special team snaps in his career. So if, uh, Oruwari going to make the team as an older veteran, it's because they really want somebody with cornerback experience. Like, rather than having to play Gabe Judy Lawley or Jamari Harris on the outside, if Ligerious Need is out, injury, setback, whatever, now you have Darryl Baker in there,

Starting point is 00:17:01 do you want your primary backup for your outside corners outside of Baker and Baker? Baker Jr. and Baker Jr. Darryl Baker and Jarvis. Outside of the Bakers, do you want your primary backup to be a Gabe Judy Lawley with very little experience in his second year as an undrafted free agent? Do you want it to be Jermari Harris, an undrafted free agent from this year. Can you afford that? That is a reason why the Titans would keep Oruwari, who is pushing 30 but is big at 6'2", 205 pounds and experienced. Like, again, near 3,000 snaps. Are the Titans, like the conversation that we talked about with other positions, are the Titans gonna value just keeping a veteran because the coaching staff can't afford to fail this year? They're gonna lose all their jobs. That might lead them to an Oruwari over a

Starting point is 00:17:58 guy like Gabe Judy, Lolly, or Jermari Harris, and maybe you can get one of those guys back on practice squad and keep developing that's something to consider but those are the guys who I think are on the bubble Marcus Harris, Gabe, Judy, Lollie, Jermari Harris and Amani Orewari but for the long shots it's just the other undrafted free agent guys Jalen Kimber out of Penn State six 190. Clarence Lewis at a Syracuse, 5'11", 200. Davion Ross out of Memphis, 5'10", 177. Davion Ross, very small. He's going to have to get through Marcus Harris. The Titans already have Roger McCreary and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. Like I just think that's a tough battle to fight when you're a slot only guy like Davion Ross. Same thing, Clarence Lewis. I think the Titans want a little bit more length on the Ross. Same thing Clarence Lewis. I think the Titans want

Starting point is 00:18:45 a little bit more length on the outside and I think Clarence Lewis is probably a slot guy. Those two dudes might be battling for the practice squad slot position. If the Titans intend to keep Marcus Harris, you can keep one of Clarence Lewis or Davion Ross to be a slot guy. Jalen Kimber is another outside guy from Penn State, played with Kevin Winston, 6 foot, 190 pounds. But with a veteran like Oruwari, with Jamari Harris and Gabe Judy Lawley, Jamari Harris, I think is a better player. Gabe Judy Lawley has the year of experience ahead of him and is clearly ahead in the pecking order already. It's just a tough hill to climb for those undrafted free agents who I think aren't in as good of a position to succeed.

Starting point is 00:19:26 But with that being said, we gotta talk about the safety position. I think things are pretty cut and dry at safety, if I'm honest with you. Titans fans, let's cap off not only today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, but cap off the 2025 Locked on Titans training camp preview going through every single position on offense, defense, dead special teams as well. If you guys missed any of the previous episodes on any of the previous positions, make sure that you go back and check those out. Get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day.

Starting point is 00:20:16 Also want to remind you that the locked on NFL top 100 is out. It came out on Wednesday. It's on locked on sports today. Locked on NFL's top 100 was voted on by all of the NFL hosts from Locked On. There are some stunners, folks. Make sure that you don't miss where your favorite players are ranked. Subscribe to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. But the locks to make the roster at safety, Amani Hooker, Xavier Woods, Kevin Winston. Not really a lot of conversation. I think you could potentially put Mike Brown in that cover.

Starting point is 00:20:55 So many people out there hate on Mike Brown. And what does Mike Brown do? He just goes out there and he's consistent. He's not great. He's a backup. No doubt about it. But I don't see why Mike Brown couldn't be safety five, safety four. Maybe you want a better safety five than Mike Brown. Fine. I get it. But I've always been a Mike Brown, Mike Brown proponent. He's willing to play physical. He'll come down in the box. He has coverage versatility. He's not a guy who you want that single high safety. That's not what you want with Mike Brown, but playing those over the middle of the field inside quarters that Denard Wilson likes to call with his cover four man

Starting point is 00:21:39 stuff and coming down and taking a guy. I like Mike Brown. I've seen him play some man on running backs. Mike, Mike Brown's a good player. Solid on special teams most of the time. I think Mike Brown is a solid depth piece for the safety group, but I'll be honest, he can't be a lock. Because he's just not a high enough level of player to be considered an absolute lock on the roster like Imani Hooker and Xavier Woods who are your starters and then Kevin Winston who's your third round pick who absolutely is going to get most of the work that what Mike Brown was getting last year. Kevin Winston is going to get that this year. Kevin Winston was brought in to eventually be a starting safety for the Titans, but take the Mike Brown roll right away, which slots Mike Brown better as your fourth safety.

Starting point is 00:22:28 Now the question for me becomes, will the Titans keep five safeties? That's the question. Because after Mike Brown, you have Julius Wood. Julius Wood is a guy who has been with the team for a couple of years now. He was with the team last year and he is more of a special teams player, but it's got good size, good speed. I don't really like seeing Julius Wood out on the defensive side of the ball. I think the recognition of routes, the coverage understanding is lacking, but that could be he's a young player who was with the team for, you know,

Starting point is 00:22:58 limited action last year. Maybe he takes a step forward. Maybe he can supplant Mike Brown. And then the Titans also brought in Mark Perry off of waivers. So they were clearly looking to bring him in to compete in the safety group 6 foot 213. He's 24 years old, was with the New England Patriots, but they moved on from him during the free agency period and the Titans brought him off waivers. I think it was right around the draft, right after the draft. But Mark Perry is a guy who could come in and maybe do something. He didn't really get to play for the Patriots last year.

Starting point is 00:23:39 Didn't have an appearance for them, but is someone who spent some time with the Texans as well, uh, undrafted free agent from last year. I think it was, but Mark Perry is a guy who has size has speed is going to have to make his way on special teams. But is he going to be far enough in the mental game? No, in the defense to take away a spot from a guy like Mike Brown, who's been with the Titans for multiple years, and not only has been with the Titans, but has actually played quite a bit. I mean, Mike Brown has played two straight seasons for the Titans. He's appeared 26 games, played a lot of defensive snaps for the Titans last year. Like I talked about 386 and 365 special team snaps last year as well. Mike Brown is a guy who I think his role is just it's going to be tough to knock him out of the fourth safety role. And maybe the Titans keep a fifth safety. But if they do, I think it'll be Julius Wood or Mark Perry, which makes it tough for Kendall Brooks, who's an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State, 6'206. Got guys that have been with the team longer and Wood and Brown ahead of you.

Starting point is 00:24:58 The Titans used a waiver claim on Mark Perry to bring him in. It just makes it tough. It makes it tough. But hey, Kendall Brooks, good size for safety, six foot, 206, these are just, I only think there's gonna be four spots at safety. So when I talk about Julius Wood or Mark Perry or Kendall Brooks, like it's hard for me to see the Titans keeping five safeties.

Starting point is 00:25:18 I'd rather keep, instead of keeping five cornerbacks and five safeties, I'd rather see the Titans keep six cornerbacks and five safeties, I'd rather see the Titans keep six cornerbacks and four safeties. Or I'd rather see him keep six linebackers and four safeties rather than the five safeties and five linebackers. Or six interior defensive linemen instead of five. Or nine offensive linemen instead of eight over four.

Starting point is 00:25:41 I just don't think the talent at safety warrants keeping more than four. But just don't think the talent at safety warrants keeping more than four, but Denard Wilson is a secondary guy. So maybe he wants to load up on safeties and Kevin Winston coming back from the ACL. Maybe they want to have a little bit more depth there early on too. That's something that remains to be seen,

Starting point is 00:25:57 but that's going to do it for me today. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, mailbag tomorrow, but this was Locked on Titans. ["Locked on Titans"]

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Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans L'Jarius Sneed Creates HOUSE OF CARDS at CB, Ugly Backup Battle & Safety is Simple

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