Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Malik Willis 'GLARING IMPROVEMENT', Vrabel's RT Options & George Fant Pic Mystery

Episode Date: July 25, 2023

The Tennessee Titans officially kicked off training camp on Tuesday and Mike Vrabel gave a very interesting press conference. First, Vrabel gave real praise to Malik Willis and it continues Willis' positive momentum. Next, Vrabel named the internal candidates that could start at right tackle. Finally, Titans twitter erupted into mystery on Tuesday when pictures of free agent George Fant hit the team website. WHAT DOES IT MEAN???Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. If you’re thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. 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. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.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.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Malik Willis hype continues as Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Grable shouts out Malik Willis and says he's made blaring improvements since the spring. We're going to dive into day one of Tennessee Titans training camp on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast.

I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it was day one of Tennessee Titans training camp. They may not have practice, but a lot of interesting things happened. Mike Vrabel praises Malik Willis. Mike Vrabel also gave us his top right tackle options that are in-house. And there was a George Fant mystery on Tuesday. I'm going to dive into everything that happened before we get into it. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors. A championship team is about each player being a perfect fit.

Same with your vehicle. So for the parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBayMotors.com. Let's ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit. Only available to U.S. customers. Eligible items.

Only exclusions apply. Also want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans

podcast for your team every single day. Shout out to my everydayers out there. Let me know down below in the comments if that's you guys. Also, if you're watching right now, throw a thumbs up on the video. The show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, a big day for the Tennessee Titans news,

quite honestly, with it being the first day of training camp. And Mike Vrabel gave his opening press conference for training camp. And I thought the praise that he gave to Malik Willis was incredibly surprising. Mike Vrabel is not the type of guy to go out of his way to praise players, especially a guy like Malik Willis, who let's be honest, Mike Vrabel has been hard on Malik Willis publicly talking about the things he needs to improve on. He's been very transparent about those things.

So not, not a situation where we see a lot of praise for Malik Willis from Mike Vrabel, but Mike Vrabel had this to say at his opening press conference for training camp about Malik Willis. He said, I thought Malik Willis came out of the spring with glaring improvement.

Glaring improvement. For Mike Vrabel to say that about Malik Willis, I think it's pretty impressive. And to me, it follows up on what we talked about on yesterday's show, my everydayers will remember. We talked about my 53-man roster prediction and the number one training camp question that we are all going to discuss,

that we're all going to talk about, is these quarterbacks. We've all worried about the right tackle situation. I hope that gets resolved shortly with George Fant. But if not, no signing means that the Titans have resolved it by going with an internal option. So we got clarity

on the right tackle issue. The wide receiver issue that we've all been discussing at length throughout the summer. Will the Titans be able to get DeAndre Hopkins? Will they get somebody else that gets cut from another team? The two top things that have been the most discussed things in the Titans ecosystem since the end of OTAs have been right tackle and wide receiver. The quarterbacks were the number one hot topic during OTAs, but we've moved past that since.

Well, that train is back on the tracks now with Hopkins signing. Again, clarity coming at right tackle here shortly. Malik Willis is right in this. And I think it's not just that Mike Vrabel said this about Malik Willis. Let's talk about the context here. Let's go over the full quote because Mike Vrabel was asked about the quarterback position in general, just overall the quarterbacks. And he went out of his way to start with Malik Willis. Again, I thought Malik came out of the spring with glaring improvement.

Mike Vrabel is not somebody who dabbles in hyperbole. You know what I mean? He also said Will Levis learned about what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. He also said that Ryan Tannehill did a good job coming in, learning the new offense, all that stuff. He said, quote, we feel good about where we're at. You can't have too many quarterbacks, and hopefully they're all good ones, and that we'll have tough decisions.

It was fun to see the guys improve. When Mike Vrabel talks about tough decisions, instantly people will think about, well, the tough decision between keeping Malik Willis or not. But I think the tough decisions that Mike Vrabel might be forced to make might not have anything to do with the quarterback position and maybe other spots on the roster where Mike Vrabel goes, hey, we got to keep all three of these quarterbacks. We're going to have to make some tough decisions about who we're going to cut at other positions because we're going to keep three quarterbacks, which is exactly, quite honestly, what I talked about on yesterday's show

when we talked about the 53-man roster. My expectation is that the Titans will keep three quarterbacks. I just think that's the smartest thing to do right now because, again, Will Levis, you hope that he's good. They spent the second round pick. They used the third round pick as well. You hope that Will Levis is good. But he's not a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination.

So to me, I think that I'm not positive enough on Will Levis that if Malik Willis shows this kind of improvement and carries it forward, I'm not the type of guy who can risk letting go of Malik Willis and betting on Will Levis. They already tried to do that in the draft, but if Willis continues to play better, then Will Levis, like it's been reported by numerous people that he did during OTAs, can confirm with sources on the ground, then there's just

no way. And it's again, my opinion on the rest of the roster, the Titans roster is not good enough to where they can't afford to keep three quarterbacks. So you're telling me they can't keep Sam Okwe and Nonu? You're telling me they can't afford to keep three quarterbacks. So you're telling me they can't keep Sam Okwe and Nonu? You're telling me they can't keep Mike Brown or Shaheem Carter? You're telling me that they can't keep Chris Jackson at cornerback? They can't keep Jack Gibbons? I would rather keep Malik Willis.

So don't tell me that the roster is in a way where they can't afford to keep three quarterbacks because they most certainly can, and they most certainly should, and I don't think Willis or Levis are a good enough bet to bank on either of them, so if Tannehill is going to be gone after the season, Daryl Sutton, you're saying Tannehill will be gone after the year?

I think so too. With that in mind, you cannot afford to give up on either Willis or Levis right now. It's definitely not going to be Levis, obviously. But I just don't think you can afford to give up on Willis with the uncertainty that's right around the corner. Let them both battle it out the entire season if you have to

and see what happens. And I think Mike Vrabel praising Malik Willis in this way just continues that momentum. That momentum that Malik Willis really has right now. There's no way around it. But with that being said, we got a lot to discuss. Mike Vrabel named his internal right tackle candidates.

I'm going to go over who he named and talk about why the Titans need to call George Fant back. And speaking of George Fant, there was a massive mystery in Titans Twitter on Tuesday. Was George Fant in the building today? Was he not in the building? How did his picture end up on the Titans website? We're going to dive into that mystery and unravel it a little bit

at the end of today's show as well. Before we get into it, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by BetterHelp Online Therapy. Sometimes in life, we're faced with tough choices and the path forward isn't always clear. I know that's been the case for me. It took me a long time to get my feet underneath me in my late 20s to be the type of person that I want to be today. So whether you're dealing with decisions around your career, relationships, or anything else, therapy helps you stay connected to what you really want while you navigate life so you can move forward with confidence and excitement.

Trusting yourself to make decisions that align with your values is like anything. The more you practice it, the easier it gets. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. I've used BetterHelp before. It helped me last fall as I was moving into a new house with new responsibilities, covering the team, all of that. I think it could help you guys as well.

It's entirely online. It's designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. And you just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist. And switching therapists is really easy. You can do it at any time for no additional cost. So let therapy be your roadmap with BetterHelp. Visit betterHelp.com slash locked on and get 10% off your first month today. That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P dot com slash locked on. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

It was day one of Tennessee Titans training camp. So excited to dive into anything. We got Mike Vrabel shouting out Malik Willis at his press conference. Mike Vrabel also gave us his internal candidates for the starting right tackle position. And we had a major George Fant mystery on our hands today. So I'm going to unravel that at the end of today's show. But let's dive into Vrabel's comments about the right tackles. Before we do, thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember,

Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Tomorrow is the first practice of training

camp. I'm going to have a full breakdown, a full recap for you. I'm going to have a full breakdown, a full recap for you. I'm going to be covering it for Sports Illustrated at alltitans.com. I'm going to be here with you guys tomorrow night breaking down practice. So very excited for practices to kick off. Make sure that you stick with me here at the Locked on Titans podcast. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content for free. But Mike Vrabel did not sign

either of the veteran free agent offensive tackles that the Titans worked out this weekend. They had George Fant in. They had Chris Hubbard in. Neither of them were signed. And that only leaves the Titans with their internal options. When the Titans practice tomorrow, who is going to be playing right tackle

if it's not one of those veterans? And Mike Vrabel gave us his answers. Here they are throwing them up on the screen. Mike Vrabel said this about the right tackles and who would get that spot. He says, basically, Jamarco Jones was the one playing in that spot with the early arrivals. So, basically, when the guys arrived early, which was Saturday, I do believe,

is when the rookies reported and the early reporting guys. Since then, it's been Jamarco Jones on the top of that list. So Vrabel's full quote is, quote, Jamarco has worked over there the first couple of days with the early report guys. I think Andrew Rupsch will play over there. I think Jalen will have a shot over there. OJ will have a chance over there.

He said, we'll kind of see where things go and we'll find the best person there. So Jamarco Jones has worked over there the first couple of days. Andrew Rupsich, Jalen Duncan, and OJ is Jono Juku. I hope that I said that right this time. I try a different version every time.

But, as I had in that tweet up on the screen, if these are the options we're talking about, Jamarco Jones, Andrew Rupsch, Jalen Duncan, Jono Juku, I mean, the Titans have to call George Fant back. They have to find a way to get him back in the building

because I just don't see those options as logical answers. The Titans are in win-now mode. The Titans need to win now. They have DeAndre Hopkins in his 30s, Derek Henry. They have Ryan Tannehill, Kevin Byard. They just paid Jeffrey Simmons.

The Titans need to win right now. You cannot go into the season with Jamarco Jones as your starting right tackle. And look, Jamarco Jones has played 85 snaps in his entire career at right tackle. And look, Jamarco Jones has played 85 snaps in his entire career at right tackle. It's not somewhere that teams have put him a lot because he struggled. He is a guard. He is not a right tackle, okay? And then you look at Rupcich. Rupcich is maybe the best offensive tackle in NAIA history. He played in NAIA. He was the only player in NAIA history to make All-American at the same position three years in a row. But he played left tackle his entire time, and at the end of the day, that was NAIA. He didn't even get on the roster last year,

never played in a game for the Titans last year. Practice squad guy. And we're counting on him to maybe be the Titans starting right tackle. And then he mentioned Jalen Duncan. Look, Jalen, you guys know I was hard on the Jalen Duncan pick. You guys know that. I'll be honest about it. That's just the truth. I wasn't a big fan of the Duncan pick. He's got all the talent in the world. He really does. All the talent in the world. But people question his finish on the field, his work ethic in the weight room, his love of the game. Jalen Duncan is a project offensive tackle.

Jalen Duncan is somebody who the Titans need to develop for a few years. He's not ready to start right away. And a juke who, I mean, that's an undrafted free agent out of Boise state. I mean, the Titans would have to absolutely hit the lottery for any of these options to be a suitable answer. This team is trying to go win the division and make a Super Bowl run. You can think that's silly, but that's what Mike Vrabel is thinking right now, and you know that's the truth.

Neither, neither of those, none, I should say, none of those options make sense. And I want to throw out something David Lee says here. He said, Duncan will be on my 53, my only disagreement from your roster show. I will say this. I made a mistake on the show. I deleted Duncan out of his spot so that I can move NPF down. But I would absolutely have Duncan on the roster over Jordan Roos.

So I just made a clerical mistake there with my Excel sheet. I don't know how else to say that to you guys, but I just made a clerical error. I would have Jalen Duncan over Jordan Roos. I got some comments from you guys on yesterday's show like, hey, you really don't like Jalen Duncan, do you? I would go with Duncan making the roster. If Dylan Radins is on PUP to start the year,

obviously NPF is going to be suspended. I do think Jalen Duncan makes the roster. I'll have an updated sheet for you guys as we go through training camp. We'll make some pit stops, and I'll make sure to correct that in the future. But you're 100% right, David. You should have disagreed with me

because I would have Duncan over Jordan Roos for sure. So that was just a mistake on my part that I wanted to clear up at the end of today's show. But either way, even if I think that Duncan is going to make the roster now, he shouldn't be starting at right tackle. So, you look at Jamarco. You guys tell me.

You guys tell me. Jamarco Jones, Andrew Rupcich, Jalen Duncan, John Ajuku, who would you guys, who would you guys want starting at right tackle out of that group? Because Mike Vrabel also said this, because I see somebody in the chat talking about Peter Skowronski. Mike

Vrabel said during his press conference, he likes what Skowronski's doing at left guard, and he wants to keep him at left guard. Same thing with Daniel Brunskill. The Titans interior three offensive linemen, the guards in the center, are so important with some of the zone runs that they use, wide zone, mid zone. Those things require incredible athleticism and chemistry from your front three offensive linemen. Because, for example, think about running outside zone against a four-man front. What you have to do as the left guard is, the left guard has to knock back the defensive tackle and allow the center to literally cross the face of the defensive tackle and execute a reach block. That's a very difficult thing to do. The guard has to hit the guy with his arm,

hit the defensive tackle, push him back towards the center as the defensive tackle is trying to go the opposite direction and allow that center to scoop in front of him and cross his face. That requires chemistry, technique. It's really difficult to do. So I don't think that Mike Vrabel wants to mess with that interior trio. He'd rather plug somebody in at right tackle and deal with the repercussions for six games. And I got to be honest with you guys, I don't think that's a bad idea.

I'm kind of with Mike Vrabel on that one. But with the right tackle news being discussed, speaking of George Fant, who the Titans need to call, there was an insane George Fant mystery taking place on Twitter today. I'm going to break it all down for you guys and unravel the mystery at the end of our show.

So we're going to dive into that in just a moment. Titans fans, it is time to grab your magnifying glasses, throw on your hat, and go into detective mode. Shout out to all my Batman Arkham series fans out there. We're going into detective mode to end today's show because was George Fant at Tennessee Titans training camp on Tuesday? Was he there? There was a mystery in front of us.

And I'm going to break it down to you guys and then give you what I think happened. I'm pretty certain that is the case. Before we get into it, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. It is the perfect time to subscribe to the show.

Training camp is about to kick off. I do daily breakdowns. I have guys on the ground in Nashville watching practice with my coworkers at Sports Illustrated. I give you nightly recaps of practice, full breakdowns, X's and O's from the preseason games. It's your team every day. So get subscribed.

Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. But I'm going to throw up a picture right now on the screen for my folks watching on YouTube. It is George Fant in the Tennessee Titans player parking lot. With the caption, George Fant arrives at Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park before day one of fall camp in Nashville, Tennessee from the Titans team photographer. George Fant looks very confused in the picture. He's pointing to what I believe is the left with his right hand.

He looks inquisitive in the picture like, wait, that way? And it all makes sense as we start to peel back the layers. So the question is, was George Fant in Nashville on Tuesday for the start of camp? Folks, I'm here to tell you, I do not think that he was. So that picture was posted on the Titans team website along with all of the other pictures of the other players who reported to training camp. So people are saying, hey, the pictures were uploaded on Tuesday

with a bunch of other guys who showed up on Tuesday. That means Fant was there on Tuesday. He's in the Titans players parking lot. Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba. That's got to be it. Well, let's go to the second piece of evidence in the George Fant mystery. So we start with his picture in the team parking lot. But here, another shout out to Brandon Kinsey,

who continues to find a way to get good information from George Fant on Twitter. But Brandon asked him, we getting some news, bro, about this picture? He tagged him underneath this picture of him walking in. And George Fant said, nah, I was just at the wrong door. But wait, if George Fant was just at the wrong door, and that's why he's pointing in the picture asking where he should go, that still doesn't clarify whether he was there on Tuesday or whether this picture was from Saturday when George Fant did his workout with the Titans. with the Titans. Well, now that we know everything that everyone was discussing, now I give you my theory

as to how this happened. George Fant came in on Saturday for his workout with the Titans. The rookies and the early report guys came in on Saturday. So Titans players are arriving for training camp on Saturday. George Fant is showing up for a workout on Saturday. The team photographer is going to be in the players' parking lot on Saturday

taking pictures of those players who are arriving. Rookies like Will Levis and Tajay Spears. Veterans who came in early like a Jamarco Jones or a Josh Thompson who's got an injury that he needs to rehab. Players arrived on Saturday. So the Titans photographer was, of course, in the parking lot taking pictures of those players arriving. So odds are that on Saturday, George Fant pulled into the players' parking lot

and went to walk through the players' entrance. It was at that time that he got a picture taken of him. But a Titans PR representative saw George Fant in the parking lot and said, Sir, you are going to the wrong entrance. You are going to the player's entrance. You need to go to a different entrance where you can take a physical, where you can meet with staff, blah, blah, blah. So that's why George Fant is in the picture pointing like, hey, and that's why he said on Twitter, nah, I was just at the wrong door. Because George Fant showed up on Saturday

the same time as the other Titans rookies who were reporting for training camp. That's why there was a photographer there. That's why they got the picture of George Fant. They probably saved his picture in the folder with all the other pictures of the players reporting on Saturday with the intention of dumping them in a photo album with the players who arrived today

all at once on the website. So George Fant's picture that was on the Titans website and eventually deleted from the Titans website, that picture was on Saturday when he showed up and the reason that there's a team photographer there is because other Titans players

reported for training camp on Saturday as well. And the reason that the picture didn't get sent out until today is because today is when the Titans released all their arrival pictures of their players. It's bad news, honestly. I was hoping that this picture was for George Fant showing up on Tuesday to sign a new deal with the Tennessee Titans and fix that right tackle spot that we all just got terrified about in the

second segment when Mike Vrabel gave us those internal options. So, I hate to break it to you guys, but no signing of George Fant is imminent, at least based on this mystery of his picture on the

Titans team website. It was a mistake by the social media team caused by a picture being taken from him because he showed up to the wrong door on Saturday for his workout. Mystery solved. Wish it was something else, but that's what it is. But that's gonna

do enough of this Scooby-Dooing for us on today's show. But Mike Vrabel gives Malik Willis praise. Mike Vrabel names his internal right tackle options and dear God, they're scary. And George Fant was not at Titans training camp on Tuesday. The picture was from his workout on Saturday.

That's everything you need to know from Titans first day of training camp. Titans practice tomorrow. The Titans will be on the field tomorrow. I'm going to be breaking it all down for you guys. Make sure you get subscribed and stay subscribed. That is going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans.