Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Malik Willis Has EARNED Roster Spot, Roster Cuts Have Begun & What to do at Kicker?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Tennessee Titans have begun trimming their roster and Malik Willis has earned his spot. We're going to talk about that and more 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.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Welcome in, folks. We got a lot to talk about. The Tennessee Titans have started making their roster cuts. We're going to do this one more time. I'm going to go through

Starting point is 00:01:10 my 53-man roster projection. The Titans cut about six players. Nobody really surprising, if we're honest, and we'll go through those cuts, look at the rest of the roster and who could survive the next 24 to 48 hours as the Tennessee Titans start to trim down their roster from 90 to 53. So before we get into all that, 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, always for free.

Starting point is 00:01:41 Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. It's your team every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there. Let me know down in the comment section who you guys are also. Thumbs up on the video right now as well. Show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. Coming up though, we're going to keep breaking down roster cuts on tomorrow's show.

Starting point is 00:02:02 We should have a good idea of what the roster will look like going forward throughout the week. It's time to make predictions. Final record prediction for the Titans, some statistical predictions. We're going to talk fantasy football later this week as well for the Titans. So a lot coming your way. And then of course, the regular season starts next week. So again, get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. But first, what I want to do is I want to go over the cuts that the Tennessee Titans made on Sunday, their first wave of cuts. So we're going to dive into that. And as always, I'd like to have my visual aid out here for you guys. Things got a little squirrely last time I used it, but I think we should be good to go this time.

Starting point is 00:02:45 So first and foremost, we will start Alonzo Davis or LJ Davis. I don't know, the rookie cornerback. He has been cut by the Tennessee Titans. Also, offensive lineman Zach Johnson has been cut by the Tennessee Titans. Also, tight end Justin Rigg has been cut by the Tennessee Titans. Also, tight end Justin Rigg has been cut by the Tennessee Titans. Also, Gavin Holmes, wide receiver, has been cut by the Tennessee Titans. Jimmy Murray, the interior offensive lineman, has been cut by the Tennessee Titans. And Michael Badgley, I'm going to go ahead and just empty the kicker box for a second rather than totally deleting it because we'll need

Starting point is 00:03:25 that here at the end of the show. But Michael Badgley has been let go by the Titans. They're going to try and find a new kicker. We'll talk more about that at the end of the show. But now let's dive into some of the skill position players on offense. Obviously, three quarterbacks. Like I said at the top of the show, the most important thing for me throughout this all season when it comes to quarterback is just that Malik Willis has earned it. Not only has he earned his roster spot, but at this time he's earned quarterback too. Now Mike Vrabel said after the game that he does not know who the backup quarterback is yet. He is not willing to announce it yet. And that's perfectly fine. But Malik Willis has definitely earned his roster spot no matter what.

Starting point is 00:04:04 So I'm going to have the Titans keeping three QBs, something I was wrong about if you would have gone back a couple of months, but something that I've definitely thought for the last few weeks, as Malik Willis has proved that he deserves a roster spot. So that's there. Running back gets a little difficult. Me, I'm just going to keep it honest with you. No way Jacquez Patrick is an option.

Starting point is 00:04:22 I think that Jonathan Ward is injured. I think that he's either going to go on IR or the Titans are going to, you know, probably just let him go. For our purposes, for our purposes here, let's say that Jonathan Ward is gone, is eliminated as a running back. And for me, really the conversation then becomes, are you keeping Hassan Haskins? And I'll tell you guys,

Starting point is 00:04:49 I had a decision to make when I sat down to look at the roster. Do I keep Hassan Haskins? Do I keep a sixth linebacker? Do I keep Hassan Haskins? Do I keep an extra defensive back? Do I keep an extra wide receiver? And at the end of the day,

Starting point is 00:05:03 while Haskins, I think Haskins is underrated in terms of his value that he can provide to the team just because of the special teams. I am going to find special teams value elsewhere. Also, Haskins has been hurt. I just, he's not, he's a really great special teams player. And a lot of you guys underrate his special teams ability, but Haskins is not worthy to keep injured over some of the other guys that are available when he doesn't give you anything at running back. So I am actually going to go with three running backs,

Starting point is 00:05:33 Derrick Henry, Tajay Spears, and Julius Chestnut. The special teams value that we would get from Hassan Haskins, we are going to find elsewhere. That is the decision that I decided to make. So now I want to talk about wide receiver, and where we have to start is with this. So I think that Kyle Phillips is going to be placed on IR. He has an MSL issue, two to six weeks.

Starting point is 00:05:57 I think that with Phillips' injury history, it would be best to take all the pressure off of him to get back and just to go ahead and place him on IR. He'll be out for a minimum of four weeks. And then the Titans have the ability to bring him back. So I'm going to say that Kyle Phillips goes on injured reserve. And with that in mind, he will not take up a roster spot for the wide receivers. We know that Gavin Holmes was just cut, already happened on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:06:23 So where does our conversation go from here? You have Berks and you have Hopkins, you have Chris Moore and you have NWI. And to me, those guys are locks. You have those four. So what happens after that? Well, in my opinion, based on what we saw the depth chart look like in the final preseason game, Racy McMath didn't play until late. Reggie Roberson wasn't one of the first guys up there. Treshawn Harrison came in before both those guys, but I don't think any of those guys are making this team. I think McMath hasn't shown enough.

Starting point is 00:06:53 I think Roberson and Harrison are practice squad candidates. We're going to talk about the practice squad a little bit more in a couple of days, but I just don't see any of those three guys as options to me. What it comes down to here is Kiaris Jackson, Kiaris Jackson, the rookie from Georgia, Mason Kinsey, and Colton Dowd. That's what it comes down to. And for me, as much as I think Kinsey deserves it,

Starting point is 00:07:16 after seeing them take Kinsey off the field and let Kiaris Jackson take a punt return, after seeing Kiaris Jackson do more on special teams return units and things like that, Kiaris Jackson do more on special teams return units and things like that. Kiaris Jackson is a slot wide receiver as well. So I think that Jackson is the guy who gets that spot instead of Kinsey. Now you may be wondering who is going to play the slot for the Titans. Well, that's where my sixth or fifth, however you want to look at it, I think the fifth wide receiver comes in and it's Colton Dowell, the rookie. Dowell can play any of the wide receiver spots. He can play outside. He can play in the slot. The Titans can also use Hopkins in the slot

Starting point is 00:07:50 and WI. I know nobody likes him, but he does know how to play in the slot and know the playbook from that position, which is key. So I think they keep Kiaris Jackson because they want that special team's value. And then they keep Colton Dow Dow because he's a guy who can actually play all the receiver spots and help them as a receiver. So I think the Titans keep six wide receivers. Kyle Phillips goes on IR, so he doesn't count as one of those. Burks Hopkins, Moore NWI, Dow, and Kiaris Jackson. Add that to three quarterbacks and Tannehill, Willis, and Levis,

Starting point is 00:08:22 three running backs, and Henry Spears, and Chestnut. That's what I have for the Titans in those three spots. But we're going to continue breaking down the rest of the roster. So much to talk about. So much to talk about on today's show. More cuts are coming. Can't wait to dive into all of it. Before we get into it, though,

Starting point is 00:08:42 all of it. Before we get into it though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy. August is here and you know what that means, the official start of Fantasy Football Drafting Month. Get championship ready for your home league by trying out Best Ball on Underdog Fantasy. All you do is one live snake draft. There's no waivers, no trades. Underdog is going to set your best lineup every single week. Try it out with underdogs best ball mania tournament. It's the largest fantasy football contest of all time.

Starting point is 00:09:17 And it's back and even bigger with $15 million of total prizes up for grabs, including an absurd $3 million going to the winner. Last year, the winner drafted their team in July. So don't wait around. Visit underdogfantasy.com or just find them in the app store on your phone. Sign up with promo code LOCKEDON. That's one word, LOCKEDON,

Starting point is 00:09:40 to get your first deposit doubled up to $100. That's Underdog Fantasy. Promo code LOCKEDON to get your first deposit doubled up to $100. That's Underdog Fantasy. Promo code LOCKEDON. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. The Tennessee Titans cuts have begun. They cut Justin Rigg, tight end. Jimmy Murray, offensive lineman. Zach Johnson, offensive lineman. Gavin Holmes, wide receiver.

Starting point is 00:10:23 Alonzo Davis, or LJ Davis, the cornerback. Michael Badgley, the kicker, who was here for a cup of coffee, is now gone as well. So we are looking at those cuts, looking at the rest of the roster, making my final roster projection. We talked about quarterback, running back, and wide receiver. Want to dive into the rest of it now before we get into it. Do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast

Starting point is 00:10:44 your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, where it's your team every day. So diving right back in here

Starting point is 00:11:02 and making sure that we don't have any audio issues or anything like that. Appreciate you guys all letting me know last time, but we're diving back in here to take a look at the roster. Three quarterbacks, three running backs, six wide receivers with Kyle Phillips going to IR. Now let's look at tight end. Okay, Justin Rigg was already cut.

Starting point is 00:11:22 We know that. And that makes it a little difficult. But I'm going to say this. Alizé Mack, it took me multiple weeks to figure out your name. So my apologies. But you're not making the roster. Maybe a practice squad option. I think the Titans will want to keep a couple tight ends on their practice squad.

Starting point is 00:11:38 But I don't think Alizé Mack is going to make it. We know that Okonkwo, Wesco, and Wiley are going to make this team. So the conversation for me comes down to, is it Kevin Rader? Is it Thomas Odukoye? Let me say this. Thomas Odukoye is the better player who the Titans want to keep. But Thomas Odukoye is an international pathway

Starting point is 00:12:02 program player. That means that there are special roster exemptions that teams can make for him. For example, the Titans would get an extra practice squad spot. Most teams get 16. The Titans would get 17 because Thomas Otokoye being an international pathway program player does not count towards the numbers. So for that reason, I think the Titans keep Kevin Rader as the fourth tight end and Thomas Odukoye goes to the practice squad where

Starting point is 00:12:36 they can use him on the practice squad, call him up when they need an extra tight end. I think they're going to call him up quite a bit for as long as they can, but because he is an international pathway player, I think the Titans are going to use him in a special way. So I'll give a green marker to Odukoye because in theory he is on the team, but I just don't think he makes the 53-man roster because the Titans can use that international exemption to have extra players on their roster. The Titans had 91 players for most of the time during training camp because Odukoye doesn't count because of the international pathway stuff. So there you go. I think four tight ends, five really with Odukoye,

Starting point is 00:13:13 but the practice squad situation is where he will be. Now we go to the offensive line. We know that NPF is suspended. We know that Dylan Radins is on PUP. I don't think Radins is coming off. NPF is not going to count towards the roster while he's suspended. So to me, you got the starting five of Andre Dillard, Peter Skowronski, Aaron Brewer, Daniel Brunskill, and Chris Hubbard. And then after that, I think they're going to keep Jalen Duncan, Corey Levin, and Justin Murray.

Starting point is 00:13:46 I think Justin Murray has done enough to be the backup right tackle on this team for the first six weeks, and then we'll go from there. So with Duncan, Levin, and Murray, and then the starting five, that leaves us with some tough decisions. Now, John LeGlue, sorry, I think you're gone. John Ajuku, I think they're going to get him back on the practice squad, but he's been injured

Starting point is 00:14:07 and hasn't proved it. They can't go there. So, from here, basically what you're doing is you're either taking Xavier Newman-Johnson, Gordon Roos, Andrew Rupcich.

Starting point is 00:14:23 I personally think Rupcich is third on that list. So I really think this is between Xavier Newman Johnson and Jordan Roos. That's what I think it is. And to be honest with you, I think they're both pretty solid. What's interesting is Xavier Newman Johnson came in at right guard after Brunskill got banged up, not Jordan Roos,

Starting point is 00:14:46 which surprised me. So with that in mind, I think that Xavier Newman-Johnson is ahead of Jordan Roos on the depth chart. So I am going to keep Xavier Newman-Johnson as my ninth offensive lineman. So going to have the starting five of Dillard, Skowronski, Brewer, and Brunskill and Hubbard. And then Duncan and Justin Murray as the backup tackles. Levin and Xavier Newman-Johnson as the backups on the interior. And then Radins is on PUP.

Starting point is 00:15:15 NPF is suspended. So nine offensive linemen. All right? So three quarterbacks, three running backs, six wide receivers, four tight ends, nine offensive linemen. Interesting. Interesting stuff. So, we're going to move forward, talk about the defense. Let's go to the defensive line real quick.

Starting point is 00:15:35 Jeffrey Simmons, T. Air Tart, Danico Autry. Starters, locked in, no worries there. I'm going to immediately take out Trevon Colley. He wasn't here enough. TK McClendon wasn't impressed. A'Quan Jones just had injuries. Wasn't better than Pecco or Dwumfor, Shelvin. No. Jaleel Johnson is the guy who I was really considering here, but there's just no way that I can do it.

Starting point is 00:16:06 I think, again, Pecco, Dwumford, and Peavy. Pecco, Dwumford, and Peavy are the guys who have impressed me the most on the defensive line, and Pecco and Peavy just got here a little bit ago. So that's what I'm going to go with, or Pecco and Dwumford just got here. So I'm going to go with six interior defensive linemen, Simmons, Tartt, Autry as the starters, Pecco, Dwanford, and Peavy. And to be honest with

Starting point is 00:16:31 you, that one wasn't really a tough one. That's not a tough position for me. I know the Titans like defensive line depth though. That's what I know. So with that in mind, I'm going to keep six guys on the defensive line because I know that Mike Vrabel wants those guys in the trenches. Same. Nine offensive linemen. Six on the interior of the defensive line. The Titans need their resources there. They need roster help there because they play physical football.

Starting point is 00:16:56 With that, though, I'm only going to keep ten guys with the edge and the interior defensive line because I just don't like the Titans' edge rush group. You got Arden Key and Rashad Weaver, and then you got to keep Caleb Murphy, man. I don't care if he's not great on special teams right now. I don't care if you got to find him a role on special teams, as Mike Grable said, then find him one, because the man can rush the passer, and you can't let that go. So Sam Oakway and Nonu, never really been that impressed by Sam Oakway and Nonu. Thomas Rush, I think should go to the practice squad. But for me, I'm only keeping those four edge rushers because the talent just isn't there to justify anything else. Okay. But we got a lot to talk about. I'm going to make

Starting point is 00:17:40 a surprise cut at linebacker that I think a lot of you guys will disagree with, but I know there's some other folks out there that agree with it, and we're going to talk about that, plus go into the defensive secondary and talk about kicker. Before we get into all of it, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Look, guys, if you're looking for last-minute tickets, there is no better app than GameTime.

Starting point is 00:18:11 I went to a Cincinnati Reds game recently. Kind of a last-minute, spontaneous decision. So easy. No stress. Just went on GameTime, looked for the seats, found the ones that were the best value, found the ones that had the best value, found the ones that had the best view for what I wanted. I really like how they show you

Starting point is 00:18:29 what your view is from your seat. I find it's more accurate than other apps that try to do the same thing. So buying tickets to your favorite event shouldn't be stressful. And with game time, it's fast and easy for not just sports, music, comedy, theater shows,

Starting point is 00:18:44 whatever you want. You're going to get killer deals on last minute tickets with GameTime. So snag those tickets without the stress with GameTime. Download the GameTime app. Create an account. Use the code LOCKEDONNFL. That's one word. LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:19:03 Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off the Game Time app. Download it today. Last minute tickets. Lowest prices. Guaranteed. All right, Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Looking at my final roster projection, going over some of the cuts that the Tennessee Titans have made so far.

Starting point is 00:19:45 We've gone through the offensive side of the ball. We've looked at the interior D-line. We looked at the edge rushers. Now I want to look at the back seven on defense and some special teams. Before we get into it, do 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, always for free. I'm going to be talking more roster cuts tomorrow, looking at some practice

Starting point is 00:20:12 squad options, looking at cuts on other teams tomorrow as well. That'll be an interesting thing to follow, and we'll talk more about that towards the end of the show right before we go. But we're also going to look at Tuesday. The Titans roster should be set or at least close to it on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. So we'll talk about that and the decisions that the Titans actually made.

Starting point is 00:20:35 Going to talk projections and predictions and fantasy football at the end of the week as well. So a lot coming your way. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every way. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. But let's go back and take a look at the depth chart here

Starting point is 00:20:51 and what it's looking like for the Titans. If you guys have missed anything that I've talked about so far, you can see it up on the screen right now on offense, my decisions that I made, all of that. We're going to talk about linebacker here. And I got to give credit to Justin Mello. He was the first person I saw to make this prediction, and I got to be honest, after looking at it, I agree with him. And when you look at linebacker, the Titans have six guys

Starting point is 00:21:15 who I think are pretty solid. The top six of Alshire, Gibbons, Campbell, Rice, Neiman, Gifford, Otis Reese, I think is going to end up on the practice squad because the Titans like him. But I don't think that Otis Reese is a realistic guy that the Titans are going to keep around. So I'm just going to go ahead and move him off. But at the end of the day, like Justin said, and I'm going to agree with him, I think the Titans cut Monty Rice.

Starting point is 00:21:38 I think that with Neiman, as a guy who can also play defense, like he can actually go out there and play on defense. I think he's a guy who makes a lot of sense for the Titans as like a fourth linebacker behind Campbell and Gibbons and Alshire. Also, I love Gifford and his special teams value. And when I talked about earlier, letting Hassan Haskins go,

Starting point is 00:22:04 I'll get that special teams value elsewhere. This is the kind of decision that you're making. To keep Gifford, that's a guy who can play on special teams all the time. Everybody except Alshier will play special teams in the linebacker group. And that's a ton of value right there.

Starting point is 00:22:21 So that's where I'm at at the linebackers. I know that that's maybe a little bit of a spicy take, but I agree there. I don't think with the inconsistency of the injuries, the depth that the Titans have at the position, I just don't see a spot

Starting point is 00:22:34 for Monte Rice here. I think that's a cut to make. So moving forward and going to cornerback, I'm going to keep this simple at cornerback. You got Sean Murphy bunting and Christian Fulton on the outside.

Starting point is 00:22:44 Roger McCreary in the slot. Trey Avery as the backup outside guy. Roger McCreary can play on the outside as well. We learned that last year. So I think the fifth cornerback for the Titans has to be a slot guy, which means Kendall and Jones. That's going to X them out at cornerback. And the competition basically becomes Armani Marsh or Eric Garrewer. And I've been a Garrewer guy a long time, and I'm going to keep it a long time.

Starting point is 00:23:10 We're talking about like training camp, you know what I mean, in preseason. But I'm going to go with Eric Garrewer. He can be the backup to Kiaris Jackson on punt return and kick return. He can play coverage units. He can play in the slot on defense as well. Caleb Farley I see still on PUP, so that doesn't add to the math there. But there's my five cornerbacks. Sean Murphy, Bunting, Christian Fulton,

Starting point is 00:23:29 Roger McCreary, Trey Avery, and Eric Guerrero. Moving to the safeties, Matthew Jackson, Tyreek Jones. I don't think they're making it. I don't even think they're in consideration, in my opinion, to be honest with you. You have Bayard and Hooker. You have Molden and Mike Brown.

Starting point is 00:23:44 I think Mike Brown is in there. For me, the fifth safety comes down to Shaheem Carter or Josh Thompson. I think that Shaheem Carter is a better safety, but Mike Vrabel has talked about Josh Thompson and the impact that he has on special teams. Josh Thompson can play punt, kickoff, punt return, and kickoff return. That's a core four special teamer. That's huge for the team.

Starting point is 00:24:09 So for me, I'm going to roll with Thompson. So on defense, I got 10 guys with the interior defensive line in the edge group. I got five linebackers, five cornerbacks, and five safeties, making my 25 on defense to go with my 25 on offense that we already discussed, leaving three spots for special teams. Morgan Cox is the long snapper. Ryan Stonehouse is the punter. And I don't have a freaking clue who the Titans are going to have at kicker.

Starting point is 00:24:34 Wouldn't it have been nice if the Titans would have taken the kicker position seriously back months ago, quit thinking that they were finding some hidden gem in either of those young kickers and would have brought in a veteran like Brandon McManus or Brett Maher. Instead, now, they're doing last-minute Christmas shopping, and who knows who they're going to get. Either way, like I talked about a second ago, on tomorrow's show, we're going to look at some guys who got cut

Starting point is 00:25:01 from other teams like Anthony Schwartz, the wide receiver from the Browns. That's a name that popped up that we talked about during the summer that could be available. But there are going to be kickers like the Saints situation, like the backups for the Ravens. There are some other competitions around the league where there are teams with two pretty good kickers, or at least better kickers than what the Titans have.

Starting point is 00:25:23 So the Titans kicker is most likely going to be someone who is on a roster already, and we'll look at how cuts come through on Monday and talk about that on Monday night into Tuesday morning about what kickers might be available for the Titans that they could look at. So we'll keep an eye on that right there. But again, I'm going to be back tomorrow

Starting point is 00:25:40 to break down more cuts. I'm going to be back tomorrow to talk about practice squad options, to talk about these guys who are getting cut on other teams. There could be options. A lot to discuss. A lot to discuss. As always,

Starting point is 00:25:55 I am your host, Tyler Rowland. We've got a time-lapse couch show. And this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Malik Willis Has EARNED Roster Spot, Roster Cuts Have Begun & What to do at Kicker?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.