Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans MUST MAXIMIZE Will Levis, Elevating Treylon Burks & Chig Okonkwo & Developing Offensive Linemen

Episode Date: January 15, 2024

The Tennessee Titans are currently hunting for a new head coach and no matter who they pick, that person must be able to maximize rookie quarterback Will Levis! Not only that, but there are existing young pass catchers that must be elevated as well like Treylon Burks and Chig Okonkwo. Finally, the biggest concern for the Titans' roster is on the offensive line and a few coaching candidates could absolutely do special things with the development in the trenches!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!Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.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.FanDuelRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED when you place a FIVE DOLLAR BET. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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 next Tennessee Titans head coach must maximize Will Levis, and I'll tell you who can do it 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. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. The next head coach of the Tennessee Titans must maximize Will Levis.

We're going to talk about guys who can do that. And I'm going to point out how these coaches can also maximize the rest of the offense as well. So we're going to dive into all that before we do. Thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round. Always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day.

Here on the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm so close to 10,000 subscribers. Make sure you check. Sometimes my videos pop up in your feed, but you're not actually subscribed to the show. The show's always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button or two. Hit that thumbs up button.

Make sure you're subscribed. I'm going to have draft content, free agency content, cap management, roster management, a ton of all-season content. Again, every single day. Shout out to my everydayers out there as well. Couldn't do it without you guys. But with that being said, my major point is with this coaching search, the next head coach must maximize Will Levis's ability. Now, there are some stupid

rumors out there about the Titans being interested in trading up for quarterbacks. All nonsense. Absolute nonsense. Right now, you have Will Levis, who showed some incredible flashes in year one, despite having one of the bottom three offensive lines in the NFL, and a very, very pedestrian cast of pass catchers around him. Will Levis was still able to show some brilliant flashes. He's got elite arm strength. He's got elite release quickness. He's got some elite physical traits to go along with. Incredible football character and an incredible amount of toughness

and competitiveness. So make no mistake about it. And if you don't believe me, look at the statement from Amy Adams-Strunk. In her written statement, she mentions a promising young quarterback. In her verbal statement, she mentions a promising young quarterback. So Miss Amy knows that Will Levis

is going to be the quarterback for this team. Rancor Thon knows that as well. So when you get the next head coach, it is all about maximizing his ability in this rookie contract window when you can add a bunch of pieces around him. So giving up additional draft capital to trade up and get another absolute nonsense. Okay. So who can maximize Will Levinson? Why should we believe that? Well, number one, we go back to my number one head coaching candidate, Bobby Slowick. And

I don't know about you guys, but have you seen CJ Stroud this year? CJ Stroud just had maybe the best rookie quarterback season we have ever seen. And look, don't get me wrong. CJ Stroud was my QB one last year. You can go back and check the tape. All right. CJ Stroud was my top quarterback in the draft class last year. And I am not surprised that CJ Stroud has been awesome, but to the level that he was this year, I mean, to have literally the best rookie quarterback season ever, you have to give a ton of credit to Bobby Slowick for understanding his strengths, his weaknesses, putting him in good positions to get the ball out

and to do what he does best. Okay, so you've got to give the coaching credit in these circumstances, especially when it's a rookie quarterback coming in from college. So Bobby Slowick, if he's able to do that with C.J. Stroud, would clearly be able to help Will Levis. You look at my number two candidate, Ben Johnson, and I mean, we can all act like Jared Goff was this, was that,

but when the Rams were getting rid of Jared Goff, the conversation around him was, oh, you know, he's not that good. He's below average. Jared Goff, they'll probably him was, oh, you know, he's not that good. He's below average. Jared Goff, they'll probably get a new quarterback in a couple of years. And now Jared Goff is leading the Detroit Lions to a playoff win over the guy that he got traded for. And they're in the locker room saying, you're good enough for Detroit, Jared Goff. So Ben Johnson has revived Jared Goff's career. And if you want to talk about skill set, I would say Will Levis has a very similar skill set to Jared Goff. A reliance on play action.

A strong arm that can get the ball down the field. Like, it would be a perfect fit to see Ben Johnson go from working with Jared Goff to working with Will Levis. And it would truly be able to maximize all of the things that Will Levis does very well. Again, there's a term and a phrase in scouting. Don't tell me what the player can't do. Tell me what the player can do, and then how can you maximize what they can do?

And Will Levis can do quite a bit out on the football field, and with a better team around him, you got to think it's only going to get better in the coming years. So those are my top two candidates, and they obviously would be able to maximize Will Levis. But you also look at a guy like Brian Callahan. Brian Callahan with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals have had one of the best passing offenses in the NFL since 2021.

I mean, the Titans got cut up by Joe Burrow in 2020. I was in the building for that even before he had Higgins and even before he had Chase balling out for him on the outside. So if you want to look at that, and I know the pushback in the comments immediately is going to be, well, when you have Joe Burrow, and you have Jamar Chase, and you have Tee Higgins,

that's going to, well, look at Jake Browning. Did you see Jake Browning out there this year? Looking incredible. I mean, Jake, Brian Callahan and Zach Taylor made Jake Browning millions and millions of dollars for the next decade because of his performance as a backup quarterback this year. So if you want to say that it's

all that talent, anybody can do it, well then look at Jake Browning. And there you go. So Brian Callahan clearly would have the ability to help a young quarterback and to do what's best for that quarterback and put him in advantageous situations. And then finally, you look at Frank Smith from the Miami Dolphins. Look, if you've been listening to this show for any length of time, you'll listen to me when I host the national show on Thursdays, Locked on NFL, if you don't check that out. I'm not a believer in Tua Tungabailoa.

I'm not. I don't think he's a good quarterback. I think he's an average to below average quarterback that has been heavily elevated by having maybe the best wide receiver duo in the NFL and one of the best offensive coaching staffs in the NFL and a very good offensive line this year. Frank Smith is a part of the group that put together that incredible system

for Tua to make Tua look like an MVP at certain times of the season. There were people discussing Tua as an MVP frontrunner at times during this season. And you're telling me that he can't take a guy who's much more naturally gifted in Will Levis and make him look even better? So my top four candidates, Bobby Slowik, Ben Johnson, Brian Callahan, Frank Smith, all of them have the ability

and have shown the ability to be involved in an operation that can maximize the talent and maximize the traits of a young quarterback. And that is exactly what the Titans need to be looking for. Now, what I will also say here is, Amy Adams-Strunk and Rayan Carthon have both said, well, definitely Rayan in his press conference, that it's not just about maximizing Will Levis. That's obviously you want your quarterback to play well. But they need a head coach that's going to maximize everyone.

And I think that there are players on the Titans right now on the offensive side of the ball that may have had down years or may have been disappointments so far that could be much better players with better offensive coaching. I'm going to tell you why Traylon Burks, Kyle Phillips, and Chigga Conquo all can take major steps forward under better coaching here in just a second. Before I get into that though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. All right guys, it's the start of the new year and every small business owner is asking themselves the same exact question. What's the one move that I can make to take my business to the next level in 2024? LinkedIn Jobs knows that your success all depends

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That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're talking about how the coaching staff can maximize Will Levis. But now I want to move forward to the rest of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're talking about how the coaching staff can maximize Will Levis. But now I want to move forward to the rest of the offense because I think there are players who have been disappointments or maybe have underperformed for the Tennessee Titans who could take a big step up with proper offensive coaching. Before I get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen.

Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Got free agency, draft, cap management, so much stuff coming your way. Going to hire a head coach, coordinators, a whole new staff. There's going to be so much to break down.

Stay with me here and so close to 10,000 subscribers. Help me out and hit that subscribe button. But with that being said, with Will Levis out of the conversation that we've talked about that, now I want to move forward to the other offensive pieces because let's call it what it is. There have been a number of offensive players

who have played for the Titans who have not been maximized. There have been offensive players who went to other teams and become much better players when they aren't saddled by the Mike Vrabel offensive philosophy that we've seen the last six years that has resulted in 27th or lower in scoring three out of the six seasons.

So you cannot tell me whatsoever that the Titans' weapons on offense have been maximized during the Mike Vrabel tenure. All right? A.J. Brown was an incredible, incredible player. The moment he leaves, he even goes up to another level and becomes a top five player. You're watching the playoff game.

Look at some of these players who used to play wide receiver for the Titans in Detroit. Khalif Raymond, Josh Reynolds, who had a great game for the Lions. Josh Reynolds just yesterday, or well, Sunday, if you're listening to this on Tuesday morning. So it is obvious to me that the coaching staff that Mike Vrabel put together was never able to truly maximize the talent that they had on the roster. And when you think about a guy, I want to start like Traylon Burks. So pretty much all of us are like, hey, Burks is a bust. I've been saying all year, Burks is a ghost. They should try to trade him for a day three pick

if they can get any, any recoup on that value. A guy like Chigokonkwo, who had a very good end of the season and I think saved himself from calling it a true rebound year in year three. I think Chig did a lot better than people realize. Everybody loves Jonu Smith. Well, Chigokonkwo as a sophomore just had a better year

than Johnnie Smith ever had. So keep that in perspective here. But still people expected more from Chigaconquo. Certainly expected more from Traylon Burks. Here's a stat for you. Tajay Spears in 17 games as a rookie has more career catches than Traylon Burks in two seasons. That hurts. For a first-round wide receiver, when you look around the NFL, and all of these first-round wide receivers are absolutely balling right away.

Okay? So, while I think part of the problem here is Traylon Burks. Traylon Burks needs to do better. Traylon Burks has balance issues that cause him to lose his balance all the time when he goes up for contested catches. That's why he always gets hurt. That's why he landed awkwardly on his knee in Minnesota. That's why he takes concussions all the time

because he does not have good balance. He does not have good body control. But the Titans have done very little to maximize what he did do well in college. Traylon Burks doesn't run a lot of in-breaking routes. Traylon Burks doesn't run a lot of in-breaking routes. Traylon Burks doesn't get a lot of opportunities to be used like a Debo Samuel. They should be using him on toss sweeps, on Jeff sweeps,

getting him more screen passes, getting the ball in his hand so he can just get the ball and run with it instead of trying to make him some bona fide period. Yes, I would like Traylon Burks to be a better route runner. I would like Traylon Burks to do more things down the field. But at the end of the day, you got a player and you have to maximize him, even if he's not necessarily what you wanted him to be when you drafted him. And whether Traylon

Burks is at fault or not, it is obvious that the Titans are not getting the most out of Traylon Burks. They're not getting the most out of Chigaconquo. And I want to point to this. good con quo. And I want to point to this. The only player in the Titans wide receiver core that can consistently, consistently get separation from his defender has been Kyle Phillips. And Kyle Phillips was a healthy scratch in multiple games this year. In multiple games. Kyle Phillips is healthy, but just isn't good enough to be on the roster, isn't enough to get in the games. You're telling me that a coaching staff like Ben Johnson couldn't get more out of Kyle Phillips, couldn't use Kyle Phillips on game day?

Bobby Sloat couldn't use Kyle Phillips on game day? You know, it's just absurd. It's absolutely absurd. So you look at Burks, you look at Chig, you look at Phillips, a guy like Josh Wiley, a young tight end with great receiving ability. When was Wiley used as an isolation matchup? When did they split Wiley out one-on-one on a linebacker in the red zone and throw him a jump ball?

Ever? I mean, and you could say hindsight's 20-20. When Josh Wiley was drafted, I was a big Josh Wiley fan in the late rounds. All right? So I was hype. And I called the Chigaconkwo pick if you want to go back and look at that. I was on the draft podcast for Locked On saying the Titans need to go get Chigaconkwo. Pretty good idea, right?

But if you look at that, it's like you're not doing the things and you're not using these players in the way that they have proven that they can succeed. You're trying to slam a square peg into a round hole here. And one of the big things in coaching, in my opinion, is you don't have a system and force your players into it. You adapt your system around your players. And in my opinion, the Titans did not do that enough.

And then you add in Tajay Spears. So you have Burks, you have Chig, you have Phillips, you have Wiley, you have Spears. These guys are going to be around. They're young players on rookie contracts on offense. These guys have to be better and they have to be used better. And if you could just make these guys better players and get more out of them than Mike Vrabel's coaching staff did, then you have a great opportunity to make the offense way better even without a ton of a major, yes, the Titans need better players on the roster. They're going to add players in the draft. They're going to add players in free agency.

But another big component of making this team better is getting the existing players that you already have to play better. All right? So you look at those five young players. Burks, Chig, Phillips, Wiley,

Spears. Look at Ben Johnson. Sam Laporta. Rookie tight end. One of the best rookie tight ends we've seen in recent history. He could probably help Chig and Wiley. Amon Ross,

St. Brown. Josh Reynolds again. Kalief Raymond. Jameer Gibbs. You want to look at Tajay Spears. Like, Ben Johnson could use the Titans players and elevate them just like he did those players for the Lions. You look at Bobby Sloan. Nico

Collins was a good player, but nobody thought Nico Collins was a top 10, top 12 wide receiver in the NFL until this year. Tank Dell had one of the better rookie seasons of any wide receiver in the NFL this year. Tank Dell was a mid-round pick. Nobody thought he was going to burst on the scene and be what he was. Noah Brown was a cast-off. Noah Brown was considered a depth player who plays, doesn't play. They made Noah Brown have awesome games.

All right? Look at Devin Singletary. Devin Singletary, a cast-off by the Buffalo Bills. Turned into a 1,000-yard rusher. Well, he's been a pretty good rusher before, but Singletary looked the best that he's ever looked under Bobby Sloan. So what could he do with Tajay Spears? Again, Brian Callahan.

Look at T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, Joe Mixon, even Chase Brown, the rookie running back that the Bengals had this year, had a very good season. Go to Miami. Now, Tyreek Hill is a different story. I'm not going to act like Frank Smith made Tyreek Hill better or anything like that, but Jalen Waddell, Raheem Moster, and Devon Achain this year

were excellent in the backfield. So you see these coaches that I've been talking about, Ben Johnson, Bobby Slowick, Brian Callahan, Frank Smith, they have been a part of offensive systems that not only have good players, but have elevated all of their players as well. So again, the Titans need new players to have a better roster, but they need a coach who can maximize and elevate the players that they currently have as well. That'll be a big part to the Titans getting this thing right. But it's not just the pass catching weapons. The offensive line is huge as well.

And two of these coaches specifically could be huge additions for the offensive line group, especially an offensive line group that no matter how you want to slice it, it's going to be a young group up front. So we're going to get into the offensive line in just a second. Before we do, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Look, the NFL regular season is over, but the playoffs are just heating up,

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It's never been more important to be prepared than today. Go to JaceMedical.com and use the code LOCKEDON to get 20% off your order. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Talking about maximizing the offensive side of the ball with a new coach, something the Tennessee Titans desperately need to do. We talked about how you can do that with Will Levis and what coaches match. We talked about how these guys can elevate the offensive skill players that the Titans already have.

But now we got to talk about this offensive line because you guys know like I know, if the Titans don't get better offensive line play next year, none of this is going to matter. But before we get into that again, thank you for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Get subscribed, stay subscribed Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content

all year round, always for free. But I also want to let you guys know that Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. It's called Locked On Sports Today. It's here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with local experts from Locked On, plus coverage of every league from our national shows. Go to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube.

Subscribe to the first ever national Sports 24-7 streaming channel. But again, we talked about the skill positions. We talked about Will Levis. But we need to talk about this offensive line. So I want to point out two of these coaches specifically. And it's not my top two candidates. My top two candidates, Ben Johnson and Bobby Slowick, probably going to be able to get more out of the quarterback, probably going to be able to get more out of the wide receivers

and the pass catchers. But you look at a guy like Brian Callahan from the Cincinnati Bengals. You look at a guy like Frank Smith from the Miami Dolphins. Number one, Brian Callahan. If you didn't know, his father, Bill Callahan, one of the best offensive line coaches in the history of the league. Okay?

Absolutely a stud offensive line coach. And you would hope, you would hope that Bill Callahan would want to come coach with his son. Okay? And right now, Bill Callahan, you know who's offensive line he coaches? Any ideas? The Cleveland Browns, who have had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL for, what, four or five years straight now? The Browns offensive line

is a game changer. He has gotten the best out of a ton of young players like Jedrick Wills, even DeJuan Jones, the rookie from this year, looking like one of the best rookie offensive tackles in the entire draft, a fourth round pick. Bill Callahan is one of the best offensive line coaches of all time. All right. If Brian Callahan can come in as a modern thinking, forward, offensive mind and bring his father in to coach up this offensive line, how critical would that be for the Tennessee Titans? Because the reality is, like I said earlier in the show, no matter what this version,

no matter what this year's version of the offensive line looks like for the Titans, it's going to have young players. Okay? Maybe they sign an offensive tackle and free agency, but the odds are the other starting offensive tackle is going to have to come out of the draft, whether it be in round one, whether it be in round two, they're going to need to get an offensive tackle is going to be a rookie. And that player is probably going to have to start. So if you can get bill Callahan to come with Brian Callahan

and you could get him to coach up that guy. Perfect. Everybody's worried about Peter Skowronski. This and that. I think it's overblown. I think it's something for people to just nag about. But still, do you think Peter Skowronski would be a better player in year two with Bill Callahan coaching the offensive line? I do. And if the Titans bring in a young interior offensive lineman as well,

which a lot of you guys tell me names all the time, JPJ out of college, out of Oregon. A ton of guys who would be on the interior offensive line. Even, you look at Dylan Radins. I think that Dylan Radins should get an opportunity to be the starting right guard for the Tennessee Titans next year. I think he can do that job. If he's your fifth best offensive lineman, you're doing a pretty decent job.

I think that can be a big improvement. He could use some help from one of the best offensive line coaches of all time. So again, you maximize Will Levis. You maximize the pass catchers. But maximizing this offensive line that is bound to have young players on is going to be key as well. Okay? And Bill Callahan, with his son Brian Callahan,

would absolutely be able to do that for the Titans. And as I said on yesterday's show, it's not just about getting a great head coach. The Titans are focused on getting a head coach that can put together a great coaching staff, which is something Mike Vrabel did not do. All right? Now, you want to look at the other guy

who I want to talk about, Frank Smith, from the Miami Dolphins. Frank Smith, my number four candidate out of my top four, no doubt about it, because I like the play-calling experience of the top two guys. I like Brian Callahan's ability to put together a great coaching staff. But Frank Smith, the offensive line coach and the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, is well-renowned for his ability

to coach up offensive linemen. Former offensive line coach, former offensive lineman himself. Frank Smith is a guy who's known as an incredible teacher, as a guy who can nourish and cultivate offensive line talent. You look at what they've done in Miami fixing that offensive line. I would point to Cincinnati as well, fixing that offensive line. One of the worst offensive lines in the NFL two years ago, They added pieces in free agency. They got some good stuff out of a young guard like Cordell Volson. So Cincinnati's done some good things on their offensive line with the help of Brian Callahan. You get his dad in there from

Cleveland and now we're really cooking. Okay. So you look at Miami though, of course, Teron Armstead, one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL. I'm not going to give Frank Smith a bunch of credit for that, But Robert Hunt, Austin Jackson moving to right tackle. You look at Connor Williams getting moved to center. Like, Frank Smith was a part of the group in Miami that gave them one of the better offensive lines in the NFL by getting guys who were available,

getting guys who were young and molding them, moving them positions, turning them into players that can be usable and can be helpful for the Miami Dolphins. Okay, Austin Jackson just got a contract extension after everybody thought he was a bust. So you're looking at a guy in Brian Callahan and a guy in Frank Smith who can absolutely from day one help this offensive line and that is going to be key. Of course, you look at Detroit. You look at Houston.

Bobby Sloak was dealing with third string offensive linemen. They brought in George Fant at the same time that we brought in that the Titans brought in Chris Hubbard. Fant was excellent this year. Of course, Laramie Tunzel liked to run Armstead. I'm not going to give Bobby Sloak credit for, you know, in Chris Hubbard. It was excellent this year. Of course, Laramie Tunzel liked to run arm set. I'm not going to give Bobby Slowick credit for, you know,

Laramie Tunzel's best left tackle in the NFL. You know, him and Trent Williams. So I'm not going to. But Juice Scruggs, a rookie mid-rounder from Penn State, an undersized player. They used him at center. They've used him a little bit at guard. Bobby Slowick has taken a third string offensive line with mixed match pieces all year long

and properly protected C.J. Stroud and gave him plenty of time to make throws. Coaching helps elevate those things. It's not just talent. It's not just the players. You have to have a coach that can maximize that. And obviously, you look at Detroit. They have a ton of great talent on the offensive line.

But Ben Johnson is maximizing them. Yesterday, on Jameer Gibbs' touchdown run, or two days ago, depending on when you're watching this, listening to this either, Jameer Gibbs' touchdown run in the first half of the game was a long tackle trap. They literally ran a trap play with Pene Sewell coming all the way across. You look at the screen touchdown that Bobby Slowick coordinated for Nico Collins,

and they had Laramie Tunzel out all the way on the perimeter hitting the guy. Okay? Using the talents of your offensive line and maximizing what is there, even if you have better players, even if you need to get better players, it's still the coach's job to maximize them by playing into what these players' talents are. And that just did not happen with the Titans, especially on the offensive line where you had Keith Carter for Mike Rabel's tenure.

When Keith Carter left, Taylor LeJuan and other players crushed him. No one liked Keith Carter. He was not very friendly. He was not very cultivating. He was not a good offensive line coach. And he goes to the Jets and their offensive line doesn't get any better either. And then you look at Jason Hotaling, Hoss, as they like to call him, a guy who had never

been an offensive line coach before. He was only assistant. And that's who you're going to promote to be the offensive line coach for a team that desperately needs experience to coach up young offensive linemen like Andre Dillard and Peter Skowronski and Aaron Brewer and Nicholas Baty Ferrer. It was just a terrible, terrible hire by Mike Rabel. So that's why you're looking at coaches who not only can maximize Will Levis, can not only maximize the pass catchers, but can maximize this offensive line as well. And I think my top four coaching candidates, Bobby Slowik, Ben Johnson, Frank Smith, and Brian Callahan, all could absolutely maximize the offensive talent that the Titans already have,

along with the offensive talent that the Titans are likely to add. But with that being said, let me know which coach out of those you like the most. That's going to do it for me today, folks. Happy birthday to my nephew. I love you, Landon. Love you so much. As always, I'm your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans.