Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Nate Davis NOT Re-Signing?? Offensive Line Options & Senior Bowl Recap

Episode Date: February 6, 2023

The Tennessee Titans have a lot of questions on the offensive line this offseason and one of the biggest is whether they will re-sign pending free agent Nate Davis. According to team beat writer, it would be a surprise if Davis is brought back. Tyler thinks that report is surprising more than anything. Also, if Nate Davis is not re-signed, what do the Titans do with his open spot? Potentially we could see a move for Nicholas Petit-Frere who had an up and down year at tackle in his rookie season. Finally, the Senior Bowl week is now in the rearview mirror. Who had the best week at positions of need for the Titans!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!BlueNileAt Blue Nile, you can find the perfect piece of jewelry for life’s special moments—or even create the custom engagement ring of her dreams! Right now, you can save up to fifty percent at BlueNile.com.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONUltimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.TurboTaxCome to TurboTax and don’t do your taxes. Visit TurboTax.com to learn more.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get startedFANDUEL 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

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, according to a Titans employee, it does not sound like starting guard Nate Davis will be back with the Titans in 2023. What does this mean for the Titans offensive line going forward? I'm going to break that all down and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

Let's get it. 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 Lock to discuss on today's show. Sounds like Nate Davis will not be back with the Titans. If that's the case, could Nicholas Petit-Ferrer move in from tackle to guard? We're going to talk about all of the different offensive line combinations we could see from the Titans in 2023. And the Senior Bowl week has finally concluded.

I'll give you guys some names that did very well at the Senior Bowl who Titans fans should keep an eye on. But with that said, do want to let you know that today's episode of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Nissan. The only thing more exciting than the big game is the all-new, all-electric 2023 Nissan Aria. There's only about six days left

until the Super Bowl. Are you ready? The Nissan Aria is ready and it is the EV for people who love to drive. Learn more at NissanUSA.com. Also want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year round, and always for free.

Make sure that you stay locked in to the Locked On Titans podcast where it's your team every day, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. But diving into this quote, and it comes from Tennessee Titans beat writer Jim Wyatt, who, of course, you know, Jim isn't totally plugged into everything the Titans are doing from a front office standpoint, but he is an employee inside the building. So some of the things that he can say from time to time, he kind of tip you off to stuff that may be coming down the pike.

And Jim was talking in his weekly mailbag. He was answering a question from a Titans fan, and he said this, quote, I like Corey Levin as well, and I agree it would be good to get him back in the mix for depth. As for Davis, I'd be surprised if he was back in 2023. End quote.

Now, of course, grain of salt here, like I said, just a quote from the Titans in-house beat reporter, but he is the in-house beat reporter. So could Nate Davis really not return for the Titans? I talked about the Titans in-house free agents last week. And in my opinion, you have to bring Nate Davis back. If you don't, that means that essentially you're trying to replace four of five offensive line starters from last year. Maybe Ben Jones doesn't retire and Ben

Jones comes back to the Titans and you can find a way to have him at center. But even then you're trying to replace three of the five offensive linemen. And with the Titans' limited draft picks this year, they're only going to have probably six draft picks to their name with the limited amount of cap space that they'll have unless, of course,

they decide to part ways with Ryan Tannehill, which would really open up a lot more cap space, nearly $20 million with Ryan Tannehill if he's cut or traded. But to me,

you're walking a dangerous road. If you're the Titans, if you go into the off season, trying to replace four or five offensive linemen, it would just be very difficult to do. And it's even more surprising to me that the Titans would not bring back Nate Davis when according to all of the estimations that you see out there, he could be brought back at a pretty cheap price. SpotTrack's estimation and Pro Football Focus only have him at about $7 million of annual average value, so his average salary each season. When you look at how contracts are typically structured in the NFL,

you would be giving a player a pretty decent chunk of his money as a signing bonus up front as well. So kind of a mock contract for Nate Davis would be about three years, $22 million, a little over $7 million a year. You could probably give him $8 to $10 million in bonus money up front, which means that you're only going to have a cap hit for Nate Davis of about four to five, maybe even less than that, maybe more closer to the $4 million range. If you're able to bring back a starting quality guard, which Nate Davis has had his ups and downs,

whether it be his play, whether it be his health. But if you're bringing back Nate Davis and he's only hitting the cap in 2023 for about $4 million, $4.5 million, to me that's a slam dunk. So I would be very shocked if the Titans did not bring back Nate Davis at that price. Now if he gets more than that, he's in the $9 million average range, the $10 million average range, then sure. Then sure, I understand completely he's over what you would pay for him. But at what the estimations have, I would just be shocked. I personally would be surprised if the Titans let Nate Davis go at that kind of price range

with all of the upheaval they're going to have on the offensive line. Now, if you let Nate Davis go, you're going to have to replace your right guard. If Ben Jones does retire, which is something that I personally expect to happen, you're replacing your center. We know that they're going to have to replace left guard with Aaron Brewer just not being an NFL starting quality guard. Maybe Brewer kicks in the center. Maybe they bring back Levin,

but neither of them are slam dunks to be starters in the NFL. We know that they have to replace left tackle. You guys can hope and pray and wish for Taylor LeJuan all you want, but he will be cut by the Titans. So they just put themselves in a precarious situation if they don't bring back Nate Davis, especially at a rate that I think is pretty economical for the Titans. So I was surprised to hear that from Jim Wyatt, a guy who works in the building, is obviously plugged in.

But I guess that's something to consider moving forward. And that's exactly what I want to do. I want to move forward under the assumption that Nate Davis won't be back. What does that mean for the Tennessee Titans? And I'll tell you why I think I guess it's possible that rookie right tackle Nicholas Petit Ferrer could maybe be asked to transition inside and play guard. We're going to talk about all of that in just a moment.

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And from the sounds of what Jim Wyah had to say, could be four offensive line positions open for the Titans. We're going to continue that breakdown in just a moment. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms and always free. So we just talked about Nate Davis.

And Nate Davis has had some injury issues. Nate Davis has had some injury issues. Nate Davis has had some performance issues, but when Nate Davis is healthy and when he has a competent offensive line around him, Nate Davis has played pretty good football for the Titans. So I would be shocked if the Titans let him go at the economical rate that we're seeing from some of the market evaluations and market estimations that are out there, like from SpotTrack or from Pro Football Focus, having Nate Davis around $7 million per season and average annual value. That is not a high price to

pay for starting caliber offensive line play. It's really not. So I would be shocked. But, but if that's what the Titans do, then I think one of the options that they will have is moving Nicholas Petit-Frayer inside to guard. He had some experience on the interior in college. He's played the left side in college. But if you look at NPF's college tape, he was much, much better on the right side of the offensive line. Much better.

Now, here's what I will say. If the Titans believe that NPF can play right guard and take over that spot for Nate Davis. Okay. What does that allow them to do? Well, what I will say is, and something that I've noticed

in my early research, is that the options at offensive tackle this offseason are better than the options on the interior offensive line. So you look at the free agent class. For me, a guy like Isaiah Wynn, a guy like Andrew or Andre Dillard, a guy like Mike McGlinchey, or even a guy like Caleb McGarry, all are better options at tackle than we see from some of the interior offensive line options

like a Conor McGovern or Isaac Samala from Philadelphia. I mean, the offensive tackle options are just much more plentiful than the interior offensive line options, even in the draft. Yeah, you have guys like John Michael Schmitz. Yeah, you have guys like Cody Mock, for example, who all could be good options on the interior offensive line. But you look at offensive tackle, Paris Johnson, Roderick Jones, even if you want to roll Peter Skowronski out there as an offensive tackle,

Darnell Wright, Jalen Duncan, I mean, DeJuan Jones, I could continue. I could continue. There are more options at tackle that make sense this offseason than there are at guard. So if you wanted to move NPF into guard and then attack it this way, you add Mike McGlinchey to play right tackle in free agency. Then you add Paris Johnson, Broderick Jones to play left tackle in the draft. You add an interior offensive lineman in the draft as well. And then you bring back an Aaron Brewer or a Corey Levin. You could have McGlinchey

at right tackle, NPF at right guard, Brewer or Levin at center. Go with another free agent option. Isaac Samola, Connor McGovern, go with somebody like that at left guard, or even

get another interior offensive lineman in the draft later, then you have DeJuan Jones, Paris Johnson, Darnell Wright, Broderick Jones, what have you in the draft. Now you're starting to put together a better offensive line. Now I think that's asking a lot, personally, to fill that many spots.

I just think you're asking a lot in one offseason to be able to do that. So that's why I think it's a little dangerous to go away from Nate Davis because for me, if you have Nate Davis at guard, NPF at right tackle, Levin or Brewer at center, you add one spot in free agency, whether it be tackle or guard, and then you add the other spot in the draft, that's just a much more realistic and reasonable path forward, in my opinion.

Then, if you want to add another interior offensive lineman or another tackle in the draft in the mid-rounds, now you have six offensive linemen that have the potential to start on the offensive line. And to me, it just makes much more sense to go that route. You're really putting yourself in a dangerous position if you let Nate Davis walk. And that's why last week when we broke this down and we talked about in-house free agents,

I said it was a dangerous, dangerous game that they're going to play if they let David Long or Nate Davis go in free agents. It's going to be dangerous. But now you're getting some word and it's weird with David Long because SpotTrack has him at about $5 million per season while Pro Football Focus is talking like $13 million per season.

Now, if David Long is really out there getting $13 million per season, then fine. Good luck to you, buddy. You deserve all the money that you're getting, but I think that's far too rich in my opinion. But with Nate Davis, all of the projections have him right around $7 million. So it's not like somebody's going to go out there and break the bank for Nate Davis,

which should make it easier for the Titans to get the job done and get him back. Either way, the Titans got a lot of work to do on the offensive line and whatever combination they put together to try to fix this is going to be incredibly important because we've talked a lot about quarterback. I mean, it's not going to matter much at quarterback if you don't have an improved offensive line. There are no Joe Burrows or early Deshaun Watsons or early Russell Wilsons available to the Titans realistically right now.

So they need to fix the offensive line. And you're just playing a dangerous game, in my opinion, if you let Nate Davis walk. But that's something that we'll have to watch. There are some guys who were at the Senior Bowl this week who could help the Titans fix the offensive line. We're going to do a quick little Senior Bowl recap of some of the best players from the week of practice

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who make a lot of sense for the Titans in the draft. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms and always free. As for your second listen,

check out the Locked On NFL podcast. You get your Titans news here with me. Now get all your national NFL news with the Locked On NFL podcast. You get your Titans news here with me. Now get all your national NFL news with the Locked On NFL podcast. It is also Monday through Friday, all year round, on all platforms, and always free. And as a matter of fact, I host the Thursday show of the Locked On NFL podcast, so you'd be showing me some support by going over to the Locked On NFL YouTube page or the Locked On NFL podcast feed and subscribing there as well.

But with that being said, I want to remind you guys that the most important part of Senior Bowl week is not the game itself. It's the practices. The three major practices on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday leading up to the game. And like I mentioned before,

some positions of need had some really solid performers during Senior Bowl week, especially positions of need for the Titans. And number one, going to talk about wide receiver. So first, Michael Wilson, the wide receiver out of Stanford, 6'2", 210 pounds, and a guy who showcased all week long that he is a tremendous route runner. the wide receiver out of Stanford, 6'2", 210 pounds, and a guy who showcased all week long that he is a tremendous route runner. Not to mention good size, good physicality from Michael Wilson. At his size, with the route running ability that he has,

he can make a lot of sense for the Titans in the mid-rounds. He had a very good week at the senior bowl. Also, a guy who I heard about nonstop during the week was Jaden Reed, the wide receiver from Michigan State. A little bit of a smaller guy compared to Michael Wilson, but a guy with insane speed. Watching him get off the line of scrimmage against defensive backs in individual work, in teamwork, just tremendous. And obviously at the NFL level, you're going to deal with a lot more press coverage. So being able to use that speed to get off the line of scrimmage, incredibly important. And as we know, Mike Vrabel talked about earlier this off season, the need to add more speed to the Titans, not only offense, but the team in general. Another guy who's bringing dynamic speed is Tank Dell,

the wide receiver out of Houston. Now Dell is a much smaller guy. He's about 5'8", just barely over 160 pounds, but he is incredibly dynamic, has ability as a returner as well. Look, Tank Dell had a great week, so I'm going to throw him in here. But what we know about Rand Carthon and how he wanted to build his teams in San Francisco and what we know about Mike Brable,

Tank Dell is a little bit on the smaller side, in my opinion. I think it'll push him down the draft board. Some people see him as a second-round pick. At that size, I would be a little bit hesitant to do that. Maybe on day three, if he doesn't fall there, then that's perfectly fine. But did want to at least mention Tank Dell was one of the standouts of Senior Bowl week. But now we got to talk about offensive line.

And there were a ton of good offensive line prospects at the Senior Bowl. Number one, Darnell Wright, offensive tackle from Tennessee. Had a good week. He had some up and down moments in the game from when I was watching, getting a little turned around on some of his reps. But overall, a standout week for Darnell Wright. Same thing, Cody Mock from North Dakota State. And I know what you guys are thinking. You hear North Dakota State offensive lineman, and you have a little bit of a triggered

reaction to that because of Dylan Radins. And I understand, but Mock had a fantastic week. He showed that he's probably going to be an interior offensive lineman at the NFL level. Had some reps at center, had some reps at guard, But acquitted himself very well throughout the week. Also, John Michael Schmitz, the center from Minnesota, came into the week of practice looking like he could be a second round pick. He may have bumped himself up to a first round pick

with the week of practice he had at the Senior Bowl. Totally as advertised. Looked like he could be a quality of practice he had at the Senior Bowl. Totally as advertised. Looked like he could be a quality center in the NFL for the next decade. So John Michael Schmitz from Minnesota, a guy I like a lot, did very well at the Senior Bowl. Another guy, DeJuan Jones from Ohio State, has to work on the footwork. He is a big man at 6'8", but a guy that size, he had just some dominant pass rush reps.

And when you're that big, you're going to be able to bully guys and move them around and run blocking as well. So DeJuan Jones, a really nice week. Also want to mention Osiris Torrance, the interior offensive lineman out of Florida. I saw some reports showing he had some up and down moments in practice, but overall, a very good week at the Senior Bowl. He should be a late first round, early second round prospect,

and if the Titans are able to get their hands on Osiris Torrance, I think it would be a big win for the Titans and the needs that they have. Do you want to mention a guy like Blake Freeland? The offensive tackle did not have a good week. Looked rough in practices. Looked rough in the game. Was probably going to shoot his stock down. So an offensive tackle prospect the Titans could maybe target in the mid-rounds.

But didn't have a great week of practice at the Senior Bowl. Some other positions. Tajee Spears. The running back out of Tulane. Looks like a three-down running back. He smoked USC in the bowl game, had a great week of practice, looked incredibly explosive, a one-cut jump running back that could fit perfectly

as a guy who we, and listen guys, we got to start planning for life after Derrick Henry. And you may be, like with cornerback last year, you may be surprised at some of the positions the Titans take early. And Tajee Spears looked like an excellent running back who could make an instant impact in the NFL. Not only that,

but a guy who was recently mocked to the Titans as a second round pick. Will McDonald, the edge rusher out of Minnesota. Incredibly long, good burst. And guys, look. I think that Bud Dupree is getting cut. I think that Rashad Weaver has a chance to maybe be a starter for the Titans and should be the first guy in line to get that starting edge rusher spot

across from Harold Landry. But, like we saw the Titans do with cornerback, we thought Caleb Farley was going to get a real shot to be the starter. Well, the Titans knew internally that's not a good idea. So, while I would like to see Rashad Weaver get an opportunity, the Titans may internally think, no, that's not a good idea.

And we may see them take edge rusher earlier than many people project. If the Titans took edge rusher at number 41, pick 41, I would not be shocked. And Will McDonald, a guy with great length, and can bend around the edge from Minnesota, could make a ton of sense. Also want to mention Darius Rush, the cornerback out of South Carolina.

He had multiple interceptions, showed great burst, great ball skills, great speed. Darius Rush was maybe the biggest standout of Senior Bowl week in totality. So some of these guys, cornerback, running back, edge, no, maybe they don't jump out as major needs for the Titans. But we don't know what the internal thoughts of Rand Carthon are going to be and what positions he wants to attack early on in this draft class.

So that's a Senior Bowl recap for you guys. I'm going to be back with you tomorrow. Thank you for tuning in and making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans. Thank you.