Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Need Kyle Philips to BREAKOUT, Racey McMath v Colton Dowel & Dark Horse WR Option

Episode Date: June 21, 2023

The Tennessee Titans wide receiver group has been much criticized over the last few months, but if the Titans see a breakout from not only Treylon Burks, but Kyle Philips, it could mean great things for the offense. Next, there is a roster battle brewing between Colten Dowell and Racey McMath. Tyler picks his winner. Finally, who is a dark horse candidate to make the roster at receiver? Tyler thinks it is UDFA rookie Jacob Copeland.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!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnfl and when you enter promo code, LOCKEDONNFL, they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO THOUSAND FIVE 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

While everyone is excited for Traylon Burks this year, it's Kyle Phillips breaking out that could truly change the Titans fortunes at wide receiver. I'll explain why 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. We are continuing our positional preview series before the Titans go into training camp.

We've talked quarterback, we've talked running back, but now it is time to break down the wide receivers. I'm going to talk about my breakout candidate for the Titans, and I'm taking a little bit of a different direction than maybe some people would think and talking about Kyle Phillips and what it could mean if he has a great season. Then we will head into our first roster battle segment of our positional preview. We're going to talk about Racy McMath against Colton Dow. I'll explain why I think those two are facing off against each other for a roster spot. And then finally, I'll tell you who my dark horse is to make the roster for the Titans at wide receiver. Before we get into all of it, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday,

Tennessee Titans content on all apps all year round and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, where it's your team every day. Again, we did quarterback and running back earlier this week. If you missed any of those, go back and check those out. I know my everydayers saw those. Shout out to you guys.

Let me know down below if you're an everydayer as well. Tune in Monday through Friday. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now as well. Help support the channel, and I greatly appreciate it. But we're diving into wide receiver here. And I know that Traylon Burks is the breakout star for the Titans at wide receiver. That is the expectation. But we expect that.

When we talk about a Traylon Burks breakout, what we all mean is that Burks will be noticed by the national folks, a national fan, a fan of the San Francisco 49ers will know, oh, Traylon Burks is a dog. That's the kind of breakout that we think of when we talk about Traylon Burks breaking out. I think for most of us watching right now, for me personally, I don't want to say it's expected, but with the situation, it's pretty obvious that Traylon Burks is going to take another step for the Titans.

I mean, I'm not expecting him to all of a sudden turn into he who must not be named or anything like that. But I think, I think we can reasonably expect Traylon Burks to have, you know, double the production almost of what he had last year, just by simply staying healthy. And that's into the conditioning part that he's really improved on throughout camp. So I could sit here and talk to you guys about Traylon Burks as the breakout star for as long as you want it.

And I probably will for the next few months, but I want to take a moment to talk about Kyle Phillips breaking out because if we get what we expect from Traylon Burks and then Kyle Phillips turns into the player that a lot of, a lot of Titans fans think that he is already just based on the small amount that he, that he showed us last year. If Kyle Phillips can truly turn into that pure slot, third down dynamo that wins against man coverage consistently, is able to use choice routes where he reads the defense to determine whether to break in or outside or go vertical or sit down. If he can really get on the same page with Ryan Tannehill and be at his best in those moments, it changes the dynamic for the Titans passing offense.

It simply does. Now, we're talking about a guy who played in four games last year, had eight catches in 78 yards. So if he had anything close to a decent season, that would be a breakout for Kyle Phillips. But that is exactly what the Titans are going to need him to be. Again, your slot, passing down only guy. Kyle Phillips isn't going to be out there in two wide receiver sets, digging out safeties and mid zone and wide zone run plays. And that's just, he's never going to be that no matter how much weight he puts on or bulk he puts on. That's just not who Kyle Phillips is going to be. So they need him to be incredibly dynamic at what he does. I mean, it's very tight cast.

It's very stereotypical. But for me, you look at a guy like Hunter Renfro, that a mid-round pick that turned into a very valuable wide receiver in his role for the Raiders. That is what the Titans are hoping to have found with Kyle Phillips. And I know that it was very limited production, but at times last year, especially in that New York Giants game, you just saw exactly what Kyle Phillips could be for the Titans. Now, there were things that inflated that situation, what the Titans are trying to do. Phillips got some catches at the very end

while the Titans are trying to make a two-minute drill push. But you kind of saw the Kyle Phillips experience in that game, and we need to see that throughout an entire season. So for me, I trust and believe that Traylon Burks is going to take the step that he's going to take. And I think a lot of people are kind of talking about that, especially locally. But Kyle Phillips breaking out and becoming just a Hunter Renfro type player, maybe even a step below that.

I think about a guy like Jamison Crowder as well. If Phillips can just turn into a consistent version of that kind of slot option, it would be huge because what do teams do against the Titans? What do defenses do against the Titans? Every single time, it's tight man coverage, bringing pressure, and saying, hey, who out of these wide receivers or tight ends is going to beat us consistently in one-on-one coverage?

Is Tannehill going to beat the rush and make an off-script, scramble-style backyard play? No, that's not what Tannehill is going to do. He's not going to do it consistently if he finds a way. So the Titans have to have people who can win one-on-one in the phone booth, in-man coverage, on third downs, get that split second of separation so that the Titans can continue converting and moving the chains. So Burks is going to be a big play guy for the Titans.

He is going to be their most consistent wide receiver, the guy who you expect to make the plays. But if Kyle Phillips can break out and just become, I don't even need pro bowl level, just become the best version of Kyle Phillips and stay out on the field, I think that could have just a tremendous impact on the Titans offense and their ability to continue drives, quite honestly. And the way the defenses play the Titans, again, Kyle Phillips' skill set is so valuable in those situations that they need him. So Kyle Phillips breaking out could be just as important for the Titans from a wide receiver standpoint as Traylon Burks' breakout as well.

So just keep that in mind as the Titans go forward. Obviously, if Hopkins is at it, it changes the dynamic a little bit there. But even with Hopkins, Phillips is still going to be that slot guy for the Titans. And it would just be huge for the team if he was able to take a step into, again, not a superstar, but just be the best version of himself, the version that we got against the Giants in week one last year. But now it is time for our first roster battle of our preview series here. I'm so excited to dive into it. Racey McMahon against Colton Dow. I'm betting you guys are going to enjoy it.

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we have the 6'3", 217-pound, 6'3", 217-pound, third-year player out of LSU, Racey McMah. And in this corner, we have the challenger, 6'3", 215 pounds, a rookie out of UT Martin. We have Colton Dow, who will win this roster battle. So excited to dive into it with you guys. But before we do, I want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday,

Tennessee Titans content all year round on all apps, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Tomorrow, I'm going to have a mailbag episode for you guys. Next week, we're going to continue diving into different positions. Tight end, offensive tackle, offensive interior, and still waiting for that DeAndre Hopkins news. So make sure that you stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast

where it's your team every day. But this roster battle, and I mentioned this, my everydayers will remember that I talked about this when we talked about rookie roster roles a couple of days ago. I talked about Colton Dow, and I mentioned that his roster spot may be dependent on DeAndre Hopkins, because if the Titans bring in Hopkins... So let me go back a little bit further than this.

To me, the battle between Ray C. McMath and Colton Dow comes down to this. Dow is a better receiver with maybe a little less special teams ability. My hands are off screen. And then on the flip side, McMath has more special teams ability, but maybe doesn't have just pure wide receiver talent the way that Colton Dow does. And that makes it an interesting choice between the two because you're not getting the same skill set,

although you're getting similar things with similar body type. Both of these guys are 24 years old as well, even though Racy has been in the league. This will be his third year, and Colton Dowell is just a rookie. I found that incredibly interesting. But to me, it's like the Titans will want a certain skill set at the end of the wide receiver bench. Okay?

Will they value more heavily to special teams with Rayce McMath, or will they value more heavily to wide receiver skill with Colton Dow? Well, that's why I think if the Titans bring in DeAndre Hopkins, they have less of a need for the wide receiver skill, and they would probably value a guy who gives special teams value to them a little bit more than the guy with more wide receiver talent. So I think the Hopkins thing will have a big impact on this, but even if not, this isn't a great wide receiver group

without DeAndre Hopkins. Let's pretend for the rest of this segment, there is no DeAndre Hopkins, Let's pretend for the rest of this segment, there is no DeAndre Hopkins. The Titans don't sign him. Whatever. Well, this is not a very good wide receiver group. So you have to ask yourselves, you're going to keep the top four.

Burks, Phillips, NWI, and Chris Moore. You're keeping those four guys. Okay? So you have to ask yourself, would the Titans keep six wide receivers with McMath and Dow, who I think are the next two logical options?

Well, the counterpoint to doing that would be this is not a very talented wide receiver group. And the odds are, like, ask yourself this question. Would you rather keep one of, pick whoever you don't like the most,

out of Racey McMath and Colton Dow. Whichever player you like better, pick the guy, figure out who you don't like the most. Pick that player and say, would you rather have Colton Dow or Racey McMath, or would you rather keep Malik Willis? Would you rather have one of McMath or Colton Dow or Ray C. McMath or would you rather keep Malik Willis? Would you rather have one of McMath or Colton Dow, whichever one you rank the lowest?

Would you rather have that guy or would you rather keep Jamarco Jones? Would you rather have that guy or would you rather have Kevin Radar or Thomas Odukoye, tight end? Even on the defensive side. So, would you rather have Luke Gifford or would you rather have Rayce McMath, Colton Dow? You know, those are the questions that the Titans are going to be asking themselves.

And honestly, with this wide receiver group, we saw last year that the Titans only kept five wide receivers, and they were basically in the same position. They kept Phillips, Burks, Woods, NWI, and then they kept Racey McMahon. That's five. Five. So that's five wide receivers.

So if they're only keeping five wide receivers this year, which, again, the wide receiver group is not that great overall, so why would you waste six of your roster spots on your worst position on your entire team? It doesn't make a lot of sense. So if they only take five wide receivers again, Burks, Phillips, NWI, Chris Moore, and there's one spot open,

who takes it between Dow and Racey McMahon? That's the question. Well, Racey obviously has more experience, 14 games, but only four catches, 48 yards, a fumble in there, a really ugly one as well. But he had 148 special team snaps in 2021 in the nine games that he played. Had 24 special team snaps last year, but only in five games. That's nine games and then five games in two years.

So McMahon has kind of shown us not that great of a receiver. Although he's a special teams option, he never stays healthy. You look at Colton Dow. Now this is, you know, low level college football, but 177 catches, 19 touchdowns, 2,796 yards. Can he add value on special teams? Can Dow actually add value for the Titans on special teams? I think that will be the big conversation. If Dow adds even a quarter of the special teams value that McMath gives you while dwarfing him an actual wide receiver skill, I think that'll tip the scales for me. And again, this whole entire conversation we're having at this point is if DeAndre Hopkins doesn't come,

and if he doesn't, then to me, you gotta favor Colton Dow who has better wide receiver skills than Racey McMahon. Racey is just boxy out there. And everybody was asking, well, you know, Racy McMahon never got on the field at LSU, but it was because of the talented wide receivers

that were all ahead of him. And my God, they were an incredibly talented group with Terrace Marshall, Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, just to name a few of the guys that were ahead of him.

But on the flip side of that, that might be coloring it in a way that is like, oh, well, Racy's great. He just had great guys ahead of him. And this is the same thing that I worry about with Andre Dillard. Everybody tells me, oh, no, well, it's not that he's bad. It's just the guys ahead of him were a lot better.

Well, sometimes the truth is in the middle. Sometimes Racy McMath isn't playing over these guys or getting snaps at wide receiver, maybe because he doesn't have the requisite wide receiver skill to play at LSU and be a wide receiver. Maybe that's why they played a majority on special teams. And now we're in the NFL, the guy doesn't look comfortable at wide receiver,

and he looks like a guy who you can only play on special teams. Maybe it's not that the guys ahead of them were so talented, but maybe some of that is just, this is who Racy McMath is. And again, going into his third season, after getting nine games in his rookie year, only five games in his sophomore year, why don't we give an opportunity to somebody else? Let's give that opportunity

to Colton Dow, and instead of keeping six wide receivers and keeping Ray C. McMath as well, I'll keep an extra player inside linebacker or a tight end or a cornerbacker at safety, and they can be the special teams value that I'm losing by not keeping racing with math while helping my team while having better wide receiver skill and Colton Dow. So to me, that is a major roster battle that I'm excited to watch play out. But in my opinion,

I'm going with Colton Dow on that one. and I feel pretty comfortable about it based on all the, I guess, evidence or opinion that I gave you there. But we are going to move forward because I got a dark horse candidate to make the roster for the Titans at wide receiver that, again, if they pick one of McMath or Dowell, and then they do keep six wide receivers, they may throw on another guy

who has a little bit of promise to him and see what they get out of him. And I'll explain who it is and why in just a moment. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are diving into the wide receiver position. Again, this is part of our positional preview series. I'm going through every position on offense and defense as we lead up to training camp, breaking down who is on the roster right now. Obviously, we have different categories that we're talking about with each

position. We talked about Kyle Phillips being a breakout candidate, the roster battle between Ray C. McMath and Colton Dow, but now I want to get into my dark horse option for the Titans at wide receiver. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys again for making the locked on Titans podcast.

Your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content on your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content on all apps, all year round, always for free. Get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. But we've talked about six wide receivers up to this point. We talked about Traylon Burks, Kyle Phillips,

mentioned Nick Westbrook-Akene and Chris Moore. Don't think there's a lot to discuss right there, in my opinion. Then we talked about Racey McMath and Colton Dow, but now we got to get into the other wide receivers. There are six other wide receivers that the Titans could be bringing into training camp. Obviously, they signed Hopkins. One of those guys probably get let go.

But out of the six remaining guys that we haven't discussed so far, there is one guy that stands out to me as a dark horse candidate to make the team. And that is Jacob Copeland. So we got Reggie Roberson, second year with the Titans, as an undrafted free agent. Mason Kinsey, going into his third year with the Titans, as an undrafted free agent.

Gavin Holmes, Karis Jackson, and Treshawn with the Titans as an undrafted free agent. Gavin Holmes, Karis Jackson, and Treshawn Harrison, who are all undrafted free agents for this year. And then Jacob Copeland is an undrafted free agent out of Maryland, spent four years at Florida before he transferred to Maryland, but he's 5'11", 200 pounds. He has incredible speed, 4.42 40-yard dash. He is an explosive athlete with a good frame. Love the weight that he possesses at 200 pounds, maybe even a little over 201, 203. I've even seen a sort of productive career in college. 112 catches, 1,700 yards, 11 touchdowns.

Had his best year as a junior at Florida. But what I like about Copeland is just his dynamic speed. He's just a dynamic athlete with a good frame. Now, the problem with Copeland here is he is just raw. And for a guy who spent five years in college at two different power five universities, you wonder if he'll ever be able to refine his craft. Like he's just not a guy who understands how to effectively run routes, how to set his routes up, how to use tempo. He's just raw still. He's a guy with freak

athleticism with great explosion, but it's just a raw player. And that makes it a dark horse option, of course. That's what we're talking about here. I don't think it's likely that Copeland makes it, but out of this group of Roberson and Kinsey and Holmes and Jackson and Harrison, to me, why not take a chance on the explosive athleticism of a guy like Jacob Copeland? So we talked about Tajay Spears,

my everydayers remember on the running back episode, we talked about Tajay Spears in the rookie roles episode as well. Actually, we talked about Tajay Spears being an offensive weapon. So it's not just about lining him up in the backfield. It's not just about throwing to him out of the backfield. It's about lining him up in the slot, lining him up out wide, bringing him a motion across the formation, different directions, using him not only as a running back two and a scat back compliment to Derrick Henry, but as an offensive weapon within the scheme. So I talked about Jonathan Ward being a dark horse at running back to make the roster because he could give the Titans some of that scat back third down running back stuff that Tajay Spears is set to give them. But the gadget stuff running in the slot,

being out wide, coming in motion, jet orbit, doing all those different gadget things. I don't think Jonathan Ward is going to do that part of it. I think that Jacob Copeland could potentially do that part of it. I think that Jacob Copeland could potentially do that part of it. He could act as a Tajay Spears backup, but on the flip side of the coin from what we talked about with Jonathan Ward. Jonathan Ward can be the backup in the sense of, again, third down, scat back, traditional compliment running back.

And then Copeland could be the backup in that gadget way of being used in different spots throughout the offensive formation, being put in motion, run these kind of gadget quick outflank plays like Chigakonkwo described the offense as earlier in the offseason. So to me,

I just think that Copeland is the only guy out of this group that I really think fits that mold. I think that, you know, with a guy like Karis Jackson and Mason Kinsey in particular, those are guys who you see Karis Jackson is like the Nick Westbrook, a Kine type, Mason Kinsey, obviously kind of the Kyle Phillips type. So I think that Copeland could help you with the Tajay Spears role, but as an offensive weapon more than your traditional compliment running back. So that's why I think that Jacob Copeland

is my dark horse to make this roster. Even if he's incredibly raw, I think that athleticism could be something that the Titans don't want to let out on the open market and go sign with a different team. So I think it could be interesting to see, but obviously they'll need to grow up a ton in terms of his development as a route runner

for the Titans to even consider that. That's why, again, it's a dark horse option. It doesn't mean that it's likely, but just somebody that I'm watching for as we continue forward to training camp, throughout training camp, into the preseason, things like that. But that is going to do it for me today, folks. Again, I'm going to be back with you guys tomorrow.

Going to do a little mailbag to end the week here at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter. Send me your questions. That is going to do it for mailbag to end the week here at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter. Send me your questions. That is going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titan.