Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans PERFECT SPOT in 2026 NFL Mock Drafts | Xavier Restrepo REUNITED with Cam Ward

Episode Date: May 4, 2025

The Tennessee Titans need to worry about 2025, but no matter what happens this season, the Tennessee Titans are in a fantastic spot heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. That is due to the number of potential quarterbacks that could go early, but also because of the type of talent that is on the board and the depth of that talent at key positions like offensive tackle and defensive line. Also, we have word on about 17 undrafted free agents for the Titans and the headliner of course is Xavier Restrepo who will be reunited with Cam Ward, his college quarterback. Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!UpworkVisit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free to connect with top talent and grow your business today! Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. 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)

No matter what happens in 2025, the Tennessee Titans are in a perfect spot for the 2026 draft. I'll explain on today's edition of Locked On Titans. 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 Roland, Titans fans on today's show. We're going to take a look at some way too early 2026 mock drafts. And I'm going to show you why the Tennessee Titans are in a perfect spot.

No matter what happens this season, before we get into that and some undrafted free agents, including Xavier Restrepo being United with Cam Ward. Do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round. Always for free. You're not going to beat that anywhere else Make sure that you get subscribed stay subscribed

It's your team every day speaking of every day Shout out to my every dayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday If you aren't an every dayer you need to be one because the Tennessee Titans content does not slow down this time of year The Titans have rookie mini camp this week. The Titans have OTAs coming up in the next few weeks. We're gonna go over the entire roster. I'm gonna get you ready to go from rookie camp next week. We're gonna break down everything that happened

at rookie camp over the weekend. So again, it's a 12 month show here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. But with that being said, before we get to rookie mini camp later in the, in the week, and before we start to look at the roster, you want to take one more stroll through a mock draft Monday, taking a look at the 2026 NFL draft in

the Tennessee Titans are just in an elite spot, no matter what happens because they already have cam ward on the roster. You look at what the draft board could look like next year. And of course comes with the caveat of saying, you never know how the college football season is going to play out. Cam ward was a mid-round pick at this time last year, before the season happened. And he vaulted himself up. We saw Joe Burrow go from a day three pick to it. So those are just examples of quarterbacks who made big jumps but overall across the board

tons of players can make big jumps everywhere but the reality is there are a ton of quarterback names that are already being discussed for next year's draft. You think about arch manning, whether he comes out or not. I don't know. Lenora Sellers. I love Lenora Sellers. One of my favorite young quarterbacks that are potentially going to be in the draft. You think of a Sam Levitt, a Cade Clubnik.

A lot of people have at the top of their draft board, Drew Aller, Garrett Nussmeyer. I mean, I've named six or seven guys right there. And even, even if only half of those names, three or four of those names actually end up being first round picks. That is great news for the Tennessee Titans. And quite frankly, we could see like we saw with 2020 fours draft. We could see five or six of these guys go in the first round and potentially go early. That could be the case.

And what a wonderful thing for the Tennessee Titans. You already have your quarterback in the back pocket. All of these teams are going to be looking to pick a quarterback, which moves non-quarterbacks down the board, or you could be a team that benefits from a trade up. And when we look at our first way too early, 2026 mock draft from Jordan Reed of ESPN, that's exactly what we see. Now, I'm pretty sure that what Jordan Reed does is just takes the records from last year and puts them in that order.

But the Tennessee Titans have the number one pick here. OK, and they move down. them in that order, but the Tennessee Titans have the number one pick here. Okay. And they move down and let the Cleveland Browns come up because the Browns have two first rounders and let the Cleveland Browns come up to number one to take their quarterback and they, they take Cade Clubnick out of Clemson at number one overall. So the Tennessee, I would rather have Cam Ward than Cade Clubnip. So the Titans get Cam Ward and they get the opportunity to trade down,

collect an extra first rounder in 2027 to allow a team to come up and get a quarterback. So again, the Titans are in a perfect position here, no matter what happens in 2025, because if the Titans are better than we expect and they win six, seven, eight games, oh, I'm getting crazy here. Eight games, the Titans are still going to be in a position where if five or six or three or four quarterbacks go off the board early, that's going to push some of the talented players at positions. The Titans actually need down the board to them.

Or again, if the Titans have a bad season and the roster is just not good enough. And they're in the top 10. Well now again, they're in a great position because they already have a quarterback. There's no egg on their face. If they pass on somebody, it's not like, you know, the Browns or the Giants or something like that this year. If Cam Ward would have came to him and they passed on it or the Titans for that matter. Number one, it's not like the Titans are passing on Cam Ward when they desperately need a quarterback. The Titans would be passing on these quarterbacks knowing that they have theirs. So no matter what happens this season in the range of what the Tennessee Titans may do, whether they

are bad again and win 345 games like Jordan has here number one overall pick for a second year in a row. Bye bye Brian Callahan if that happens. But regardless, the low end, the high end of the Titans win range, they're still going to be in a great spot to get a player. And then you look at the players that will be available. And in this mock draft from Jordan Reed of ESPN, he has the Titans taking Peter Woods with the number three pick. Peter Woods is a defensive tackle out of Clemson, six foot three, 315 pounds.

Jordan Reed says if I were making a way too early board ranking, Wood Woods would have an argument to be at the top. Six foot three, 315. He has a nonstop motor and wreaks havoc. He has excellent hand power to stack, shed and disrupt plays. Woods had three sacks last season on the interior and his pass rush upside would be welcome in Tennessee. And look, this draft, like I just said, the Titans are in a perfect position.

Not only because of what the board could shake out with, with quarterbacks and where the Titans have their needs and what that allows them to do, moving down the board, but also the draft is very deep with defensive line talent and offensive tackle talent. So if you're talking about interior defensive line, you're talking about edge rusher for that matter. You're talking about even offensive tackle, which we'll discuss here in a second. If the Titans can trade down and

get one of these guys at spots that they really need like in another mock draft from CBS Sports Josh Edwards has the Titans taken Ruben Bain Jr. the edge rusher out of Miami with the number five overall pit says the Titans did draft UCLA pass rusher Olufemi Ol Femi, Ola Dejo on day two, but they can target help at position at the position again next year. Bain has the size to fulfill a diff, a few different positions for Tennessee, but his production needs to be more of what was seen in 2023 rather than 2024. Now we can talk about Ruben Bain as a player and whether that's a good pick

for the Titans, but that's not really important to me right now. What's important to me right now is the spot the Titans are in, no matter how things shake out. Again, you can trade down and allow a team to go up and get a quarterback. You can benefit from the quarterbacks going early by having position players fall down to you and the position players that look like they should be good. The groups that look like they should be good in this draft class are in the trenches, especially on the defensive line where the Tennessee Titans

will need help, but that leads to the question and the Titans are taking Peter Woods, taking Ruben Bain and they're going D line. What does that mean for Jeff Simmons and wait, why not a wide receiver? I'll explain all of that. Do wanna let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Upwork. Scaling your business requires the right expertise

at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design and more. Experts who are ready to help you take your business to the next level. Upwork gives businesses flexibility by connecting them with top freelance talent across multiple industries, including IT, AI, web development, and marketing. Whether you need extra hands for a project or a long-term partner, Upwork makes hiring simple and affordable. You can find the right talent.

Look, I had to hire some freelance experts recently for some graphic design, some logo design, audio, stuff like that. And I can tell you that Upwork makes things very, very simple. And again, posting your job is free. Scaling your business requires the right expertise and that's what you'll find at Upwork. So visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That's U-P-W-O-R-K.com, Upwork.com to connect with top talent and grow your business today. Titans fans, we're doing a little look ahead to the 2026 NFL draft on today's show. Some way too early mock drafts.

We've gone over two of them. One had the Titans trading down, taking a defensive tackle. The other had the Titans taking an edge rusher. And that is the third part to why I think the Tennessee Titans are in a perfect spot in this year's draft because again, the quarterbacks trades, but this draft looks like it's going to be really good in the trenches. And when we talk about defensive tackle, Peter Woods was the guy that Jordan Reed from ESPN had the Tennessee Titans taking. And if they were to do that, okay, if the Titans were to take a defensive tackle top five who is a penetrating big defensive tackle

I'm sorry that would have to mean they're moving on from Jeffrey Simmons You can't spend a second round pick on Tavandre sweat have a hundred million dollar contract for Jeffrey Simmons as he's what about to turn 29 at that point 30 even I don't have Jeffrey Simmons birthday memorized right now, but I'm just saying we are talking about a Jeffrey's now I will say this the interior defensive line is a position in the NFL that age as well. Yeah, Jeff is going to turn 28 in July, so he'll be 29 next July. That may

be a sign that the Titans are looking to move on if they go three technique defensive tackle top five as Jeffrey Simmons is set to turn 29 years old. But again, I think interior defensive line is a position that ages gracefully. It's a position that these guys can play for a long time. They just understand the leverage your man strength. Think we're talking old in the NFL, but you know, you're in your physical prime as a man in your late twenties into your early

thirties. So Jeffrey Simmons could still absolutely be a very good player all the way to thirty-three. Now the Titans look to build in the trenches. So maybe they could take defensive tackle and not be looking to get rid of Jeffrey Simmons, but I would just have a hard time believing you take a second round pick onto Vandrey Sweat, you give a hundred million dollar contract to Jeffrey Simmons, and then you draft a defensive tackle top five in the NFL draft all in the span of two years.

Like I just have a hard time betting on all of that. So to me, I think it would mean that Jeffrey Simmons was traded out to draft a defensive tackle top five next year. But edge rusher edge is going to be a really, really good spot. I mean, you have on the defensive line alone, you have woods, you have TJ Parker out of Clemson, who I think might end up being the best edge rusher next year Bane is another guy as well Keldrick Falk out of Auburn is a guy that a lot of people talk about even outside of like edge rushers Anthony Hill the linebacker out of Texas could make a ton of sense. Like there are a lot of different guys here on the defensive line,

particularly the edge rush spot that I think could make sense. And we'll see how it all shakes out. But you do at least get a sense of like what kind of talent could be in the draft next year and who we could be looking at and that makes me think of Offensive tackle there are so many offensive tackles Kaden Proctor Mwaga out of Miami. I know I'm probably pronouncing that wrong Spencer Fano is another guy. Isaiah world out of Oregon.

Like, I don't know who out of all these names are going to be the top offensive tackles, but like, there are so many names at the start here. Kayla blue mu or low mu out of Utah. You know, there's just so many guys at offensive tackle at edge. It would make some amount of imagine if the Titans were able to trade back. Just follow me along on this plan. Just follow me along on this plan. Something I've really been thinking about lately. Imagine if the Tennessee Titans were able to trade back.

Let's say they get like the sixth or seventh pick. Imagine if the Tennessee Titans were able to trade back. Let's say they get like the sixth or seventh pick. They trade back to 13 or 14. Let a team come up, get a quarterback. They get a first round pick in 2027. They draft an edge rusher, a good edge rusher. Now they have their elite number one edge. They have Femi as their edge too. They have Simmons. They have sweat on the interior. They have a first round pick in 2027. No, they didn't get a wide receiver. They didn't get a first round wide receiver. But guess who's probably going to be in the draft

in 2027? Ryan Williams. Jeremiah Smith. Supposed to be an elite wide the draft in 2027. Ryan Williams, Jeremiah Smith, supposed to be an elite wide receiver class in 2027. So now you're the Titans. You get your edge one. You have your QB one. You have your elite tier offensive tackle, hopefully in JC Latham. Then you trade up in 2027 and you take Jeremiah Smith out of Ohio State to be the number one wide receiver. Now you have a number one young wide receiver, a number one young quarterback, a number one young edge rusher, a good edge rusher too.

You have a number one young safety and Kevin Winston. And like, of course, what are the odds that all these things work out for the Titans? And that's how it goes. And we really are competing for a Super Bowl in 2027 with New Jersey's in the new stadium and Kyle Shanahan is the coach, but my God, let me dream. All right. Let me dream folks. But I do want to make a few other points here before we move on about the draft.

So like I said, wide receiver, Cornell Tate, uh, Zachariah branch, uh, Kyle Harbor, I think South Carolina wide receiver. There's a couple of good wide receivers, but this does not look like a draft. Then it's going to have a bunch of high-end wide receivers. Probably be closer to this year's draft where you see some wide receivers, you know, maybe there's one that goes early, but it's not going to be like a huge year for wide receiver love. Like 2024 was with the quarterbacks and the wide receivers going so early. It's not going to be like that this year, but 2027 is going to be nasty.

So if there aren't as many great wide receiver talents, then you pass on that. You go with edge. You go with again, I'd say, I know that some of you guys are higher on Dan more than me, but I think after one season of Dan Moore, people are going to be saying, Oh, we need to find our left tackle of the future because it ain't Dan Moore. That's what I think is going to happen. So I'm like I mentioned earlier proctor, uh, my old guy.

I don't know, man. I really do struggle with Polynesian names. I'm as Midwest as it gets in that regard. Spencer Fanu, like I said, the talent offensive tackle on the D-line, I would not be shocked if the Titans go with one of those routes, but the ability to trade back, get extra draft capital for 2027, God forbid, Kam Ward doesn't work out. You need to go up. You want to get cam ward's number one wide receiver in 2027. If you're in the middle of the pack, like I think, I think all of that makes a ton of sense. And again, regardless of how you want to look at it, the Titans are in a great spot.

And another aspect of this that I want to mention in two other mock drafts from pro football focus and from Bleacher report, they have the Titans taken Caleb downs, the safety out of Ohio state, who is going to be one of the best safety prospects we've seen in 20 years in the NFL, he is as elite as it gets at safety. I know they took Kevin Winston, but parent Caleb downs and Kevin Winston together, if you're able to trade back in the first round, I am fully on board with taking the best player in the NFL draft, especially after a trade down. If that's how it shakes out for the Titans, I will be ecstatic with grabbing Caleb Downs.

That's not just Buckeye bias, folks. I'm telling you, Caleb Downs is the real deal. So again, the overall point here with looking at this before we move on to undrafted free agents is no matter what happens in the Titan season, they're bad, they're good in the middle, they're going to be in a good spot to continue building this team for the future next draft season. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We did some way too early mock drafts. I just like to have fun. Look forward, look ahead, draft Time is obviously on the mind still. So, uh, it was fun to take a look at what the Titans options might be. But now I want to look at their undrafted free agents.

And I held off on this as long as I possibly could guys, because it's not official yet, the Titans start their rookie mini camp on may the ninth. And then they have it on may the 10th as well, back to back days. And I would imagine that the day before rookie mini camp which is the day where everybody comes in and checks in and gets weighed in and gets their playbook and blah blah blah the day before is when they do that and then they do the on field mini camp the next two days but I would imagine that's when the Titans will make it official because all those guys will come in and like I said do the onboarding

process and the Titans will put out an article Oh the Titans have signed 17 undrafted free agents or 18 if they add another one or whatever But we have a pretty good idea of who the undrafted free agents are going to be right now So I want to go over what the list is right now And if there are additions that are noteworthy I will go back over those but nobody is no work No, nobody is more noteworthy as Ava has an undrafted free agent. That was a mouthful. Then Xavier Restrepo that will be reunited with cam ward on the Tennessee Titans. This is awesome.

The fact that we're strepo went undrafted. I understand it because of the limited athleticism and the testing numbers and all of that. But, you know, this is why there are more undrafted free agent hall of famers than there are first round hall of famers. Isn't that a crazy, crazy stat? There are more undrafted free agent hall of famers than there are first round hall of famers.

Number one overall pick hall of famers. Maybe I'm mixing those two up, but either way it's crazy stat. And it just shows you that you could come from anywhere in football and a guy who was an all-american Last year who had 69 catches for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns coming off the season before that with 85 catches 1,092 yards and six touchdowns You're telling me that that guy isn't a good football player. Like I watched

every single catch that Xavier Restrepo had this year because I was watching Kamelberg the entire time. And like this guy is going to be able to play in the NFL. I don't think he'll be quite as good because the athleticism is not quite as good, but he could be the Tennessee Titans dollar general Amon Ross st. Brown Like that's what Xavier Restrepo could be he could be there There poor man's Amon Ross st. Brown. Is he an elite wide receiver top six seven eight wide receiver in the NFL? No No, but could he be a top three wide receiver on the Tennessee Titans and cam ward security blanket and him and him and

Gunnar Helm may not be elite level talents, but just guys that are great solid players on an offense. And then you add in a Jeremiah Smith and then you add in an elite running back when the Titans are a more stacked roster and can afford to do that. Does he sign P. Sean Robinson and free agency when he leaves, you know, something crazy like that, depending on where the roster is at. I don't think that Xavier Restrepo and Gunnar Helm are going to be the stars on the Tennessee Titans offense that could lead them to a Superbowl. Their biggest playmakers, but they could be those solid players. Look, when you build a team in the NBA, you have superstars, but then you need

some high level role players next to them. And I think that Xavier Restrepo won't be a superstar, but he could be a high level role player for the Titans for the next four or five years with Kenmore Gunnar Helm the same way. So an undrafted free agent with that sort of pedigree, with that sort of production, with that sort of connection and chemistry, with your number one overall pick, with that sort of ability to play a long-term role in the Tennessee Titans offense, now the value is just absolutely incredible. number one overall pick with that sort of ability to play a long-term role in the Tennessee Titans offense.

Now the value is just absolutely incredible. You take Xavier Restrepo in the third or fourth round or something like that. Now, you know, the expectations are so high, the need for return on investment is so high, it changes the calculation of expectations. But now as an undrafted free agent, I mean, this is free money, basically. It's free money. Basically, it's free money. So that's obviously the headliner for the undrafted free agent group. But what an incredible pickup by the Tennessee Titans to go get this done. Some other undrafted free agents that I do really like and I'm very interested in.

Jamari Harris, the cornerback out of Iowa, physical guy. I think he could do well, willing to press, use his arms. Uh, another guy I'm very interested in is David Gabenda, maybe it's just Benda, a linebacker out of Texas. This guy is thick, physical, strong, aggressive, maybe some athleticism, concerns and limitations, but he could be the new Jack Gibbons. You know what I mean? Brendan Crenshaw Dixon, the offensive tackle out of Florida.

I thought he was going to get drafted. I think this is a solid player. The Titans could develop the Titans didn't take. An offensive tackle in the draft. And I said all along that they could, but even if they don't, they need to get a developmental offensive tackle out of this draft class in some way, whether it be undrafted free agency and getting a guy like Brandon Crenshaw Dixon, who has the size and has had some really good reps against good edge rushers in the sec that's a player who we could

look up and be like, oh, he's the Titans backup offensive tackle who comes in and, you know, is play some, uh, all now four years from now he's signing somewhere else to get a shot to maybe be a starter, a low end starter, like a Jaylen Moore just did from San Francisco to Kansas city. I think Brandon Crenshaw addiction, uh, Brandon Crenshaw Dixon out of Florida could be a type of player like that. And then Jaylen Kimber, the quarterback out of Penn State reuniting with Kevin Winston, uh, another guy who is physical to play at the line of scrimmage Penn state did a lot of different stuff on defense. So smart players going to be used to an NFL level playbook on defense.

Very excited to see all that now to go through the other names real quick defensive tackle Isaiah Reikes out of Auburn cornerback Clarence Lewis out of Syracuse running back. Micah Bernard out of Utah corner cornerback, Davian Ross out of Memphis, uh, interior defensive lineman, Devante O'Malley out of Northern Illinois, um, Philip Blighty, defensive lineman out of Auburn. The Titans really did get quite a few undrafted free agents here out of

Auburn, uh, defensive lineman Desmond Evans out of North Carolina, uh, defensive back Virgil Lemons, the third out of West Florida. Defensive back Garnett Hollis out of West Virginia. Garnett Hollis out of West Virginia, safety. That's another guy that I'm interested in. Senator Kayden Moore out of Virginia Tech, and then defensive lineman Cam Horsley out of Boston College.

So we're at 17 right now. I expect the Titans will make those official this week Xavier Restrepo, obviously the top of that list for me in terms of excitement But hey, this is a young team folks and there are a lot of guys out here That's why I mentioned a linebacker and offensive tackle a cornerback to cornerback so wide receiver like there are a lot of roster spots where Like there are a lot of roster spots where an undrafted free agent could come in and make a mark.

Think about a guy like Bryce Oliver last year came in, made a mark. So with that being said though, that's going to do it for today's episode. As always, I am your host Tyler Roland, and this was locked on tight.