Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans PRAISE Cam Ward at OTAs, Tony Pollard's LAST RIDE & Dan Moore Defends Dan Moore

Starting point is 00:00:00 TNT fans are fired up for Cam Ward, but it sounds like his teammates are as well. I'll tell you what they had to say 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 rolling Titans fans on today's show. We're going to keep breaking down Tennessee Titans OTAs. I want to talk about what cam ward's teammates have to say about him so far.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Clearly we're fired up, but again, it sounds like his teammates are as well. We'll also talk about Tony Pollard and how Brian Callahan plans to lighten his load this year. Quite frankly, unless they want it to be the last season of Tony Pollard in Tennessee, they must. Finally, we'll talk about Dan Moore who finally gave us some answers about him leading the league in sacks allowed last season with the Steelers before we dive into all of it though, do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast.

Starting point is 00:01:10 Your first listen each and every day. Remember Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, it may be the all season, but there is no all season for locked on Titans. And that's because of my every dayers out there. Thank you guys for tuning in Monday through Friday. If you aren't an everydayer,

Starting point is 00:01:34 you need to be one because we have Titans OTAs again next week. We have rookie mini camp right or rookie mini camp. We're past that mandatory mini camp for the entire team right around the corner and then training camp before you know it. So with that being said though, we gotta talk about what Cam Ward's teammates had to say about him here because clearly we're all fired up. The fans, people covering the team, I mean the team itself is fired up but we haven't really heard from Cam Ward's teammates outside of his rookie teammates during the rookie mini camp. And when we did finally hear from a couple of guys on offense and then a guy on defense about Cam Ward so far, it really did impress me what they had to say because it hit on, when I talked about Cam Ward's perfect start,

Starting point is 00:02:19 when I talked about what I wanted to see from Cam Ward during the rookie mini camp and then into these early OTAs before we get into, you know, the full team phase three, full on seven on seven, 11 on 11. What I wanted to see from Cam Ward in this early period is a couple of things, but two big ones were be the number one overall pick, have the presence, have the demeanor, give the feeling to your teammates like, oh, this guy's going to carry us to greatness. That is one of the most important elements of this situation is these guys just have to believe in Cam Ward, that he can lead them. So give your teammates that feeling. That is what I wanted to see. I wanted Cam Ward to look like a number one overall pick. Well, look at what Tony Pollard, his running back, had to say about him. Quote, just the energy that he brings,

Starting point is 00:03:10 wherever he is, he's going to be himself. He's going to be a very confident guy. You go out there, you see him on the field, and it makes sense why he acts the way he acts, moves the way he moves, and he shows it on the field. So already Tony Pollard, a vet in the NFL, had Dak Prescott in the same backfield says, hey, the way that Ken Ward moves, the way he acts, the way he shows it on the field, very confident guy. Yes, it's teammate talk. They're going to hype up their guys, but I don't think that Tony Pollard is the type of guy to go out of his way to hype somebody up like that. If he's not really that excited about it. Tony Pollard seems like a very down to earth genuine guy. I just wouldn't buy that. So Tony Pollard,

Starting point is 00:03:53 his running back, backfield mate, already on board. Now, what was one of the other things that I talked about that I wanted to see Cam Ward do well early on in the process before the bullets really kind of start flying. Know the playbook. Know the playbook. Study. Be prepared. That is a, out of all of the things that I wanted to see, other than just the energy and the leadership and the vibes of being a number one overall pick and a franchise leader

Starting point is 00:04:22 that you just, you got to have that it factor about you. You have to. The other thing is much more tangible and it's no in the playbook. And again, that's probably more important overall right now. Well, that's a debate for another time, I guess. Being that, having that it factor may be the most important thing in life, period. Some people just have it, man. They just got it, you know, and that's the difference between competitors and things. It just just have it man. They just got it. You know and that's the difference between competitors and things. It just is what it is. It's hard to

Starting point is 00:04:49 explain the human spirit right? But in a more tangible way the most important tangible factor is the playbook. And look at what his teammates had to say about him knowing the playbook. Dan Moore, Cam Ward starting left tackle. We're gonna talk more Dan Moore later in the show because Dan Moore wanted to defend Dan Moore. And I don't blame him, but Dan Moore said this about his rookie quarterback, quote, one of the hardest things for a quarterback, I feel like, alone,

Starting point is 00:05:17 is just being able to get a grasp on the huddle, be able to fluidly say the play, remember the play, and just have a sense of direction and command as well. And I feel like that, I feel like that whenever he's talking, he has a sense of confidence guys can feel. I sense that you know, we'll be able to feed off the energy for them.

Starting point is 00:05:43 So he is literally saying both things at the same time. A grasp of the huddle, having command in the huddle, knowing what he's saying when he's talking, when he's giving out the play call, showing confidence, being able to do it confidently and give the energy that you want. That is like a combination of both things. And then Van Jefferson doubled down on the playbook stuff and said, quote, the way he put his nose into the playbook, how he's being around the guys at practice, getting throws in, that's something that you like to see. And I know he's very adamant about learning the playbook as fast as he can so we can play his best when he's on the field. As he continues to grow and grow, you're going to see that come out of him.

Starting point is 00:06:23 So I'm excited for his opportunity and what he could do. The playbook, the playbook, the playbook. So we have energy and the playbook. Two of the biggest things that I wanted to see Cam Ward check off in these early team activities and rookie mini camp and all of that stuff. Now it just turned out that Brian Callahan didn't really maximize the competitive nature of some of these early things, all right? So Cam Ward really could only focus on these things that I'm talking about.

Starting point is 00:06:54 But hey, he checked every box, he knocked it out of the park. Cam Ward's teammates are excited. And I want to remind you, I just want to remind you what Brian Callahan said yesterday. We talked about it, but he said, quote, Cam has done a really nice job of integrating himself. A lot of that is knowing the play call, being able to spit it out in the huddle, having the tempo, getting familiar with the receivers, what the words mean, how to call it,

Starting point is 00:07:20 and how your snap count sounds. All of that stuff has been really well done on his part. I mean, like, all of the things that his teammates are talking about, his coach is confirming. It's like, hey, this is what we're looking for. The coach says, hey, this is what I wanted to see. He did it well. And then three of his teammates come out and confirm it as well so Again, I know that we are all excited about cam ward and we absolutely should be but the reality here is you know In that locker room you know in that locker room that those guys are excited about cam ward as well

Starting point is 00:07:59 And they're telling us about it So speaking of Tony Pollard who had something to say here about Cam Ward, Tony Pollard had some very interesting comments about himself. Brian Callahan had some interesting comments about the running back position going forward. And quite frankly, it's something that I've been talking about since the season ended.

Starting point is 00:08:18 And if they don't do what they say they're trying to do, I think it's gonna be Tony Pollard's last season in Tennessee. Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. As a small business owner, your work doesn't end when the clock hits five. Your business is always on your mind, which means when it's time to hire,

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Starting point is 00:10:00 down what, uh, what the Titans had to say at OTAs on Tuesday. And we got to a lot of it yesterday, but obviously there was a lot of stuff, a lot of meat still left on the bone that I wanted to talk about. Cam Ward's teammates and their reaction to him. Now I want to talk about Tony Pollard and Brian Callahan's comments on the running back position in general, because I think it's pretty interesting here. Now, before we dive into want to thank you again for making a locked on Titans your first listen each and every day.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Dan Moore, we're going to talk about at the end because he finally addressed all those sacks that he gave up last year when he led the league in sacks. But I've been talking about the running back position for quite some time now. This off season and how I think the Tennessee Titans need to operate going forward, and my concerns, quite frankly, going forward for the Titans running back position. I've talked about Tony Pollard. Tony Pollard did excellent last

Starting point is 00:10:56 year. He was absolutely worth the money that the Titans paid, excited about him. He really filled that number one running back role. But the thing is Tony Pollard is no bell cow. Tony Pollard isn't a Derrick Henry or an Ashton Gentry or a guy or a Josh Jacobs the guy that you just give the ball to over and over and over again and wear down the defense. That is not who Tony Pollard is as a player. And when you do that to him, he gets injured. And it happened in Dallas at the end before they let him go. And I'm not saying that Dallas should have let Tony Pollard go. I think with the Titans paid, Dallas would have liked to have Tony Pollard back and would have been better off having Tony Pollard back at

Starting point is 00:11:33 that rate. But, but the reality is still the reality that Tony Pollard is not a bell cow back and if you overwork him, he will break down. All right, that is the reality. And last year we saw it. work him, he will break down. All right? That is the reality. And last year we saw it. They overworked Tony Pollard because Tajay Spears got banged up and they had no other good running backs at all. And Tony Pollard had to do too much work and he broke down at the end of the season. And Tony Pollard even acknowledged that and talked about it. He literally even talked about that. He said, I had a bad high ankle sprain. I let it heal and I'm good to go now. He said, I feel great. Just being more aggressive with my body,

Starting point is 00:12:16 keeping my body in shape, not having as long of a downtime in between the season when I get back going for the off season. Just knowing being older, being a little bit more of a vet in this league, you have to keep your body in shape so when it's time to get going, you'll be ready. Even said, wore down at the end of the season, said I had a, in another quote, he said I had a dip at the end of the year. Like, I mean, he's telling you what happened, he knows. Like, I mean, he's telling you what happened. He knows. And then Brian Callahan comes in and he doubles down on it as well. He said, talking about Tony Pollard, quote, he was battling the second half of the year quite a bit.

Starting point is 00:12:58 But I think in a perfect world, it's a healthier division of labor. I think he ended up carrying the ball a lot. He was our most productive running back. And then Tajay Spears had some injuries early too. So we ended up playing a lot early. And then Tajay sort of came on as the year went further. So I really like both of those players a lot. I think we can do a better job of managing that load so they play, so they both play a little more evenly and allows us to maybe have a spot for a third back

Starting point is 00:13:32 between Julius Chestnut and Callum Mullings, some heavier style back and runner. So hopefully that division of labor gets a little more evenly distributed so he doesn't have to take the brunt of it and we can get 17 games out of all those guys at their best. I mean from what Tony Pollard had to say to that comment from Brian Callahan, it is literally telling you exactly what I've been saying throughout the off season that Tony Pollard can't be a bell cow back and if he does that again, he's going to break down again. He can try to get himself right and start early to keep himself healthy and all of that stuff and I agree, but the reality of the running back position, we were spoiled with Derrick Henry and even Derrick Henry missed

Starting point is 00:14:15 half of the season with a big-time injury. Now he came back and he's still balling out right now and he's still a really good player, obviously. Not a lot of running backs out there are going to be built like Derrick Henry. Most running backs start to break down around this time in their career like Tony Pollard. You play four, five, six seasons in the NFL as a running back, you start to break down. So if the Tennessee Titans do what they do or do what they did to Tony Pollard last season? If that happens, Tony Pollard is going to break down, he's going to deal with injuries, and then the Tennessee Titans are not going to bring him back the next year. And honestly, I will tell you this right now, I am not 100% certain that Tony Pollard is back anyways. He's going to be 29 on next April. So, you know, a little less than a year from now, he's going to be 29.

Starting point is 00:15:08 This season coming up will be his seventh season in the NFL. He's a running back. And again, they're not all built like Derek Henry. So, if you give Tony Pollard another year of 260 carries with 41 catches, that is 300 touches in a year. If Tony Pollard has more than 225 touches, maybe 200 touches this year, he's going to break down. So you absolutely have to, no matter what it takes. If Tajay isn't impressing early on, if Tajay is not getting the job done, only played in 12 games last year, 312 rushing yards put up 224 on the air. But we're talking about a significant decrease in scrimmage yards. Like he had 453 rushing yards as a rookie.

Starting point is 00:16:07 So that's a drop of 150 and then 385 down to 224. That's a drop of 160. So we are talking about 300 total yards here that he just left on the table. So Tajay has to be way better, but they have to be committed to getting Tajay the ball more. And if Tajay is not available, then you need to take serious the running back position. You could play Mullings, you could play Chestnut more, but they probably need to go out and get them. There's going to be veteran running backs on the market at all times. You can get them off waivers when cuts happen and training camp like they need to figure out whether they can trust Tajay Spears.

Starting point is 00:16:48 And if he proves through the first month of the season that he can't handle it, they have to get another back in there. Like, running back is one of the, by this time next year, imagine if Tajay Spears has another injury-riddled season. Imagine if Tony Pollard has to be a bell cow back when he can't be once again and starts to break down. We're gonna be looking at, hey, we can't count on Tajay Spears. He's probably not coming back after this last year. Tony Pollard, they may cut him next all season and look to get a different running back in a different way.

Starting point is 00:17:18 Maybe look to draft one early. Like we could be looking at Kal-El Mullings as the number one running back for the Titans this time next year, and that's not great. I have faith in Superman Mullings. I do. I think he's gonna be a solid third back, who's a really good special teams player, could be that heavy power back, goal line short yardage. But I don't think that Mullings is ever gonna turn into a true number one running back for the Titans. I would be shocked by that. It would be awesome. I'm here for it, but I would be shocked by it. So I'm just saying running back is one of those positions where we feel it's all

Starting point is 00:17:55 right. We feel okay because we have Pollard and Spears and now the rookie, but truly you look a little closer. If things go the way they did last year, the Titans are in a terrible spot, which I guess is probably true across the board with most positions. But with that being said, Dan Moore led the NFL in sacks aloud last year. What did he have to say for himself? I'll tell you right now. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We've talked about Cam Warden getting praise from his teammates. We talked about Tony Pollard and the running back situation for the Tennessee Titans. Now I want to talk about Dan Moore, their newly signed left tackle of the future.

Starting point is 00:18:57 Before I get into it, do want to thank you again for making Locked on Titans your first listen. For your second listen, check out Locked on NFL Scouting. As training camp gets closer and moves are being made, host Kyle Krabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this off season. Find Locked on NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. But Dan Moore got a $20 million a year deal from the Tennessee Titans in the off season to be their franchise left tackle after giving up the most sacks in the NFL last season. I gotta tell you, just saying that out loud makes me very, very nervous. But regardless, the Titans are betting on

Starting point is 00:19:35 better play from Dan Moore. They're also betting that they can help Dan Moore be better as well with some of the things around him like the quarterbacks and things like that. But regardless of what they think may happen going forward or what optimism there is, this is the first time that Dan Moore has actually spoken to Tennessee Titans media. So of course, he was asked about allowing the most sacks in the NFL last year, and Dan Moore defended himself by saying this quote, I'm always looking to get better regardless of what the numbers say.

Starting point is 00:20:13 I thought I played well last season. The Titans thought I played well last season. He said with a little bit of a smirk back to the quote, that's what I'm focused on getting better and bill is coaching me up on things I need to work on things. I got a tweak in my game That's all I'm looking forward to is the future the film I looked at Numbers it says I gave up however many sacks, but you look at the technique you look at the film I'm in front of defenders and that's what I'm focused on doing I'm in front of defenders and that's what I'm focused on doing." End quote. So Dan Moore basically gave the defense that you should. I did a film breakdown on Dan Moore on my Tic Tac Titans film channel earlier this off season,

Starting point is 00:20:57 showing the good and the bad in both the run game and the pass game. And while I think Dan Moore is definitely a better pass protector because of his athleticism, his length in his feet, he is still a good enough run blocker as a positional run blocker and like he says, he does get in front of defenders. Like he may not be the most powerful guy. He's not driving them back. He's not doing different things, especially in the run game. He's not a movement blocker in my opinion. He's not somebody who's going to create movement. Movement, he's okay. Actually, he's terrible on pulls. I don't think he's that great at the second level. He is terrible on pulls. So I wouldn't really call him a movement blocker either, but on down blocks, when he has leverage, on double

Starting point is 00:21:42 teams, when he has help from a more powerful run blocker, Dan Moore can do what he needs to do. And on those front side kick outs, like on the outside zone play, think about Taylor Luan and how he used to win. People have a hard time digesting what I'm about to say, but like I said, when I watched Dan Moore on tape and we deep dive in into his skillset,

Starting point is 00:22:02 him and Taylor Luan are not similar players per se, but they have a similar way of winning. Dan Moore doesn't drive people out of the spot. He just uses his body positioning and his athleticism to stay in front of his defender. So he's not lying when he says that. But I also want to point out that he talked about working with Bill. And when I did that film breakdown, I even asked things were happening that were bad. I was like, hey, this is not good.

Starting point is 00:22:31 He doesn't do this well. He doesn't have power in his hands. His punches and always accurately placed, you know, he's bad on twists and stunts and things like that. Like when he's blocking, he wasn't when he does these double teams at the line of scrimmage, remember the Titans are working on hitting the sled with their shoulder. You see a double team on a defensive tackle. Imagine the guard hitting him head on and then the offensive tackle coming up and hitting him as a part of a double team to create movement. Well Dan Moore on his tape is high in that movement. He's hitting at the shoulder pads of the defensive tackle where Bill Callahan teaches to hit at the hip.

Starting point is 00:23:06 And if you hit at the hip and you hit low in the center of gravity, you have a better chance of moving a defensive lineman than you do if you hit him high. Just think about you holding your ground. You push me high, you tackle high, the low man wins in football. So I think Dan Moore can be a little bit more low.

Starting point is 00:23:23 I think he can be better with his hands and pass protection and maybe some general IQ stuff, like positioning things, like twists and stunts and getting to the second level and how people are going to, where people are going to be on pool so that he's just more ready for those second level in space interactions. I think those are things that Bill Callahan can really help him with. And he even talked about that even more. He said, quote, "'Just looking at some guys he's worked with in the past,

Starting point is 00:23:51 "'looking at guys he's progressed, "'I do think that he'll be able to bring out "'my full potential. "'We had a good lengthy conversation, "'just what he's looking for for me "'and also me helping some of these younger guys "'come along in their careers. "'So I feel like it's more of a mutual relationship. Me wanting to come here and

Starting point is 00:24:09 help some guys out, progressing their careers and Bill doing the same for me. So Bill Callahan continues to be, if not a great coach, but a great recruiter at minimum. Cushionberry said the same thing last year and I know you could say, be cynical and say, well, Cushionberry tours Achilles. That didn't work out for the Titans. Why would we celebrate that? I mean, it was still a good signing. Lloyd Cushion Berry was a smart signing

Starting point is 00:24:31 by the Tennessee Titans to do. Like, you gotta judge process, not result in life. Otherwise you're gonna think that you did a terrible job sometimes because you didn't get the result you wanted. When actually you did everything you could and you should be proud of your efforts. So judge process, not result. That's how you should do things. Um, but regardless, regardless, the point here is Bill Callahan, whether you like Dan Moore or not, I'm skeptical of the signing personally, as you guys know,

Starting point is 00:24:58 but if you really like the signing or even if the signing works out, regardless of my skepticism or your skepticism, you can point back to, hey, people want to come work with Bill Callahan because of his reputation and the Titans got a franchise left tackle in free agency. That does not happen very often. And they got him because of Bill Callahan. So, you know, that's something, but Dan Moore wasn't the only person who sort of defended himself or defended himself and talked about, you know, the sack situation. Brian Callahan was asked about the sacks with Dan Moore and he said, quote, you watch all those things.

Starting point is 00:25:33 You watch the sacks. They give up. You watch the pressures. They give up. You watch the penalties and you try to determine what's fixable and maybe what isn't and what you're okay with. There's things that I think he can be corrected in technique wise that are going to help him a lot. Sometimes you just get beat by good players, which the AFC North has a few of them and we'll see a few of them ourselves. There's that part of it too. How can you help in those situations schematically? Well, Brian Callahan is saying the same thing, you know, technique wise, what can be corrected? They're going to help him a lot. I think they see a moldable piece still with Dan Moore, that if they just tweak a couple of things, they're going to get a significantly better player than even what they have right now.

Starting point is 00:26:16 But again, that's a project. You're banking on you being able to fix things that a guy has not corrected in his four seasons starting in the NFL. So all of a sudden, now after four years being in the league, he's going to correct these things that hasn't been corrected. What you're essentially saying there is we don't believe that he's been taught correctly. Now I've had people who like the Steelers or people who are involved with the Steelers or just fans of the Steelers reach out to me and say that they don't think that the Steelers have had good offensive line coaching in the last, you know, handful of years with Dan Moore and maybe the

Starting point is 00:26:49 Titans are right then. Maybe it's not that Dan Moore, you know, it's not that Dan Moore can't correct these things. It's he literally hasn't been taught right. Maybe they're right about that. But again, that's a big risk. That is a big risk when you're paying $20 million to what should be your franchise left tackled. But I will tell you this, the things they're saying are at least logical. You look at the tape, like I said, and it is logical to think

Starting point is 00:27:16 that if Dan Moore corrected some things, and look, I'm not an individual technique guru, I'm not an offensive line coach, I'm not, you know, that I would say on my scouting report as an analyst, individual technique on film is something that I am rapidly trying to learn more about because it is a deficiency for me. So, you know, individual quarterback footwork and mechanics and stuff, I do, you know, I don't know all that stuff as well as I know what a three, four coverage is or

Starting point is 00:27:41 buzz technique and stuff like that, you know, like I know the bigger conceptual things more than the individual technique stuff, but even for me, it's pretty clear on tape from watching good players and even players the Titans have had who I think are pretty solid and be like, Hmm, he could do that better. Like I've seen that done better with, you know, the Titan. So I'm going to hold out hope for Dan Moore that he can, if he is at least an average starting left tackle, it would be a major improvement for the Titans

Starting point is 00:28:10 because I feel like JC Latham is going to take a huge leap this year at right tackle. So I get the theory, I get the logic, Dan Moore's explanation, Brian Callahan's explanation, it all makes a ton of sense, but at the end of the day, you do have to prove it out on the field and we'll see how that all works out. But that's going to do it for me today. Folks tomorrow, do it a mailbag, send me your questions at tic tac Titans on Twitter. I'll bookmark those and make sure that we get to them. But as always,

Starting point is 00:28:38 I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans.

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Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans PRAISE Cam Ward at OTAs, Tony Pollard's LAST RIDE & Dan Moore Defends Dan Moore

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