Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Receivers are BEST POSITION GROUP, O-Line Over D-Line & Worst Groups on Roster

Episode Date: June 16, 2024

The Tennessee Titans roster is much improved compared to last year, but what is the best position group on the team? While it is a close race, the wide receivers standout as the most talented. Next, in a battle of the trenches, the offensive line is the more talented group over the defensive line. Finally, the Titans have talent, but linebackers and tight ends are two of their worst groups. 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!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s TWO HUNDRED BUCKS you can use to bet everything from the Finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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)

The Tennessee Titans wide receivers are the most talented position group on the team. I'll explain why and give the rest of my rankings on today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started. Today, I am ranking the Tennessee Titans position groups. I'm going to tell you who I think is the best position group on the team all the way down to the worst position group on the team. Of course, I'm going to start with wide receivers, but it was a tough, tough choice at the top. Before I get into my rankings, do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, 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 to the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. It's roster week here on the Locked on Titans podcast, which is great news for my everydayers. Shout out to you guys tuning in Monday through Friday. On today's show, I'm ranking the position groups.

On tomorrow's show, I'm going to assign a letter grade to every single starter on offense and defense. Make sure that you guys tune in for that and play along with me down below here for our roster rankings, for the grades I give out tomorrow. Really want to hear what you guys have to say there. But with that being said, we do got to start with my top roster spot.

And it's the wide receiver group. You got DeAndre Hopkins, a thousand yard receiver. You add Calvin Ridley, a thousand yard receiver, which if you've been listening to what I've been talking about for the last few weeks, I think that Calvin Ridley is actually the Tennessee Titans wide receiver one this year, and he needs to be.

He's the most talented wide receiver. He's got the speed, the explosiveness. I just think he's a perfect fit for what the Tennessee Titans needed desperately on offense. So you add that with Tyler Boyd, a veteran slot guy. Traylon Burks, a former first-round wide receiver, is your number four. Obviously, we know that Traylon Burks has been a disappointment to this point, but when Traylon Burks, a former first-rounder who's been considered a starter the last few years, is put into your fourth wide receiver role,

well, I think that means that you have a pretty good group on your hands. I mean, the Titans not only the wide receivers are the best on the roster, but I would say that the Titans have one of the best wide receiver rooms in the entire NFL at this point. It's top 10 for certain, and it may be higher than that, top 8, top 7, somewhere in there. Now, it was a tough decision because the cornerback group, definitely very good, And I was struggling.

Honestly, I had cornerback at number one in my notes for a few hours wrestling with that decision, but ultimately with two high level, number one, wide receivers as your two starters, and then a very solid veteran. And then the depth that the wide receiver group have because even after Burks, Jaquan Jackson and Kyle Phillips and NWI who honestly even by me is a bit underrated for what he's been able to do for the Titans throughout his career as an undrafted guy. So I just think the wide receiver room with the talent up top and the depth puts them over cornerback. But cornerback has to be number two. I mean, LeJarius Sneed, top five cornerback in the NFL.

Chito Owuzi, I mean, that's a really physical, strong, he was the number one cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals during their Super Bowl run. So, like, the last few years with the Bengals, it's been Chito outside of a year of injury. So, you add in the two starters and then Roger McCreary, who one of the most underrated football players in the entire NFL. And what I really like is the national conversation is starting to catch up with how good of a player Roger McCreary is. Like he's absolutely fantastic in the slot when injuries happen and they had to put him outside

and he was smaller with shorter arms than a lot of these guys, yes, there were times where he had tough performances, but when he is put in the role that he is supposed to be playing in the NFL in the slot, he's one of the top 10 slot cornerbacks in the NFL, maybe even top five. I just think Roger McCreary is so underrated. So with Jarvis Brownlee Jr. being the number four cornerback for the Titans, the depth at wide receiver I think is a little better,

which gave it the edge. But Jarvis Brownlee Jr. could end up being a fantastic steal for the Titans, and we could be having a different conversation if he plays well early in the year, halfway through the season. Like this could be flipped. I could go with cornerback over wide receiver, but those are definitely the top two. In my opinion, it's not really a question

that those are the top two, but going back and forth between them was definitely tough, but I'm going to go wide receiver at number one, cornerback at number two. Again, play along with me down below. Rank your position groups out. I'm excited to see what you guys have to say. But number three,

and if you guys can't tell, losing my voice, chipped in for Eagle at my outing on Saturday. It was a fantastic experience. Never done that before. I got a little excited, as you guys probably aren't shocked to hear. I'm a bit excitable as a person, so bear with me as the voice is probably at 70%.

I would say. But, number three, I went with running back. Tajay Spears and Tony Pollard. And look, there are certain positions where the depth at the position isn't as important to me, the next two positions on the list, quite honestly. But when you have Tajay Spears and Tony Pollard, two running backs who I think could be starting running back ones for a team, it's hard for me to not put that near the top. You don't need four, five running backs like you would wide receiver or cornerback or offensive line or interior defensive line.

The depth isn't as important at running back. For me, it's about who's at the top and how good are those players. And Tajay Spears and Tony Pollard are just so, so good as a running back tandem. Like, that's a great group. So I had to put them at number three. It was tough, but it was pretty hard to pass up on those guys. And I even think, you look at Dylan Johnson, a Jabari Small, even Julius Chestnut, I don't really care who you put at number three

on that one. That's a pretty good group. Like, that's a Small, even Julius Chestnut. I don't really care who you put at number three on that one. That's a pretty good group. Like, that's a pretty good group of running backs. And I would say that if you look at tandems of running backs, Tajay Spears and Tony Pollard are in the top ten in the NFL as well. So, couldn't leave them any lower than three. But at number four, I think this might be a little controversial. I went with quarterback.

I think this might be a little controversial. I went with quarterback. What it comes down to for me is, I believe in Will Levis. Number one, that's the first thing. I believe in Will Levis. I believe in Will Levis. Sounds like a political statement.

But I think that Mason Rudolph is an awesome backup quarterback. Like, again, he's 8-4 in his career in his starts. He comes in, he plays high-level backup quarterback. Like, I think that's a very, very good top two. And if Will Levis becomes the player that we all hope and think that he can be, I think they have one of the best one-two punches at quarterback in the entire NFL. Because I think Mason Rudolph is a very, very good backup.

I really, really like that move by the Titans to bring in Mason Rudolph. Finally, a solid backup quarterback. Throughout most of the Ryan Tannehill experience, the Titans did not have a good backup quarterback. Had one of the worst backup quarterbacks in the NFL, Logan Woodside, Malik Willis. You know what I mean? So, like, I really like the signing of Mason Rudolph.

That's why I'm putting quarterback at number four. There are ten positions that we have to go through here, though. Ten positions. We've gone through four. Wide receiver, cornerback, running back, quarterback. Let me know how you guys feel about that ranking down below. But we got to talk about the trenches because that's where I'm going next.

Before we do that, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Look, summertime is here. That means baseball, the NBA finals, and much, much more. And you can bet it all on FanDuel. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $200 you can use to bet on everything from Finals MVP

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fanduel.com slash locked on and add a big win to your summer bucket list. It's FanDuel, America's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, ranking position groups on the Tennessee Titans roster. We've gone through wide receiver, cornerback, running back, and quarterback. Now I'm going to get into the trenches. Before I do, I do want to thank you guys again

for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, tomorrow I'm going to be giving a grade to the Tennessee Titans starters. It's something that I did on Twitter. We had a fun conversation about it. I feel a little bit differently about those rankings now after having some time to process it.

I was on vacation. I was bored. I put up the list, blah, blah, blah. But I'm going to do my official roster grade. So what is Will Levis as a starter? What is Tony Pollard or Tajay Spears as a starter? Blah, blah, blah. I'm going to go through that over the next two days, offense and defense.

I know you guys are going to love it. So make sure that you tune back in with me there. But with that being said, next on my list, and I can't believe I'm saying this. I can't believe it. It's the offensive line. The offensive line. The Tennessee Titans.

Wide receiver and cornerback were my top two. And offensive line is in my top five. What a world. What is going on? Right? I mean, imagine if I told you that a year ago. That that's where we would be right now. That would be great news.

But look, I know that there are a lot of questions on the right side of the offensive line right now. I think Sadiq Charles and Nicholas Petit-Ferrer will end up being the starters there. I've said that for a few weeks now. And basically anybody around the team, if you ask them, they'll tell you the same thing. So that seems to be the consensus at this point in time. But Latham, who I believe in, that's really what this comes down to.

I believe in J.C. Latham. We know Peter Skowronski is going to be much improved in year two. You add Lloyd Cushenberry. I think Sadiq Charles really fits the profile of what the Titans are looking for. I think he could be like a Nate Davis-level player when Nate Davis was the fifth-best offensive lineman when the Titans were good.

I think Sadiq Charles could be that. That right tackle spot is going to be somewhere where the Titans need to help all year long. But even after that, I know that the Titans don't have a ton of great depth, but I feel like they have solid depth at offensive

line. Dylan Radins, Daniel Brunskill, if those are your top two backup interior offensive linemen, I think that's pretty solid. You add, you know, Jerron Christian, Leroy Watson as backup tackles, you know, I think the Titans are in a pretty good spot there.

They need another high-level tackle to be their starter at right tackle. They're one really good right tackle away from having, like, one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, in my opinion. But they're not going to get that this year. It's not coming, all right? So they're going to have to make do.

But I like the depth on the offensive line. So to me, offensive line is number five. Like, I just like the group up front. And from center to left tackle, studs. I think the Titans have studs at all three of those positions. So I know it's kind of hard to truly buy into that. And I could see how some people in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at Ted Tech Titans. Let me know how you feel about it.

But I could see some people pushing back on offensive line being that high. But to me, I have faith in JC Latham. I really think the Titans have, again, three studs from center all the way to left tackle. And that's so, so important. But the next group for me is the edge group. And I think the Titans really desperately need another edge rusher. But after the offensive line, things start to get kind of hairy,

in my opinion. Like, we don't have a lot of great answers here. So, to me, I know that Harold Landry is a very, very good football player. Like, very, very good football player. Arden Key may not be a starter, but he's a very, very good third rusher. And I look at Rashad Weaver, and although he had a down season last year, I think that Rashad Weaver is a very good fourth rusher. I think he could be that.

I mean, he had five and a half sacks two years ago. Like, if you could get that out of your fourth rusher, of course, Harold Landry was out, which gave him more opportunities. I understand that. But I like the edge rush group next. Again, we're getting to a place where I'm not super high on any of these groups. But out of the edge rush group next. Again, we're getting to a place where I'm not super high on

any of these groups. But out of the next two spots, the big debate for me was interior defensive line or edge. What do I go next? Do I go with, hey, Jeffrey Simmons is the best player on the team, so I'll go with his group because he's there?

Or do I go with a group that I think has more depth to it? Well, ultimately, I went with Ed Rusher because I think those three players are just, you know, overall better than what the Titans have on the interior defensive line. Which interior defensive line is next with Jeffrey Simmons, Sebastian Joseph Day, Tavondre Sweat. But here's the reality.

After Jeffrey Simmons, I'm not very high on any of these players. Sebastian Joseph Day is good, right? He's a good player. Good. Okay. Replacement level starter. Okay.

All right. Tavondre Sweat. Y'all know I'm not very high on that pick. And he's a rookie. So I'm not, it's hard to give him any kind of established credit when he hasn't been playing. It's not like JC Latham, who's out there working so hard that the GM has to take him off the field in the rain.

Tavondre Sweat hasn't even practiced. So I can't give him the same benefit of the doubt in this situation. I simply can't do it. So to me, outside of those three players who are expected to be the starters on the interior defensive line, it's bad. Keiondre Coburn, Quentin Bohanna, TK McClendon, Marlon Davidson, like, those are practice squad players.

The Titans have a terrible backup interior defensive line. squad players. The Titans have a terrible backup interior defensive line. So, Edge doesn't need quite as much depth as the interior defensive line does, and the depth for the interior defensive line is bad. So, although Jeffrey Simmons is the best player out of the entire front, it's hard for him to make up for the lack of talent behind him. It's probably going to be hard for him to make up for that lack of talent in the regular season as well. So that's definitely something for us to keep our eye on. But with that being said, it's time to talk about the last three positions. So right now we have wide receiver, cornerback, running back, quarterback, offensive line, edge, and interior defensive line. Again, follow along with me down below. Let me know your rankings.

But now we got to go over the three last positions. And there's another step down here for the next few position groups that we got to talk about. So we're going to go over that now. Titans fans, let's continue our rankings of the Titans position groups from top to bottom. We've gone through the top seven. Now we've got to go through the bottom three. Before we get into it, though,

do want to let you guys know that Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel. It's on YouTube. Now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app. It's called Locked On Sports Today. It's here for you 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day

with local experts from Locked On. Plus, you get coverage of every single league with our national shows. Find Locked On Sports today. Now available on the free Fire TV channels app. But, again, tomorrow, going to do grades for all the Titans starters, offense and defense over the next two days. Make sure that you guys don't miss that. And then later in the week,

I'm going to do an exercise that I got from Locked on Bengals. Shout out to Jake and James. But basically, I'm going to say whether every starter on the Titans is a high-level starter, above-average starter, average starter, below-average starter, average starter, below-average starter, not a starter. I'm literally going to go through the whole roster and put how good everybody is, offense and defense. So I'm very excited for that exercise.

It's roster week here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But with that being said, number eight on my list is safety. Okay, so we all are anticipating that the Titans are going to sign a safety at some point before training camp. They basically need to. You have Imani Hooker.

Imani Hooker is a good starter. Okay, he is a good player. Good starter. Elijah Molden, on the other hand, I don't really think he's a starter, in my opinion. I see Elijah Molden as a third safety who can play dime, who can come down in the box, be basically a linebacker on third downs, guard tight ends, guard running backs out of the backfield.

Maybe you could rotate him back deep and just let him play free safety a little bit, just a little bit. I think that's not necessarily a perfect fit for his skill set though. So I just think that safety is a group that while Amani Hooker is a good player, Molden isn't really a starter. And then you have Mike Brown, you know, other options, Matthew Jackson. And it's just, it's not a great group. It's not a great group. And that's why everybody wants the Titans to go out and sign a safety so bad because it's just not a very good group overall.

So with that being said, I do have safety at eight, ultimately buoyed by Imani Hooker, who I've always been very high on Imani Hooker. I'm an Imani Hooker guy. So've always been very high on Imani Hooker. I'm an Imani Hooker guy. So, you know, that's where I have them. It's still a bad group at the end of the day. Not one of the strong groups on this roster. But even worse, in my opinion, is tight end.

Okay, look. I like Chica Conquo. I like what we're seeing from Josh Wiley. Nick Vanette. Re replaceable level player, not really anybody to write home about. It's just, you look around at other groups in the NFL, and the Titans just clearly have one of the worst groups in the league. Now, I think that the composite of the group, like all of them together, could be fine.

Like, I don't think the Titans are going to not hit their potential because they don't have good enough tight ends. Like, I don't think that. And I don't think that it's super important that the Titans have fantastic tight ends. Like, yes, it would be great to have a Travis Kelsey or a Sam Laporta or, you know, one of these high-level tight ends, George Kittle and Mark Andrews, on and on and on. Like, yes, it would be great to have one of those.

And they don't have one of those, which is a big reason why tight end is so low on my list. But at the end of the day, a lot of this is belief. We believe in Chigga Conqua. We believe that Josh Wiley can have a little bit of a breakout year this year with more muscle, a bigger frame, and being used better in the offense with connection to Will Levis. We believe these things, but if you were honest with yourself and you looked around at the other tight end groups in the NFL and then you looked at Chigaconkwo and Josh Wiley, it's not a

great group. They're going to need to really, really impress this year to kind of change my mind on that. Again, I don't think that it's something that will prevent the Titans from winning enough games and hitting their potential and their ceiling and all that. I don't think it's that. But we do have to be honest. That's not like nobody is looking at that group from around the league

and being like, oh, the Titans got great tight ends because they're just completely unproven. Really. And then finally, the worst group on the team, which I don't think it's any kind of shocker or any stunner or anything like that. It's linebackers. Off-ball linebackers. I mean, right now, Jack Gibbons is the number one linebacker on the team. I am not a fan of Kenneth Murray. That was my least favorite free agent signing for the Titans this year.

Do not like him as a player. And then, I like Cedric Gray. Cedric Gray is a fourth-round rookie. Let's just be honest with ourselves. Maybe he breaks out and he's some incredible player, but I don't even know if he's going to start from day one. It may take some time for that to happen. So I think the Titans have one of the worst linebacker groups in the entire NFL. Now I've talked about this. My personal philosophy on roster building is you can, whenever I use the word cheat, people always freak out, you know,

but here's the reality. You can build a great roster without using valuable assets at linebacker. Like, look at Kansas City. Kansas City had Willie Gay and Leo Chanel. And, you know, these weren't high-paid linebackers and early picks and big-paid free agents. To me, the best way I can explain it is linebacker is the running back of defense. Yes, it helps to have a very good running back.

Yes, great. But if you have a good offensive line and you have a good passing game, it's easier to find a running back who can give you good production. You don't have to take a running back in the first round or pay a big name running back a bunch of money. Like you don't have to do that at running back to get good production there. So similarly, that's how I feel about linebackers. If you have a good defensive line, you have good pass rush, you have a good secondary,

you can get away with not putting a lot of your assets into the linebacker position. So again, like tight end, do I think having bad linebackers is going to prevent the Titans from winning the games that they should? What my expectation is? No. But it definitely is the worst position group on the entire roster.

I think that's one of the least controversial rankings that I've had on my list. But with that being said, that is going to do it for my roster rankings. Again, I'm excited to see what you guys have to say down below and how you would rank things. Tomorrow, going to be giving out a letter grade for every single starter on the team, position groups, all of that.

Excited to do that over the next few days. It's roster week here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.