Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Report Card: Top Tier Grades at Cornerback, Holes Up the Middle & Hit or Miss Pass Rushers

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

The Tennessee Titans have hit their summer break which makes it a perfect time to assess the roster and give out a summer report card. First, the improvements to the cornerback room can't be overlooked and the grades reflect the upgrades. Next, the Titans have some huge holes up the middle of the defense, especially on the back end. Finally, while two of the best players on the team reside in the front four in Harold Landry and Jeffery Simmons, there are still some big question marks that get low grades for now. 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 have two A-level cornerbacks, and that's such a great thing to hear. We'll continue our summer report card for the Tennessee Titans 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 Rowland, Titans fans.

Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account. Use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. We are continuing our Tennessee Titans summer report card. We did offense yesterday. Check that out if you missed it. And

today it is time to get defensive. I'm going to tell you why the Titans have two A-level cornerbacks. Talk about some bad grades the Titans have in some other spots that can improve dramatically and how, and also talk about that defensive line. But before we get into all of it, I do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast 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 here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. I got some great content planned for you here coming up soon. The next two days, we're going to look at the Tennessee Titans roster from top to bottom.

And I'm going to kind of grade, not with a letter grade, but with a skill level for every single player. Is this player an elite starter, an above average starter, an average starter, a below average starter, replacement level player?

We're going to discuss all of that on offense and defense. Excited to dive into that. And then next week is AFC South week where we review what the Titans division rivals have done. Talk about how the Titans compare to their division rivals in the AFC South. Very excited to dive into all of that with you guys. But we got to start at cornerback because it's just such a great feeling to look at the Titans' cornerback room right now compared to what it has been for, what, you know, forever, quite honestly. Like, it's been a very, very long time since the Titans had two very high-level cornerbacks.

I'm, like, going way, way, way, way back to the Samari Roll days. You know what I mean? Like, maybe Malcolm Butler and Adoree Jackson had their moments at times, but it's never been, it's never been LeJarrius Sneed level. Okay? Like, they were never close to that. The Titans have LeJarrius Sneed, who, to me, is just a flat-out A. He is just an A.

A-plus, you could make the conversation, but A-plus is very, very high. I think, you know, I'd probably put Pat Sertain and Sauce Gardner as the only A-pluses that I would really do. And then right below them, I would have, like, LeJarrius Sneed at a solid A. I'm just so, so excited for LeJarrius Sneed. Like, to see him press and know the defense

that the Titans are going to run and how aggressive they're going to be. Again, I talked about it last week, I believe, but, like, just not having the Titans cornerbacks eight yards off the ball on third and two, you know, like, it's just such a breath of fresh air, such a sight for sore eyes for Titans fans. It's hard to put into words, even for me.

And it's my job to put things into words, right? Like that's what I do. But it's just an incredible turnaround. So to me, LeJarrius Sneed is absolutely an A. I think where the conversation really gets fun is Roger McCreary. really gets fun is Roger McCreary. Like, I think that Roger McCreary is an A-level player. I think he is one of the most underrated players in the entire NFL.

And it's funny because I mention this every time I bring up Roger McCreary now, but watching the national opinion on Roger McCreary come to where it should be is fantastic. Like, I want that guy to get the credit that he deserves. Roger McCreary's been playing excellent football in his first two seasons. He is not a big interception guy. The limited arm length and his general, you know, lack of height is always going to prevent him from being like a dominant turnover guy. But playing in the nickel, playing in the slot where he's supposed to play,

there are a few players in the slot in the NFL better than he is. Like, he's one of the top 12, top 10 slot cornerbacks in the entire NFL. He may even be higher than that by season's end. slot cornerbacks in the entire NFL. He may even be higher than that by season's end. So, to me, I would tell you right now, right now, as we speak,

Roger McCreary is an A-minus player with the potential with better help around him. And, let's hope injuries don't force Roger McCreary to be... See, this is why I was very excited about the Jarvis Brownlee Jr. pick. Because now, if one of the outside cornerbacks gets hurt, you don't got to put Roger McCreary out there.

You can put Jarvis Brownlee out there. You know what I mean? And the Titans definitely still do need some depth. Hopefully, Gabe Judy Lawley continues the strong all-season work that he had as an undrafted free agent. Then he can find a way to be QB5 or QB, CB5. Maybe, and I know that I'm grasping at straws right now when I say this. That's why I lowered my voice because I don't even like saying it.

Don't want to jinx it, but maybe Titans can get something out of Caleb Farley. Maybe. Doubtful. I know. Doubtful. I know. But hey, just saying. But either way, the goal for me would be that if one of the outside cornerbacks is down for a little bit, that you don't got to put Roger McCreary out there because he's simply not an outside cornerback. That's not going to work for him long term. It's just not. So to me, Roger McCreary in the slot, A minus player with the ability to become an A in a better defensive system with better cornerback help around him and hopefully better health so that he doesn't have to be miscast as an outside cornerback. You know what I mean? And then as for Chito, who's that? To me, he's a solid B.

And I would give Chito a higher grade, like a B+. It's as high as I would go. I might, you know, say B+. But coming off some injuries, came back last year, played 15 games, wasn't always perfect, wasn't always up to his level of play. But I think, again, in this defensive system where he's asked to not be CB1

but CB2, think about that. Think about Chito was going against the best wide receiver the other team had to offer and now he gets to take the secondary one. Think about that. Like, that's huge. That's huge.

And that's going to make him even better. So, I'm going to give Chito a B, but I think that by the end of the season, we could be looking at him as a B+. And if the Titans finish the year with two A's and a B-plus corner, whoo, again, what a breath of fresh air for Tennessee Titans fans. I got to play along with me down below.

Let me know what your grades are. Let me know what you agree, disagree, or hit me up on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. Let me know your thoughts as well, but we got to talk about the back, the middle of the back seven where man, there are some big holes,

but there's one terrible grade that can go up very, very high with just one move. I'll tell you what it is next. Before I do, though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Look, NBA Finals is going on. It may be over by now, but if it's not,

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Download GameTime today. Last minute tickets, Lowest price. Guaranteed. Titans fans, let's continue today's part two summer report card for the Tennessee Titans. We did the offense on yesterday's show. Go check that out if you missed it. Today we're doing defense. I talked about the cornerback group. A, B, A-. I mean, I love the Titans cornerback group. It's absolutely fantastic. And again, my first episode of the week, we had the debate.

Should cornerback or wide receiver be higher? I mean, it's a tough call. Two very good groups, which, if you would have told me a year ago that I'd be debating whether the Titans' best position group is cornerback or wide receiver, well, I would not have believed you. So, very

great to feel like that. But before we continue our grades here, do want to thank you guys for making the 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 here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But with that being said, looking at the middle of the back seven, everybody talks about the front seven.

Well, let's consider the back seven here. So we talked about cornerbacks, so we can eliminate those. So that leaves us with two safeties and two inside linebackers. And I have to tell you guys, these are the lowest grades that I gave out throughout the entire time. I mean, right tackle got a D at the end of yesterday's show. But I have two Ds in this section. Like, it's rough. Okay.

Which, no surprise. If you listen to my ranking of all the position groups at the beginning of the week, I had safety and inside linebacker in the bottom three. Both of them. So, let me say this first. Free safety.

And there were people, when I did my rankings on Twitter initially a couple weeks ago that were like, free safety, strong safety. I thought Imani Hooker was... Guys, that's an archaic way to look at football, in my opinion. Free safety, strong safety. And especially for Tennessee Titans fans. Shane Bowen uses his safeties interchangeably. There is no free safety in the back end all the time,

blah, blah, blah, strong safety in the box. It's not like I always compare it to, and it was very prevalent growing up for most of my life through football, but think about the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks. Okay? They had a pure free safety in Earl Taylor, who would be on the back end, be that center fielder in the back all the time.

And then they had Cam Chancellor, who was the big physical enforcer who played down in the box. Seattle, and we still see it prevalent with Dan Quinn, Gus Bradley, there are others in the NFL still running this predominantly cover three system on defense. But when you play a ton of cover three, you're going to have one back end safety that's always back deep. You're going to have a strong safety that's a hook or a robber can play that kind of cloud

zone in, you know, not like a flat, but a little bit deeper. So the Titans previously did not play defense like that under Shane Bowen. Kevin Bayard and Imani Hooker were interchangeable. Like Hooker could be back deep. Hooker could be underneath. Bayard could be underneath. Bayard and Imani Hooker were interchangeable. Like, Hooker could be back deep. Hooker could be underneath. Bayard could be underneath. Bayard could be back deep. Now, once Imani Hooker kind of came into his own in his second year, they started letting Kevin Bayard come up closer to the line of scrimmage

and Imani Hooker would be back deep. But they do that in, I mean, the Titans would run cover two invert where a safety would be coming down and a corner would be a deep half. The Titans would run cover to where both of the safeties are taking deep half. The Titans use their safeties interchangeably for the last forever. So don't tell me that Amani Hooker is a strong or a free. You don't watch the tape if you're really arguing that heavily, quite honestly, because you don't know what they were doing schematically,

or you wouldn't say that. He's a versatile safety. Okay? He's not free, not strong. He's a versatile safety. And I have Imani Hooker as a B+. I don't think that Imani Hooker is a top-tier safety in the NFL, A-, A-, A+.

I don't think he's worthy of an A grade. At his best, at Imani Hooker's absolute best, he's an A minus. Maybe in this new system, with more pressure up front, with better cornerback play, it'll allow Imani Hooker to be more of a surveyor. I'm thinking Imani Hooker could be in like the Geno Stone role for the Ravens last year. Maybe it's something like

that. And that would allow him to create a bunch of turnovers, which is what he does best. I always make the joke that Amani Hooker is a ball hawk eye because he went to Iowa. I think it's funnier than everyone else does, but whatever. All right. You got to make yourself laugh in life. But I think Amani Hooker is a B plus. I think that's fair. And I'm high on Amani Hooker. I thought the conversation around cutting Amani Hooker at a B+. I think that's fair. And I'm high on Imani Hooker. I thought the conversation around cutting Imani Hooker at the beginning of the offseason was stupid. He's a good player on a good contract. Let him play.

All right? But the other safety spot is a D. I don't think Elijah Molden is a starter. He's a third safety at best. Okay? And he hasn't proven to be that great of a player at the end of the day after his move to safety.

Kayvon Wallace was better last year. I think Mike Brown could be better than Elijah Molden at safety. Like, those are options. So, I think, no matter who you want to put in there, that's a deep. But let me say this. If the Titans were to sign Justin Simmons, the best safety on the market, and

honestly the best player available right now, if the Titans were to sign Justin Simmons, to me that immediately goes to an A. People don't understand how good Justin Simmons still is. I know that he's a free agent and the easy counter would be, well, if he's so good, why is he on a team? Well, he's going to be on a team. Let's not act like he's not going to get signed. But the reality is the devaluation of the safety position in the NFL has led to this. Not Justin Simmons being a bad player.

He is literally a do-it-all, all-around turnover machine at safety who was an all-pro last year. So the devaluation of the safety market does not mean that Justin Simmons isn't a great player anymore. And I still think he's one of the best players at safety in the entire NFL. Again, he made all-pro last year. So he's at least one of the top four. And even if you want to say that the voting may have been wrong,

which Antoine Winfield should have made All-Pro last year. Like, Justin Simmons is still one of the top 10 safeties in the NFL out of the 64 safeties that start every year. So that's a high-level player to me. So the Titans could go from a D to an A very, very quickly with one move. And I'm hoping that they do. Finally, inside linebacker. It's a D.

It's a D to me. Sorry, it makes me a little rattled talking about how bad the inside linebacker group is for the Titans. Again, I do not like Kenneth Murray. I'm not a fan of that signing. Wasn't a fan of it. I get how he could fit in the scheme, but I do not like the signing. I'm not a fan of that signing. Wasn't a fan of it. I get how he could fit in the scheme,

but I do not like the signing. I'm not a fan of Kenneth Murray's game. Jack Gibbons, that's a very low level starter. Okay. I mean, Gibbons obviously has the intangibles, the leadership, all the mental aspects that you want for your linebacker, but he's just so physically limited with this athleticism. He should be like a good backup linebacker. Like once you start getting into backup players, then I have more of a tolerance for a guy like Gibbons. Because at that point, like if I'm going with a backup,

I'd probably rather just take the guy who knows what he's doing, who's really intelligent, than the freak athlete who's going to make a bunch of mental mistakes. You know what I mean? Which I think could be a guy like James Williams early on. And look, Cedric Gray could come in

and change this ranking. If Cedric Gray is a baller, maybe if James Williams takes over for Kenneth Murray and could do that, then the Titans could maybe go to a C- but I don't see how the Titans could have this linebacker group be any more than a C-. It's just one of the worst inside linebacker groups in the entire NFL and certainly the worst position group on the team. So the starters, I don't care who you're talking about,

Gibbons, Murray, whatever, it's a D to me right now. So with that being said, though, let's go to the pass rush. Let's go to the D line. Talk interior defensive line and edge rushers, which there are some really good players, but there are some struggles as well there too. Titans fans, let's cap off. Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is part two of our Tennessee Titans summer report card.

I'm grading every single starter. Again, let me know your grades down below. Can't wait to hear what you guys have to say about these, what your grades are. It's always fun. Hit me up on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Let me know your grades if you're not watching on YouTube. If you're on YouTube, do want to remind you, the if you're not watching on YouTube. If you're on YouTube, I do want

to remind you, the podcast, if you're on the go, you're at work, you're working out, you're driving, you can't watch on YouTube. Remember, Locked on Titans is available on any podcast app. Alright? So make sure that you check that out. But before we finish off our grades,

I do want to remind you, Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel. Literally 24-7 streaming all day long on YouTube. Also available on Amazon Free Fire TV. It's called Locked On Sports Today. You get all the top sports stories of the day. You get local experts from Locked On like me. You get coverage of every national show

like Locked On NFL, Locked On NBA. It's awesome. Find Locked on Sports today. Now available on the free Fire TV channels app. Looking at the interior defensive line, that's where we'll start. I mean, Jeffrey Simmons is an A. Is there a lot to say about that? I mean, anytime that Jeffrey Simmons has been relatively healthy and out on the field, he is a top five interior defensive lineman in the entire NFL.

It's cut and dry. He's incredible. All right, I love Big Jeff. Huge Jeffrey Simmons fan. I think that because he was a little banged up at the end of 2022, I think the team shut him down last year at the end of the year. Simmons absolutely could have played if they were in the playoff race, but they shut him down.

And some people want to use that against him or maybe they're, uh, I would say not naive, but it's just kind of silly in my mind to think that Jeffrey Simmons couldn't have came back and played last year. They were protecting their most expensive asset after the team had been eliminated from playoff contention. Like, anyways. But because of those circumstances,

some people within the Titans fan base have begun to, I guess, lose faith in Big Jeff, criticize him, not give him the credit he's due, which I think is absurd. Okay? Big Jeff is an A-level player. And I would say that if he can combine the play that we've seen from him so far

with a double-digit sack season, which he was on his way to last year before they shut him down, if he can get over 10 sacks and combine that with the way that he's played everything else the rest of the way, we're talking about an A-plus level player. Elite, all-pro, dominant player. Like, I know that the Titans added Snead

and the Titans added Ridley, but Jeffrey Simmons is still the best player on the football team. Jeffrey Simmons is still the best player on the football team. The most valuable player, the highest paid player. It's still Big Jeff. So, don't be somebody out there giving up on Big Jeff. I think that would be absurd, okay? So, Jeff is an A

to me. But the other interior defensive line spots, and look, when I did my grades, I did it in nickel, where you have Roger McCreary on the field, you have five defensive backs, four down linemen because 60 to 70%

of NFL defense has played nickel nowadays. Like, get out of here with your 3-4, your 4-3 conversations. It's about playing defense and nickel. That's what matters nowadays in the NFL. So, whether you want it to be Tavondre Sweat, whether you want it to be Sebastian Joseph Day, the other interior defensive line spot to me is a C. Sebastian Joseph Day.

The other interior defensive line spot to me is a C. Sebastian Joseph Day is a solid replacement level player. You could switch him out with 30 other guys in the NFL and it'd probably be the same result. Nothing special.

Just plug and play starter who you could replace with a bunch of different guys. Alright. But here's what I will say. If Tavondre Sweat works out. If Tavondre Sweat has a good rookie season. I can see this going all the way up to a B+.

Like, I know that I'm known now as the Tavondre Sweat hater. Blah, blah, blah, you hate this guy. It's personal, which is silly. I just am giving you my opinion on the football. I don't know Tavondre Sweat personally. Honestly, he's probably a fun guy to hang out for someone like me. It would probably be a good time. But if Sweat hits,

if Sweat is the player that all of you guys act like he's going to be, then we got an A and a B plus on the interior defensive line. So that's possible, but for right now, whether it's Sweat, whether it's Sebastian Joseph Day, I'm giving them a C as that second interior defensive lineman.

Then you go on the edge. To me, Harold Landry is a B plus. I had some people say that he should be an A-. I get that. If he gets to like 15 sacks this year, and again, it's not about the number. It's about what level of play he would have to be at to get to that number.

If he gets 15 sacks this year, then yes, we will call it A-. All right? And I think there were times of A- play from Harold Landry in the past, but I think he's a B- level edge. Not in that first tier of guys that are A's. He's probably on the low end of the second tier, is what I would say is a B-

bordering on A-, but I got to go with B+, for right now. Final edge rush spot, Arden Key, I give that a C. Again, I think like Sebastian Joseph Day, Arden Key is more of a role player

than a pure starter. Maybe a C+, on a good day, but just too much inconsistency with his rush plan. He's a little thin, doesn't really have a lot of power. See him get bullied at times by power offensive tackles.

His energy can wane because he's such a high energy guy that I think him playing know, him playing starter level minutes, it's just hard for him to keep that energy up the whole time. So I'm going to give Arden Key a C here. I think whether you make it Rashad Weaver, you make it Arden Key, maybe Arden Key is a C plus with Weaver is like a C, C minus. But honestly, I don't feel, I don't feel compelled to change my grade from a C for Arden Key in that second edge rusher spot.

And again, to me, that's the biggest need on the team looking ahead to next year. The Titans need to add a better edge rusher. I mean, the Titans need a dominant edge rusher. If Landry was your edge rusher too, you have a freak defensive line, man. So I'm going to be big on edge by the time we get to next year. if Landry was your edge rusher too you have a freak defensive line man like so I'm gonna be big on edge

by the time we get to next year but that is my report card A for Snead B for Chito A minus for Roger D for Molden B plus for Hooker

D for Gibbons and Murray A for Big Jeff C for Sebastian Joseph Day or Devondre Sweat, B plus for Hale Mandry, and a C for Arden Key. But let me know your grades down below. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans.