Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Roster LOCKS on Defense, Farley Will Make It and Scary Times at Safety

Episode Date: May 22, 2023

As Tennessee Titans' OTAs begin it is time to examine the roster and see just how many spots are up for grabs. To do so, Tyler goes position by position through the defense to see which players are locks to make the Titans' roster. First, Caleb Farley will make the team. Tyler explains all the reasons why. Next, there is a huge issue at safety. Finally, Tyler goes over the concern with depth on the defensive line and why kicker is so uncertain.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite the injuries early in his career, I'm going to tell you guys why Caleb Farley is a lock to make the Titans roster. We're going to go over that and the rest of the defense on today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast, 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. Titans OTAs have begun and it's time to go through the roster and see just how many roster spots are available to be had on yesterday's show. We went position by position through the offense to talk about who is a lock to make the roster. We had 17 players on offense today. We're going to go position by position through the defense and talk about who is a lock to make the roster.

I got 16 guys to go over today with a bonus of special teams as well. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on YouTube and your favorite podcast app and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Hit that notification bell as well so you know when all the content goes live.

Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching on YouTube right now. Definitely do appreciate all the support. And, of course, appreciate the support of my everydayers out there tuning into the show Monday through Friday. My everydayers will not miss tomorrow's show. It will be a recap of the Tennessee Titans OTAs that are open to the media on Tuesday. That's going to happen on Tuesday afternoon. I'm going to be breaking it all down on YouTube on Tuesday night.

Going to have that ready for my commuters on Wednesday morning on your guys' way to work and all that jazz. So excited for some actual football to talk about. But before that comes, I feel like it's a great time to have this roster lock conversation again. Yesterday was offense. Check that out if you missed it. But starting with the secondary on defense, and as I said at the beginning of the show, Caleb Farley is a lock to make this roster. I know some of you that may sound insane based on what we've seen from Caleb Farley. But of course, as always, the devil is in the details

and I am here to break them down for you. So to start at cornerback, Christian Fulton, Sean Murphy Bunting, and Roger McCreary. Those are the first three locks at cornerback. I don't think you can make any argument against those three guys. Fulton going into a contract year. Like I said yesterday with Tannehill and Henry,

if there's some big trade or something like that, I think Fulton is a sneaky trade candidate. If there's some trade, then sure, this would change the lock situation. But right now, if there's no big trade for the Titans, you have Fulton who is going into a contract year, needs to really perform. He's going to be a starter. McCreary was a starter every game his rookie season. If Mike Vrabel has that much trust in the guy, he's going to play a ton and

he has the ability to play on the inside in the slot, which I think will be more helpful to his weaknesses as a player, which is his length and his ability to go up and play with some of the big pterodactyl wide receivers in the NFL. You put him in the slot, that's less of an issue. And then Sean Murphy Bunting, 6'1", physical corner. I think he's a guy who will play on the outside across from Christian Fulton with Roger McCreary in the middle. But to me, the only other lock is Caleb Farley. And I know you may be thinking, well, what about Elijah Moulton?

Well, let me go into the financial details of those two players to explain why I think that Caleb Farley is a lock and why Elijah Molden is not a lock. Number one, if the Titans were to cut Caleb Farley, and we're talking after June the 1st, post-June 1st, this would be cut down time before the season begins. But if the Titans cut Caleb Farley, it will literally cost them $2.5 million in salary cap space.

They don't save any money at all because what happens is you would take his salary for this year and the money that you owe Caleb Farley for next year. And it would all come to you right now. The bill would come due now if you cut it. So it would literally cost the Titans

$2.5 million to get rid of Caleb Farley. now if you cut it. So it would literally cost the Titans $2.5 million to get rid of Caleb Farley. It's not worth it. And let's throw this in. They added Chris Harris, the defensive back guru that they plucked from over at Washington. You bring in a guy like Chris Harris to work with a player like Caleb Farley to see if he can get the most out of a guy like Chris Harris to work with a player like Caleb Farley

to see if he can get the most out of a guy like Caleb Farley. Of course, Farley has to do his part and stay healthy, but if he does that, you've got to give Chris Harris a chance to get something out of this kid. I mean, if the Titans got it right with Caleb Farley, if for some reason he had a good season, I mean, they really might have something there. The problem with Farley was always the injuries and the lack of experience.

He was a wide receiver for a lot of his football life. Changed to cornerback in college. Has not had a lot of time because of the injuries, the COVID situation. He just hasn't had a lot of time to even play cornerback. So, of course, it looks bad when he's out there. But that's why you bring in Chris Harris. If he can stay healthy, get a chance to get some reps, who knows what you get in Caleb Farley.

And if it's going to cost you $2.5 million just to get rid of the guy, you're better off just keeping him around. With Elijah Molden, if the Titans were to cut Elijah Molden, it would save them $1 million. So, instead of losing $2 half million dollars by cutting Farley, the Titans would actually save a million dollars by cutting Elijah Molden. Now, I don't think Elijah Molden is going to get cut, but the point is I can't call him a lock.

With the injury that he had last year, with his draft position, with the financial situation, There are players like Steven Jones from Appalachian State who is a physical, feisty, slot cornerback type that could come in and challenge Elijah Molden if he's not ready to go. So I can't make Molden a lock, but Farley is a lock to me, and that is exactly why. But we're going to move forward, continue talking about the defense. We're going to go into the safeties and the linebackers before we finish off with the edge rushers and the defensive linemen. Before we get into all of that, though,

do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, America's number one sportsbook. We're getting ready to go into the NBA Finals. I'm expecting the Heat to close out that series on the Celtics. And I don't even want to talk about my Lakers right now. We're moving right along. But with the NBA Finals ahead of us, there's no better place to bet the NBA Finals than FanDuel

because right now, new customers get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's $1,000 back in bonus bets, even if your first bet doesn't win. Plus, they have great promotions every day. The app is safe. It's really secure. And you can get paid instantly when you're ready to cash out. There's no better place to bet all of the playoff action. Then America's number one sports book. Visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn and get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's FanDuel.com slash LockedOn.

FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast going over my roster locks on the defensive side of the ball. We just talked about cornerback because that is a spicy one. And as I said to start, I think Caleb Farley is a lock to make the roster. I talked about offense on yesterday's show.

So if you missed that, make sure that you go back and check that out. That's why you got to be an everydayer. So that you never miss any of that great content. Speaking of the great content, I'm going to have it for you guys Monday through Friday, every day, all year long on YouTube, your favorite podcast app, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. The Titans have practice on Tuesday open to the media.

I'm going to be recapping that and breaking that down with you guys on Tuesday night on YouTube, Wednesday morning for the podcast, folks. I'm going to have a lot of OTA content coming for you throughout the rest of the week. Derrick Henry is in the building, and that, to me, is very surprising. So we got a lot to talk about the rest of the week when it comes to OTAs. But diving back into the positions here, we did just talk about cornerback.

Now I want to go to safety. And I did an article I write for Sports Illustrated, alltitans.com. Check out my written work if you guys haven't already. We do some good stuff over there, and I'm very excited for what's to come into the season. But you look at safety, and to me, I called that a hidden disaster position. You have Kevin Byard and Imani Hooker. Those are your only locks, your starters

but after that I don't think any of the guys should even make the Titans roster I think they need to go out and get some veterans to bring in who you can feel more comfortable with yeah, if Kevin Byard and Imani Hooker stay healthy then you have one of the best safety duos in the entire NFL but what if they don't?

You are in trouble. I mean, Josh Thompson, Shaheem Carter, Mike Brown, Matthew Jackson, Tyreek Stevenson, or Tyreek Jones. This is a

disaster waiting to happen. And I expect two, three, maybe additions at safety turning some of these guys off the roster. I mean, Shaheem Carter cannot play on the roster. He's not an NFL 53-man roster guy. Mike Brown played three games for Cleveland last year, but he's, I mean, and I'm not a huge fan of Josh Thompson either. So, not like as a person, you know what I mean?

Just on the roster. Sounds funny. But to me, safety is just a disaster waiting to happen for the Titans if they don't do something soon. I mean, I'm sure what the plan is for the Titans here is they want to go through summer OTAs. There's three OTAs. We have mandatory minicamp is one of those and mandatory minicamp happens

June 10th through the 12th, I think. And then maybe on the 15th is the last one. But it's right in that middle portion of June. And then there's the big break until training camp comes. So what I think the Titans are doing at certain positions, including safety, is they're going to give these guys a chance before they go out and spend money that they don't have a lot of on veteran players. But they're going to get a look at Thompson and Carter and Brown

and Jackson and Jones and see what they can do. But if they don't perform in this next four week, five week period after, you know, between now and mandatory minicamp, if they don't perform, I think the Titans will go out and add some veterans before training camp kicks up at the end of July.

So I think that's, this period is really important for some of these guys like that. But man, not only are there only two roster locks at safety? I wouldn't even want any of these guys to make the roster anyways. Oh man, it's a hidden disaster position at safety. But moving to linebacker. A lot of names here. This is a position where the Titans did more of their damage in free agency

than they did anywhere else, even undrafted free agency, like regular veteran free agency. Because, of course, they had Aziz Alshier. They had Luke Gifford. They had Ben Neiman. So you're looking at, with Monty Rice, Chance Campbell, Jack Gibbons. You're looking at six guys right there. Not to mention a couple of undrafted free agents.

One undrafted free agent that they brought in, Otis. To me, there's only two locks here despite the numbers. And it's Monty Rice and Aziz Alshir. Because I think they're the starters. But to me, you look at Ben Neiman and Luke Gifford, they're both depth linebackers who you don't really want to play defense all the time, but should be very important special teams contributors.

So to me, Gifford and Neiman may be fighting for one role. Like they're fighting over the same spot. That veteran guy who plays special teams but could give you a little depth and a pinch. You look at Jack Gibbons and Chance Campbell, and I know that Gibbons had the good game, what he played good pass coverage against, I think it was like the Texans or Jacksonville at the end of the season.

Had a really good game. I remember his pro football focus grade was like 90, 89, something like that. He had an interception in the game. It might have been the Jacksonville game, but in Tennessee, not the one at the end of the year. But anyways, Gibbons is an undrafted free agent from last year who played because of injuries. And Chance Campbell was a sixth-round pick

who didn't play the entire season because of injury. So while what happens is we become partial to some of these guys, we want to believe in them, blah, blah, blah, but at the end of the day, the odds of these guys sticking on the roster are low. They're low. So with that in mind, I can't consider anybody a lock out of those bottom four.

So there's only two for me. It's Aziz Alshier and it's Monty Rice. And it's the same thing as safety. Imani Hooker and Kevin Byard. And after that, there's much better depth, in my opinion, at linebacker. I like the depth at linebacker a lot better. I mean, Gibbons and, let's say, Neiman. Gibbons, Neiman, and

Gifford, or the three linebackers after Rice and Alshier. That's fine. Like, you know, it's not the most talented linebacker group in the NFL or anything like that, but it's like, you know, a good group. Safety, though. Ugh. Yikes. Y group. Safety, though.

Yikes. Yikes. So, I think some veterans need to be added at safety. I'm excited to see the battles at linebacker, but for me, only two locks of position. Rice and Alshere and then Byard and Hooker to go along with my four locks at cornerback. Fulton, Murphy, Bunting, Roger McCreary, and Caleb Farley. So that's how far we've gotten through the defense.

Now we got to turn to edge rusher. We got to talk about defensive line and a little bonus of special teams in there for you guys as well. So we're going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast going over my defensive roster locks. Again, we did offense yesterday. Go back and check that out if you haven't.

We talked about cornerback to start, safety, and linebacker next. Now we got to get into the defensive line, edge rushers, special teams. Before we do, got to tell you guys, it's time for a hydration break. I just took a nice big cold drink of water before we started this last segment of the show. You guys need to hydrate as well. I'm giving you guys value besides just Tennessee Titans content, okay? Looking out for you guys here. Take a drink of water.

Let's all hydrate as a group. But moving right along, I have to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen. Every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on every app, including YouTube, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, your team every day. Speaking of my everydayers, tomorrow you are going to get a recap,

a breakdown of Titans OTAs. It's open to the media on Tuesday, so I'm going to be bringing you guys a good recap of that on Tuesday night on YouTube, Wednesday morning for the podcast crowd, if you listen on your way to work. But jumping back in here, we're going to look at Edgerusher right away. And to me, simple, easy, three keepers, three roster locks for the Titans at Edgerusher.

Harold Landry, Arden Key, Rashad Weaver. Outside of that, nobody's for certain Sam Oakway and Nonu maybe I think he got brought back because he had time with the team last year but I don't think he's anywhere even close to being a roster lock

he's not even a a guy who I am certain will make the team anyways I think he could be pushed but undrafted free agents like Thomas Rush or like Caleb Murphy, I could absolutely see both of those guys beating out Sam Oakway and Onu for an edge rusher spot.

So to me, it's a simple cut and dry three. Same thing with the defensive line. And defensive line is another one of those hidden disasters. We have Jeff at DT. Pierre Tart, who still hasn't signed his tender. He doesn't really have a lot of options, so I expect him back. But Pierre Tart, a nose tackle.

Danico Autry at defensive end. So those are your three defensive linemen. After that, Jaden Peavy, Curtis Brooks, Shaquille Brown, Naquan Jones, Tyler Shelvin, TK McClendon. I like Naquan Jones a lot, but he didn't have a great year last year. Tyler Shelvin has shown some promise, but he's brand new to the organization. We have no reason to believe he'll stick with the Titans. After that, Jaden Peavy, Curtis Brooks, they were UDFAs from last year. They're no guarantee to actually even compete for a roster spot.

They could be simply viewed as a practice squad player. Shaquille Brown, undrafted free agent this year being added. So to me, outside of Arden Key, Rashad Weaver, Harold Andry, Autry, Simmons, and Tartt, there are no locks on the defensive line in any way. There's nobody who I feel is on the line, is even on the bubble of being a lock. So I hope that the undrafted free agent edge rushers

really step up and find a way to make the roster. But defensive line, there is no Mario Edwards. There is no DeMarcus Walker here. And I think the Titans are, again, they're going to see what they got in the early phase of the summer workouts. And then when we get into training camp, hopefully we start to see a couple, I say serious additions, but I don't mean serious in terms of like insinuating that it's highly valued or high priced or a big name.

I mean serious in terms of let's get serious. Let's get serious about the defensive line depth. Because right now the Titans are not serious about it. They just want to see what these young players got, see if they find any diamonds in the rough. And when push comes to shove and it's really time to put the roster together, they're going to be adding some veteran defensive linemen

who they know they can count on, which worked last year despite the injuries. Hopefully the Titans heed that call and figure that out. But let's move to special teams. And there's only two. Ryan Stonehouse and Morgan Cox. Stonehouse obviously a punter. Morgan Cox is the long snapper.

There is no lock at Kickerman. You know, it's funny. Before I stepped on to record the show, I was just on Twitter doing my normal day at Tic Tac Titans. You can follow me there for constant reaction all the time of everything that happens. But I put out my roster lock piece in written form for

Sports Illustrated and somebody was like, you know, Caleb Schuttick is a lock, the kicker. And I'm like, how could you, other than just blind optimism, the Titans are going to be great. Everything is going to go great. All the players they have are going to end up being good. But other than like, just like being that kind of optimistic,

how could you speak in such certainty with Caleb Schoedem? I mean, he didn't kick a single ball last year for the Titans. And he was a good kicker in college at Iowa, but it wasn't like, you know, like he was a generational kicking talent or anything like that. It's not like he was Chad Ryland or, or Jake Moody. He wasn't on that level even. So there is no lock and kicker.

There's no way that there could be one. So with, with Ryan Stonehouse, obviously, I mean, he's one of the best punters in the NFL. Morgan Cox, he's just a model of consistency. I mean, you never hear his name, which is a great thing. I mean, he's in his late 30s and he's just still one of the best long snappers in the NFL. You keep the guy healthy, he's going to be able to keep doing his job pretty good for as long as the Titans will have him. And honestly, the Titans should keep him for as long as he wants to play.

Because Morgan Cox just gets the job done. All right? But with that being said, very excited for tomorrow's show. Going to be breaking down OTAs, talking about who's there. Because I think that's one of the most important aspects of the OTA so far. In my opinion, just picking up what I'm picking up is who is in the building. And there's a lot of talking points

that we're going to talk about off of that. Plus, we're going to get live video. We're going to get play information. I mean, there's going to be some good info coming tomorrow. And I'm going to be here to break it all down with you guys. So don't miss any of it. 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.