Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Ryan Tannehill is 'Week 1 Starter,' Titans Schedule Wishlist & Rookie Number Selections

Episode Date: May 10, 2023

The Tennessee Titans may have drafted a quarterback in back to back drafts, but according to a new report from Dianna Russini of ESPN, Tannehill is set to be the Titans "Week 1 Starter," but Tyler thinks that would be a big mistake. Next, the Titans schedule is set to release shortly and Tyler has some hopes for what he wants to see including primetime games and early/late preferences. Finally, the Titans' rookie class selected their numbers and Tyler has some things to say about each pick.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!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month.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

Titans fans, according to a new report, Ryan Tannehill is the Titans week one starter. I'm going to tell you why I think that is a big mistake 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 Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland.

Titans fans, we've got a lot to discuss on today's show. Ryan Tannehill is the week one starter. I think that's a big mistake. Also, the Titans schedule will be released shortly. I'm going to tell you what I hope to see from that Titans schedule in 2023. And then the Titans rookie class officially picked their numbers. I'm going to give you a little tidbit on each of their decisions 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 on YouTube and any podcast app all year round and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. Got a lot of content coming up your way. At the end of the week, going over the schedule, I'm going to have my top three must wins, my top three X Factor games. Going to break down the entire thing for you. Plus, we have more prospect deep dives coming in the near future on the Titans rookie class. Plus, rookie minicamp and OTAs all ahead.

Don't miss any of the free daily Tennessee Titans content coming your way. It's the Locked on Titans podcast. Your team every day. With that being said, let's dive right into the new report about Ryan Tannehill claiming that he is the Tennessee Titans starter on week one. And we got this report from ESPN's Diana Rossini. And once again, Rossini is obviously tied into the Titans organization. She has somebody feeding her information.

She also said she speaks with Rancart Thon quite often. So I'm not saying that every report that Diana Rossini puts out is 100% true, but it's obvious she's getting good quality information from the right people within the organization. And this is what Rossini reported on Wednesday. She said, quote, Ryan Tannehill is the starter week one. That's what I was told. This is his team. He is the guy.

The drafting of Will Levis is obviously this team looking towards the future, knowing that Ryan Tannehill will be playing under an aspiring contract. And as this is last year in Tennessee, no movement there if they're going to extend him just yet or even decide to do that. But for now, it's Ryan Tannehill's team. And once again, guys, I think the Titans are making a big mistake here. Okay, look, this roster piloted by Ryan Tannehill is going to get you where?

Exactly. We saw Ryan Tannehill with a great supporting cast, with a good offensive line, with a fantastic offensive play caller. We saw that in 2019 and 2020. We have seen the best that Ryan Tannehill can do. And that is lose to Pat Mahomes in the AFC Championship. That is lose to Baltimore and only score 13 points. Okay, so we have seen the best versions of Ryan Tannehill.

And now he's on a much worse roster than those two years. So even if Ryan Tannehill is at his best with this team, it's not going to be as good as his performances were with those rosters. So if you know that this roster piloted by Ryan Tannehill can't get you to a Super Bowl, then what are we doing here? What are we doing? In 2019, once Tannehill took over and they went on the run,

in 2020 and 2021, I believe this team had a shot at a Super Bowl. So you know what? Ride with Ryan Tannehill. They don't right now. So as I said, before the Titans drafted Will Levis and just replaced him with Malik Willis, go with the young quarterback.

Start Will Levis now. Either you find that, hey, we got a keeper here. We hit on this draft pick. Will Levis can play. that, hey, we got a keeper here, we hit on this draft pick, Will Levis can play, or you're poor enough to have a really nice pick next year to help you reset the foundation even more. Okay?

The Titans need to commit here. Going with the Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans is only going to set them back from flipping this roster and getting to the next best version of the Titans, which certainly won't be with Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry. So to me, again, it's a failure to commit from the Titans. They want to look at the future while trying to be as competitive as possible now. And like I said, the last few episodes, if you try to walk down two paths, you're going to walk down none. And you're going to be stuck in NFL purgatory where you're 9-8, 8-9, 7-10

for years and years and years and years. And you don't have the resources to get the top talent that you need to change that. And that's just not where I want to see the Titans be. Now, the other way to look at this report is this is the Titans maintaining leverage for a Ryan Tannehill trade. If you announced, yeah, we're going to roll with Will Levis this year, then Tannehill's price in a trade goes way down. Even if you don't think he's worth very much in a trade, fourth, fifth round pick, whatever, that's fine. Whatever the value you think Ryan Tannehill is worth, just know if the Titans announced that they're going with Will Levis right now, that value goes down. So, Rossini could be

reporting this, not only because it's probably the truth, but also because it helps the Titans have a little bit more leverage if somebody becomes interested in Ryan Tannehill. And look, this report is what it is now, but I am a 100% believer in the fact that if a team's quarterback gets injured in training camp or in the preseason, if somebody's young quarterback, like a Desmond Ritter or Sam Howe,

doesn't work out in the summer months, then those teams would be given a call to the Tennessee Titans about Tannehill. And I guarantee you that if they gave the Titans the right price, they would still trade Tannehill. So I believe the report for multiple reasons. I think it's a mistake if true, but I also am not naive enough to think the Titans wouldn't trade Tannehill out of town if they got the right offer during training camp or the preseason

so keep all of that in mind of course but the latest is Ryan Tannehill is your week one starter and I don't think that anybody is probably surprised about that right now but with that being said the Titans schedule comes out shortly I'm going to go over my schedule wish list,

tell you what primetime games and primetime opponents I hope the Titans have and who I hope they play, talk about who I want them to play early in the season, late in the season, when I want the bye week, all of that and more. Plus, we're going over the new rookies numbers at the end of the show. Make sure that you stay locked in

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the best tasting protein bars of all time. You can thank me later. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We talked about the new report about Ryan Tannehill being the day one starter for the Titans. All the different angles that you could take from that report. Now I want to talk about the Titans schedule. Because whether you're listening to this on Wednesday night. On YouTube. Whether you're listening to it on your favorite podcast app.

On your way to work in the morning on Thursday. The Titans schedule will be coming out shortly. And I have some hopes. For what we might see in that schedule. Before we get into it. I want to thank you guys again. For making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Shout out to my everydayers out there. Listen to the show Monday through Friday. Let me know down in the comments who you are. Let them know you're an everydayer. Let me know on Twitter at TicTacTitans as well. I appreciate you guys all so much. If you're new though, you don't want to miss any of the content I got coming your way. I do have a little bit of a scheduling issue, just a personal matter that I have to attend to

on Thursday evening when the schedule comes out. So I'm going to be recording a schedule release podcast on Friday during the day. It may not be there for you guys on Friday morning on your way to work. My apologies for that. Hopefully you'll be able to tune in on your way home from work or during your lunch break, something like that. YouTube people. Hopefully you'll be able to tune in on your way home from work or during your lunch break, something like that. YouTube people, obviously, you'll be able to watch whenever you have a moment, but I'm going to be doing the biggest X-Factor games. I'm going to be doing the must-win

games for the Titans, doing a record prediction as well. I have a ton of scheduled content coming for you guys in the next few days, so make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. But first, before we get into my schedule wish list, I want to go over who the Titans opponents are in 2023 because we already know who they're going to play. Home opponents, the Baltimore Ravens, but that game will be in London. So

the Titans are the home team, but they're in London. Okay? But that is technically a home game. They play the Bengals at home. They play the Falcons at home. They play the Panthers at home. They play the Chargers at home. And they play the Seahawks at home.

So technically nine home games for the Titans. Plus, of course, the division opponents. The Texans, the Jaguars, and the Colts, one game against either of all those guys at home. Then, on the road, they have the Browns, the Steelers, the Saints, the Bucs, the Buccaneers, and then the Dolphins. And then, of course, the division opponents,

the Jaguars, the Colts, the Texans on the road as well. So those are the opponents that the Titans play. So with that in mind, first, if the Titans play primetime games, Thursday night, Sunday night, Monday night, here is who I hope the game is against. Number one, Thursday night football, the Miami Dolphins. This game is going to be at Miami. I hope it comes later in the year so it's not as hot, but I think that the Dolphins' firepower on offense combined with their general aura as a franchise, the Dolphins are a popular franchise, I think that would balance out with the Titans being a less popular franchise nationally. And I think both those teams could be in a similar place in terms of talent. I think the Dolphins have more talent on their roster, but there are parts of their team that

I'm just not sold on. So I think both those teams could be in the middle of the pack in the AFC. Plus you got the Ryan Tannehill against his former team aspect as well. That would be interesting. So, I think that the Titans against the Dolphins on Thursday night football does make some sense. Sunday night football, I didn't want to just go with a team I think the Titans could beat or

whatever. I wanted to go with a matchup that makes sense. And the Cincinnati Bengals against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday night football makes sense. Obviously, you have the playoff game. They've played each other every year since like 2018. At this point, it feels like 2019 maybe. Either way, the Bengals and the Titans have played each other quite a bit lately.

There's a little bit of a small rivalry there between the locker rooms. I think when you have the Titans, what you're going to want is, like we saw Titans-Cowboys last year, Thursday night football. Titans-Rams, Sunday night football the year before that. You know what I mean? When the Titans play on prime time, they try to balance it with a big glamour franchise. And right now, that's what the Bengals are. The Bengals are an America favorite.

People love watching the Bengals and Joe Burrow. Explosive offense. Plus, you have that little rivalry there. I think Sunday night football, Bengals, Titans. That could make a lot of sense. And then Monday night football, I'd like to see Titans-Chargers. I think that would be a fun game.

You got Justin Herbert. Chargers aren't on the level of like the Chiefs and the Bengals and the Eagles, but they're right below that. And I think having a team like the Chargers and selling Justin Herbert and all that on the West Coast since it'll be at Los Angeles,

I think having the Titans as a team to come out there who you know is going to compete, I think that would make a lot of sense for the NFL as well. And I think the Titans could win those games. I mean, it's the Titans. I'm not very high on the Titans roster right now, but at the end of the day, this is a Mike Frabel team. They're going to come out and compete.

Games that I'd like to see happen early in the schedule, the Panthers, the Falcons, and the Browns. So number one, the Panthers, new rookie quarterback. Don't want him to get settled, get used to it. But well, let's catch him off guard. Same thing with the Falcons. Desmond Ritter, still a young quarterback.

First year as the certified starter. I'd like to play him early before they catch their bearings. The Browns, similar thing. Before Deshaun Watson gets full comfort, you know, a third through the season, let's play the Browns early, okay, before they catch their bearings as well. Games I'd like to see happen late in the year. The Dolphins for the weather so that it's cooler and not so hot, since that will be in Miami.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, same reasoning, heat, weather. But also, the Buccaneers are starting Kyle Trask or Baker Mayfield this year. I think they're in full-on tank mode to get Caleb Williams or Drake May. That is only going to be intensified at the end of the year. So Tampa Bay may just lay down and die if the Titans get to play them late in the season. Buy week, I just want the buy week to be week nine or later. Week nine or later. The Titans have the international game with the Ravens in week six. In the past, teams have typically taken their bye week directly after their international game. The Titans have the choice now. They can either say, we want to take

it after the international game, or they could say, hey, no, we're going to gamble. It could be earlier than that. It could be later than that, but we're going to see it because if you don't lock yourself into a bye week in week seven, it gives you a chance to have a bye week later in the season. And I think having a bye week later in the season is better for rest, is better for the home stretch, all that. So I think the Titans gamble it and try to get a bye week later in the year. The game that I hope comes first, right now there are rumors out there

that the Titans will play the Steelers on the road in week one. There is a ton of rumors in the 24 hours leading up to the schedule release every year. And I have found that a lot of them are false. So that's a rumor. I'm not going to live or die by that, but that's what you're hearing. But I'd like the Titans to play the Panthers or the Falcons in week one.

And I already explained the reasons why. So the last game of the year, let's play the Colts at home. I think there's a good chance the Colts are the worst team in the AFC South this year. I think Houston may be more competitive. Jacksonville will obviously be better than Indy, so if the Titans have a last week win and end situation, let's play Anthony Richardson in the Indianapolis Colts at home. I think that could be suitable.

But with that said, the Titans rookie class picked our numbers. I'm going to dive into that in just a moment. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the Ryan Tannehill report that he is the week one starter. We talked about my wish list for the Titans schedule release. Now I want to talk about the Titans rookie class. They selected their jersey numbers.

And I got things to say, I guess, about each selection. Now, first and foremost, obviously it ain't that deep. It's just a number, and we're just having fun. So I wanted to point that out before I get into any of it. But I also 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, on whatever podcast app you use, always for free.

Get subscribed, stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. A lot of scheduled reaction content coming your way. As I said in the last segment, going to be dropping a bunch of videos on Friday and everything like that after the news comes out officially on Thursday night. But with that being said, let's talk about these numbers. Shout out to my everydayers. Peter Skowronski.

Following in the footsteps of Taylor LeJuan. Will wear number 77. So, funny thing is, when I tweeted this out, because this was the first number that the Titans released early in the morning, and I kind of retweeted it, gave, you know, simple reaction, blah, blah, blah.

Somebody responded to me and said, oh, Taylor LeJuan won't like this. Well, actually, turns out, that Skowronski texted Taylor LeJuan and asked him if it was okay that he wore 77, and Taylor LeJuan gave asked him if it was okay that he wore 77 and Taylor LeJuan gave him his blessing. Not surprised by that at all. Taylor LeJuan still has a great relationship with the team. He's been very purposeful in trying to make sure that people

understand that. He is the one who said that Peter Skowronski text messaged him and asked to wear the 77 and he said it was fine. So, love the legacy, love the passing of the torch there. Just good vibes. Just good vibes. And I'm cool with that. 77, good offensive line number. Nothing, nothing bad to say about that. Love all that. Then,

Will Levis selected number 8. Levis was number 7 in college, but obviously that's still Will Levis. Will, if Will Levis was number seven in college, but obviously that's still Will Levis. Will, if Will Levis, or that's still Malik Willis. If Malik Willis is cut before the season begins,

which I think he will be, will Levis switch back to seven? Because that's the number he wants. I don't know. We'll see. But if he keeps number eight, man, it's going to be hard for me to hate on this guy. Number eight.

Look behind me. That's my number, baby. It's my favorite number. Kobe Bryant. My dog's named Kobe. Will Levis's dog is named Kobe. He's got a little bit of red in his beard.

I'll let you boy. So stacking up a lot of things that make it hard to dislike him as much as I did before the draft. But my real point here is, if Will Levis is a bust wearing number eight, the number is cursed. And no quarterback should ever be allowed to wear it ever again. They should just retire it at that point.

Scary hours if you're number eight for the Titans. Tajay Spears, number 32. And I hate this. I hate this. Number 32 is a sucky number for a scat back for a small running back. Small running backs need to be 29 or less. And I think 29 is a terrible number for a running back, by the way. But 32 just does not look right on a small running back. Somebody pointed out Deion Lewis at 33. Yeah, he looked terrible. There are other small running backs,

maybe like a Maurice Jones Drew, but he was like big and stocky. And like, so 32 kind of filled him out. You know what I mean? Spears isn't going to look right in a 32, man. He's number 22 all of his life, but obviously number is taken right now. But sure hope he doesn't stick with 32 his entire career.

It doesn't just won't look right on a five foot nine running back in my opinion. Josh Wiley pick number 81. I've been saying he's probably going to fill in the Austin Hooper role since he was drafted since before the draft. I said he could fill that role. So makes sense that he took number 81. He's just the new Hooper.

Alright, great. This one, man. Jalen Duncan. My everydayers who have been listening to the show and know my feelings on Jalen Duncan, you're going to laugh with me when I tell you what number he picked.

Number 79, baby. Man, I hate to do it, but I can think of an offensive lineman who the Titans drafted. Granted, this guy was drafted a lot earlier. Who picked number 79 as a rookie who had some work ethic concerns coming out of the draft. Oh, no! 79 is going to be another

one of those numbers if Jalen Duncan Oh, God. If Jalen Duncan doesn't do well, just burn 79 for the rest of eternity. And then finally, Colton Dow pick 14,

which I wrote in my notes. Meh. Meh. That's all I got for you on that. Meh. 14. Not a great wide receiver number, in my opinion, and probably the type of number you should give to a wide receiver

is probably going to just play on special teams. Sounds pretty good to me. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. Again, I'll be back with you guys on Friday to break down everything that takes place with the Titans schedule release on Thursday night. 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.