Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans "Same Old, Same Old" WR Problem, OL Starters & MEH Opening Week of Free Agency

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

The Tennessee Titans continue to make confusing moves at the wide receiver position. One day after declining to tender Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, the Titans bring him back on a one-year deal. This is just a repeat of the same old philosophy for the Titans. Also, with two signings on the offensive line, what does the starting line up look like right now and where do the Titans still need additions? Finally, Tyler gives his recap of the first week of free agency and talks about how the Titans have done just...ok.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.Ultimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.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

I have absolutely had it with how the Tennessee Titans view the wide receiver position. I'll explain 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, I am so annoyed with the Titans and their wide receiver position right now.

A day after the Tennessee Titans declined to tender Nick Westbrook-Akene, they bring him back on a one-year deal. I'm going to dive into my frustrations with that. We're also going to talk about what the starting offensive line looks like right now, and I'll give my end of the first week of free agency recap of the Titans signings to cap things off. Before we get into it, I 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 all platforms. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed for free Tennessee Titans content Monday through Friday all year round. It's the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network

where it's your team every day. I'm struggling up front here, but I also want to tell you this episode of Locked on Titans is brought to you by the all-new, all-electric 2023 Nissan Aria, the Nissan Aria, the EV for the people who love to drive. Learn more at NissanUSA.com. And I got to tell you, I'm struggling to get through the intro here

because I'm so frustrated, all right? And what I'll say up front before I get into my diatribe here is the Titans have the ability to prove me wrong or the Titans have the ability to show me that I'm wrong about how I'm viewing things. But yesterday's show, I expressed excitement, relief, whatever other adjective you want to find that the Titans did not tender Nick Westbrook-Akene or Cody Hollister as restricted free agents. They didn't give them a tender. And I thought, silly me, how naive,

I thought that this was a moment where the Titans are signaling that they are ready to go with a new philosophy at wide receiver. But no. But no. I was wrong because on Thursday, the Titans brought Nick Westbrook-Akene back on a one-year deal. Now, got to get this out of the way up front. How much is it going to cost? Well, to me, it's pretty obvious what it's going to cost,

and it's going to be less than $2 million because the restricted free agent tender that the Titans would have put on Nick Westbrook-Akene is a right of first refusal. Just generic restricted free agency. You go sign a deal. We have the ability to match it. If not, you go to that team. Just pure restricted free agency at that point. The Titans said, no, we're not doing that because if you don't get a deal, we're going to have to pay you $2.6 million. Well, they didn't think that Nick Westbrook-Akene was worth $2.6 million. So they let him go. He thought he could get more than $2.6 million. So he asked the team not to give him that tender. Well, turns out he couldn't get more than that. And for good reason,

he's barely a rosterable wide receiver in the NFL, but yet the Titans treat him like a starter. So, of course, Mike Vrabel's little teacher's pet, Nick Westbrook-Akene, brought back on a one-year deal. Look, I acknowledge, very minimal risk here. It's going to be less than $2 million. So it's not like the Titans wasted a bunch of money or wasted a big opportunity on NWI.

But at the end of the day, it's just same old, same old Titans. And that is what is frustrating to me when I thought we might be turning a corner. Mike Vrabel has said multiple times in this offseason, the Titans need to find guys who get open and catch the ball, not just block. He talked about how much the team needed to add speed as well, especially on offense.

And your response to that is to sign no veteran wide receivers in free agency and bring back NWI. So now you have Nick Westbrook-Akene, Traylon Burks in year two who only played 11 games, Kyle Phillips who only caught eight passes last year. You could be as high on Kyle Phillips as you want, but why would you trust any of that? Why do you feel comfortable or secure that the Titans are going to have a much better wide receiver? Racey McMath, Mason Kinsey, Reggie Roberson. I mean, here's what it comes down to for me. Here's an analogy for you.

You guys have all watched sports movies. You've watched a movie like The Replacements, like what's the baseball movie where the bench warmers, the Keanu Reeves movie that I liked a lot. Love it when you call me big pop. I can't think of it right now. My friends would absolutely roast me for not being able to remember it. But Mike Vrabel coaches like he's a plucky upstart, underdog, little league team.

And yeah, we don't need all those guys with talent. We don't need the most talent. We're going to have guys who work hard, who hustle, who love the team, who play to the whistle, who play physical. We're going to have guys with all the intangibles, and that is going to beat all of the talent that you have. That is not how life works. In life, talent wins. In life, the villains win.

There are no heroes in real life, in the world we live in. Okay? This is not the movies. The plucky underdog team with no talent doesn't win in real life. All right? March Madness is going on. We're going to see some upsets, of course. But does Cinderella win the title?

No. Duke, Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina, they win the title. That's what happens at the end in real life. So I'm just super frustrated. And look, the Titans could go out, sign another veteran wide receiver. The Titans could go out and trade for a good veteran wide receiver like Brandon Cooks or, you know, Corlin Sutton or Jerry Judy or DeAndre Hopkins. Sure, they could go out and make a trade. They could prove me wrong. And dear God, I hope so.

Because I would rather be wrong and the Titans get better at wide receiver than be right and just be sitting here frustrated again for another season watching Nick Westbrook-Akene get the second most snaps of any wide receiver on the team. Look, there is a Libra scale. On one side you have intangibles, on the other you have talent.

I'm 5'5". I can know the Titans playbook better than Einstein. I can work harder than anybody else in the world. I can know the Titans playbook better than Einstein. I can work harder than anybody else in the world. I can hustle every play and play with physicality. I can care about the team more than anyone in the universe. But I don't have enough talent for it to matter. Nick Westbrook-Akina doesn't have enough talent

for all of that stuff to matter more. Look, some of you guys would say Paris Campbell, McCall Hardman. Some of these other guys with speed are more concerned. DJ Chark. DJ Chark missed five games in the middle of the year last year or more. Paris Campbell had injuries to start the beginning of his career. McCool Hardman only played in eight games last year. You guys are going to get in there and tell me about the risk of injuries. What about the risk of having a wide receiver play as much as NWI, who's not good? He's a practice squad wide receiver at minimum,

a special teams player. And the Titans ask him year after year to be a starter, and they're doing it again. You can add a wide receiver at number 11. You can add two wide receivers in the draft. But that doesn't make this wide receiver group any better than bottom 10 in the NFL. Bringing back Nick Westbrook-Akene

is just another sign that it's same old, same old Titans and Mike Rabel refuses to get out of movie little league coach status and actually get some talent on this team. Get some talent at wide receiver. Because look, if Paris Campbell,

McCall Hardman, DJ Chark, Darius Slayton, if those guys get hurt, then you'll probably have to play a backup wide receiver but if you stick with Nick Westbrook, Akina over guys like that you are already playing a backup wide receiver in NWI so the downside of taking the risk on those kind of guys

is the reality that the Titans are choosing again, the Titans could prove me wrong by going out and making a big trade for a veteran wide receiver. They could prove me wrong by going out and signing another veteran. But Chark is visiting the Panthers. Campbell signed with the Giants. Darius Slayton got a deal. Okay, you didn't want to pay money for the top of the market, guys.

I get it. I'm not asking you to go out and get Jacoby Myers or asking you to go out and get Odell Beckham or asking you to go out and get some of the top names at the market. I'm not asking for Juju Smith-Schuster. I wanted a value veteran worth a couple million dollars on a one-year deal just to give you some speed and some talent. And if it goes right, you have a better wide receiver group.

If you had Traylon Burks, Kyle Phillips, Jackson Smith and Jigba, and Paris Campbell, and it works, now you are actually better at wide receiver. So, I'm just frustrated. I'm sure you guys are frustrated too, but it's just same old, same old Mike Vrabel, same old, same old Titans with this move, even if it's low risk. It's just annoying to me. But with that being said,

we're going to talk about the offensive line, where that's at, what kind of positions the Titans could be putting these guys in as starters. Before we get into it though, do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Bilt Bar, the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy. You get the best of both worlds with Built Bar. You get all the taste benefits of a candy bar.

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I had to take a drink. I had to wipe the sweat off my brow. I'm frustrated, man. I'm frustrated by this. And look, a lot of you guys are going to get into the comments and say, oh, Nick Westbrook-Akene is a depth wide receiver. Why are you so upset about wide receiver five or wide receiver four? We thought that Nick Westbrook-Akene was wide receiver four or was wide receiver five the last two years.

And guess what? He wasn't. He wasn't. He ended up being a top three wide receiver on the team, a top two wide receiver in snaps. So now the Titans are going into the season without a Julio Jones. Without a Traylon Burks and Kyle Phillips. The Titans don't even have wide receivers right now that can get injured that would allow

NWI to have an elevated role. They are choosing NWI to have that elevated role from the start. It's just absurd. It's just absurd to me. You could have brought in Nick Westbrook-Akene on a $1 million, it'd probably be $1.8, $1.9 million, $1.6, somewhere in there. You could have brought him in on that deal and brought in a valid veteran wide receiver that makes sense.

And if that veteran wide receiver with risk gets hurt, you got to end up UI anyways. So it's just, it's just incredibly perplexing to me that Mike Vrabel hasn't learned from his own mistakes and learn from his own words. He's told us they need to get faster. They need to get guys that get open and catch the ball. Nick Westbrook Aquino ran like a 4.68 40 yard dash coming out of college. It's been years since then. He's been one of the slowest wide receivers in the NFL for a long time. Oh, he's six foot two, six'3". He's a big body. He should be able to do big physical wide receiver stuff. All right, the guy can block, but he was ranked 140th

in contested catch rate in 2022. 140th. 30% of his contested catch opportunities did he make a catch. He got targeted 50 times and caught 25 passes. He doesn't get open. He doesn't create separation. And he barely catches the ball.

And when he does, he doesn't do anything with it afterwards. So what, you're bringing him back because he can block? I thought that we were past this, man. I thought that we were past this. And we're not. But anyway, just wanted to cap off that rant to start the show. It's on my mind. I can't help it. Bother me. And again,

they can prove me wrong. Going out, getting another veteran in free agency. Going out and making a trade before the draft. But you cannot go to the NFL draft with just what they have at wide receiver right now. Burks, Phillips, NWI, Mason Kinsey, Reggie Roberson, and Racey McMath.

You cannot go into the draft with that being your only wide receivers. You simply can't do it. You can't do it. You can't. Even two rookies, one at 11 and one in the mid-rounds, you're still a bottom 10 wide receiver group and not helping your team at all. So anyways, moving right along to a conversation about the offensive line. Aaron Brewer brought back on a second round tender.

Well, I mean, he could go out and get a deal from him. There is not a team in the NFL who's paying Aaron Brewer $4.3 million. Maybe in the XFL. My God. So anyway, what in the XFL. My God. So anyway, what an overpay for Aaron Brewer. I would imagine that there wasn't another NFL team that would have paid him half of that.

They wouldn't have paid him half of that. So I think that Aaron Brewer should have got the situation that NWI got. We're not paying you $2 million. We'll pay you less than that to come back. And instead, the Titans paid $4.3 million. The Titans are paying Aaron Brewer more money to come back than they saved by cutting Ben Jones. I mean, those two moves, and they're both Mike Vrabel moves.

Those are Mike Vrabel guys. Mike Vrabel told Rand, go get those guys back. Those are my guys. I love them. Tougher than a $2 steak, right? Jesus, man. Killing me.

But with that being said, we'll use that as the jump off point. Aaron Brewer is going to be the starting center next year. The Titans didn't give him $4.3 million and bring him back on a second round tender to not start him. Aaron Brewer will be the starting center next year. The Titans didn't give him $4.3 million and bring him back on a second round tender to not start him. Aaron Brewer will be the starting center next year. That is what they are paying him to do. They overpaid him by double. They obviously have something in mind for him. So with Aaron Brewer starting at center, I think that Daniel Brunskill, who was just signed,

is going to be set at right guard. He played majority of right guard in his career. Yes, he could play some right tackle. Yes, he could play some center, but I think that Brunskill was brought in to fill that right guard position. You keep NPF at right tackle, and then Andre Dillard could play left guard or left tackle. If you draft

Paris Johnson Jr., you kick in Dillard to left guard. You let PJJ play left tackle. If you draft Paris Johnson Jr., you kick in Dillard to left guard. You let PJJ play left tackle. If you draft a Peter Skowronski, you can put Skowronski at left guard and let Dillard play left tackle. Either way, Andre Dillard has one of those left side spots. Andre Dillard is a left side player.

He can't play right guard or right tackle. He needs to play on the left side of the ball. So, either left tackle or left guard is really the only open position that I see right now. And I still think the Titans need to draft an offensive lineman

in round one of the NFL draft. Skowronski, Paris Johnson Jr., Broderick Jones. If you don't feel comfortable with those guys, then sure, I think it's ill-advised,

but then sure, trade down down get Darnell Wright for example Jalen Duncan later in the draft Anton Harrison out of Oklahoma you're going to have options alright so either way I still think the Titans need to attack offensive line I don't see any

long term answers at offensive line for the Titans any blank of the future for the Titans need to attack offensive line. I don't see any long-term answers at offensive line for the Titans, any blank of the future for the Titans. They still need to add all that. None of the signings that they have made address any concern of mine for the next four years. They're all short-term band-aid signings, all right? And that's okay. And that's okay and that's okay depending on what direction the Titans want to go but at offensive line to me it's obvious that that is the four of five starters NPF at right tackle

Brunskill at right guard Brewer at center open spot on the left side Dillard at left tackle now we can talk about Dylan Radins all you guys get in the comments and bring up Dylan Radins all the time the dude tore his ACL in the comments and bring up Dylan Radins all the time. The dude tore his ACL in week 15 and Mike Vrabel hates him. Mike Vrabel let Dennis Daly go out at left tackle all season long without giving Dylan Radins, who was a second round pick left tackle,

a chance to play there. Dylan Radins plays there for 10 snaps and is far and away better than Dennis Daly and then tears his ACL. So I'm sorry but how Dylan Radins didn't get a chance before week 15 to play left tackle while Dennis Daly was wrecking the team

the only logical answer because Radins was healthy the only logical answer is Mike Vrabel just can't stand the guy it's personal he doesn't want him to play so why would that change and he's coming off an ACL tear late in the season guys I am not fact you won't hear me factor Dylan Radins into the offensive line conversation

at all period I'm not going to factor him in the entire season so don't go in the comments and put, what about Dylan Radins? Because that's just irresponsibly illogical in my opinion. But, outside of that, I mean,

you're talking about Xavier Newman. You're talking about John LeGlue, Jordan Roosos Zachary Johnson I mean what are we talking about here guys? These are a bunch of people who outside of Raidens I mean they shouldn't even make the roster

I mean maybe Xavier Newman Johnson but Roos, Leglu, Zach Johnson these guys are fighting for their NFL lives they'll be lucky if they make the practice squad so these aren't starting options for the Titans. So we know what the starting options are. Run skill at guard, right guard, NPF at right tackle, Aaron Brewer at center, opening on the left side,

probably have Andre Dillard at left tackle. So I think one, whether you're happy with that or not, that's how you feel. But I think one draft pick you're happy with that or not, that's how you feel. But I think one draft pick in the NFL draft early will be your next starter. And then I think the Titans would be wise to add another offensive lineman in the mid rounds. Even if they don't beat out,

let them compete with Aaron Brewer. I think John Michael Schmitz or Josh Weitler would beat out Aaron Brewer. Heck, I'd take Juice Scruggs in Weitler would beat out Aaron Brewer. Heck, I'd take Juice Scruggs in the sixth round to beat out Aaron Brewer. Now, I'm not the coach, and Mike Vrabel loves Aaron Brewer, so he's going to start, but at least you get a guy in there who can compete going forward. That's where the offensive line is right now.

I still think they need two draft picks added. Probably done in vet-free agency for the offensive line, though. But with that in mind, I'm just going to give a general synopsis on my feelings of what the Titans have done in free agency so far. Before we get into that, I do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel is America's number one sports book. And look, the NFL season is over obviously but the NBA season is at the best point possible and right now new customers get a no sweat first

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bets when you go to fanduel.com slash locked on that's fanduel.com slash locked on to learn more. Make every moment more with FanDuel an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

I'm just going to give a general, I guess, summary of my feelings on the first week of free agency for the Titans. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. It goes a long way to help the channel. I definitely do appreciate it. Show is free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But now for your second listen, make sure you check out the Locked on NFL Scouting podcast.

This is a brand new podcast. You got Joe Marino. He was actually one of the co-founders of the Draft Network, so he knows his stuff. And then Kyle Krabs as well, who is absolutely fantastic. They're going to take you through what it takes to build a successful NFL franchise every Monday through Friday.

Find Locked On NFL Scouting with the Draft Dudes wherever you get your podcasts and it's on YouTube as well. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. But getting into a quick summary here for me. You got Andre Dillard. He signed for three years, $29 million. I guarantee you when we get the contract details, it's basically a two-year deal with some guaranteed money.

You got a similar thing with Daniel Brunskill. You got a three-year deal worth $21 million for Arden Key, which again, in my opinion, that's going to be a two-year deal based on the guaranteed money. Like, Bud Dupree got a five-year deal worth $80 million, and the Titans were able to cut him after two years.

So, the base contract is not what the contract really is. All right? What the guaranteed money is is what really matters. So, to me, you basically got two-year deals for Dillard, a two-year deal for Arden Key,

a one-year deal for Luke Gifford, who, that's the last I'll mention, Gifford. He's a special teams player. Then, of course, you have a one-year deal for Aziz Alshair. You get T.R. Tartt back. You get Aaron Brewer back.

You bring back Nick Westbrook-Akene. To me, this is Rand Carthon trying to thread the needle. This is, hey, these are low-risk, high-reward signings.

There's low-risk financially, long-term, low-risk. But a lot of these guys, Brunskill, Al Shear, Dillard, Arden Key. A lot of these guys are guys who were backups on their last team, but have showed flashes at times.

So the idea is, hey, we're going to take very minimal risk, and if this player works out, we're going to get very minimal risk. And if this player works out, we're going to get a great discount on their play because we're paying them as a borderline starter backup type. And if they give a certified starter play, then we're getting a great value. And since the Titans don't have a lot of money to work with this offseason, that's the right way to play it. You bargain shop

for high upside guys. Now, you have high reward, you have low risk, but what's the realistic outcome in the middle? What is

the realistic outcome in the middle of those? That these guys are just okay, and the Titans don't get a lot better I think that Rand Carthon has found a way to sign some guys who if it goes right could make the team better if it goes

the most realistic outcome, are the Titans really that much better? Daniel Brunskill, I like the signing, but Andre Dillard, we're talking about guys who haven't been certified starters. So, while I'm high on some of the moves that they made, and I think a Brunskill or an Arden Key

could actually turn out to be starting level players, the odds of these guys being good enough to make the Titans significantly better than what they were last year is just super low. The realistic outcome for most of these signings is these guys are just okay, and they don't improve the Titans in any significant way so to me this offseason

so far has been hey how can we take as little risk as possible of putting our future money in jeopardy while still trying to field a somewhat competitive team and if it does work then we're more competitive than we expected. And we got great values on contracts and awesome. If it doesn't work, we're not screwed money-wise in the future. And we set ourselves up for a much better draft pick. Right now,

Rand Carthon is trying to thread the needle to where, hey, I tried to make the team better. We tried with the limited resources we had. We tried to make the team better. While also knowing that there's a chance that the more realistic outcomes are these guys don't move the needle at all and the Titans are the same or maybe even a little worse next year.

So, I guess I'm just it's how I came in with the Titans first signing. It's how I'm leaving out of the last signing of the week. Meh. Meh. Meh. Meh. Meh. Meh. Just okay.

Titans did just okay. But, with that being said, I'm going to get out of here. This is my last show for the week, but if the Titans make big moves over the weekend, not Saturday night. I got some really important personal stuff

going on on Saturday night. Very excited about. Going to go celebrate my birthday and some other things as well. But if big signings do happen throughout the weekend, I'll do a little short video on YouTube or post up an emergency podcast on the podcast feed that

won't be probably the full 25 to 30 minutes that I normally do, but nonetheless, we'll still be reaction to the move. So be on the lookout for that if anything big does happen. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. I'm going to be back with you guys next week to break down all of the news from over the weekend.

I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titan. you