Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Should Start Malik Willis, Bud Dupree Dominates & Laughing at the Colts

Episode Date: October 25, 2022

Tennessee Titans starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill was hurt during the win over Indianapolis. He was seen in a walking boot after the game and despite a vague comment from Mike Vrabel, Tannehill may be too hurt to play Sunday. Tyler explains why Malik Willis should play if Tannehill isn't 100%. Next, some eye popping numbers came out of the Titans victory over the Colts including Bud Dupree's big performance. Tyler goes over all the data that stood out. Finally, Indianapolis took the latest Titans loss hard and appeared to give up on the season. Tyler has a laugh and takes an L. 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!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt 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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BirddogsTHE most comfortable shorts, pants, and sweatpants with built-in liners. Go to birddogs.com, use promo code “LOCKEDON” and boom, a free Birddogs Rope Hat with your pair of Birddogs.BlueNileMake your moment sparkle with Blue Nile. Go to BlueNile.com and use code lockedon to save fifty dollars on your purchase of five-hundred dollars or more.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, Ryan Tannehill got really banged up in that game against the Colts, which leads me to this point. Malik Willis should start for the Titans this weekend. I'll explain. Then we got to talk about some eye-popping numbers that came out of the victory against the Colts, including Bud Dupree's dominant day.

Then we'll finish off with a little bit of a laugh at the Indianapolis Colts as it looks like the Tennessee Titans have ended their season. All of that and more 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. Titans fans, Malik Willis should start this weekend against the Texans.

I'm going to tell you guys exactly why I feel that way. Before we get into it, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If you haven't subscribed yet or this is your first listen ever, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream my input. Now, Monday through Friday, daily free Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year round, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there, smash the notification bell, and throw a thumbs up on the video. If you're excited about the Titans four-game win streak,

all that stuff goes a long way to help support the channel, and I do appreciate it. Great. You can follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. A great day to do so with the TicTacTuesday film thread coming out. And check out the show Facebook page, at Locked on Titans Pod. But moving into my Rollins rant to start things off here. Malik Willis should start for the Titans this weekend. And obviously, I'm not saying that because Ryan Tannehill has played so poorly.

And let's see what the rookie... No, no, no, no. As you guys saw, Ryan Tannehill was severely injured in that game against the Colts. And that's why I kept calling it a gutty performance from Ryan Tannehill to stick it out in that game and find a way to lead the ship home to victory. His ankle is hurt bad. He was in a walking boot at the press conference after the game. Mike

Vrabel gave an update on Monday at his press conference, and he said, Ryan's doing good. We'll see what it looks like Wednesday. And quite honestly, I wouldn't expect anything else. I'm not a doctor. I always say that on the show. It's a running bit. I'm not a doctor.

But it looks like Ryan Tannehill has an ankle sprain. Could be high ankle sprain, could be low ankle sprain, but if you're in a walking boot after the game, I'm starting to have doubts about whether Ryan Tannehill can be not 100%, even 80% healthy by the time the Titans play the Texans on Sunday. And if you start to look at the schedule after the Titans play the Texans, you have teams like the Chiefs, the Packers, the Broncos, the Eagles, the Bengals. I mean, the Titans have some really, really difficult matchups coming up in the future. It's not until I believe week 14 that the Titans get

back to a division game. So with that being said, the concern about Ryan Tannehill and his long-term health throughout the season is the impetus for the statement and that's understood. Ryan or Malik Willis needs to play. Now, why do I think this is a good opportunity? It's not only just Ryan Tannehill's health. Yeah, if Ryan Tannehill is able to play, then you play Ryan Tannehill. Absolutely. No doubt.

No question. If he's 80% or better, you play Ryan Tannehill. But I'm worried about that possibility. So, look at it from Malik Willis' standpoint here. This is a division game. Yes, I get the pushback that this isn't an unimportant game. This is a division game. But even if the Titans lose this game, they don't play another division

game until week 14, where they finish up with two games against the Jags and another game against the Texans. The Titans could still win those games with a healthy Ryan Tannehill. So going five and one in the division, that's going to be good enough. That's a good enough division record. That's not going to be matched. That's not going to be bested by anybody in the AFC South. So the ramifications and the penalty of a loss is lower than it normally would be. That's another great advantage. Two, the Texans cannot stop anyone in the run game. And I would imagine that if Malik Willis plays, it is going to be 80% run game.

It might be that anyway if you have a banged up Ryan Tannehill. You're going to have to run the ball down the Texans throat to win this game no matter what and dominate on defense. Basically a similar game plan to what we saw in Indy. dominate on defense. Basically a similar game plan to what we saw in Indy. So the game plan would allow you

to play Malik Willis more than any other team that you're going to play. This does give you an opportunity to get Malik Willis some reps. You look out for Ryan Tannehill's long-term health. You will still maintain a great division record even if you lose. And guys,

let's just be honest. Ryan Tannehill started against the Texans last year and they lost the game. So it's not like a guarantee that the Titans would beat the Texans anyway. So if it's a toss-up whether you win, you protect Ryan Tannehill's health long-term for the more difficult stretch of the season, you get Malik Willis some reps while also going against a run defense that would allow you to maybe win a game going 80% run and going with a quarterback-heavy run game. I mean, everything about this situation

is perfect for Malik Willis to play. And no, Malik Willis is, as I said yesterday on Twitter, Malik Willis is not ready to be a full-time NFL starter. Malik Willis is not ready to start right now. I recognize that, realize that, and agree with that. He needs the redshirt season. But I damn sure ain't playing Logan Woodside. I have said this all offseason.

I said it all training camp, all preseason, and I'm not backing off of it now. Malik Willis, knowing zero plays, gives you a better chance to win a game than Logan Woodside. So you play Malik Willis. You protect Ryan, especially with this offensive line, guys. Tannehill, without his mobility, is going to get killed. Malik Willis is incredibly mobile.

If there's anybody who can survive behind the offensive line, it's going to be Malik, not a hurt Ryan Tannehill. So no, this isn't a pure talent thing. I would play Tannehill 10 out of 10 if he was healthy. But he's not going to be. There's a long season ahead. The Titans already have their bye week behind them. So that's not something that's going to help them. The time is now to play Malik Willis. Heavy, heavy run plan, quarterback-centric run game, and give him a

chance out there and let Ryan Tannehill nurse that ankle for one week. And then the toughest stretch of the Titans schedule starts with a game against Kansas City where they absolutely will need Ryan Tannehill. So I've laid it all out for you guys. You have Tannehill as your emergency quarterback if something happens, but start Malik Willis. This is a perfect opportunity to do so. Take care of Ryan Tannehill long term. Get your rookie some reps in a situation

where honestly you could win and you can afford a loss as well. So that's my thoughts on that. Play Malik Willis. But we gotta talk about some eye-popping numbers that came out of the Titans win over the Colts. Bud Dupree dominated. He was probably

the best edge rusher in the NFL over the weekend. I'll explain why the numbers show that. And then at the end edge rusher in the NFL over the weekend. I'll explain why the numbers show that. And then at the end of the show, we're going to laugh at the Indianapolis Colts and the day that they had on Monday. I cannot wait. So I hope you guys will join me for that. Before we get into the rest of today's show, though, I do want to tell you guys about our sponsor. This show is brought to you by BetterHelp.

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Titans fans, we are going to get into the eye-popping numbers that I saw coming out of that game against the Colts. Do have a little bit of a switch up in the segments for you, though. I want to tell you guys about LinkedIn real quick. LinkedIn Jobs is the perfect place to find the candidates that you need to hire for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best candidates available. And that's what you'll have at LinkedIn jobs. They have screening questions and simple tools that allow you to focus on the right candidates with the right skills and experience. It's why small businesses write LinkedIn jobs, number one in delivering quality

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Eye-popping numbers out of this victory against the Colts. Do apply. Thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Eye-popping numbers out of this victory against the Colts. Bud Dupree dominated in this game, guys. Yes. Get in the comments right now. Let me know. Oh, I hated Bud Dupree. I'm a Bud Dupree hater.

I was wrong about Bud. I don't have time to go into all of why I totally disagree with that. But this is the day for the Bud Dupree truthers to come out and have a blast. So all of you guys get in the comments. Enjoy. Let me know on Twitter. Bud Dupree had seven pressures against the Colts and a sack. He was in the backfield all day long. against the Colts and a sack.

He was in the backfield all day long, and I do believe that seven pressures is the most pressures of any individual player from week seven so far, with the Monday night football game still to be played as I'm recording this. A great day from Bud Dupree, and dear God, he's getting $20 million worth of cap hit money. He should be doing that every single week.

If the Titans can have that Bud Dupree every single week, along with Jeffrey Simmons and Danico Autry and Rashad Weaver, that gives the defense the ability to keep the offense in these games. So they need this Bud Dupree. Where is the Bud? Where is it? The Bud is in your backfield hitting your quarterback. Shout out Aaron

Stacy. I see you in the comments. We're in lockstep. Look, I like Bud Dupree as a player. I think he's a good NFL player. He's a starting level NFL player, probably a tick above average. It wasn't worth the contract that the Titans paid him.

And unfortunately, with the injuries, it's hard for him to do it. But, if Bud Dupree can be available the rest of the season, as Jacob Ray says the perfect word, availability, it'll be huge for the Titans, and no one can deny that, not even me. They need Bud Dupree for him to be worth the money. They need Bud Dupree for him to be worth the money. They need Bud Dupree

getting seven pressures a game, getting a sack, mask on, kick open the door. Yeah, Allen, I love 3-6 Mafia, man. I'm an old school hip hop head. So yes, it's a Memphis classic.

And when the Titans in 3-6 did the We Run It collaboration, I'm all for that. So love that. But Bud Dupree, seven pressures, one sack. Excellent game. Along with him on the D-line, Danico Autry and Jeffrey Simmons both had a sack.

Jeffrey Simmons had three pressures. Danico Autry had two. Rashad Weaver had three pressures. I mean, David Long even had four pressures. So a great job by the defensive line. Another eye-popping number for me was the play of Austin Hooper and then Andrew Adams on defense.

Both of them had the highest grade of the day per pro football focus on their side of the ball. Andrew Adams at an 89.9, Austin Hooper at a 90 flat. Guys, if you don't follow pro football focus closely, those are insane grades. Guys, a good grade is in the 70s for PFF. To have a 90, to have an 89.9, Andrew Adams was nuts!

He was nuts in this game. An 89.2 coverage grade. Like I said, 89.9 overall, the highest grade on the Titans defense. Just an incredible play. And Andrew Adams was playing like, if you guys play Madden at all, you'll recognize this big nickel, which is basically when you have five defensive backs, but instead of three cornerbacks, you have three safeties.

The Titans were doing that and they were having a Monty Hooker and Andrew Adams play slot. And man, did they step up to the plate, especially Adams. What a great, great game. It'll be the Andrew Adams game. It's the Andrew Adams game for all eternity.

All right. Etched in stone forever. Moving forward though, Austin Hooper, a 90, the highest grade on offense, three monster catches for three first downs all in the second half. I mean, just huge stuff from Austin Hooper. So Austin Hooper, Andrew Adams, incredible pro football focus grades. That really stood out to me coming out of this game. Some more numbers. The offensive line. Lord Radins. Dylan Radins.

A 69.6 pass blocking grade. The best pass blocking grade of any Titans offensive lineman. How nuts is that? Shout out Lord Radins, man. Making his way out there. Now, if you watch on the tape, it wasn't all pretty, but it wasn't all ugly either.

Mike Grable kind of hinted at that in his press conference on Monday, but Radins has a long way to go, but signs of life, baby. Signs of life. We have to be shocked and excited about him having the best pass blocking grade of any Titans offensive lineman throughout the day.

Along with, he gave up zero sacks, only one pressure. Now, it wasn't great in run blocking. He had a 44.9 run blocking grade. Struggled a little bit. He just has such balance issues, man. He just gets over his feet, and his chest is over his toes, and he has no balance.

He's always falling down or falling forward. He just looks unbalanced. I don't know how else to explain it. It's the perfect word. Nicholas Petit-Ferrer, 67.8 pass blocking grade, zero sacks, two pressures, a 71.4 pass blocking grade, zero sacks, two pressures, a 71.4 run blocking grade.

NPF has been really good for a few weeks. I mean, I think he's been the best rookie offensive tackle in the NFL. I really do think that's the case. Not only that, but I do want to mention this for maybe not positive reasons, but Ben Jones had a 19.9 pass blocking grade. Shout out, that video of Ben Jones and Mike Vrabel hugging on the walk back after the game,

I've watched that 10 times, I think. I mean, that video fires, Ben Jones is a damn warrior, man. Just giving his entire heart and soul and body to this football team. So yeah, he didn't play his best, an awful grade. He really struggled throughout the day Just giving his entire heart and soul and body to this football team. So, yeah, he didn't play his best, an awful grade. He really struggled throughout the day with Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner.

But, dear God, he gutted it out, man. Just a gutsy performance from the entire offense, quite frankly. I do also want to mention two places where I was entirely wrong. And this is a good warm-up, a good appetizer for the last segment because I'm eating crow. All right? I admit when I'm wrong. I have takes. I'm right a lot, and I'm wrong a lot too.

And I always admit it. That's what you're going to get with the show. I always admit when I'm wrong too. You can't be this boisterous and loud and not admit when you're blatantly wrong. And I was wrong about Dylan Cole's performance. He had a 74.8 overall grade top five for the defense. He had an 84.2 run defense grade. And after watching it back, Dylan Cole was just awesome in run defense. And that's why the Colts never even thought about trying to get the run game going because they knew they could. So shout out to Dylan Cole. Yes, he has struggles in pass coverage,

but he's been so good in run defense lately. Got to give him that credit. Also, I was wrong about Jeff Swain. Jeff Swain had a very good performance yesterday. 75 overall grade, 72.6 in run blocking, 73 in pass blocking. He was very solid. Very, very solid throughout the day. And no, no, he's not a threat in pass blocking. He was very solid. Very, very solid throughout the day. And no, no, he's not a threat in pass catching.

And why the Titans are threatening cover two to the sideline in the red zone with Jeff Swain targets, I will never know. But the Titans clearly tried to phase in more Austin Hooper, clearly tried to phase in more Chigaconquo in passing situations. But we got to give a shout out to Jeff Swain, who when his role in the passing game is scaled back

and he can focus more on blocking, he did a damn good job. So I was wrong about Dylan Cole. I was wrong about Jeff Swain. Wanted to give them their props with some numbers that stood out to me. But that's going to do it for the data portion of today's show. Now, we're going to laugh at the Indianapolis Colts. I hope you guys are ready to have some fun. I'm going to take an

L. I'm going to walk. I'm going to do a walk of shame, and we are going to laugh at Indianapolis, so I can't wait to get into that. Before we do, I do want to tell you guys about our friends over at PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy football made easy. Guys, here's what it is. You go, you look. Derrick Henry, projection, 100 rushing yards. Is he going to have more or less? Patrick Mahomes, two passing touchdowns.

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So make sure you go to the Price Picks app right now, sign up with the promo code LOCKEDON, and get an instant deposit match up to $100. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with a good old laugh session about the Indianapolis Colts. I can't wait to get into that. We started off talking about why Malik Willis needs to start if Ryan Tannehill isn't 100% healthy. Talked about some of the eye-popping numbers and data that came out of the Titans went over the Colts.

So let's get into our laugh at the Colts. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday. Free Tennessee Titans content all year round. Make sure you stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. Also, for your second listen, check out Locked on Sports today. It's all the biggest

sports stories in the major sports in under 25 minutes every day, free and available on all platforms. Check out the Locked on Sports today podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Alright guys, are you ready? Alright, if you didn't hear the news, the Titans whooped Indianapolis.

Fifth straight win. Second straight sweep. Pure domination. Mike Rabel owns Frank Reich. And the Colts have benched Matt Ryan for the season. Yeah, I know, I know, I know. It was a little bit of an up and down. We hear Matt Ryan is benched.

And then the injury, oh, he's got a hurt shoulder. But then the swift kick in the pants came afterwards. Doesn't matter about the injury. Sam Ellinger is playing the rest of the season. Indy got whooped by the Titans twice and said, we don't want to play anymore. The season's over. Sim it. We're going to put in that bum young guy

and let him try to get us a good draft pick. The Colts have given up a first round pick, a second round pick, a third round pick to get $70 million of Matt Ryan and Carson Wentz the last two years They're playing Sam Ellinger

Jimmers Jimmers I we got to beat Tennessee. We got to beat Tennessee. Packwatch. I hear you, Patrick. Sorry, Dreamer. Packwatch. We're packing up the Colts, baby. Oh, man.

And look. Look, I'm going to have fun, and I'm going to laugh, but I know some of you guys are laughing And look, look, I'm going to have fun and I'm going to laugh, but I know some of you guys are laughing at me too because it's time. L, major L for your boy. The Colts are not winning the division. I'm an idiot. What were we doing out here? And the funny thing is,

is when we did the locked on AFC South group chat before the season, I totally shot down the Colts being awesome. I said it was nonsense. They're not going to be awesome. And you know what? I didn't think that they were going to be like an awesome team, like I said, but I figured they'd be a little bit better than this. Oh, man. Oh, but I figured they'd be a little bit better than this. Oh, man.

Oh, Matt Ryan is done, cooked, over. Shaq Leonard changed his name, and apparently it's a totally different person, too. Quentin Nelson, Ryan Kelly, nowhere near the players that they were in, like, 2020. It's getting late early for Indianapolis. And I was wrong. And I was wrong.

I was wrong. So there you guys go. Don't ever come on this podcast and say I never admit when I'm wrong. Because I was. I've been wrong about multiple things. Stephon Gilmore's all right, but he's not, you know. So the Colts have some good pieces on their team. Don't be fooled.

They still have a pretty decent team. But man, you know Jim Irsay woke up this morning and just said, I'm done with all this. Now, the one thing that I, so we laughed. We talked about everything. Matt Ryan, the Colts, the diminishment of some of their best players. I mean, T. Air Tart was giving Quentin Nelson the business yesterday.

Oh, man. Oh, man, it's funny. It's so funny. But we also have to acknowledge this. Let me do this just to end us off, just to be fair. Just to be fair. There is a reality here, though, where the Titans probably aren't doing too much long-term either.

Like, I don't know if the Titans are going to win many playoff games. You know, the Colts said, we're done being in the middle. We're done being QB purgatory. We're tanking and seeing if we can get the best draft pick that we can. All I'm going to say is, let's all hope that the Colts don't find the QB of the future because they decided to tank and got a decent draft pick. We're all having our fun now, but I can't lie,

that nightmare scenario is in the back of my mind. So let's all just, before we get out of here, say a little collective prayer or positive thinking exercise and hope that that isn't the outcome of all of this. But for right now, but for right now, what a fun time. What a fun time. Absolutely joyous.

And what would be awesome is the Colts need Carson Wentz to play 70% of snaps to get a better pick from the Commanders. Well, Carson Wentz is hurt now. The Commanders are playing Indy next week with their backup quarterback. If the Commanders, without Carson Wentz, hurting the Colts draft pick,

can beat the Colts with their backup quarterback, not even needing Carson Wentz, that would be hilarious. There's something about that. It's just too funny for me. So, oh yeah, Bald and Bearded said, I don't feel bad for the Colts at all. They had no mercy for us during the luck years.

Well, let me just say this. I am so sick and tired of every national media person who thought the Colts would be good, who's now wrong, saying, oh man, just so tough to deal with the retirement of Andrew Luck. That was in 2019. Luck

hasn't played since the 2018 season. It's almost 2023. 2018 to 2023. That's five years. It's going to be four seasons. 19, 20, 21, and 22. Four full seasons since Luck was their quarterback.

I'm so tired of hearing the Andrew Luck excuse. My Lord, Jake Locker retired all of a sudden at a young age. No mercy for the Titans in the national media. So, yeah. Cry, Colts, cry. That's how I feel. One more laugh. Collectively, everyone, join me.

One more good, hearty laugh at the Indianapolis Colts. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, man. Laughing's good for the soul. That's going to do it for me today, though, man. Laughing's good for the soul. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. Make sure you stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast tomorrow. Rewatch Wednesday.

And, boy, I have a lot of film stuff to go over with you guys in my all 22 reviews. Make sure that you don't miss it. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans.