Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans SHOULDN'T Draft Receiver in Round 1, Chig Okonkwo Star Potential & Championship Weekend

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, the Titans should not draft a wide receiver in the first round this year under any circumstance. I'll explain why. Also, the Titans found a star in the draft last year. I'll tell you who that is. And it's conference championship weekend.

Starting point is 00:00:21 I'll tell you who I think advances to the Super Bowl. 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, today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. You pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to 25 times your money on your entry.

Starting point is 00:01:16 First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepix.com, promo code LOCKEDON. Thank you guys for making Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, all year round on all platforms and always free. Make sure you subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Hit that notification bell if you are watching on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel and throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you are watching. It goes a long way to help support the channel. And hey, I don't ask for money. All I ask for is the press of a button. But with that being said, let's dive into today's

Starting point is 00:01:58 show. And we are starting with my opinion that the Titans do not need to draft a wide receiver in the first round this year. And it is a combination of factors. Number one, the Titans glaring need on the offensive line. And two, the quality of this year's wide receivers in the draft class. Number one, we got to talk about the need on the offensive line. Guys, with the way the Titans play and a 36-year-old quarterback in Ryan Tannehill most likely coming back, whether the Titans go out and get an older veteran like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Derek Carr, whatever, if you think they're going to do that,

Starting point is 00:02:35 which I don't, then they're going to need to improve the offensive line as quickly as possible. If they get a young quarterback or they want to roll with Malik Willis or Josh Dobbs, even if they keep Ryan Tannehill, whatever way that you're going to slice it, any realistic quarterback path for the Titans will need a much improved offensive line if the Titans want to be competitive next year, which all of the rumors, all of the noise, even some of the comments coming from new GM Rand Carthon indicate he doesn't want to rebuild this roster. He's ready to retool and continue to be a competitive team. So if they want to do that, the number one thing they have to do is fix that offensive line. And that's why my opinion has been

Starting point is 00:03:16 all along that you get that number 11 pick, you take an offensive lineman. Now it's no secret I want Paris Johnson out of Ohio State, but if they end up with Peter Skowronski, they end up with Roderick Jones, all that would make sense to me as well. But either way, you don't take a wide receiver. A lot of the conversation, and look, I know a lot of you guys love Quentin Johnston from TCU,

Starting point is 00:03:39 but a lot of folks think that Jordan Addison from USC is the best wide receiver in this class and that he shouldn't be taken in the top 15 picks. There are no Jamar Chases here. There aren't a Justin Jefferson in the first round. This is not a great wide receiver class at the top in terms of top 10, top 5 talent. Where the best part of this wide receiver draft class is is in the middle rounds. There is a slew of wide receivers

Starting point is 00:04:09 that make a ton of sense in the middle rounds. Guys like Josh Downs, Jalen Hyatt, Rasheed Rice, Zay Flowers, Cedric Tillman, Gashan Butte, Jonathan Mingo. I mean, that's just scratching the surface. There's two guys from East Carolina who I think are pretty solid as well that are already starting to get buzzed. If you want a wide receiver, there are wide receivers who can make an impact on day one in the second round and in the third round.

Starting point is 00:04:38 And I can already hear the complaints coming in the future of you need to get a first round talent at wide receiver. Well, I'm here to tell you that there's maybe only two in the entire draft class. Johnston and Addison. Jackson Smith and Jigba is pretty good, but he's going to be a slot wide receiver. He doesn't have a lot of explosive traits. He's good with the ball in his hands.

Starting point is 00:04:57 He's a smooth guy, but is that what you're taking in the first round, especially at number 11? No. No, no, no, no, no. Can't do that, in my opinion. That's not the route to go. You take the offensive linemen, and then you get the...

Starting point is 00:05:14 See, here was my point all along about the Titans getting the number 11 pick or getting a top 10 pick. Basically losing the game against Jacksonville and getting a better draft pick. Not only do you have a higher pick in the first round, you have a higher pick in every round that you draft in. The Titans are going to have a top 11 pick in the second round. And every single year after round one is completed on Thursday night, there is so much excitement to go into Friday night

Starting point is 00:05:40 knowing that there are still so many good prospects on the board. into Friday night knowing that there are still so many good prospects on the board. And teams are always trying to trade into the top 10 picks in the second round to get a guy who fell who some view as a first round talent or a fringe first round talent. I'm looking at this and I'm saying the Titans may double up at offensive line in the first two rounds and with a top pick in the third round get one of these wide receivers. There is wide receiver talent to be line in the first two rounds. And with a top pick in the third round, get one of these wide receivers. There is wide receiver talent to be had in the mid rounds. This is not the year where you reach on a wide receiver early. There is so much depth in the mid rounds, depending on what you're looking for.

Starting point is 00:06:18 What kind of player you want. You want an explosive run after catch guy like Jonathan Mingo? Then great. He would fit perfectly. I love Mingo's tape. You want a burner with length and speed? Jalen Hyatt. Boom. There you go. Whatever the flavor of ice cream you particularly want, you can find in the mid-rounds this year. So with that sort of depth in the mid round, second round, third round talents at wide receiver, and if all these rumors and reports are true about how teams view the wide receiver position and Jordan Addison is the first wide receiver off the board or Johnson is the first wide receiver off the board in the late teens, the early twenties, that is only going to push these talented mid-round wide receivers

Starting point is 00:07:05 even further down the board and make them more available for the Titans in the mid-round. So to me, I just want to say this. Wide receiver is one of those positions. I talk about offensive tackle. I talk about quarterback, edge rusher, positions where if you look at the best guys in the league, a lot of them came in the first round. Wide receiver is not necessarily like that all the time. Some of the best wide receivers in the NFL were mid-round picks.

Starting point is 00:07:33 Look at A.J. Brown. Pick 51. So I think that there's a lot of good options for the Titans in the mid-rounds at wide receiver. I do not think under any circumstance that they should be taking a wide receiver in round one. I know a lot of you guys disagree with that. That's perfectly fine. But fix this offensive line with a top end talent right away.

Starting point is 00:07:56 Get that wide receiver that is the flavor that you like in the mid rounds. And that's a perfect way to handle the draft for the Titans. But one position we know that they won't need too early is tight end because they got a bona fide star in Chigaconqua. We're going to talk about an award that he just won here in just a moment. Before we get into it, though, I do want to let you know that today's show is sponsored by FanDuel. I'm super excited about our new sports betting partner for Locked On because they're the number one sports book in America, and that is FanDuel, I'm super excited about our new sports betting partner for Locked On

Starting point is 00:08:25 because they're the number one sports book in America, and that is FanDuel. And if you're new to FanDuel, that's even better. There are so many great features that's going to make betting on sports so much fun and so easy for you as well. And right now, new customers that join today can get started with $150 in free bets guaranteed. All you got to do is place your first $5 bet and they're going to give you $150 in free bets guaranteed. Just sign up at Fanduel.com slash locked on.

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Starting point is 00:09:39 The official sportsbook partner of the NFL. FanDuel. Sportsbook partner of the NFL, Vandal. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's show talking about an award that two Titans rookies just got. Not only that, I think one of those rookies, probably both of them, are bona fide superstars for the Titans in the making. I mean, very excited about the future with these players, specifically Chig Okonkwo at tight end. Before we get into that, though, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:10:24 Tomorrow, I am going to do a special Friday night live to make up the episode to you guys that I missed on Tuesday night dealing with the pup. So make sure that you tune in. Throw your questions in the chat. If you're following me on Twitter, at me, at Tic Tac Titans, let me know your question.

Starting point is 00:10:41 Look, guys, I do got to tell you, I am flattered about all of the questions that I get. I remember when I first started doing the show and I would text my boss and say, what do I do if I don't get any mailbag questions? Because no one says any or anything like that. And I had those concerns. Now I get too many mailbag questions and my bosses are mad at me that I go too long on mailbag shows because I try to answer everyone's questions. So I'm not going to be able to do that anymore. I'm going to do the best I can, answer as many as I can within

Starting point is 00:11:09 the time constraints that I have, but I want to let you guys know early tomorrow, Friday Night Live will be a mailbag show, so send those to me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Get in the chat on YouTube tomorrow night. Either way, I'll answer as many as I possibly can, but with that in mind, I'll answer as many as I possibly can.

Starting point is 00:11:25 But with that in mind, do want to let you guys know that next week is going to start my off-season roadmap week. So we are going to talk in-house free agents. We are going to talk cut candidates. We are going to talk outside free agents. We're going to talk draft philosophy, all of that and more next week.

Starting point is 00:11:43 So make sure that you stay subscribed, get subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. But I want to talk about an award here for the rookies. The Pro Football Writers of America put out their all-rookie team and two Tennessee Titans were on the list. Number one, Hunter Ryan Stonehouse, who was also second-team All-Pro in the NFL. We've talked a lot about Ryan Stonehouse's greatness.

Starting point is 00:12:06 The record that he broke, 80-year record from Sammy Ball. He's got his cleats and his jersey in the Pro Football Hall of Fame now. Not only that, but we talked about Mike Vrabel's retort with the net punting yards. So we've talked a lot about Ryan Stonehouse and how great of a punter he can be. But I really want to focus in on Chig Okonkwo, who got the all-rookie tight end spot on the Pro Football Writers of America all-rookie team.

Starting point is 00:12:36 Chig was just incredible. And I think the most incredible part about it is how little he got used. The highest snap percentage that he had all year was 60%. 60% was the highest snap percentage he got all season. And this dude was by far the most consistent, most explosive threat that the Titans had in the passing game. And the highest snap percentage you got in a single game was 60%. I mean, absolutely insane.

Starting point is 00:13:09 And then you look at the box score numbers. 32 catches, 450 yards, 3 touchdowns. I mean, as a rookie, he's already basically given you the best season that John O. Smith ever gave you. And that's who everybody compared him to. He's already as good and as effective as Jonu was at his best with the Titans. That to me

Starting point is 00:13:35 is pretty wild. It's pretty crazy. I do want to point this out as well. If you look at Pro Football Focus's player grades for tight end, Chick is sixth. And who are the names ahead of him? Travis Kelsey? George Kittle? Mark Andrews? Dallas Goddard? Pat Friermuth? I mean, if you told me that, what, a fifth round rookie for the Titans

Starting point is 00:14:11 would be directly behind those names at the end of the season in player grade, I would have lost my mind. But I got to tell you, I was losing my mind when Chica Conkwa was drafted. You can go back and look on my channel right now of my instant reaction to the Malik Willis draft pick, which gets misconstrued all the time.

Starting point is 00:14:33 Mike, I'm looking at you. I was slobbering over Malik Willis. No, I called Malik Willis a high upside, low risk draft pick, which is exactly what he was at 86. So, my words get misconstrued all the time, but I guess that's just the nature of the beast. But if you look at that video of my reaction,

Starting point is 00:14:49 I said what the Titans need to do right now is they need to go out and draft Chigaconquo because he is a perfect fit in the offense. And hey, here we sit. Chigaconquo is an all-rookie for the pro football riders of America. So, I mean, it came to light. Destiny became real. It happened.

Starting point is 00:15:10 Chika Konkwo is going to be even better next year as well. And if he's already the sixth highest ranked tight end in the NFL with only 60% of snaps as his highest for the season, what do you think he's going to do when he actually gets used correctly? Or when I say correctly, I don't mean schematically, I mean volume-wise. What's going to

Starting point is 00:15:34 happen when you give Chig 80% of the offensive snaps all year long? What happens when he improves his technique as a blocker and he takes a general jump? People say the biggest jump that you take in the NFL is from year one to year two because leading up to your rookie season,

Starting point is 00:15:52 you're doing the draft circuit. All of your training is to be good at the draft exercises and activities. Now, you know the offense that you're in. Now, you know what you're being asked to do. Now, you know on an NFL level what your strengths and weaknesses are and you can attack them directly all offseason long with the NFL program as your support system. Chick is going to take a big jump from year one to year two.

Starting point is 00:16:20 He's already this and he's going to take a leap? A star. He's going to be a star. And it's crazy because at the end of the season, people outside of Tennessee started to notice Chigaconqua. People on the national scale started to notice Chigaconqua. So I think the Titans are right on the cusp of having a real offensive superstar in Chigaconquil. Yeah, he's going to need to get better. But it's there. The potential is already there. And I do want to say this, to be fair.

Starting point is 00:16:54 You are going to need a bruiser tight end to pair with Chig. No matter how much he works, he's not going to turn into, you know, the size of George Kittle or anything like that. He's not going to fundamentally get you know the size of George Kittle or anything like that he's not going to fundamentally get massively bigger in terms of his frame his height his weight

Starting point is 00:17:10 all that he can get bigger add muscle all that but he's not going to turn into a Jeff Swaim size tight end overnight so you're going to need a tight end of that style to go with Chick

Starting point is 00:17:22 and that was always the move with Jonu as well. There was, you know, Anthony Fasano was a guy who was around. I think that you do need to pair Chick with a bigger body bruiser tight end to get maximum value out of your tight end room. And that's not Austin Hooper. I recognize that Hooper's a bigger body guy. Yeah, you want somebody that big, but Hooper doesn't play that way anymore.

Starting point is 00:17:45 Hooper is a glorified Anthony Ferkser at this point. But either way, even knowing that you're always going to need that type to pair with Chig, the fact that he is the explosive threat that he is already as a rookie, what a massive win for the Tennessee Titans. And good job, J-Rob. Pretty good pick. You've got to give him that credit. But anyway, nobody wants to hear that.

Starting point is 00:18:09 So we're going to move right along. It is championship weekend in the NFL. Conference championships on the line. So I do want to spend a little bit of a moment and just talk about those games. Because, I mean, that's the football that's going on right now. And as you guys know, I love me some football, even outside of the Tennessee Titans. But before we get into that, I do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix.

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Starting point is 00:20:03 and on and on and on. Don't forget, use that promo code LOCKEDON to sign up for an instant deposit match up to $100 at PricePix.com Titans fans, let's cap off today's show. We talked about why I think it's insane for the Titans to draft a wide receiver in round one. We also talked about Chigokonkwo showing up as a star,

Starting point is 00:20:39 as a rookie for the Titans and the potential that he has going forward. Now, I want to dive into Conference Championship Weekend. I mean, we've got some great football ahead of us here. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, check out the Locked On NFL podcast. Get all your Titans news here with me.

Starting point is 00:21:02 Get all your national NFL news with a local expert slant with a Locked On NFL podcast like my show, free, Monday through Friday on all platforms all year round. So we're about to hit the off season. Some of your other shows and things like that start to slow down. Not here at Locked On. Locked On Titans every single day all year long. Same with Locked On NFL. So make sure you subscribe over there. And I host the Thursday show of Locked on. Locked on Titans every single day, all year long. Same with Locked on NFL. So make sure you subscribe over there.

Starting point is 00:21:26 And I host the Thursday show of Locked on NFL. So you guys subscribing over there shows me a little bit of support. I definitely do appreciate it. But moving forward here, do just want to say, I think Cincinnati is going to give Kansas City the business. Mahomes is hurt. And I know he's looking good.

Starting point is 00:21:46 He's going to play. The videos of him working out. He's got nothing on his ankle. He's this and that. But guys, it's a high ankle sprain, okay? You don't just not feel it the next week. And my thing is, the Bengals just have a way better roster

Starting point is 00:21:59 than Kansas City. They have better weapons on offense. They have a better defense. They have a better defense. They have a better defensive coach in Lou Ann Arumo. I mean, Joe Burrow's beaten Pat Mahomes three times, out of three times. In KC, in Cincinnati, we could do it in my backyard.

Starting point is 00:22:19 Joe Burrow's going to beat Pat Mahomes. With that in mind, I think it was nuts that at the beginning of the week, the Bengals were getting points on FanDuel. They were getting points. I think the line swung back to where the Bengals were giving points as the favorite. Now it's back to the Bengals plus one. Last I checked, I mean, it's insane that the Bengals are not favorites in this game. One, like I said, the Bengals' defense is a lot better

Starting point is 00:22:47 than Kansas City's defense. And I don't think that Kansas City's offensive line is, like, incredible. And Pat Mahomes has, if you watched the Chiefs' playoff game, he was running for his life at times, especially before the injury. He was running around. Jacksonville was getting all kinds of pressure, but he was making those crazy throws and maneuvering in the pocket. Well, it's going to be tougher to do that,

Starting point is 00:23:13 one, against a better defensive front in Cincinnati, and two, when you've got a high ankle sprain. So in my mind, the only way that Kansas City was going to win this game is if Mahomes went nuclear. If he made a bunch of Sandlot playmake style throws and just made magic. Mahomes magic, quite frankly. Well, it's just harder to do that when you're playing on a high ankle sprain. And unlike last week when his adrenaline was flowing

Starting point is 00:23:47 and he got through it, he's had a whole week where that adrenaline's died down and that ankle swelled up. So, to me, I think this is Cincinnati all the way. I don't really have any doubt in my mind about it. And, man, you just don't want to play against Joe Burrow. That's not what you want. On the flip side of things,

Starting point is 00:24:10 I mean, at some point, it's simple, it's rudimentary, but it comes down to the quarterback. San Francisco has a fantastic roster. Philly has a fantastic roster. Who has the better quarterback? It's Jalen Hurts. And one of the big weaknesses for San Francisco, like the

Starting point is 00:24:30 Titans, funny how this works with great defenses, one of the weaknesses for San Francisco is when people go deep down the sideline. Because at that point, it doesn't matter how great your scheme was. It doesn't matter how great your front is. It's a wide receiver

Starting point is 00:24:45 and a cornerback one on one. And I don't know about you guys, but I know that A.J. Brown can win those matchups. I've seen it. Live in 4K. And Devontae Smith is

Starting point is 00:25:01 freaking awesome too. And if you put too much attention to A.J., then Smith's going to kill you. And if you put too much attention to AJ, then Smith's going to kill you. And if you put too much attention on the outsides, then you got Goddard over the middle. So, I just think Philly's got just as good of a roster as San Francisco

Starting point is 00:25:18 and a much better quarterback. And they're playing at home. And just hard to go against that. So, it's truly a nightmare for me personally because I live in Ohio and I'm surrounded by Bengals fans. And it's insufferable, to tell you the truth.

Starting point is 00:25:36 So either I have to deal with my insufferable friends or, on the flip side, A.J. Brown's going to win a Super Bowl. Either way, guys, somewhat nightmare fuel for me, but that's how I see it. I think Eagles, Bengals in the Super Bowl. If it's not that, then I think it'll be Kansas City and Philly, but I think Philly's coming out of the NFC.

Starting point is 00:26:01 But with that being said, I'm going to move into a portion of the show that, hey, if you don't care about anything going on with me personally, feel free to move on. But a lot of you guys have reached out to send well wishes, prayers, thoughts, all that for me dealing with my dog all week. He was incredibly sick all week long, but I do want to at least let you guys know things are on the up. Started taking food. Was able to get him some medicine. Finally. I don't know if you can see my thumb.

Starting point is 00:26:29 It's bruised. Tried to give him medicine. And yeah, he didn't like it. He wasn't looking to eat anything at that time. Regardless of whether it was a treat, whether it was his dinner, whether it was medicine. And he let me know it. So he has passed. I am the most hurt in the house now,

Starting point is 00:26:48 but the dog's improving, eating, acting more normal, playing with toys, being himself, and it's quite the weight off my shoulders. And a lot of you guys reached out to me with stories that honestly are sad about things you've went through with your dogs, having to put them down, them getting older. And I wouldn't say that those stories are comforting, but at the same time, like knowing that a lot of you guys have been where I've been and felt the worry and the fear

Starting point is 00:27:13 that I was feeling all week with all the trips to the vet and x-rays and blood tests and stool samples and blah, blah, blah. The fact that, you know, you guys reached out and let me know that you've been through a lot of that too. I really do appreciate it. So just wanted to give a little bit of an update there for you guys who care. If you don't, then you should have turned off two minutes ago when I told you to. But anyway, that's going to do it for me today. Tomorrow, going to do mailbag, going to do chat questions, payback you guys. Make sure you got five episodes this week. Next week, starting on Sunday night on YouTube, Monday morning for the podcast crowd,

Starting point is 00:27:48 we're going to go into an off-season roadmap, which will ultimately be disrupted when the Titans hire an offensive coordinator. Constant fear that I live in this time of year. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans SHOULDN'T Draft Receiver in Round 1, Chig Okonkwo Star Potential & Championship Weekend

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