Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans SIGN Geron Christian, JC Latham is BUILT DIFFERENT & Titans Who Need Summer Most

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

The Tennessee Titans have made a free agent signing, but it is not what we all expected. Instead of help on defense, the Titans have added another offensive tackle in Geron Christian which should put pressure on the remaining tackles. Next, one of the tackle this signing doesn't put pressure on is JC Latham who is much different from most first-rounders according to Bill Callahan. Finally, it is summer break for the Titans and certain players need to take advantage of this time more than others. Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET. That’s TWO HUNDRED BUCKS you can use to bet everything from the Finals MVP to who's going to hit one out of the park! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!   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)

The Tennessee Titans signed another free agent offensive lineman. I'll tell you who it is and why it's bad news for the rest of the tackles on the roster on today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. 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.

The Tennessee Titans have signed a free agent, but it's not at the positions we were expecting. They brought in another offensive lineman. I'll tell you who it is and why it's bad news for the rest of the tackles on the roster. Also, we'll talk about how JC Latham is built different according to Bill Callahan. Excited to dive into that and which Tennessee Titans need to work the hardest over the summer break to be ready for training camp. All of that before we get into it, do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for

free. You're not going to beat that anywhere else. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, where it's your team every day. Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys.

Look, I know that it's summer break for the Tennessee Titans, but it is not a summer break for me. I got a ton of great content coming your way over the summer break starting next week where it's roster week. I'm going to be ranking the Titans roster. I'm going to be going through the talent levels at each position on the Titans roster. Can't wait to talk about that with you guys.

Make sure that you don't miss it. But what we do got to discuss here is this Titans free agent signing. Now look, we talked about it earlier this week. My everydayers will remember. Looking at free agent safeties. looking at free agent edge rushers, maybe some additional free agents on the interior D-line. There was the thought that maybe the Titans could look at bringing in an offensive tackle,

but I had it last on my list of concerns. But of course, of course, the Titans go out, sign Jerron Christian, Of course, the Titans go out, sign Jerron Christian offensive tackle. Another addition on the offensive line. The Titans are trying to sure that up. And I think that this signing could be bad news for a multitude of reasons for the other offensive tackles on the roster. But first, who is Jerron Christian? He is a 6'5", 320-pound offensive tackle. He's going to turn 28 in September. He was drafted in the third round

of the 2018 NFL Draft, went to the Washington Commanders. He's played for multiple teams since then. He spent three seasons with Washington after being drafted. He played in 24 games, made eight starts, up and down performance, wasn't seen as a consistent starter. Then he goes to the Houston Texans and he plays in 14 games. He makes eight starts there. Again, up and down performances, struggled a little early on in his career with penalties. Then he goes to Kansas City in 2022, and he plays in 10 games, but he makes zero starts. He isn't a guy who they rely on as a starter. He's not really a clean, consistent, starting-level player. But then in 2023, that's where things really get interesting. He starts out with Houston, two games there, zero starts. But then he goes to Cleveland, and who was in Cleveland last year

coaching the offensive line? Bill Callahan. So you're seeing the connection. It's obvious that with a guy like Sadiq Charles, with a guy like Leroy Watson, with a guy like now Jerron Christian, Bill Callahan is the one saying, hey, I'm coaching this offensive line. If we need extra bodies, go out and get me these guys. All right, so that gives you a little bit more optimism for Christian

than you would have just looking at his career so far. Clearly, Bill Callahan was okay with bringing him in. So he goes to Cleveland for the back half of the year. He plays with Cleveland for 10 games and makes nine starts, including playing 100% of the offensive snaps in Cleveland's playoff loss to the Houston Texans. So somebody that they said, hey, we're going to go ahead and put you in as a starter here. Let's bring him in.

So you get the Bill Callahan stamp there. All right. But here is one thing that I do want to bring up. Christian is much more of a left tackle than a right tackle so far in his career. He's played 1,682 career snaps at left tackle, only 125 at right tackle. All right, so the Titans really need a right tackle right now. That's really where the big opening is on the offensive line, but yet they go out and get Christian, who has been primarily a left tackle. So that makes things a little bit interesting, but we'll talk about that.

In his 1,824 career snaps, he's given up 12 sacks, 83 pressures, and had 16 penalties. And again, 11 of those penalties were in his first three years in the pros. So he struggled early on. Last year with the Browns, he had 604 snaps, allowed four sacks, 33 pressures, and had four penalties. Me looking at that stat line, it reminds me of Nicholas Petit Ferrer. He seems like a bigger, stronger, older Nicholas Petit Ferrer. That's what I'm getting for that. But again, I teased at the beginning of the show that this could be bad news for the tackles on the Titans roster.

Now, we're going to keep J.C. Latham out of conversation. Nothing the Titans do on the periphery right now is going to affect J.C. Latham. We'll talk about how impressive J.C. Latham has been here in just a moment, but you look at NPF. Does this mean that he's not going to be ready for training camp? Dealing with the shoulder injury that knocked him out last year, mid-season, he's still not going to be ready for training camp,

and maybe the Titans know that. So they're like, hey, more than anything, we just need another body out here. We just need another guy to play who's an NFL player, who's played in NFL games. We just need another guy who checks that box because MPF is not going to be ready to go. That's a way that you could look at it. Maybe the Titans want to kick Leroy Watson to right tackle, and now you have Christian

who can be your backup left tackle as a guy who's played primarily left most of his career. Funny thing about those two, Browns fans were having arguments about who should play between Leroy Watson and Christian last season because Christian struggled at times. They're like, hey, we might as well play Leroy Watson at this point. So I find that dynamic interesting. But Jalen Duncan, I'm telling you guys, he's not making this roster. Jalen Duncan, I'm telling you guys, he's not making this roster. Jalen Duncan is not making this team.

Okay, he's already dealt with some injury things. He's more of an athletic offensive lineman. He was a development project for the Titans anyway. And with a new staff and a new coaches and a new regime in there, I don't think that Jalen Duncan's going to make this roster. All right, I think that Christian is a guy who was brought in because they do not believe in Jalen Duncan as their fourth or fifth offensive tackle.

So you got to get a guy who you do believe in. John Ajuku, look, if the Titans want to shuffle things and they want to see somebody else at right tackle, if we see Leroy Watson or we see Jerron Christian at right tackle, John Ajuku has been who's starting at right tackle so far with NPF out and Jalen Duncan dealing with injury and all that. So this could mean, hey, we saw what we got there. We don't necessarily want to ride into training camp with that.

Could be bad news for Leroy Watson as well because the Titans brought in Watson to be like that developmental offensive tackle. Well, if they haven't been impressed with what Watson have done so far, they only traded a seventh- round pick for when they had three seventh round picks. So it's not like some big loss if they're like, Watson didn't prove himself. Let's bring in a guy who's a little bit better

of a player who we can trust a little bit more. Also, let me just say this. This is bad news for Will Levis because at the end of the day, the Titans did not address the right tackle spot enough, in my opinion. Not making any kind of valuable free agent signing there. Only trading for Leroy Watson. You know, NPF has been hurt. If they knew that NPF was hurt as bad as he is to where he's missing all of summer practices,

why would they not go out and spend some of that money at right tackle? I don't understand that. So to me, this is bad news for Levis because no matter who is at right tackle, they're not a very good player. So with that being said, let's talk about the other tackle spot, which hopefully is a very good player. Before we do, though, do want to let you guys know that today's

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it's easy to make your car the MVP. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit, only available to U.S. customers. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We talked about the Titans free agent signing of Jerron Christian, not the signing that we all wanted. I'm looking for safety. I'm looking for edge, maybe interior defensive line,

some defensive help. Please, I'm begging you, Rand. But depth at offensive tackle, nonetheless, getting better players on the offensive line at the depth positions, still important. But I want to talk about a player who isn't just depth. I want to talk about a player who isn't just depth. I want to talk about a player who needs to be a star for this team. And that is J.C. Latham, the Titans' first-round pick. Who has had a better start to their career as a first-rounder for the Titans

in the last five, six years than J.C. Latham? Who? I mean, Conklin started well, I guess, but, you know, like, that was eight years ago now. Think about that. Eight years ago. Corey Davis,

Adoree Jackson, not great starts. Not great starts. Rashawn Evans, I guess. I hated that pick all along. Really never was a fan of the Rashawn Evans pick. That was before I did the show, though, so you didn't hear it then.

But Jeffrey Simmons, Simmons turned into a great player, but obviously he was coming back from the ACL, didn't play the first six weeks. And then, I mean, do we need to talk about Panda and Caleb Farley? No, we don't. And then Burks with the asthma issues and the conditioning issues. And even last year with Peter Skowronski, everybody was up in arms

because they thought he should play left tackle, but they put him at left guard. And, you know, he was quiet. He was just quiet. JC Latham, on the other hand, has been incredibly impressive so far. And we're hearing about it from his coaches, specifically legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan,

who has worked with many a first-round offensive lineman. What I wanted to do is I wanted to read you guys a quote that came from Bill Callahan on Tuesday. Okay? And it's via Jim Wyatt, TennesseeTitans.com, Team Beat reporter. But listen to what Bill Callahan had to say about J.C. Latham. Latham, quote, Latham is built a little bit differently from a mental aspect from most first-rounders I've been around.

This is me staring into the camera with excitement. Okay. All right. That's a good start. Let's keep the quote going. Quote, he'll always do the extra. He's always out here every day. Of course, you know the story about Ran Carthon chasing him out of the rain

here a few weeks ago. Breaking the quote. The story of JC Latham being out on the practice field by himself, working the sleds, working his technique, working his jump sets, and Rancart Dawn and Nick Holtz had to go out there and be like, man, you got to come in. You know, it's raining out here. There's plenty of time to get working. You got to get resting as well. And J.C. Latham was like, I'm just trying to establish a routine. I go back to the quote that J.C. Latham had a couple, like last week, where he talked about how Kobe Bryant said that he would practice twice as much.

So in any given year, he developed and got better twice as much as everybody else. That Mamba mentality, it does something for me. But anyway, back to the Bill Callahan quote as it continues, quote, but he's always doing things to improve his craft which is fun it's enjoyable as a coach you yearn for players like that in your room because they're great examples for other guys in the room to learn from but he's really obsessive about getting everything correct he's a perfectionist that way so it's fun to watch him go back out on the field and correct something that he wants to get better at. End quote. I also want to point out that A to

Z sports, it's not a report, but they put out a tweet this week saying like JC Latham's leadership has been impressive. This is not only the kind of physical talent that you want, but this dude is mentally there. Again, he played at IMG Academy in high school, which is like the top high school development program for professional athletes. He goes to Alabama, which is an NFL factory. At the end of the day, he's coached or he's been coached by Nick Saban, the best college coach of all time. So this is a guy who, and let me just say this. I sound like Chris Collinsworth. This is a guy right here.

But Latham has talked about how at IMG, because it's more of a, like they have these kind of things in Europe for soccer where you literally leave your school, think like the public school you go to or whatever, you leave and you go to a school where the job is to make you a better athlete. You do school and all that, but imagine like military academies. You know what I mean?

It's literally a sports academy. They had leadership classes. They had classes on business to get these guys ready to be pro athletes. And a reminder, JC Latham played left tackle there. So for you guys still worried about the right tackle, left tackle transition, I don't know if there's any of you left, but here's your sign to step off the train. All right, you'll be all right.

But the most impressive thing about J.C. Latham so far, we see the videos of him moving the sleds and all that, the physical talent, the physical talent, the physical power, all that is great. But the work ethic, the mental approach, the dedication to every single aspect of the craft. We've heard Peter Skowronski talk about how, you know, Latham is a great personality

and he's got a lot of juice. He's got a lot of energy. Like, not only can JC.C. Latham be the Titans' franchise left tackle for the next decade, but he can be a leader on this team. I talked about it. I forget whether it was at the beginning of this week or last week, but a lot of people hated on Taylor LeJuan.

Taylor LeJuan had his detractors in the fan base. And I get it. You know, he's an obnoxious personality, classic American frat boy. Like, Taylor LeJuan is all that. You know what I mean? He is, okay? But Taylor LeJuan was a larger-than-life personality. And for a team like the Tennessee Titans,

who didn't get a lot of pop, doesn't get a lot of pop, doesn't get a lot of pop, doesn't get a lot of attention. And, of course, you have Titans fans who say, oh, I don't care about that, just when. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. You want to turn on SportsCenter. You want to turn on First Take.

You want to turn on Locked On Sports today. You want to turn on all the sports shows and hear people talking about the Titans. We all do. We want our team to get credit. We want our team to get credit. We want our players to get recognition. That is part of the fan experience. So listen, you don't got to hide from it. Okay. I want the Titans to get more attention. I want the Titans to get more recognition. I want their players to be respected and revered. That's why Taylor

Luan was cool with me. I never had an issue. Because while LeJuan has had his up and downs as a player, he put the Titans in the forefront. People knew who Taylor LeJuan was. He got attention when he spoke. People listened, and it's carrying on now. The Titans get more pop and get more pub right now because of Taylor LeJuan than they would without him. JC Latham, while I don't expect him to be the same immaturity,

the penalties, you know, the frat boy mentality, all that stuff, while I don't expect JC Latham to have that personality, I think that JC Latham's expressive and vibrant personality, along with his work that he does on the field, because that's what's going to matter most, okay? We don't need any Patrick Beverly situations here where the guys are more popular for them talking than they are their plan. Okay. That's an NBA reference if you don't know, but JC Latham's personality and his talent on the field have the potential to give the Titans,

not only that franchise left tackle for a decade, but someone who can be a beacon and a representative of the team for all of us. That's what has me most excited, hearing him talk in the interviews, hearing the stories about him. This is a guy who could be a superstar in the football landscape. And we all have to hope that the Titans got it right, Bill Callahan can develop him, And this work ethic is for real. Because J.C. Latham, again, looks like he's built different. But with that being said, it's summer break.

Let's talk about which Tennessee Titans need to keep up the work the most. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We have talked about the depth signing of Jerron Christian at offensive tackle. We have talked about how impressive JC Latham has been so far. Now I want to talk about who needs to keep working hardest over this summer break. Before I get into it, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans your first listen. Also want to let you guys know that Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube, and it's now available on Amazon Fire TV.

It's called Locked On Sports Today. It's here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with local experts from Locked On, like me, plus coverage of every major league from our national shows. Find Locked On Sports Today. Now available on the free Fire TV channels app. But summer break is here. Okay? We're going to have about six weeks until the Tennessee Titans are back on the field.

I said it on yesterday's show, but this is the most important time of the year for these players because they've built up a little preparation from the all-season workouts, and now you've got six weeks where you're not at work. You can either get lackadaisical, chill out, lose your progress, and then come into training camp behind schedule and then have to use the beginning of training camp to work back into shape instead of working on your craft.

Or you can do what you should do, continue working as hard as possible. I'm not saying don't go take a vacation. I'm not saying don't go on a trip, blah, blah, blah. But you have to keep working and you have to keep working, and you have to stay in shape, and you have to keep your nose in the playbook, and you have to be ready to hit the ground running when you get to training camp.

So who on the Tennessee Titans needs to follow that mold the most? Well, I'll start on offense, and it starts with Will Levis. So we knew from the last few practices, Levis was a little late on a few things. A little late diagnosing who's open, a little late getting the ball out of his hands, all those things. Well, we know that Will Levis is having a summer retreat

with the skill position players. So that should help there too. But he has to continue working because by the time training camp comes around, of course there are going to be mistakes. Practice is where you make mistakes so that you can fix those things for the games. You shouldn't be perfect in practice. That's not good for your development. Okay? You're not going to be perfect. So being perfect in practice, no, throw some passes. I heard a story the other day

about Aaron Rodgers where Aaron Rodgers would intentionally throw risky passes in practice because he wanted to test his wide receivers. Hey, if I throw this back shoulder to the pylon, are they going to be able to make a play on that? Hey, if I see this in the defense and I throw it there, are they on the same page as me? I'm going to throw the ball there to make my point.

Aaron Rodgers would intentionally throw interceptions or throw risky passes in training camp to figure out how are these guys going to react? Who can I trust? Who's on the same page with me? Now, while I don't think that second year Will Levis in a new system will be doing that, the point is you have to test and experiment

and try things in training camp. And Levis needs to continue that. The point is, is you have to test and experiment and try things in training camp. And Levis needs to continue that throughout the summer too, especially in this throwing session that he has. So Levis really needs to keep his nose to the grindstone here. He really needs to stay in the playbook and try to have everything figured out mentally as much as possible so he can speed up that processing time when we get to training camp. So that's number one on my list.

Number two is Nicholas Petit-Ferrer. He's done nothing. Absolutely nothing so far. Rehab. Conditioning work. Playbook. Like, NPF has zero experience with the new coaching staff and the new system so far other than just meetings.

Okay? He needs to double down. Because he missed all of the off-season practices, he needs to be doing double-time work during the summer. It should not be a break. Like I said, some of these guys, you need to take your vacations. You need to have that reset time mentally. Not NPF.

NPF should get locked in the facility until he's ready to play for training camp. Because, like, not NPF. NPF should get locked in the facility until he's ready to play for training camp because, like, I'm scared. I'm scared for that right tackle spot right now. I have fear in my belly, alright? I'm worried about it. So, NPF has to have a

huge next six weeks so that he can be out there for training camp. And then finally, Traylon Burks. Burks is a guy who we know has struggled with conditioning in the past. He needs to stay at peak condition so that he doesn't get hurt because he always ends up getting banged up somehow and that cannot happen. That cannot happen this training camp. It is make or break for Traylon Burks right now. So he has to stay in absolute peak physical condition during this summer break and come back right for training camp

the way that he is right now leaving OTAs. Okay? On defense, obviously, Tavondre Sweat. I've talked enough about Tavondre Sweat. I'm not talking about Sweat. I talked about it yesterday. You guys know how I feel. talked enough about Devondre Sweat. I'm not talking about Sweat. I talked about it yesterday. You guys

know how I feel. But Rashad Weaver, Elijah Molden, and Caleb Farley. It's make or break time for them too. Like, this could be their last years with the team. Some of these guys,

I mean, Caleb Farley in particular, he may not make the roster, period. Okay? So, they cannot lax at all. This is an opportunity for Elijah Molden and Rashad Weaver to prove that they are starters. We talked at the beginning of the show about how I thought the Titans would be signing a safety. The Titans would be signing an edge rusher.

Well, you know who could step up and fill those roles? Elijah Molden and Rashad Weaver. So, they better take advantage of this six-week period and come into training camp showing like, hey, this is now or never for me and fight for their life. Fight for their career as NFL players. Like, huge six weeks for those three people. Absolutely. Absolutely.

But with that being said, let me know down below who you think needs a big summer break for the Titans. But I'll be back with you guys tomorrow with a little bit of a mailbag to end the week. Send your questions to me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. But with that being said, that's going to do it for me today, folks.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans.