Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Sign WR Chris Moore, Titans Making Calls to Trade Up and "Aiming" for Edge Rushers

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Tennessee Titans finally added a wide receiver in free agency. It's Chris Moore. Let's get it. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. We got a wide receiver signing in free agency, and it was Chris Moore.

Starting point is 00:00:54 Like we all imagined after the meeting they had last week, I'm going to break down what Chris Moore is as a player and why I just don't like the move for the Titans. Then we're going to talk about some of the news that's been percolating in recent days around the Titans and their selection in the draft. According to a recent report, the Titans have been making a lot of calls about trading up into the top six of the draft. Also, we got a report that the Titans are looking at edge rusher in the first round. I'm going to dive into all of the latest news before we get into it. I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen

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Starting point is 00:02:05 it. But diving into the signing of Chris Moore and look, I went on a long rant last week when the Titans had a meeting with Chris Moore about my feelings. Um, I'm not going to go that deep into my rant and then Raven, uh, to start off this show. But,, but you know, obviously it's a move that I'm not a big fan of. And let's talk about who Moore is as a player, his history, what he brings before we get into why I don't think it's a very good move. Number one, Chris Moore, six foot one, 200 pounds. Last year, he did have a very good year with the Houston Texans. He had 48 catches, 548 yards, had two touchdowns as well. It was by far in a way

Starting point is 00:02:48 the best year of his NFL career because to that point, and you include the Houston Texans year from last year, in his career he has 116 catches, 48 came last year, 1,286 yards, 548 came last year, and eight touchdowns, two of them coming last year. So he did the majority of his work in his seven-year career last year for the Texans. He spent his first five years with the Baltimore Ravens, spent the last two years with the Houston Texans. Now, Tim Kelly has taken over as offensive coordinator.

Starting point is 00:03:23 He did coach Chris Moore in Houston in 2021. Maybe there's a connection there. Maybe this is something where Tim Kelly asked for him to be on the team. A lot of people have brought up Chris Moore having special teams value. Well, I'm going to call BS on that. Chris Moore returned kicks in 2017 and 18 and 19, but he hasn't returned a single kickoff since 2019. He hasn't even played more than 200 special team snaps since 2019. And in his career, he had 46 kickoff returns for 1,080 yards and zero touchdowns. He's not a very good kickoff returner either, which is why he hasn't been asked to do it. And Chris Moore is going to be 30 years old. He ran a 4.53 when he was coming out of college. So an older player who doesn't have any upside, who doesn't have any speed, who doesn't have any upside, who doesn't have any speed,

Starting point is 00:04:26 who doesn't add any special teams value. I just don't know what I'm supposed to be excited about. A lot of you guys, hey, this is just cheap depth. It's cheap depth. The entire Titans wide receiver group outside of Traylon Burks is cheap depth. They didn't need to go cheap at wide receiver all season long. And look, if you're somebody who didn't want the Titans to go out and spend money at wide receiver, even if it's on a mid-tier guy like a McCole Hardman,

Starting point is 00:04:57 you know what I mean, for example, even if you wanted the Titans to go cheap at wide receiver, hey, only give out veteran minimum deals for wide receivers all free agency long. Okay, fine. I'll give you that. I'll play that game with you and I'll say that's perfectly fine. Well, how about Olamide Zaccheaus? Zaccheaus signed with the Eagles.

Starting point is 00:05:24 Literally an hour after the Titans decided to sign Chris Moore. Zacchaeus is a faster player who ran a 4.4 40-yard dash. He is a younger player who's 25 years old. 25, not 30, 25. Not 30. 25. With some potential upside. You want to say, oh, Zaccheaus is small.

Starting point is 00:05:52 He's like 5'8", 5'9". The Titans don't want guys that small. Well, Zaccheaus played inside and outside equally over the last few years. So it's not like he's a slot-only inside guy. Zaccheaus came from Atlanta. Similar system to what the Titans run. Familiar coaching with Arthur Smith. And you would say, oh, hey, Chris Moore had a very productive year last year.

Starting point is 00:06:12 48 catches, 548 yards. Well, Zaccheaus had 40 catches for 533 yards and three touchdowns last year with the Falcons, with Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ritter at quarterback. So similar production, more versatility from Zaccheaus, more upside, more speed, younger, you know. And I get it.

Starting point is 00:06:47 Some of you guys want to protect the Tennessee Titans. You don't like when people criticize your favorite football team. You think that what they do is right all the time. They've never made a mistake. They are simply victims. And you want to tell me, well, the Titans can't control who they sign. It's up to the players if they want to sign or not.

Starting point is 00:07:05 Okay, that's fair. But all I would tell you is, can't control who they sign. It's up to the players if they want to sign or not. Okay. That's fair. But all I would tell you is, every single year, the worst teams are the teams that spend the most in free agency. Players want money. And the Titans are giving a veteran minimum deal to Chris Moore. They could have paid $2 million for Zaccheaus,

Starting point is 00:07:26 who's going to get a veteran minimum deal from Philadelphia. They could have beat the offer. They could have. Like, we can't just go through our existence as Tennessee Titans fans constantly making excuses for them when they don't do the right things. Look, if the Titans didn't want to spend any real money at wide receiver this offseason, then fine. All right, fine. That seems to be their method throughout this offseason in general.

Starting point is 00:07:52 We're not making any major long-term commitments. We're not giving out any real money. That's fine. But then when you do small deals and you do these cheap deals, at least do those deals with guys with a little bit of upside to them. Not a 30-year-old slow wide receiver that hasn't played on special teams consistently or returned kicks since 2019. And a lot of you guys want to tell me, it's cheap depth. He probably won't even make the team. He, blah, blah, blah. He's barely going to be...

Starting point is 00:08:25 Well, we'll see. Because I was told the same about guys like Marcus Johnson and Chester Rogers. So, I'm just saying, the Titans could have done better than this, even if they didn't want to spend real money. And it's just, it's just disappointing. And the same people who are making excuses for the Titans right now are going to be the same people in my comments

Starting point is 00:08:52 mad that the Titans aren't very good this year and mad that they don't have very good wide receivers. So, you know, I guess optimism runs high in the offseason. But once we get the realities, it's like, you know, last year when I said the Titans would go 9-8, and I had people literally telling me I should quit my job

Starting point is 00:09:10 because I'm an idiot and a moron and don't know what I'm talking about. And then those same people are freaking out and getting mad when the Titans aren't winning games in the season. So, maybe just quit making excuses for the team all the time, and you won't be as disappointed

Starting point is 00:09:24 when reality hits you in the face when the year comes. I don't know. Just some advice as a guy who's been a fan of the team for nearly 25 years. But with that being said, we're going to move forward here. We got a lot to talk about on today's show. We're going to get into a recent comment by Dane Brugler saying that the Titans have made a lot of calls

Starting point is 00:09:42 to try to get up into the top six picks in the draft. Before we get into it, I do want to let you know that today's show is brought to you by Built Bar. Something exciting is coming to built.com on April 22nd. I don't have all the details yet, but the excitement is real, and it's something that you won't want to miss. If you know how Built works,

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Starting point is 00:10:53 We talked about the Chris Moore signing. We need to move forward here because we got a lot of draft-related news that has popped up. So I know earlier in the week, I said we would be doing the interior offensive line draft preview episode on today's show. But with all the recent news, the signing had to bump that to tomorrow. So on tomorrow's show, we're going to cap off the week talking interior offensive line in the NFL draft. We're going to talk centers. We're going to talk guards. I'm going to tell you which guys I think are the best fits for the Titans at different points in the draft next week. It is draft week, ladies and

Starting point is 00:11:26 gentlemen. We are going to start the week breaking down some prospects on the defensive side of the ball. Then I will have a full draft preview and I'm going to do my ideal draft for the Titans on Wednesday, on Thursday, a full draft preview, and you're going to get a bonus episode on Thursday where I do my full first round mock draft. I've been doing it since I start, since before I started doing the podcast in 2019. So that'll be very exciting as a bonus episode for you. I'm going to be breaking down all the picks all weekend long live on YouTube. I'm going to have shows for the next freaking 14 days in a row

Starting point is 00:12:06 basically. This is what's going to happen. So get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. But let's talk about what Dane Brugler had to say on a podcast called The Audible with Sigmund Blum. The audio wasn't quite out

Starting point is 00:12:22 yet when I stumbled upon this tweet from Sigmund Blum. But this is what Sigmund had to say. Quote from thefootballguys.com, of course. Quote, he was, well, let's do this. Daniel Simpkins, who's getting a strange shout out on today's show, said, would be very happy if the Titans land him talking about Trey Lance. I think they are at least a top three team in the mix.

Starting point is 00:12:46 Sigmund Blum responds, who knows? I had Dane Brugler on today, and he said they, the Titans, have made a lot of calls about moving up into the top six. Now that, folks, is interesting.

Starting point is 00:13:07 And I have to tell you that where I go here is I trust Dane Brugler. I do. He's a guy I love. His The Beast scouting report, I use it all the time throughout draft season. I'm a big fan of his work.

Starting point is 00:13:21 I trust his analysis. And if Brugler is saying that the Titans have been making a lot of calls to the top six teams to try to move up, I believe that. Now, let's talk about why that would be the case. So somebody mentioned this in my comments a couple of weeks ago. I don't remember exactly who it was, but shout out to you. But we're starting to hear word that the Texans may not be interested

Starting point is 00:13:42 in CJ Stroud at pick number two. That could be because of the S2 test or all these different things. But what I think is more realistic, and I've heard this from a second source now, is that the Texans don't want to deal with CJ agent. And you know who C.J. Stroud's agent also represents? Deshaun Watson. So it may not be a situation where the Texans don't like C.J. Stroud's talent, but it may be a situation where personal relationships are going to affect what pick they make. Now me, I would still be shocked if the Texans didn't pick a quarterback at number two, but there are real life reasons why they would pass. If they have any doubt about Stroud whatsoever, and then you add in the fact that he has the

Starting point is 00:14:40 same agent as Watson and they just don't want to deal with that guy. Now you could see them taking Will Anderson. Now you could see them taking Tyree Wilson. I've also heard that the Texans, like the Colts, they like Will Levis as the second best quarterback in this draft. That's insane to me, personally. But hey, I'm not in those rooms. Maybe they do. So, if the Titans get in a situation

Starting point is 00:15:13 where the Texans pass on a quarterback at number two, they may very well be in the position that we've discussed to go up to number three and make the trade. And I want to throw in this extra wrinkle. Todd McShay from ESPN spoke on a conference call on Wednesday morning. He said this when talking about Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and Mike Frable.

Starting point is 00:15:45 Quote, I was standing there with Stroud at Ohio State's Pro Day, and Mike Vrabel came over and said to Stroud, hey, go take a shower and let's meet in the wide receiver room. So, there's a relationship there. Obviously with Vrabel and his background at Ohio State. That doesn't mean they're going to take him or want to move up for him. I'm just saying there is a relationship there and it is interesting. But if Houston stays

Starting point is 00:16:12 at two and takes a defensive lineman, then Tennessee has a real good chance to move up to three to Arizona's spot. But you're going to be competing with the Colts who have the fourth overall pick. You're going to be competing with potentially the Raiders at seven. So how much are you willing to go up and get that guy? End quote. McShay mentions the teams that I think are competitive teams for the Titans in terms of moving up to number three. Vegas and Atlanta.

Starting point is 00:16:41 in terms of moving up to number three. Vegas and Atlanta. I still will continue to say there is a lot of smoke here. There has to be some fire. The Titans have been ever-present at pro days. They've had visits with all these quarterbacks. They aren't wasting their time and their resources

Starting point is 00:17:03 to smoke screen people. They are interested in these quarterbacks, they aren't wasting their time and their resources to smokescreen people. They are interested in these quarterbacks. And if Houston is dumb enough to pass on Stroud and draft defense, Titans have to go up and get Stroud. And clearly, based on Vrabel and how he dealt with Stroud, he's already getting cushy with him. That's what you want to see. I'm still in favor of going up and getting C.J. Stroud if you can.

Starting point is 00:17:33 So the draft is a week away now. We'll get our answers soon enough. But another report that is, I don't know, strange is what the Titans may be looking at in the first round with their first round pick. We're going to get into that in just a moment. I'm going to tell you what the latest buzz is there. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We're going to cap things off, talking about a recent report, some buzz about what the Titans may be looking to draft in the first round.

Starting point is 00:18:21 Before we get into it, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms, always for free. Shout out to my everydayers tuning in to every show all week long. I appreciate you guys so much. Remember, tomorrow we're breaking down interior offensive line candidates in the draft.

Starting point is 00:18:44 We're going to hit defense at the beginning of next week before we go into my draft preview on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday will be a recap of the first round and a preview of the rounds to come. I'm going to go live on Friday night after the second round as well. I'm going to go live Saturday after all the rounds are complete. Sunday, I'm going to do a full recap. You don't want to miss any of the content coming your way. Get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast.

Starting point is 00:19:09 But again, we got some draft buzz here, and it comes from Matt Miller from ESPN. And this caught me off guard. It really did. I was very, very surprised to hear what Matt Miller had to say. So let's dive into the quote. He says this, quote, people I've spoken with aren't ruling out the Titans trading into the top five for a quarterback, but I would consider it a surprise. An AFC executive said,

Starting point is 00:19:38 everyone outside Tennessee thinks they'll trade up, but no one in the organization is saying it directly. Yet, Tennessee is considering several positions in round one. The most common scenario shared among NFL sources is Tennessee staying at number 11 and aiming for pass rusher. But after signing edge rusher Arden Key and left tackle Andre Dillard in free agency, the team's biggest needs have been checked off, which could open the door for a trade up to secure a passer.

Starting point is 00:20:26 Perhaps Anthony Richardson could be in the Titans plans. Ryan Tannehill is turning 35 and had a disappointing 2022 season. End quote. The Titans are aiming for pass rush. The Titans biggest needs are checked off? Did the Titans add a wide receiver of consequence that I missed? I'm just saying, I think it's

Starting point is 00:20:52 crazy that we got buzz on what the Titans are looking at in the draft. And pass rusher is what was named. And wide receiver wasn't mentioned at all. Guys, I hope, I hope that you're setting your expectations properly.

Starting point is 00:21:17 That you're slowing down on the wide receiver hype in round one. Because the closer we get to the draft, the more I feel confident the Titans are not picking a wide receiver in round one. They're not going to do it. And that goes back to my Chris Moore discussion. It's full circle. Everybody's telling me

Starting point is 00:21:39 cheap depth will probably barely be on the roster by the time the season comes around. What about the draft? I mean, have you guys followed the team? The odds are that the Titans are going to take

Starting point is 00:21:55 a wide receiver in the third or the fourth round. And Nick Westbrook-Akene and Traylon Burks are going to be your starting wide receivers on day one. Like, I would love to believe that that is not going to be true. I would love that. But how can you have any optimism of that? This team just played Nick Westbrook-Akene

Starting point is 00:22:24 as their number one wide receiver for most of the year. You think Chris Moore and NWI are just going to be depth guys who don't play? I feel bad for you guys. I pity you guys, honestly, if you're that blindly optimistic about things. I envy you in a way because, man, being that like blindly positive about everything with no historical context to back you up whatsoever,

Starting point is 00:22:49 that's some high-level elite positivity right there. But I just don't see how people can be at that point with what we've seen. So, Chris Moore is signed. The Titans making a lot of calls to get into the top

Starting point is 00:23:04 six. If they stick at 11, they're aiming for pass rush. If you're somebody who cares about wide receiver, which has proven to be one of the top five most important positions in the NFL, and maybe top three in the modern NFL, then just brace yourselves, folks. I'm trying to warn you early on that they're not going to care about wide receiver in the draft either.

Starting point is 00:23:25 We're going to get a mid-round pick that isn't going to be ready to make a huge impact in year one. And then during the season, everyone's going to be saying, man, they need wide receivers. And I'm going to be sitting here saying, well, yeah. I said that in April and March and May. But, hey, nonetheless, this is the team that we love and the team that we follow.

Starting point is 00:23:52 And I'll be back to break down some interior offensive linemen who fit in the draft on tomorrow's show. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Ty.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Sign WR Chris Moore, Titans Making Calls to Trade Up and "Aiming" for Edge Rushers

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