Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Starters Recap: Defensive Line, Linebackers & Secondary

Episode Date: March 26, 2021

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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. It is a Friday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We've made it, folks. We've made it. We are going to finish this week strong. Yesterday, we talked about the projected starters at this moment in time for the Tennessee Titans

offense. We are going to conclude that discussion on today's show where we talk about the projected starters at this time for the Titans defense. Now, I am preaching patience at all times. There's the obvious disclaimer here that the Titans are just in the middle of wave two of free agency. There is still more free agency to come. The NFL draft in a month and then there's always that post-June 1st free agency wave as well. So the roster is far from finished but we have to understand where we are to have a good understanding of where

the Titans need to go. So we are going to dive into the defensive starters at this time for the Titans in today's Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. Ladies and gentlemen, Titans fans all over, it is in fact Friday and we are going to be talking about the Titans projected defensive starters at this moment in time. But before we get into that, do want to remind you guys, as I always do at the beginning of the show, for any of you that are new, I am going to be putting out Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content on this show, not only during the season, but all year long.

Make sure that you never miss an episode of the Locked on Titans podcast by subscribing on whatever platform you do stream, whether that be Apple iTunes, whether that be Spotify, Radio.com app, the Google Podcast app, doesn't matter, wherever you get your podcast, you can find the Locked on Titans podcast there. Also, make sure that you follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans, and check out the new Facebook page at Locked on Titans Pod. But with all that housekeeping stuff out of the way, let's dive into these

defensive starters for the Tennessee Titans. And we are going to start on the defensive line. And this is where the biggest improvement may come for the Tennessee Titans is on that defensive line. And when I say the defensive line, I'm going to be talking the interior defensive linemen in the Titans base three-4 defense. Of course, we will have the conversation about sub-package when we get to the defensive backs at the back end of the show, and I'll explain what the lineup would be for that and why that might be an even more important lineup than the base defense itself. But on that defensive line in the Titans' 3-4, we will have Tyre Tartt at the nose tackle taking over for Daquan Jones. We will have Danico

Autry, the Titans newly signed free agent, taking over that Jack Crawford role and of course coming back to fill his role in the Titans defense on the line, Jeffrey Simmons, who in my opinion is the best defensive player on the Tennessee Titans currently. So very excited to see what that defensive line can do. And I think that is quite the upgrade when you look at the three-man group that was up front last year for the Titans. I have no qualms with Daquan Jones last year. I thought he played pretty well. And the only reason the Titans let him go was to save money, which we saw a slew of

moves doing just that. So can't really fault the Titans there. But $7 million for a nose tackle or a defensive tackle that only can really help you on one to two downs, that's not something you could pay $7 million for in this economy. So the Titans had to let Daquan Jones go. But a quick side note here, I do think that there is a good chance that Daquan Jones could return to the Tennessee Titans. And recently, ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler hinted at that in an article saying that Daquan Jones, for the right price, of course, that'll always be the determining factor, is the price.

But in this market, for what Daquan Jones is likely to get, I don't see why the Titans wouldn't have the money available to make that happen. Also, don't see why Daquan Jones wouldn't want to come back to a place where he feels familiar, knows the defense, knows what his role is, and find a way to get himself a better contract next offseason, just like Jayon Brown is doing, but for half the money for Daquan Jones on the defensive line. So we could still see a defensive line of Danico Autry, Jeffrey Simmons as defensive ends, defensive tackles, and then Daquan Jones is the nose tackle. But right now, I actually feel pretty comfortable with Tyier Tarr.

He definitely has to improve in his ability to hold his ground against the run, but he is an interior penetrator that the Titans will love to have shooting gaps up front. I would imagine he will progress in his second season, as the restrictions on folks for COVID-19-related issues will probably loosen this offseason compared to last year, and that should help his development as a second year undrafted free agent as well. But right now, Tyer Tartt would be that starting nose tackle. Really excited about Danico Autry, though.

It's something that I said was probably my favorite signing of the Titans of this offseason so far. At the rate that they got him, about million dollars per for two seasons that's really what the bones of the deal is here and what will ultimately matter I love that value Autry is a powerful guy like I mentioned he takes that Jack Crawford role so he can play a 4-3 defensive end if necessary or he can play a three technique defensive tackle he can play a five technique defensive end in that base so he has a ton of versatility, much more power, much more production than Jack Crawford as well. Jack Crawford was a career backup. Danico Autry has been a starter for quite some time. So I love the upgrade there for the Titans on the defensive line. Somebody to pair with Jeffrey Simmons up front who can give you

some not only in run defense like Daquan Jones could, but also in the pass rush as well. So we'll talk more about why I'm so happy about Danico Autry later in the show when we talk about that sub rush defense for the Titans as well. But finally, do want to talk about Jeffrey Simmons, as I mentioned, in my opinion, the best defensive player on the field for the Titans. He needs to improve with his hand technique in this third season. He needs to get better as a pass rusher, needs to improve with his hand technique in this third season. He needs to get better as a pass rusher, needs to refine some moves there rather than just relying on raw power

and raw explosion. But maybe a guy like Danico Autry, who's been doing that kind of thing for quite some time, can help Jeffrey Simmons. They can teach him hands-on learning. If the coaching staff isn't accelerating the progression for Jeffrey Simmons in that realm quick enough, then maybe another player with experience and a similar play style can help Jeffrey Simmons in that realm and help him improve in his third season. So that would be a big jump from Jeffrey Simmons being one of the most impactful defensive linemen against the run in the NFL to one of the top five best interior defensive linemen in the NFL, which I don't think he's too far away at this time, maybe just outside the top 10 and the top 15 somewhere, but with some better pass rush

production, he can really take a leap, and Danico Autry could unlock him from a multitude of different standpoints. But we are going to dive into the next segment of the defense, and that is the linebacker core, which got a very big addition in this offseason. So we are going to talk about that next. Before we do, I want to remind you guys about betonline.ag, the fastest and easiest way to place all of your sports wagers. Football might be over, but the NBA and NHL are in full swing.

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At this moment in time, we just went over the Titans interior defensive line, so we take that step up in the defense. Before we dive into that though, I want to remind you guys about the Locked On Today podcast. You get more of your sports news in less time with the Locked On Today podcast hosted by Peter Bukowski. It gives you all of the latest updates in every major sport and it's under 20 minutes. It's basically like having the sports section read to you every morning. Make sure that you follow the Locked on Titans podcast wherever you get podcasts. And speaking of podcasts, I do want to give you guys just a little bit of an update on the content schedule for the Locked on Titans podcast.

Free agency is starting to die down just a little bit as we get to the end of March, and it's really time to start ramping up the draft coverage. So that's what I'm going to be doing in the coming weeks. Really diving into each position in the draft. Every single position on offense and defense. We're going to be talking about the early round guys, the mid-round guys, and then the day three options as well. So a ton of draft content coming up in the next few weeks.

Make sure you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But let's dive into this linebacker group. And I'm going to start with the two off-ball linebackers. Of course, you have two edges in the Titans, 3-4 defense, and then two off-ball inside linebackers. And luckily, the Titans got a good deal based on the circumstances of this offseason with the salary cap. And Jayon Brown will come back to retain one of the starting spots on a one-year deal.

Essentially, it is worth $3 million. It looks like a three-year deal worth $5 million, but void years and signing bonus and all the cap machinations that everyone's going through this year to make everything fit. But the only thing that really matters at the end of the day is that Jayon Brown will be returning as a starting inside linebacker for the Titans. Now, the other spot, the other spot is a little more tricky. So I floated an idea here on this podcast. Rashawn Evans' fifth year option has to be accepted or declined. I believe in May it'll be, depending on how they flesh out the rest of the schedule, it'll be at the beginning of May,

the end of May. It'll happen before June 1st. And the Titans have to decide whether they want to have Rashawn Evans pass this season in the next year. Same thing happened with Jack Conklin, same thing happened with Corey Davis. Now in my opinion, the likelihood of Rashawn Evans having an awesome fourth season and getting a big-time deal like Conklin or Corey Davis got in next year's free agency is way lower than those two players. Rashawn Evans is simply not going to get the kind of deal that results in a nice compensatory draft pick for the Titans, which is what really matters.

So in my opinion, if in, once again, my opinion, the Titans are not going to pick up the fifth year option on Rashawn Evans, which means this will be his last season in Tennessee. And there's reason to believe that he's not the quality of player. We knew that Corey Davis had talent. We knew that Corey Davis, if he had a really good season, could get this kind of money. Nobody is expecting that from Rashawn Evans. Even if Rashawn has a good year, he's not going to get the kind of money that Conklin and Corey Davis got at their positions. So, that means that the Titans can take a little bit more risk with Rashawn Evans, in my opinion.

So, we saw a guy like Hassan Redick from the Arizona Cardinals change from an off-ball linebacker to an edge rusher, which is something he did more in college, and then have a prolific year with 11 sacks and just got a one-year deal, I believe, for $10 million with the Panthers, if I recall correctly. So, for me, I would like to see the Titans maybe at least consider something similar with Rashawn Evans. And maybe you don't go the fool way and just put Rashawn at edge all year long, but I think

that it wouldn't be a terrible idea to give him more opportunities to edge rush and maybe have David Long, who you're going to need to be a starter going forward after this year no matter what because of the Rashawn Evans situation. Why not get ahead of it? Let David Long and Jayon Brown start at inside linebacker now, and then you can work in Rashawn Evans as an inside linebacker on running downs on those goal line situations where he has done well penetrating gaps and flowing downhill. But you can also let him get enough practice and focus on being an edge rusher that he

might improve there, which halfway through the season could entice a team to trade for him. And now instead of getting a compensatory draft pick, which you wouldn't get, you might get a draft pick through a trade because using him somewhere else entices a team to take a chance on him mid-season so I'm just saying a lot of doors open if you at least consider that as a possibility I thought David Long was just as good as Rashawn Evans as an inside linebacker last year and Jayon Brown is definitely better than both those players overall so you get a head start on the development of David Long as being a starter overall so you get a head start on the development of David Long as being a starter you get your best two inside linebackers out on the field and you get to take some risk and try Rashawn Evans

somewhere else where he can either provide value on the field in that spot or maybe get you a draft pick back and I know that it's unlikely that he would get the draft pick back for a trade in season but it's at least more of a possibility than him staying an inside linebacker. And that's all based on my evaluation of Rashawn as an inside linebacker. I just don't see him as a three down linebacker in the NFL going forward. If I end up being wrong about that after a stellar season, then so be it. But I have a feeling that even if he plays well, it's a similar situation to Corey and Jack Conklin, where he's just not valued highly enough for the Titans to spend any kind of money, which makes the writing be on the wall that this is his last season in Tennessee.

This is the same thing I told you guys about Corey Davis, too. Heed my warning. But that moves us to the outside linebackers, and we have Harold Landry, of course, who needs to get less reps overall, needs to play less of the time so he can stay fresh more, and needs to drop back into coverage less as well. So hopefully if the Titans' pass rush is a little better, then they won't feel the need to be so creative with Landry and can let him focus on doing what is going to make him most valuable to the team,

and that's getting to the quarterback. And then on the opposite side, having Bud Dupree. When I talked about the Titans increasing the power of the defensive line, Bud Dupree is a powerful player. Yes, he looks like he has a ton of speed and he sure does but he is a big powerful outside guy who does well against the run very good at creating an edge and holding that edge as well it's one thing for a guy to create the edge and then sustaining that and holding the edge to force the running back or the quarterback back inside is very important as well and Bud Dupree does have those characteristics if he can get back to 100% so in every possible likely theory the Titans pass rush could not be any worse and has to improve and a guy like Bud Dupree if he like I said gets back to 100% should certainly be able

to do that. But we are going to move into the secondary, who the starters will be, and that'll lead us into a conversation about the Titans sub package defense as well, which you might consider the starting lineup. So a great conversation coming there. Before we dive into that, though, do want to tell you about BuiltBar.com and, of course, talk about Built Bar Madness. So the tournament is waging and raging forward

I do mean and we are down to the enticing eight trying to figure out who will be the flavorful four and today's matchup is going to be the cookie dough chunk and the birthday cake

so this is a very difficult one for me personally the cookie dough chunk and the birthday cake. So this is a very difficult one for me personally. The cookie dough chunk, absolutely delicious. And as I mentioned to you guys, any of the bars that have chunk in them because of the texture, all the way at the top for me always. But I really love birthday cake flavored things. I mean, maybe it makes me a child. I don't care, but I love birthday cake ice cream. I love regular white on white birthday cake in general. It's delicious. I'm not a big sweets guy. So I really, and that's one of the things that I really do enjoy in the birthday cake bar. Just, it just hits for me. It's just delicious. I literally got a fresh package of those in the mail earlier this week and I'm incredibly impressed. I really am. So although the cookie dough chunk does have the chunk factor, I got to go with the birthday

cake, guys. I really do. I got to go with the birthday cake. So if you want to vote on the bracket and who will end up in the championship, as we like to call it here in this competition, then make sure you go to BuiltBar.com and go to their Twitter account, at Bar underscore Built, and use promo code LOCKED15 and go on BuiltBar.com and get yourself 15% off your next order of Built Bars. Find out who will be the best tasting Built Bar ever. All right, guys. We are going to finish out this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast

by talking about the Titans' current starting secondary and their sub-package group. We talked about the interior defensive line to start off, then moved into the linebacker group. Now, as I said, we'll finish with the secondary. Before we jump into the last group for the Titans defense, do want to remind you guys about the Locked On NFL Draft podcast. Are you ready for the NFL Draft?

Make sure that you join Locked On NFL Draft host Trevor Sikama and Benjamin Solak as they give you their latest positional rankings and analysis on the 2021 draft prospects with team-centric guest mocks right around the corner. Follow the Locked On NFL Draft podcast on the Radio.com app or wherever you get podcasts. So number one, easiest to start with the safeties. It's pretty obvious. It's Kevin Bayard and it's Amani Hooker. And Amani Hooker is the interesting name there.

He will be sliding in to take care of the spot left vacant by the release of Kenny Vaccaro. And it's a move that I agreed with. Kenny Vaccaro's play really dropped off. I thought Amani Hooker was a better player than Kenny Vaccaro last year. Now Amani isn't nearly as good in physical situations against the run, coming downhill to force running backs back inside or fill the lane. But the Titans have to get better in pass coverage. And Amani Hooker is going into the third year of his career on a rookie contract.

The Titans got to see if he's a player they want to keep around or not. The real question is going to be whether or not the Titans bring in a veteran safety or whether they draft a safety late in the draft to compete for that third safety role with Dane Cruikshank. Cruikshank only played one play last year and was injured for most of the season. He showed some signs of life in the playoff game against Baltimore in 2019. You thought maybe he would be ready to actually play some defense and not just be a valuable special teamer, but missing an entire season. Who knows what Crookshank could look like, and that'll be an interesting spot to watch going forward for the Titans.

Not only in this offseason and this draft, but next year it'll definitely be something that has to be addressed. Outside at cornerback, that's where the biggest changes have come. Out are Malcolm Butler, Desmond King, and Adoree Jackson. In are Kevin Johnson and Janoris Jenkins. And on the other side, you're going to see second-year player Christian Fulton expected to start. And obviously with Janoris Jenkins, he's a guy that you should be able to count on,

a veteran, kind of like a Malcolm Butler type but should just be better and was better last year at tight press man coverage Malcolm Butler was a really solid player I mean I don't want to take away from Malcolm and he signed with the Arizona Cardinals today so that's worthy of mention but the Titans could certainly get guys who are more coverage oriented rather than just being physical beat-em-up type guys like King and Butler were they want to find a balance between a guy like a Dory Jackson with his athleticism and then the coverage oriented rather than just being physical beat-em-up type guys like King and Butler were. They want to find a balance between a guy like a Dory Jackson with his athleticism and then the physicality of a Malcolm Butler. Can you find a balance in between? I believe that Janoris Jenkins could possibly give the Titans that. On the other side, like I mentioned, Christian Fulton is going

to be starting at cornerback and yeah, it may be worrisome to rely on Christian Fulton, but at the end of the day, the guy was drafted in the second round. The first three rounds of the draft have to produce starters. You have to put Christian Fulton out there. You got to see what he's able to do and give him an opportunity to start, and if he doesn't stay healthy or he doesn't play well, then at least you know something and you know what's going on. You can't completely cut him out of that opportunity at this early of a stage in the offseason. And then the next cornerback spot, we're going to get into the sub package here because what happens is a guy like Tyer Tartt and nose tackle is going to come off the field in passing situations.

And then what you're going to do is you're going to bring on an extra defensive back, often another cornerback, a third corner, and that's your slot corner. And in this circumstance right now, we're projecting Kevin Johnson in that role and obviously Kevin Johnson's signing caused a lot of debate on Titan Twitter really not a lot of debate just a lot of people crushing the guy I've talked about why everyone really needs to relax on that signing but here's one thing I do want to mention too if Kevin Johnson ain't it and the Titans coaching staff knows it I would feel pretty comfortable with Breon Borders on the outside and then letting Christian Fulton try to play the slot.

And remember, the Titans are absolutely going to draft a cornerback. They're absolutely going to, and of course you don't want to rely on a rookie too much, as we learned last year, but man, the Titans were so snakebit last year. You have to think that their draft class, they're going to get a little bit more from this year than they got last year. You have to think that their draft class, they're going to get a little bit more from this year than they got last year. I know we all have PTSD from last year's offseason, but we got to move past that and expect some kind of production. So you look at Breon Borders, you look at Janoris Jenkins, Jack Rabbit, and then you look at Christian Fulton as your three cornerbacks, and if that makes you feel better, then fine. That's pretty solid to me too. I will roll with

that. The improvements in the Titans pass rush, Bud Dupree, Danico Autry. That is what should improve the secondary even more than the changing faces. The improved pass rush is really what's going to make a huge difference for the Titans. So in that sub package, the defensive line is going to be Harold Landry, Bud Dupree on the outside, Danico Autry, Jeffrey Simmons in the middle. You'll have, in my opinion, David Long and Jayon Brown out there in passing situations. Then you're going to have Breon Borders, Kevin Johnson, whichever one you want, Christian Fulton, Jack Rabbit, Jenkins, Kevin Byard, and Imani Hooker.

That's going to do it. And that is the starters on the Titans defense as we sit. We know that they need to add some players in the draft. We know that free agency isn't over as well, so I will keep a watchful eye on everything. Be back with you guys on Monday for your typical mock draft Monday and mailbag Monday, so make sure you get in those mailbag questions to me

on Twitter at TicTacTitans or put them in a review on Apple iTunes. 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.