Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Starters Recap: Offense & News Updates

Episode Date: March 25, 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, this Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by RockAuto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices. Go to RockAuto.com today and tell them that Locked On sent you.

But we have two days left in the week. Today's Thursday show, tomorrow's Friday show. And what I want to do is I want to dive into a little bit of a two-day exercise where we take a look at the Tennessee Titans starting lineup on offense and defense as we currently sit. Now, of course, the needed disclaimer is the roster is far from finished. We're in the middle of the second wave of free agency. The draft is in a month. And of course, you always have that summertime free agency period

as well, where veterans get cut, get let go. So names move at that time as well. So no need for worry, no need for panic, but I do want to at least chart out where the Titans sit right now so we know where they need to go. So we are going to talk about the offensive side of the ball on today's show, but before we dive into that exercise, I want to open up with a few headlines. One of them I didn't really want to touch on, but I'll quickly touch on it to explain why I am no longer going to be talking about this particular player. And then there was a second kind of periphery story a lot of you guys sent me, wanted me

to comment on it. It has to do with the salary cap, and I will quickly touch on that as well. But we are going to dive into all of the Tennessee Titans starters as they sit right now on today's Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. We are going to kick off this Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by diving into two kind of low-key stories that I've seen a lot of here in the past 24 hours. But before we do that, I want to always take an opportunity to remind you guys I am going

to be pumping out Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content, not only during the season, but all year long. There is not another Titans content creator that can say that. Make sure you never miss an episode by subscribing to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Also, follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans for additional content, including my film breakdowns. And check out the new Facebook page at Locked on Titans Pod. But let's dive right into these stories. page at LockedOnTitansPod.

But let's dive right into these stories. And number one is a story and a new story that was broken by John Glennon from Broadway Sports. But Glennon hasn't gotten the proper credit that he deserves for breaking that story in multiple media outlets, including Pro Football Talk, including ESPN even. And that is incredibly disappointing. Make sure that you source material guys it's just despicable that these high-end outlets cannot credit the person who came out with the scoop it's endlessly frustrating as a person who believes in ethics and morals in journalism but

I'll get off the soapbox for a minute to talk about the story itself and John Glennon put out the news that prior to being traded from the Titans to the Miami Dolphins, last year's first round pick, Isaiah Wilson, was actually arrested at gunpoint with illicit items in his car after going on a high speed chase with police officers where he reached speeds close to 140 miles per hour. So number one, all of that is incredibly disappointing, but not surprising in the least bit. Number two, I've seen some people say, you know, the Titans bamboozled the Dolphins. Well, first off, it's the Dolphins' responsibility to do

their due diligence on a guy who's clearly had a ton of problems. And if they weren't able to sniff that out, and John Glennon was, well, that's on the Dolphins. Either way, the trade wasn't that damaging to the Dolphins in the first place. So no big deal really for anybody. This is just an unfortunate end to the situation, but that's where I want to kind of start my thoughts. This is the end of that situation. I think any further conversation about Isaiah Wilson at this point is in bad faith. We know the guy is never probably going to play in the NFL ever again. We know his career is over. His career is at least at the minimum over in Tennessee.

And I understand that this story, because it happened while he was still on the Titans before the trade, the timing of it maybe makes it seem important. But to me, I just don't care anymore about what happens with Isaiah Wilson. I just don't care. If he would have stayed with the Dolphins, got his career on straight, and was able to be an impactful player, yeah, I would have cared and we would have talked about that, but at this point, the guy is not an NFL player.

So anything that happens going forward with Isaiah Wilson, don't expect me to spend a lot of time talking about it, if any at all, because at this point, it's no different than talking about my neighbor down the street, who's an idiot, you know, like it just, it doesn't matter anymore. And I don't want to spend any more time piling on the guy. I've said what I had to say. I think everyone has taken their opportunity to say what they have to say. And from this point forward, I'm just absolving him from my consciousness. I just don't care whatsoever in any way. So I wanted to at least let you guys know my thoughts on that story

as it was kind of the biggest news story of the day. But also a lot of you guys have been sending me the NFL Players Association cap breakdown on the NFL Players Association website as the Titans with $28 million in cap room. And that led some people to speculate what the Titans with $28 million in cap room and that led some people to speculate you know what the Titans cap situation truly is a lot of us who cover the team have been saying they're right around 12 to 14 million dollars before getting some details of some

recent signings that would obviously spit in the face of our projections but the reality here is you go look at the NFLPA website I theorize maybe Ryan Tannehill did restructure his contract to give the Titans an extra $13 to $20 million in salary cap space, and that just hasn't been announced yet. But the Players Association does know about it because obviously they're the Players Association. But that doesn't seem to be the case. My initial theory is the website is just not updated.

The website is just not current. It's not correct. They're not updating it as it needs to be and they're certainly not updating it as well and as often as places like Over the Cap and SpotTrack. So, no, I'm sorry guys. Hate to burst your bubble but the Titans do not have

an extra $15 to $20 million in cap space that we all just were unaware of. That's not the case at the moment. So, I at least wanted to speak to that as I did have about two or three of you guys send me that information and ask me whether or not, you know, the Titans had that amount of cap space based on what I've told you. So I wanted to at least address that as well. But that's the last time that I'm going to discuss Isaiah Wilson. And well, probably, of course, and then probably the last time that I'll ever discuss the salary cap information on the NFL Players Association website so wanted to hit those first

but now we are going to dive into the offensive side of the football and go over what the Titans starting lineup looks at this moment in time before we dive into all of that though do want to tell you about one of our sponsors and that is rockauto.com the title sponsor of the show rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers online for over 20 years their online cat online catalog is unique it's remarkably easy to navigate you can quickly see all the parts available for your vehicle and choose the brands specifications and the prices that you prefer speaking of those prices one thing I didn't know is that chain auto parts stores can give you different prices whether you're a do-it-yourselfer

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We are going to dive into the offensive starting lineup for the Tennessee Titans on today's show as things currently sit with the disclaimer, of course, that we know the roster is far from finished, but figured we would take a moment to kind of establish where the Titans are and what their needs are right now with a little bit, a couple more weeks of free agency ahead of us, and then, of course, the NFL draft a month away. But before we dive into that, I want to remind you guys about the Locked On Today podcast. Get more of the sports news that you need in less time

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But the first position that we are going to discuss is the most controversial of them all. I'm just kidding. It's Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. And quite frankly, with Logan Woodside and Deshaun Kaiser as the only other quarterbacks on the roster, this is a slam dunk. I would say that I would like to see some more competition for backup quarterback, something I've been calling for for quite some time, but I just don't think that we're going to get it. So the quarterback position is pretty much settled, in my opinion, Ryan Tannehill, obviously, the starter for the Titans.

And, you know, we're at a point now where Ryan Tannehill is a slammed-up top-ten quarterback. You're talking about 6, 7, 8, somewhere in that range, for sure, right around the Matthew Staffords, right below Josh Allen in my book right with Matthew Stafford Matt Ryan Dak Prescott went healthy that's just you know my personal grouping there from about seven to nine seven to ten but either way with what Ryan Tannehill is being paid and the buzz around Ryan Tannehill before he showed up to Tennessee just an absolute slam

dunk and I think it's something that we all need to remember is how grateful that we should be for having Ryan Tannehill around and that he showed up where would the Titans be right now if they didn't go out and get Ryan Tannehill they just went out and got a regular backup quarterback like a Blaine Gabbert Matt Castle type in 2019 and then Marcus fell off a cliff where would the Titans be man where would they be right now probably would have had to take a quarterback very high in the draft after 2019 who knows who really knows but thank God for Ryan Tannehill that's what really matters next the next most controversial just kidding of course again but at running back Derrick Henry I wonder if the Titans

are going to look to provide him an extension of any kind he's going into the last year of guaranteed money in his contract so you know the reality here is Derrick Henry could be a free agent again next year if the Titans for some reason were to cut him and try to restructure or anything like that who knows what the future holds but right now at least right now Derrick Henry slated as a starting running back for the Tennessee Titans, and again, like Ryan Tannehill, thank God for Derrick Henry becoming the best running back in the NFL. If you're like me, you remember those first couple of years. It did not look great for Derrick Henry, and certainly didn't look like he would be a guy rushing for 2,000 yards and being the best running back in the league, so quite a surprise for the

Titans there based on the first couple of years. But thank the heavens, thank the heavens that it happened. Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry and having those guys along with the next guy that we're going to talk about, well, second next guy that we're going to talk about, makes me feel a lot more comfortable about the Titans offense despite a lot of people being panicked. I do want to mention fullback Kari Blossom game. We'll return to the Titans

like having Kari. Again, I just like the chess piece that he is. Helps you play the numbers game. You can kind of determine how the defense is trying to play the run and then use that fullback as a weapon to win the advantage and gain an advantage depending on the numbers at either side of the ball. Remember having a fullback in the dot, in I formation, right behind the quarterback. Well, he can go to the left well he can go to the left he can go to the right so now you can kind of play that numbers game as I mentioned having that full back a guy who you can trust to do those things and can kind of catch the ball out of the back field but the next player that we are going to talk about is who really quells my concern when

at least we look at the Titans wide receiver position and that is Arthur Juan Brown AJ Brown who at this point may be the best wide receiver in Tennessee Titans history. I mean, give the guy just his rookie contract and I think it'll be hard to argue at this moment in time, but of course we have A.J. Brown as that number one starting receiver and then right now opposite of him is going to be Josh Reynolds, the newly signed free agent who, as we talked with with Sosa at the end of yesterday's show, is a guy who was just buried behind a very talented trio of wide receivers in Los Angeles and who put up 600 yards and 50 catches last year

when he finally got an opportunity to be a starter. Now he won't be wide receiver number three. He'll be wide receiver number two for the Titans. And, of course, there's a ceiling, there's a roof on his talent, not saying that he can produce Corey Davis-like numbers, but if he was wide receiver three in Los Angeles and put up 52 catches and 600 yards, I would imagine maybe an extra 10 to 12 catches, an extra 200 some yards is not completely out of the window, which is close enough to Corey Davis's production for the amount of money that Josh Reynolds is going to get that is basically

exactly what I've been asking for the entire offseason now a slot wide receiver could be considered a starter in the Titans offense although I think it's more likely and more realistic to say it's a two tight end offense and talk about the two starters at tight end but we will do that next. I will mention Cam Batson is the starting slot receiver at this moment in time. And obviously I think that's where the Titans need to make the biggest improvement. And I would say that that improvement will either come as a veteran wide receiver in free agency, like a golden Tate, for example, or in the draft, like a Rashad Bateman, Kadarius Toney, Terrence Mitchell, something like that. You could even think of like an Amari Rogers, Dwayne Eskridge.

There are a lot of good wide receivers that will be available for the Titans, but I think maybe doubling down could be a smart option as well. But that's going to do it for part one of our offensive starters. We are going to talk about the tight ends and the offensive line in our next segment. Before we dive into that though, do want to tell you guys about BetOnline.ag. BetOnline is the fastest and easiest way to place all of your wagers on any of the sports action.

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Once again, use promo code LOCKEDON at BetOnline.ag. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. We are going to dive into the next half of the Titans offensive starters. But before we do that, do want to remind you guys about the draft related lineup from the Locked On Podcast Network. Two excellent pods available for your listening pleasure. Number one, we have the Draft Dudes podcast. Trevor Sykema and Benjamin Solak going to be breaking down all the positional rankings,

talking about all the prospects. They have great insight for you. Also, make sure that you follow the Locked On NFL Draft podcast, where they're breaking down pro days, breaking down different mock drafts that come up, team-centric mock drafts, talking about team needs as well. So two excellent podcasts for you, the Draft Dudes podcast and Locked On NFL Draft. Make sure to check those out on the radio.com app or wherever you get your podcast. We are going to start with the tight end position, and this is one that has a lot of people pretty

worried, but for me, I've been saying all along that I expected Johnnie Smith to walk in free agency because if you don't have one of the top notch tight ends in the NFL Kittle Waller Kelsey maybe even Gronk you can even throw Gronk in there I think he kind of fits perfectly in that system but if you don't have a Waller you don't have a Kettle or a Kettle you don't have a Kelsey you don't have a Waller you don't have a Kittle, or a Kettle, you don't have a Kelsey, you don't have a Waller, you don't have a Kittle, then to me, quite honestly, all the tight ends from like 5 to 25 are pretty similar. So I'm not going to pay up for anybody. If it was Kyle Pitts, yeah, I would try to go after Kyle Pitts and say that he would

make a big impact in this offense. But to me, losing Jonu Smith and going down to a combination of Anthony Ferkser and Jeff Swaim, while it is a drop-off, it's not a big enough drop-off for me to be too worried, especially for the price. That's really what it's all about. It's about getting good value here, and I don't think Johnnie Smith at that rate that he got paid was good value, and I think the Titans are perfectly fine on offense with that combination of Anthony Ferkser as the pass-catching tight end and Jeff Swaim as the primary blocking tight end.

So here's how I would explain it, though, because I do think that the Titans need a little bit more help at the tight end position, but I would go in the draft at this point with what's available. So Ferkser is like a 75-25. He's primarily a pass-catching guy, the 75%. He'll block a little bit, though. Ferkser's not going to not block at all. He's primarily a pass-catching guy, the 75%. He'll block a little bit, though. Ferkser's not going to not block at all. He's not a glorified wide receiver.

Well, he is, but he'll block 25%. Now, Swaim is the opposite of that. 75% of the time, you want Jeff Swaim blocking, and 25% of the time, he can go out and catch some passes. It might even be 70-30 for Jeff Swaim. He showed a little bit more than I expected as a pass catcher. But the Titans still need somebody to blur that line, a 50-50, a 45-55, a guy who can kind of do a little bit of both

because right now both of Swain and Ferkser are kind of typecast guys. They need more of a versatile weapon like Jonu was. Jonu would block. Jonu would go out and catch the ball too. He wasn't excellent at either of those, but he was good enough at both of them that the Titans opponent didn't know what was coming next. If you have Jeff Swaim in the ball game, the team can pretty much assume it's going to be a run. And they'll be wrong every now and then, but it's not unlikely. And similarly, if they have Ferkser in, well, the Titans are probably

looking to pass. And the Titans aren't going to follow that trend every single play, but teams aren't dumb. They know what these guys' skill sets are, so you're not going to throw them completely off. And if you try to throw them completely off and have Ferkser in for the running plays and Swain in for the passing plays, well, you're doing yourself a disservice because that doesn't match what the guys are good at. So to me, they do need a young tight end that can kind of do a little bit of both that can be groomed to eventually be more of a starter every down player. But again, I expect the Titans to have a tight end by committee considering the way that the offense works. If you don't get one of the top notch guys,

then it doesn't really matter in my opinion, I guess. They're all similar enough to where I would like to save money at that position and put money in other places. So it's all about the allocation of resources, as I've said all season long. But let's go to the offensive line. It's kind of cut and dry here for the Titans. Left tackle, Taylor LeJuan should be back, ready to go. Left guard, Roger Saffold. That is one of the best left side offensive lines in the entire NFL when both players

are healthy. And it'll be very important to get Taylor LeJuan back to this Titans offense, kind of free up what they're able to do. At center, we have Ben Jones. Now, I was kind of expecting Ben Jones to get an extension that would help lower his cap hit. But the Titans could be looking at the last season of Ben Jones to get an extension that would help lower his cap hit, but the Titans could be looking at the last season of Ben Jones here, and he has been a great pivot in the middle of the Titans

offensive line, one of the top 10 centers in the NFL over the last few years, and if they don't bring him back next year, if his play starts to slip, the Titans will definitely feel it, so Ben Jones is the locked-in starter, of course. Right guard Nate Davis, who played very well last year, doesn't get enough credit for his development so far throughout the two years of his career. A locked-in starter. Now right tackle. Right tackle is the interesting spot.

You could say Kendall Lamb, and that would make a lot of sense, but Ty Sambrillo was brought back. I would like to see them battle it out, and whoever loses that battle become the swing tackle, the backup tackle. But also, I know this may trigger some people, so make sure your seatbelts are on if you're in the car. Make sure you're sitting down if you're not. But the Titans could very well go offensive tackle in the first round. There's a lot of good tackles and there's going to be a tackle run in the mid-first round. You're talking about, let me break this down, you're talking about a Darishaw. You're talking

about Tevin Jenkins, who I think makes a lot of sense for the Titans, quite frankly. You're talking about Sam Cosme, talking about an Alex Leatherwood, talking about a Jalen Mayfield. I believe I got that name right on. So there's going to be a run of offensive tackles from the mid first round until the early second round. And after that, it's going to be a drop off into the mid rounds, the late third, the early fourth, the fifth round. That's where tackles are going to have value again. So it's almost like a similar scenario as last year for the Titans. Will they take a tackle at 22 because the drop-off at tackle is going to happen before they see value in the position again? I think there's a high chance.

There is a very high chance. And if the Titans trade back from 22 into the early 30s or into the late 20s, back from 22 into the early 30s or into the late 20s, I think at that moment in time we have a great indication that they're going offensive line again. But that's going to do it for today's show, going over these starters. And just to be clear, I think Kendall Lamb is the current starter at right tackle. But we are going to get into defense tomorrow. We've got the opening segment if there's any big news that we can get into on a Friday.

Either way, that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.