Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Tidbits: Dupree Injury Realism, Divisional News & Head Coach Rankings!!

Episode Date: July 2, 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 Friday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by the Locked On Fantasy Football Podcast. Winning your league starts with the right data. Vinny Iyer of The Sporting News provides you the edge you need to win your fantasy football leagues.

Locked On Fantasy Football is a daily, all-year-round podcast, so your fantasy team never fails. Make sure that you subscribe to the Locked On Fantasy Football Podcast today. As for this Friday edition of the Locked On Titans Podcast, I'm going to use this show to kind of round up a lot of small stories about the Titans, about their AFC South Division rivals as well, and we're going to go all of those in what I'm calling Titans Tidbits. So we're going to start with the direct Titans stories. Going to talk about an injury update with Bud Dupree. Some flattering words for a Titans new free agent signing.

Also, we are going to talk about some other things with the Titans with their division rivals. One of the Titans biggest division rivals. Star player talked about how playing the titans this year will be more fun we also got some bad news for a division rival coach who i'm not very high on his success chances in the nfl so we'll talk about that as well and then to cap off today's show we're going to do a little roundup of some nfl coach power rankings and check in where three different outlets have Mike Vrabel ranked. So excited to kind of do a little bit of a Titans news roundup on a Friday edition of

the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it! Well, Titans fans, it appears that my addiction to alliteration has affected me again. We are going to dive into some Titans tidbits as I round up some of these smaller Titans stories that have popped up throughout the week. Before we do, got to remind you guys, we are in a little bit of the down period doing three shows a week. But in the middle of July, we will ramp back up before training camp with five shows a week.

You want to make sure that you never miss any of the shows that I post between now and then, and then of course going into the season. So make sure that you subscribe to or follow the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Check out the Facebook page at Locked on Titans pod. And if you are so inclined on this beautiful Friday, throw your boy a five-star review on Apple iTunes. But with all of those housekeeping items out of the way, let's dive into this Tennessee Titans news. And the very first piece of news that I want to go over with you is about Bud Dupree and

his injury status. So lately, we've been seeing some videos of Bud Dupree during doing certain workouts, running, lifting, and it makes Titans fans and the fan base in general very, very optimistic to see those videos. But an online sports doctor who a lot of people do listen to when these things popped up kind of dampened the enthusiasm around those videos with his comments. So this is what ProFootballDoc on Twitter, at ProFootballDoc, had to say. He's a former team doctor in the NFL and in sports in general. Now he has had some issues in the past,

which is why he's more of a Twitter doctor now. So, of course, you take everything with a grain of salt. But this is what he had to say about Bud Dupree's video. Dr. David Chow said, Dupree is coming along nicely, but appears to be a long way away still, and he's clearly nowhere near fully healthy yet. He clearly favors his right knee, and without going back to look at published reports,

that is clearly the side of the injury. In the squat jump video, he favors the right side and does not stand, squat, jump, or land symmetrically. The left takes more load. In brief cone drill, he favors the right side as well, especially at the end of the sprint. My findings are subtle and likely invisible to the average fan. But having worked on the team side and with professional athletes, it's clear to me, with editing and selection, short clips like this can't prove health.

Who should show a bad workout video or who would show a bad workout video? However, they can reveal deficiencies. So I agree with Dr. David Chow there based on reading his analysis and then watching the videos back of the sprints, the box jumps, things like that. It is pretty obvious that he's favoring the knee, but the fact that he's able to do things like that whatsoever, I think that that's a good sign in itself. So he may not be all the way 100%,

but it's nice to see the level of activity, but make sure that your expectations are low for when he will be available is my big takeaway from that. Next, some lofty praise for a newly signed Tennessee Titan. That's cornerback Janoris Jenkins. And you don't really see this happen too often, but Mickey Loomis, the general manager of the New Orleans Saints, actually had a comment recently about Janoris Jenkins. He said, quote, we'd love to have another corner in the building and create some depth. I like the guys we got, but it's one of those

positions you can never have enough. Honestly, if the cap situation was different, we might have made a different decision with Janoris. End quote. So right there, it's very rare for a general manager who loses a player in free agency to say, you know, we really wish we didn't have to get rid of this guy, especially months after the fact. So everything that we've heard about Jackrabbit Jenkins during camp with the Titans,

Coach is raving about his mentality out on the field, hearing things like this. He's just a consummate professional. I've been very high on the signing since it happened, and I continue to be very, very excited about what Janoris Jenkins could do. Another Titans story, A.J. Brown out there working out in Brooklyn with Elijah Moore, his buddy from Ole Miss, taking some sweet workout videos in the park. I encourage you guys to go check those out.

Not really a lot of reporting or any analysis that I can give you on some workout videos, but they're just very exciting and anything that AJ Brown does gets me excited. The guy is a superstar. Also, a very fun story here. Very funny tweet, I guess. Titans rookie Rashad Weaver basically had a tweet making fun of his current financial situation, and I will read that to you now. It is very, very hilarious. Weaver said, quote, my mom decided today on her birthday that she wanted to break a 23-year bond of trust that we had built.

By telling me I'm in the NFL and I need to pay for my own cell phone bill, I feel betrayed. A lot of people in the comments are not realizing that he's joking. He's just saying that he didn't pay for a cell phone before, and now he has to, and he's in the NFL, and his mom is right. Pay your cell phone bill, Rashad Weaver. But just a very funny tweet, and I appreciate guys who have good personality. We don't talk enough about those guys.

We always want our athletes to have great personalities and be funny and show us who they are. And when they do, a lot of people don't always act the right way. But I appreciate Rashad Weaver showing us a little bit of his personality here with that tweet. So with that in mind, we are going to move forward to the tidbits that do have to do with the Tennessee Titans, but are centered around their division rivals. So we are going to get into those next.

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talk about Delaney Walker, and Delaney Walker actually spoke in an interview recently and talked about his exit from Tennessee. And this is what Delaney Walker had to say, quote, Well, at the end of the day, I've been playing this game for a long time, so I assumed I was near. My agent was kind of upset, but I didn't get upset.

I just felt like it's a business. I didn't perform at the highest level for the last two years, so I understand that. And they paid me a lot of money, so it made sense to me, end quote. And he's 100% right. Of course the Titans cut him considering the situation, and not only that, he was coming back from the ankle injury. Didn't really look like he was coming back too quickly or coming back too well.

So I was for it when it happened. I know a lot of heartstrings are involved here, but I think most people who follow the team understood that it was kind of something that had to happen. He also talked about his current situation and he said this, quote, I want to play football. I feel like I need to get a Super Bowl ring. So my objective is really to try to go to a team that's a contender, but it is the NFL. You never know what team can be a contender. He also said this, so my options are open, but the thing is, it's hard trying to stay in shape

by yourself. When you go to OTAs, you do all the little mini camps that get you prepared for football. Then you get this little break just to stay in shape to come back into training camp. So my goal is just to try and get in the best shape I can possibly to get in because I know the opportunity is going to come where someone is going to need a tight end for training camp. So my goal is just to try and get in the best shape I can possibly to get in because I know the opportunity is going to come where someone is going to need a tight end for training camp. And that's where my opportunity is going to come. But for right now, I couldn't tell you who I will be playing for or what teams are looking at me. They talk to me, but at the end of the day, I feel like they think that the ankle is a problem and my age. So teams are really not trying to give me a good deal, I feel like.

Here's what I want to say. Me personally, I know a lot of you guys didn't like to hear it. I know a lot of you guys still on Twitter hate when I say it. But I don't think Delaney Walker ever plays in the NFL again. And quite honestly, the guy that I just heard those quotes from sounds like a guy who knows. Sounds like a guy who knows. Sounds like a guy who knows. He's already talking about, yeah, I know the ankle. Yeah, I know my age. I'm just hoping,

you know, to get into training camp. He's talking about wishing that he could have done OTAs in minicamp. He's coming to grips and calling it the right decision that the Titans cut him. Sounds like a guy who's accepting his fate. There's no shame in being too old to play professional sports. You're still a young guy. You're rich. I mean, what a life. You can still lead.

So there's absolutely no shame in his career coming to a close. But my only point is, sounds like he knows it too. And when you have accepted as an athlete, a professional athlete, that you're probably done, switch flips off in your mind. So I love Delaney Walker. I named him my favorite Tennessee Titans tight end ever. But his career is probably just over. Shout out to Delaney, one of my favorite players to watch ever though. Speaking of my favorite players to watch ever,

our next piece of news about a former Titan brings emotions to the surface. Memories, lasting memories, important, cherished memories. Former Titans kicker Sam Sloman, old Samwise Sloman, is signing with the Steelers. Okay. It's all right. It's all right.

I'm going to leave that in. I'm going to leave it in. I'm back though. I'm back. I pulled it together. Anyways, our son, our number one boy, the man who won the Titans, the AFC South.

It looks like he's got a new opportunity. He's got a new gal in his life. And all I can say is we're going to miss him. We're going to miss him. In all seriousness though, good for Sam. I hope he keeps getting opportunities. The Titans are going to re-sign all seriousness, though, good for Sam. I hope he keeps getting opportunities. The Titans are going to re-sign Steven Gostkowski by the beginning of the season,

so there wasn't really a spot for Sam anyways. But I love you, sweet prince, and take care of yourself in the City of Steel. Next, it is time to get into these news items around the division rivals. And the first one I want to go over is a fun one. The other two are, look at those guys but of course if we had one new story about each of the Titans three division rivals and one of the stories out of the three was the least negative of course it's gonna be the Colts uh god hate the Colts anyways DeForest Buckner the star defensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts,

talked about the Titans recently on the Rich Eisen show, and he had this to say, quote, going against the Titans twice a year is going to be a lot more fun. The bigger challenge, the more interesting the game gets, and I love it. I love going against the best, and you know, to be the best, you've got to beat the best best and they're one of the best teams in the league right now end quote. Just appreciate the respect between the two best teams in the division quite frankly and DeForest Buckner is a hell of a player truly one of the best defensive linemen in the entire NFL most certainly top five probably top three so all the respect in the world. And man, as a competitor myself, I don't care what sport you played at what level.

I want to play the best and I want to beat the best. That's a common thread. That's always a common thread. You want to beat a team at their best. You want to beat the best teams because that's what it's all about. The competition, pushing yourself, seeing what you can accomplish, how far you can go. So I love the mentality there. The Colts are just so well run. I hate the Colts, but it's hard to not respect the Colts because they're just so well run. Darius Leonard is a

freaking awesome player and awesome personality as well. I hate to gush about Colts players. I get it guys. I feel sick right now as well, but it's just how it is. They're good football players. They're my kind of football players. It's unfortunate they play for the Colts, but excited to play the Colts two times this year. In my opinion, if not for the Titans having a FedEx employee punting twice in the third quarter of the first matchup, the Titans would have swept the Colts last year. I'm still pretty salty about that. We are going to continue with these news items for the Titans division rivals. Of course, the Colts one was the most positive.

And no shock that the two more negative reports are coming from the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars. We are going to talk about the Houston Texans first and their quarterback, Deshaun Watson, who is publicly having some legal troubles this offseason. We got an interesting piece of news. His attorney said that the NFL has not interviewed Deshaun Watson yet about the sexual assault allegations. And what that tells me is that tells me that the NFL wants the legal process to play out first and it also tells me that there's pretty good chance that Deshaun Watson plays this year as this goes in court and then the NFL deals with it after the season that's kind of what it's

looking like to me right now because if Deshaun Watson was going to go on the commissioner's exempt list he would have already gone on there so looks like he's going to play in 2021 while the NFL kind of drags their feet and lets the legal system play out the legal system takes forever in America if you're not from here it just drags its feet at all turns so uh be interesting to see how the NFL hands it but the fact that they haven't interviewed Deshaun Watson yet tells me that they're probably not going to be suspending him for this upcoming season. He should be able to play if he does show up and play for the Texans. Remember, he still wants to be traded.

So, monitoring that. And then finally, I have been open about the fact that I think Urban Meyer will not succeed in the NFL long term. And he's had a lot of issues out of the gate as a coach before he ever even coached his first NFL game. We saw him hire the disgraced coach out of Iowa and then the dude had to resign two days in because of all the backlash. Also, Urban caught a lot of flack for bringing in Tim Tebow in a clear nepotism based move

where he was just giving a person he likes an opportunity whether they deserved it or not. And now Urban Meyer has been fined $100,000 by the NFL for inappropriate contact during the voluntary OTAs. And for that to happen, basically your players have to snitch on you. They have to inform their player rep for the players union of the team. And then the players union gathers the information like an investigation and submits it to the NFL. And the NFL has punished the Jaguars for impermissible contact during those organized team activities. Again, they find the team,

but they also find Urban Meyer, the head coach, directly $100,000. There were three teams that were fined, the 49ers, the Cowboys, and the Jags, and Urban Meyer and the Jags got the highest fine out of the three. So I'm just seeing a lot of slip-ups early on for Urban Meyer. We see the Ravens get caught on something like this every now and then, but does Urban Meyer get the same amount of rope as John Harbaugh does? Heck no. So just another sign to me that Urban Meyer just may have trouble transitioning to a paid labor force and coaching them instead of guys who have no choice where he's the king of a small college town. So anyways, we'll see, but I'm going to stick to my guns here. I don't think

Urban Meyer succeeds in the NFL. We're going to move into looking at where some of the bigger football outlets have Mike Vrabel ranked amongst his peers as an NFL coach. Before we do, do got to remind you guys that this episode is brought to you by rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers and do-it-yourselfers for over 20 years. The online RockAuto.com catalog is remarkably easy to use. It's easy to navigate. A few easy clicks get you whatever you need delivered directly to your door.

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according to three different publications. Before we do, just want to remind you guys about the Locked On Today podcast, all the biggest sports stories in under 20 minutes every single weekday. Make sure you check out the Locked On Today podcast. But the first publication that we are going to check out comes from CBS Sports and it's our friend John Breach. And he did a top 16 NFL head coach ranking. And of course, Mike Vrabel did make this list, but where did he come in? Well, according to Mr. Breach, he has Mike Vrabel at number 14. And quite frankly, looking at the list that he's laid out, it is very hard to argue with

that position. Number one, Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs. I wouldn't have Andy Reid number one. I'd have him number two, but alas. Number two, Bill Belichick for the New England Patriots. Well, there's my obvious answer. Number three, John Harbaugh from the Ravens. And I think John Harbaugh is what we should look at as a best-case scenario outcome

for Mike Vrabel and the kind of coach that he can be. If Mike Vrabel realizes eventually he should not be controlling the defense, he shouldn't have a ton of say in the defense, and he needs to get in a super talented defensive coordinator along with having a good offensive coordinator. Once he becomes more of a CEO type and less of a pseudo-defensive coordinator, it'll be better for the Titans, and he can reach his max potential. So John Harbaugh at number three, I can see Mike Vrabel in that mold if he hits his biggest potential, his best potential possible.

Number four, Sean Payton from the Saints. Number five, Sean McDermott from the Bills. I guess maybe that one is a little questionable just based on how far they've gone and what they've done. Sean McDermott's a heck of a coach, but he hasn't really done anything that much more impressive than what Mike Vrabel has gotten the Titans to, but I personally really like Sean McDermott. I think he's a great coach, so I'm not mad about the ranking. Number six, Sean McVay. Number seven, Pete Carroll. Number eight, Bruce Arians. Number nine, Matt LaFleur. Number 10, Mike Tomlin. Number 11, Kyle Shanahan. Number 12, Frank Reich. Number 13, Kevin Stefanski of the Browns, and then Mike Vrabel there at 14. I don't really see how you can have Kevin Stefanski

ahead of Mike Vrabel. He's only coached one year, and yeah, the Browns had a good season, no doubt. But the year before that, Mike Vrabel was, you know, busy taking the Titans to the AFC Championship game. And then this year follows it up, 11-5 division title.

So, to me, I think that Mike Vrabel is a better head coach right now than Kevin Stefanski. Now if the Browns come out, have an even better year, make it far in the playoffs again, great offense again, all that, then yeah, yeah, yeah, certainly we can have that conversation. But for my money, I'd put Mike Vrabel over Kevin Stefanski. But if I only disagree with one of those, then can't really complain about the rankings all that much. Next, we're going to head over to NBC Sports, and this ranking comes from Patrick Daughtry,

and he has Mike Vrabel on his list at number 14. That's a common number here, and let's read the list leading up to Mike Vrabel. Number one, Bill Belichick of the Patriots. Number two, Andy Reid of the Chiefs, which is how I would have it. Number three, Sean Payton of the Saints. Number four, John Harbaugh of the Ravens. I would have Harbaugh ahead of Sean Payton at number three. Number five, Sean McVay. Number six, Sean McDermott from the Bills. Number seven, Mike Tomlin, Steelers. Number eight, Pete Carroll, Seahawks. Number nine, Bruce Arians from the Buccaneers. Number 10, Kyle Shanahan, 49ers. Number 11, Frank Reich of the Colts. Number 12, Matt LaFleur of the Packers. Number 13, Mike Zimmer of the Vikings. And then of course, number 14, Mike Vrabel. And this is what he had

to say about Vrabel. Quote, Mike Vrabel let his running back touch the ball 397 times last season. So it's an old school anachronism, right? It's not that simple. Despite being a quote unquote defensive mind, Vrabel has already gotten two offensive coordinators head coaching gigs through his first three years on the job. He's also overseen one of the league's most play action heavy attacks.

He is playing to Ryan Tannehill's strengths and hiding his weaknesses. The analytics-minded among us will complain about Vrabel's first down run percentage and neutral pass rate, but EV isn't that straightforward when Tannehill is your quarterback. It also underrates the fear opposing defenses live in of Henry. Many smart people will disagree with this take. I am simply of the mind that Vrabel seems to know what he's doing with the offensive talent he has at hand. It's more confusing on defense where the unit free fell in 2020. Even if the personnel deserves the majority of the blame, Vrabel needs more answers than he had last season. 2018-2019 suggests he will find them. Vrabel frustrates and intrigues in equal measure. That's not as common of a ratio as you may think.

There is still room to grow here, and I do agree with that assessment. The final head coach power rankings that we are going to check out comes from Dalton Miller at Pro Football Network, and he has Mike Vrabel coming in at number 12. So again, right in that range that I think it makes sense for Mike Vrabel to be, but he had this to say about his ranking of Mike Vrabel, quote, Mike Vrabel's teams have won nine plus games in each of his first three seasons as a head coach. Benching Marcus Mariota was his first huge decision and it turned out to be a possible career defining one. Ryan Tannehill has looked the part of the franchise quarterback, and Derrick Henry's

career has taken off since Vrabel's arrival. The former Patriots great appears to connect with his player as well. Adding Julio Jones to the mix should make for some fireworks in 2021. End the quote there. So, of course, let's take a look at who he has ranked above Mike Vrabel at number 11 or we'll go to number one we'll go to number one as we have with the last previous list number one Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots number two Andy Reid from the Chiefs number three Mike Tomlin of the Steelers his highest ranking among these three publications

number four John Harbaugh the Ravens number five Sean Payton from the Saints number six Sean McVay from the Rams number seven Frank Reich of the Colts number eight Sean McDermott of the Bills number nine Pete Carroll of the Seahawks number 10 Bruce Arians of the Buccaneers number 11 Matt LaFleur from the Packers and then of course Mike Vrabel squarely there at number 12 and you know with 14 14 and 12 like said, I think that's exactly the right range for Mike Rabel. If he proves that with the improved personnel, he can make a better defense, then I expect that ranking, not only the rankings to improve next summer, but the Titans to have a fantastic

season as well. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. We went over all those Titans tidbits, whether that be from the Titans or their division rivals, talked about some head coach rankings and where Mike Vrabel landed. Hope you guys all have a safe and enjoyable weekend. I'll be back with you for Mailbag Monday. Make sure you send in those mailbag questions either as a five-star review on iTunes or send those to me Twitter, at TicTacTitans. 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.