Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Trade Up For QB, Not to Top Five in NFL Draft and Sneaky Needs On Offense & Defense

Episode Date: February 20, 2023

The Tennessee Titans could trade up for QB in the 2023 NFL Draft, but what if they didn't go to the first overall pick. Look at a mock draft that has the Titans going to pick 6 for their signal caller of the future in CJ Stroud! Tyler takes a look at what it would cost and why it is ideal for the Titans' future. Also, team needs are discussed at length every offseason, but there are a few positions for the Titans that could end up being big needs if free agency goes a certain way. Tyler looks at two needs on offense and two on defense that aren't discussed enough!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Ultimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get startedFANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the Tennessee Titans traded up for their quarterback of the future in the draft, but didn't have to go all the way to the first pick? We're going to talk about that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. 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.

Yesterday we talked about what the Titans draft class would look like if they traded a lot to get up to the number one overall pick. But a recent mock draft has the Titans getting their quarterback of the future without jumping all the way up to number one. So let's talk about what that would look like. Also, we're going to look at some sneaky needs for the Titans this all season. Some positions that aren't being talked about a lot that could be big needs for the Titans. If you look a little bit closer before we get into all of that, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official

sportsbook of the NFL and the NBA. Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn today to get started. Also, thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel, your favorite podcast platform all year round and always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. We've got a lot of great content coming up.

The free agency preview will begin next Monday. We're going to go position by position and take a look at the top tier options at every position, the mid-tier options at every position, and then some bargain options as well. So, diving into today's story. Saw the mock draft from the 33rd team. Does some good work over there. Shout out to that website. But they had the Titans trading up for their quarterback of the future, but not into the top five. They had the mock trade terms and everything. So what the Titans did in this mock draft, they trade up to number six with the Detroit Lions,

and all they give up is pick number 11 and pick number 41. So their first rounder and their second rounder, but compared to the packages that we were talking about on yesterday's show to trade up all the way to the first overall pick, you're looking at this year's first, next year's first, this year's second, next year's third, and a couple of late round picks and either draft on top of that. You're looking at five or six draft picks that you're giving up to go from 11 all the way to number one.

That's quite a bit, and that's why when a lot of people commented yesterday on the show, and they said, oh, don't trade up this year, trade up next year, and go after Caleb Williams. Well, guys, if the Titans are and they said, oh, don't trade up this year. Trade up next year and go after Caleb Williams. Well, guys, if the Titans are at pick 11 right now, and you're saying it's too expensive to go up this year, I personally think the Titans will have a worse draft pick next year. I think the Titans will have a better year than 7 and 10,

and then it's going to be even harder to trade up and even more expensive to trade up to number one if you're trying to go from you know the 20s even early 20s all the way up to pick number one to get Caleb Williams I mean you're talking about three first round picks and maybe seven to eight picks overall that that is far too expensive so while I with you, I'd love for the Titans to make a move to trade up for Caleb Williams next year, including cutting Ryan Tannehill right now and going with Malik Willis next year to see where the chips fall on that. Mike Vrabel is not doing that. Mike Vrabel and Rand Carthon are not tanking their first season together. It's not going to happen. Okay. It's simply not. So with that in mind,

this move trading 11 and 41, only two picks would be perfect for the Titans. Now, depends on which quarterback you want. In this mock draft, they had the Tennessee Titans selecting CJ Stroud out of Ohio State, which for me, you guys could say it's the Ohio State thing, but I wasn't big on Justin Fields either. I'm not like some Ohio State homer when it comes to the draft or anything like that. But Stroud is my quarterback number one, because like Rand Carthon, the two things that I want in a quarterback are accuracy, anticipation, and third for me would be pocket mobility because that's just so important. If you get that combination together,

you're really striking gold, in my opinion. But the reality here is Bryce Young, I mean, the Colts already played their hand. The owner was saying, we really like that guy out of Alabama just a week ago when they announced their head coach. Also, it's widely been said

that teams love Will Levis. Now, I'm not as high on Will Levis as maybe some folks are. I'm not as low on Will Levis as maybe some folks are. Some people are just like, I know. Some people, I've seen people say, if the Titans draft Will Levis, if the Titans draft Anthony Richardson, I'm never watching the Titans again. Well, you're not that big of a Titans fan in the first place then.

I don't care who they draft. I'll never give up on my team. But with that in mind, we just don't know. We don't know that these quarterbacks are going to be terrible or be great or anything like that. All you can do is go off what you've seen them do in college, what you think they can do in the pros. But to make any declarative statements about whether they're going to be good or bad, I simply don't want to do that. It's just because people made declarative statements about whether they're going to be good or bad. I simply don't want to do that. It's just because people made declarative statements on Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts and they're all wrong. So you never really know. But for me, I've heard a lot about Will Levis. And regardless of what you think about Will Levis, it's obvious that he has traits that make NFL teams interested. So it is a realistic possibility that C.J. Stroud is the third quarterback taken in the draft.

And with the Cardinals, with the Bears, with the Seahawks, if they all stick with their quarterbacks, then the Titans could be in prime position to trade up with Detroit. And Detroit has two first-round picks. They have two second-round picks. with Detroit. And Detroit has two first round picks. They have two second round picks.

So they could take a trade down and not feel like, you know, they're killing themselves or this is their only chance in a first round or anything. They got a lot to play with. So they could still trade down and trade back up. They would be a prime candidate

to make a deal with. So if the Titans wanted to not pay as much as they would have to to get up in the top three, get up in the top five, get to pick number six, take CJ Stroud. I mean, I think that would be a crazy, fantastic outcome for the Titans because you get your quarterback of the future who's on a cheap rookie deal for at minimum four years, depending on the fifth-year option.

At that point, you're definitely offloading Tannehill's money. Whether you release him, whether you trade him, you're definitely offloading Tannehill's money. Whether you release him, whether you trade him, you're saving $18 million right there. Also, you might be getting picks back from trading Ryan Tannehill. If they trade Ryan Tannehill, they're going to get a second round pick back. So now you're replenishing some of the draft picks that you traded away to move up. That would be just an ideal scenario for the Titans to trade up to number six, get CJ Stroud, get rid of Ryan Tannehill's money,

maybe even get some picks back. That would just be a chef's kiss situation for the Titans. But let me know how you feel about that playing out as opposed to trading up to number one for a quarterback down below. We're going to move forward here. Talk about some sneaky needs that the Titans have. We've talked a lot about O-line, about cornerback, about wide receiver, but there are some other needs that depending on what the Titans do in free agency and early free agency, could be screaming needs by the time that we get to the NFL draft. Before we get

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your local Walmart or Sam's Club. Titans fans we are going to continue today's show we just talked about a mock draft that had the Titans trading up for a quarterback but not all the way to number one I thought it was a very cost-effective trade. It could put the Titans in a perfect situation moving forward. But now I want to talk about some sneaky needs on both sides of the ball that maybe we aren't discussing quite enough. And before we get into those, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content on all platforms, all year long, and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. But we're going to start on the offensive side of the ball. And this is a need that some people talk about. It has been discussed. I don't want to pretend that no one is mentioning it at all, but it definitely doesn't get talked about like offensive tackle, like interior offensive line, like wide receiver. Heck, it doesn't even get talked about as much as quarterback. And that's the tight end position. I talked about this a little bit when we discussed the Titans in-house free agents, and we talked about Austin Hooper.

So I think that it would be nice to have Austin Hooper back. No lie, it would. But, to me, everything that Austin Hooper did last year for the Titans, you should expect Chigaconquo to do this year. When the Titans want to flex out a tight end, have them isolated on one side in a shotgun formation, when they have a tight end playing in the slot in passing downs. That needs to be Chigaconquo next year.

We can't have Chigaconquo having 40%, 50% snap rates next year. He needs to do more, okay? Much, much more. You've got to feature Chigaconquo, one of the most explosive tight ends in the NFL. That's by the numbers, not just my opinion. So, also Chika Conquo, the sixth highest rated

tight end per pro football focus in the NFL last year. So, take some of that. Alright? Chika Conquo needs to be put not only in his role that he played last year, but take some of what Austin Hooper did last year on passing downs as well.

Well, with that in mind, Chikokonkwo still has his deficiencies. He's still not a big guy. He's not a huge physical tight end that you need on the line of scrimmage. He does still need to refine himself as a blocker. That's still part of his evaluation and development process. Well, with that being said, Austin Hooper and Chika Konkwo can't be your top two tight ends. They can't on a consistent basis.

Neither of them is the blocker that you need at the line of scrimmage to win one-on-one battles. And, at the end of the day the Titans system whether Tim Kelly is running it or Todd Downing is running it is going to have a ton of two tight end sets. That's just how the Titans have to play with Derrick Henry.

You can't go into three wide receiver all the time and still get the stacked boxes that give you those advantages in the passing game. Okay? You want to get teams in their base defense so that you have multiple linebackers on the field and you can take advantage of those linebackers with the play-action fake. That doesn't work quite as well in 11 personnel

with three wide receivers on the field. It just doesn't. So the Titans are still going to, and Tim Kelly's offense still featured a lot of two tight ends in Houston. So the Titans are going to need another tight end to pair with Chiggy Conquo that can be an in-line tight end, put his hand in the dirt next to the offensive tackle, win a one-on-one blocking situation. And Austin Hooper isn't that. So, now you take all that into account schematically

and then you talk about pricing. And if I'm Austin Hooper and I played for $7 million last year, why would I take any less? I did what you asked of me. I was a $7 million tight end last year. So why would I take less? So if you're the Titans

and Austin Hooper leaves in free agency, you better find a way to upgrade that tight end two spot who can be your primary inline tight end. Because if you don't, you're staring at another year of a ton of snaps for Jeff Swain. And it looked like the Titans coaching staff learned their lesson at the end of last year when Swain's snaps started coming down at the end of the year.

But they need to take that lesson forward into the offseason. And they may need to do it in the draft. This draft has a lot of really solid tight ends. It does. Now, I wouldn't go tight end in the first round. Like, I've seen some mock drafts. I mean, I would consider it if all the good offensive linemen are off the board and quarterbacks don't go early.

But for me, like I've said before when asked this question, if it came down to one of the stud defensive players at pick 11 or a tight end, I'm going with one of the stud defensive players, whether it be an edge rusher like Tyree Wilson or Miles Murphy or really the cornerbacks of Devon Witherspoon is my guy. I love him. But Joey Porter Jr., obviously the top cornerback a lot of people like are Christian Gonzalez. If the Titans get in a spot where they can't get one of their offensive linemen of choice, then go with

one of the stud defenders that dropped because of that. I mean, that's how I feel. So I wouldn't do it in the first round, I don't think, but grabbing a tight end on day two makes a ton of sense. And like we saw with Chicka Conquo, Chick dropped all the way to the fifth round because there was a decent amount of tight ends in last year's class. You're going to have the same scenario again. What I've been saying about wide receiver, guys, if there are this many good mid-round options, that means that they're going to drop in value

because teams say, why would I pick a wide receiver here? I could get one in the third round who's probably just as good. They're going to say the same thing about tight end. Why would I take a tight end in the third round here when I could get one in the fifth round that might be just as good? So just keep that in mind that when you have a ton of good

mid-round talent at certain positions, it's going to drive other positions down. It's going to drive that position even further down the board. Okay? Because teams will just wait. Teams will just wait. So the Titans have a sneaky need at tight end. We'll talk about free agent options, but

I think this year's draft class would be a good opportunity to maybe throw one of those in there if you can get one in the mid rounds. But other than tight end, I did want to mention running back because Derrick Henry said to make $16 million on the cap this season. I think the Titans will find a way to bring that down by giving Derrick Henry another year on his contract and moving some money around so that you can get that down to about $10 million on the cap, save about $6 million right there. But even if they do that, Dontrell Hilliard's a free agent. Hassan Haskins is not a guy who can truly compliment Derek Henry. He's a special teamer and a third down pass protection specialist. So getting a guy who can not only compliment Derrick Henry

as a passing down back to Derrick Henry's workhorse mentality on early downs, but get somebody who might be able to take over for Derrick Henry soon. I think that might be a critical need for the Titans, especially if they don't bring back Dontrell Hilliard and free agents. So a guy like a Jameer Gibbs, I really like a Sean Tucker out of Syracuse, make a ton of sense. There are a lot of running backs in the mid-rounds again

that could make sense for the Titans, and if they don't bring back Hilliard, that is a sneaky need that not a lot of people are talking about. So I wanted to discuss those for a moment. We're going to move forward to the defensive side of the ball where there are a few sneaky needs here that are really, really dependent on how the Titans handle their in-house free agents. But before we get into that, I do want to let you know that today's episode is brought

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in bonus bets when you go to fanduel.com slash locked on. That's fanduel.com slash locked on to learn more. Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with some sneaky needs on the defensive side of the ball. We talked about a recent mock draft to start the show.

They had the Titans trading up to No. six to get C.J. Stroud. All they did was give up number 11 and number 41, which if you compare that with a Ryan Tannehill trade to get a couple of mid-round picks back, the Titans would be in an excellent spot moving forward. We talked about the sneaky needs on offense at tight end and running back. Now we're going to hit the defense. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your

first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. Throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you're watching as well. I haven't asked so far in the show, but the show is always free. All I ask for in the return is the press of a button. But thank you guys so much for tuning in.

As always, on defense, these sneaky needs really have to do with what the Titans do with their own in-house free agents. Because number one, it's the linebacker spot. If the Titans do as expected and cut Zach Cunningham, I'm going to save $9 million with only $4 million in dead cap.

But what they do from there with David Long is just a huge fork in the road for the offseason. If the Titans don't bring back David Long, that means they're rolling with Monte Rice, Chance Campbell,

Jack Gibbons. I mean, Dylan Cole is even a free agent. Joe Jones isn't a defensive player. He's a special teams guy. Good special teams guy. But he's not going to play linebacker for you. So at that point, really, you have one linebacker who's even capable of starting, and it's Monte Rice. And that even,

I'd much rather have Monte Rice as the third linebacker. That's all I'm saying. So if for some reason, David Long isn't re-signed, that's why I said so many moons ago that the Titans have to bring back David Long. They have to. Because if you don't, are you going to spend big money in free agency

to bring in a different linebacker who you don't know, who doesn't know your system, who doesn't have so many friends and brothers in the locker room? That's risky. I don't think that an off-ball linebacker position is something you need to dump a bunch of money into anyways. But the Titans don't have good enough draft picks

that they've hit over the last few years at inside linebacker to replenish that. Monty Rice, okay, that's one. He could be like your years at inside linebacker to replenish that. Monte Rice, okay, that's one. He could be like your number two inside linebacker who comes off the field on passing downs, but he can't be your number one linebacker. So, to me, if they don't bring back David Long, they're going to have to draft a linebacker in the first 50 picks. They'll have no choice.

They'll have to get a starting level linebacker in there at some point. So, to me, if they get David Long back, which I think they need to do, if you get David Long back, you're good. I mean, maybe you take an inside linebacker, fifth round, sixth round, somewhere in good. I mean, maybe you take an inside linebacker, 5th round, 6th round, somewhere in there. That would make sense. Let that guy

combine with Rice and Long and Campbell and Gibbons, bring back Dylan Cole on a cheap contract, and now you're doing okay. You're doing alright. If they don't bring back David Long, this is what I was saying, that's not linebacker isn't a sneaky need anymore,

it's a screaming need at that point. So I think that would be a dangerous game to play. I'd rather give a contract to David Long that has basically two years of guaranteed money and you can get out of it after two years. That's the route that I would go at this point in time. But the next one, and again, it's dependent on how they handle their in-house free agents.

Interior defensive line. The Titans have had great success with undrafted free agents at nose tackle recently. Isaiah Mack in 2019. T.R. Tartt. Naquan Jones. Solid.

And yeah, you got Jeffrey Simmons. Danico Autry will kick inside from time to time. But Demarcus Walker is a free agent. And after having seven sacks last year, he might go somewhere for more money than the Titans have. And you couldn't blame him. I hope he comes back, but you couldn't blame him if he did. He's not a guy who's made a ton of money like some other guys in the NFL.

So, if they, for some reason, don't get Tart back as a restricted free agent, they are thin. Thin on the interior defensive line. And Jeffrey Simmons plays three technique. He doesn't play nose tackle. And one of the reasons that the Titans were so good in run defense last year is because they had Tart playing nose tackle,

and they could run nickel and still stop the run because Tart would handle two blockers at once, and it would allow David Long to run around and do what he does. So if either David Long or Tart doesn't come back, the Titans are in trouble in the middle of the defense. So they need to find a way to bring those guys back because those needs are sneaky right now, but they'll be screaming if the Titans don't bring them back soon.

So those are the needs that I wanted to go over with you guys that we haven't really talked about enough and how the decisions that the Titans make really impact how those positions look going forward. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is the Locked On Titans.