Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Training Camp is HERE!! Camp Superlatives & Main Roster Battles On Offense and Defense!

Episode Date: July 27, 2021

On today's show Tyler gives you all the information you need to know heading into Titans' 2021 Training Camp!First, Tyler gives his training camp superlatives. Who will be the biggest surprise, biggest disappointment & more!!Next, dive into the biggest roster battles on the offensive side of the ball!Lastly, take a look at the Titans' defense and special teams & dive into the battles to be won!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSupport 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 “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need.

Visit rockauto.com today and tell them Locked On sent you. Titans fans, we have made it. Today is officially day one of Tennessee Titans training camp, the first actual step towards the 2021 regular season, and I am breaking down everything you need to know on today's show. Over the last 10 days or so of the Locked on Titans podcast, we have done our position by position training camp roster breakdown, but today I want to hit on some of the big picture topics, and I'm going to do that by giving out my training camp superlatives.

Who's the most likely player to surprise? Who's the most likely player to disappoint? Who will be the top newcomer for the Tennessee Titans, and which player on offense and defense is the Titan to watch? So I'm going to jump into all of those different tags and all of those different titles. And then we need to get into the most important part of training camp. And that is the roster battles. And of course, everybody knows about the top roster battles to watch like starting right

tackle, starting kicker, backup quarterback, but no, I'm going way below just the surface level. We have 15 different starting positions or important roles on this team to discuss and talk about who will be involved in those battles. So we're going to do training camp superlatives, then talk about the roster battles, 15 of those to dive into a comprehensive training camp preview today on a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it! We are going to kick off today's training camp preview by getting into some training camp superlatives. Some titles, some questions that I want to answer heading into training camp.

Before we do, I have to remind you guys, I'm going to be putting out Monday through Friday daily Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast. No other Titans content creator can say that. Make sure that you never miss an episode during training camp, during the preseason, during the regular season, or all year long by subscribing to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream.

Check me out on social media as well for additional content. On Twitter, at Tic Tac Titans. Don't want to miss any of the film breakdowns I'll be posting throughout the season. And check out the show Facebook page at LockedOnTitansPod, and again, be on the lookout for the LockedOnTitans YouTube page coming very, very soon. But let's dive into these training camp superlatives, and the number one I have is which player is most likely to surprise us during Titans training camp? And my answer for that, rookie defensive lineman Rashad Weaver.

So obviously Weaver had some legal issues early in the process right after the draft that left a lot of questions. But the reality here is the Titans have signed him to his rookie contract. He's in camp. He's working with the team. So they must feel pretty confident

about what his status will be after the legal situation is resolved. contract. He's in camp. He's working with the team. So they must feel pretty confident about what his status will be after the legal situation is resolved. So with that in mind, I am going with Rashad Weaver because the reality here is I don't think the Titans did enough to address the edge rusher position. They will need Rashad Weaver to fill a very important role. And because of his size and his stature being at about six foot four I think he has the ability to rush on the interior and maybe play a little bit of that Jack Crawford role for the Titans as a 4-3 defensive end and then can also play a little bit of outside linebacker I think his versatility his physicality out on the field and the opportunity

that he'll get because Bud Dupree isn't healthy yet will make him the biggest surprise and people will be very excited about Rashad Weaver heading into the season. Now on the flip side of that coin, the most likely Titan to disappoint in training camp and I'm also going with a rookie, cornerback Caleb Farley and I don't think that Caleb Farley will play poorly, but I think his back injury will keep him out of training camp longer than people are expecting. And we know that reality over expectations equals disappointment. So I think people will be disappointed in Caleb

Farley because he's not able to get on the field as soon as some people thought. The next thing I want to dive into is the training camp love interest. Now, this is different than the most likely to surprise category because that's the most likely to surprise us. I mean, the proof is in the name. But the training camp love interest, to me, is always a guy that everyone is gushing about, everyone thinks is going to be some top-tier player as soon as the season rolls around.

And for me, that's going to be Elijah Molden, the rookie cornerback. I think he's going to come in right away. Because of the injury to Caleb Farley, he's going to get a lot of opportunity out on the field. He's a smart player. He will pick up the defense very, very quickly. He'll be where he's supposed to be, know what he's supposed smart player. He will pick up the defense very, very quickly. He'll be where he's supposed to be, know what he's supposed to do,

and that will allow him to play faster and more aggressive than the other rookies out on the field. And I think that by the end of training camp, everyone will think that the Titans have got a multi-time pro bowler in Elijah Molden. So that's my pick for the training camp love interest. As for the top newcomer,

the newcomer to the Titans team, whether it be a free agent, whether it be a trade, whether it be a drafted rookie and undrafted free agent rookie, either way, the top new player on the Titans who will make the biggest impact. And I got to take the layup on this one, guys. Julio! That's right. on this one, guys. Julio! That's right. Julio Jones will be the top newcomer. I think I don't need to give a ton of deep analysis on this one.

He will have the biggest impact on the Titans out of all of the new players they have. Next, who will be a surprise cut as a veteran and who will be a surprise make on the roster as a young guy? And for the surprise cut, we talked about Ty Sambrillo before. Some other publications have identified him as an easy, logical veteran cut. So I'm going to go a different route. And I think there is a chance that Dane Cruikshank is cut from the Titans if he doesn't appear to be back 100% from the injury,

if he doesn't appear that he's going to give the Titans enough on defense, I think they have a lot on special teams this year, and the special teams help from Cruikshank won't necessarily be needed as much. And in return, it could lead him to losing that roster spot to a guy like Matthias Farley, who I've talked about quite a bit during the offseason. On the flip side of that, the undrafted free agent or the young guy that I think will be a surprise to make the roster, for me, is defensive lineman Naquan Jones out of Michigan State.

Didn't have a ton of opportunity at Michigan State, but an athletic guy with good strength just needs to really work on the finer portions, the hand placement, the hand timing, how to anchor down on the defensive line. I think with the availability of a roster spot on the interior defensive line, and then his talent and potential, I think Naquan Jones as a nose tackle will have a chance to make this roster and will be the surprise roster make out of the young group.

The last one that I want to get into here is the player to watch for the Titans. I'm going to give you one on offense and defense. And what I had in mind with this superlative is this is a player that the Titans fans have to watch because the Titans need them so bad. And on offense, that's tight end Anthony Ferkser. Ferkser really has to step up his game this year he's going to be thrust into a starting role he's truly going to have to improve his blocking and his physicality

will he be able to do that? will he be able to absolutely dominate in that role at least in training camp? I don't know but he's a player to watch and on the defensive side of the ball similarly to Ferkser it's a young guy who did well in his role, but is now being asked to do more. And that is Amani Hooker, step up into their new, more important roles and ball out for the Titans.

Hope to see them really do well during training camp. And it'll make me feel a lot better heading into the season. Speaking of the season, the football season is right around the corner. And that means that you want to go to betonline.ag and get signed up today. BetOnline is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Football will be here right around the corner. Baseball season is in full swing. You have a ton of combat sports to bet on throughout the summer until we get to football. So make sure that you head over to betonline.ag today.

You can use your laptop or your mobile device, but sign up for free. And when you're ready to make your first deposit, if you use the promo code LOCKEDON, that's one word, LOCKEDON, you'll get a 50% welcome bonus. That's literally free money from BetOnline.ag. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. Titans fans, it is training camp kickoff day, and we just kicked off the show by talking about some training camp superlatives that I think will come to happen now. Let's get into some of these roster battles, and as I mentioned at the top of the show, we're going below the surface, beyond just what the normal conversation is centered around. Of course, we talk about starting right tackle, backup quarterback, starting kicker.

But, there are a lot more roster roles up for grabs than just that. And we're going to dive into all of those. Let's start on the offensive side of the ball. And, you know, I know that there are a lot more roles up for grabs. And we're going to get to those. But we can't leave out those obvious ones as well, so backup quarterback, of course. In my opinion, I've been very vocal, well, it's not my opinion that I've been vocal, but I've been very vocal about my opinion that Deshaun Kizer should be this team's backup

quarterback. I do not trust Logan Woodside whatsoever. Could be this team's backup quarterback. I do not trust Logan Woodside whatsoever. The NFL experience, the traits, the talent, the potential, all of it favors Deshaun Kizer. None of it favors Logan Woodside. Even the coaching staff last year when pressed couldn't name a positive trait about Logan Woodside that had to do with his physical attributes. In my opinion, Logan Woodside is essentially a coach out there.

He's not going to be able to hold the tide for the Titans. I think Kaiser should get that spot, put Logan Woodside on the practice squad where he belongs. The next role that I want to get into is number two running back. And I know for me, I've been very excited and optimistic about Darrington Evans. But some things just don't pan out. And if Darrington Evans can't stay healthy again, if he doesn't really prove it, well, the Titans have a veteran who I think is more than capable

and is probably a better player than Darrington Evans right now anyways, and that is Brian Hill. Brian Hill has the ability to run the football. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. He's going to block and pass protection. He can do everything you need to do from a backup running back, and he's a veteran you can rely on. Again, if Darrington Evans struggles, if he deals with injuries,

Brian Hill is going to wrap his hands around that number two running back spot, and I don't see the Titans giving it up at any time during the season. So that's a big one to watch. Next, we know the Titans' top three wide receivers, A.J. Brown, Julio Jones, and Josh Reynolds. But who will get the opportunity to be that fourth wide receiver? And we know that at some point in time, that fourth wide receiver will have to play a big role.

Injuries happen in the NFL season. A.J. Brown could miss some games. Julio could miss some games. Reynolds could miss some games. Here and there, doesn't mean it's anything significant or serious, but it just happens. And when that happens, who is stepping up in that role? Is it going to be the rookie wide receiver out of Louisville,

Des Fitzpatrick, who was taken in the fourth round? Or will it be someone else? The field, per se. Could it be Nick Westbrook-Akina, who got some good snaps for the Titans last year? Could it be a bubble veteran who actually makes the team, like a Marcus Johnson? For my money, I think Des Fitzpatrick should be that guy, and hopefully he is.

Hopefully he's ready to take on that limited role, but if not, it's going to be very interesting to watch who gets those final wide receiver spots. Is it a Mason Kinsey, a Cam Batson, a smaller guy? Is it a bigger guy like a Cody Hollister, a Nick

Westbrook-Akina? We will see, but an interesting one to watch there with all the competition at the back end of the depth chart. Then, who's going to take that third tight end role? We know about Jeff Swain. We know about Anthony Ferkser, but is it going to be one of the undrafted free agents, Briley Moore or Miller Forrestal out of Alabama? Is it going to be one of the undrafted free agents, Briley Moore or Miller Forrestal out of Alabama? Is it going to be one of the undrafted free agents from a previous year, a Tommy Hudson, for example, a Jared Pinckney, for example, or Jim Wyatt, Titans beat writer, has talked a lot about the fact he thinks another tight end will be brought in during training camp. Will it be the free agent?

Will it be the nameless face? We don't know. We don't know. Who takes that spot will be most interesting. And right now, hard for me to say. I really don't have a strong opinion one way or another because I don't really trust any of the four options beyond the two names that we know. And I don't see a lot of good options

out on the free agent market especially with a guy like Jesse James being signed earlier on Monday so that was one of the main targets I thought made sense for the Titans on the free agent market things are getting very slim pickings now for the Titans if they want to bring in a new name and don't want to have to trade anything to do it. Next, of course, the starting right tackle position. We've talked a lot about that. Will it be the second round rookie Dylan Radins? Will it be the free agent acquisition from Cleveland, Kendall Lamb? Will it be the returning veteran in Ty Sambrillo once he's healthy?

For my money, I think it's going to be Dylan Radins, the rookie. You want to take advantage of that rookie contract, get as much value out of those years as you possibly can. But either way, that will be obviously one of the most important battles to watch. And then the final battle on the offensive side of the ball for me is the backup interior offensive linemen. By my count, the Titans are going to at max, at max, bring nine offensive linemen onto the regular season roster with Taylor LeJuan, Dylan Radins, Ty Sambrillo, Kendall Lamb, even David Questenberry.

I think the Titans have a lot of really good options at tackle that could lead them to only bringing four interior offensive linemen. And quite frankly, whether the Titans bring nine offensive linemen or eight offensive linemen, I think that it's going to be four on the interior no matter what. So you have the three starters, Ben Jones, Roger Saffold, Nate Davis, who will get to be that primary backup interior offensive lineman. It has been Aaron Brewer, in my opinion, for all of the offseason. But now he's on the non-football injury list starting with camp. And that could give a veteran like Daniel Myrner a big leg up.

You look at the undrafted free agents, Cole Barnwart, Chandon Herring, one of those guys. Right now, I think the battle is truly between Myrner and Brewer. And with Brewer being hurt, that could swing the battle. But something to watch there is I think there's only one spot truly up for grabs at this time. But that's going to do it for the position battles on the offensive side of the ball. We are going to move into the defensive side of the ball

and special teams. Something that has not been talked about enough. Who will be the returner for the Titans? Of course, we've talked about who will be the kicker, but what about the gunner positions, which are so important on punt defense, on punt, on punt return, kickoff return, all of these things, all of these special teams phases that are so, so important. We're going to talk a little bit about those as well. Before we do, got to remind you guys about the title sponsor of today's show, rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers online for over

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so they know that I sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. We are going to cap off this training camp preview edition of the Locked on Titans podcast going over the roster battles taking place on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams. We started out the show talking about my training camp superlatives going over most likely to

surprise, most likely to disappoint, training camp love interest, the top newcomer, surprise cut, a surprise roster make, the players to watch on both sides. Then went into a breakdown of the roster rolls up for grabs on the offensive side of the ball. We'll get into defense and special teams. Now, before we do, got to remind you guys about the Locked On Bets podcast. I just told you where you can make your bets at betonline.ag. Now I'm telling you where to get your betting advice.

Betting on the Titans doesn't have to be a guessing game if you listen to the new Locked on Bets podcast hosted by your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling. You get daily picks, blowout specials, and Lee Sterling's lock of the day. Follow the Locked on Bets podcast brought to you by betonline.ag, wherever you get podcasts. We're diving into the defense, and the number one spot to pay attention to here is the interior defensive line. Of course, we all love Tyre Tart, Pop Tart. Everybody is high on him,

but he was just an undrafted free agent from last year. He played well at times, and he flashed. He popped on tape, you could say. But I am not naive enough to think that Tyre Tart is so excellent that he's a lock for this roster and can't be beat out. I thought very highly of Isaiah Mack, the undrafted free agent interior defensive lineman who shined in 2019. And look what happened to him. He got replaced by Tyre Tart. So there's no reason to think that a guy like Naquan Jones couldn't supplant Tyre Tart.

Larell Murchison, going into his second year, probably going to make the roster. That seems very likely. So who will be next to him as part of the backup defensive line? That's the question we're asking. There's a Woodrow Hamilton.

The Titans actually made two signings today. Let's talk about those right now. It is very, very topical. The Titans did waive one of the veteran bubble interior defensive linemen that they had in Bruce Hector, and they added Kyle Pecco, who's a 6'1", 305-pound nose tackle. He opted out last year, but he's been in the NFL since 2016,

played in 13 games, spent a lot of time on the practice squad. And then Anthony Rush, who's a monster of a man, at 6'5", 350 pounds, played in about 14 NFL games over the last two seasons both of those guys will be competing for these spots as well and like I mentioned Bruce Hector who was part of our training camp preview for interior defensive linemen he was cut so who will take that spot

on the interior defensive line outside of Simmons outside of Aut, outside of Murchison, maybe Tartt. That seems most likely, but that's why they go to training camp. Next, the third interior linebacker. I expect this to be a knockdown, drag-out fight between the third-year player David Long and the rookie Monty Rice. I think both of them are similar enough players that it is going to be very, very hotly contested. Who actually gets those third linebacker snaps? I think it'll be even more important because I do think the Titans will experiment more with Rashawn Evans on the edge

this year, and that will open up a spot for that third linebacker to play a lot. Will it be David Long? Will it be Monte Rice? Something to watch. Now, the next position is that third edge rusher position. We know about Danico Autry. We know about Harold Landry. But will it be Roberson? Will it be Rashad Weaver as a rookie? The Titans just signed John Simon. Will he get that third edge rusher role and be a reliable rotation piece?

Or, as a wild card, what if it's Rashawn Evans? I talk about using him in different ways. What if he gets the third most edge rusher snaps? I actually think that is the ideal outcome based on what the Titans have. Not super high on Derek Roberson as a three-down player. Rashawn Weaver is a rookie who I don't think you can completely count on going into the season on the Titans defense. So that will be interesting to watch once the season shows up.

Also, in a similar fashion, what about that Jack Crawford role? I've talked a lot about that. Plays the 4-3 defensive end. Could play a little bit of 3-4 defensive end as well. So giving you that versatile look to be a four-man front or or a five-man front also play a little bit of outside linebacker I think Rashad Weaver fits that role perfectly I think that's part of the reason that he was drafted Danico Autry obviously going to have a big say in that role as well but the Titans are going to need

somebody to come in and play that role in the backup defensive line. I think that could be Rashad Weaver and add to the value that he gives to this team. And if the Titans are using Rashad Evans as the third edge rusher, that diminishes the value of Weaver. But if you pop him into that Jack Crawford role from last year, I think that that balances out the value very much. And I like what the Titans would have if they did that. The next role, one of the big ones, slot cornerback. And this is going to be very interesting because I think Christian Fulton is best as an outside corner. I think Caleb Farley is best as an outside corner. And obviously, Jack Rabbit Jenkins is an outside corner.

So none of those guys fit naturally in the slot. Now, the other rookie that I've been talking about all episode, talking about Elijah Moulton, he is a pure slot player. But the reality here is the Titans used a second-round pick on Fulton. They gave good money to Jack Rabbit Jenkins. They used a first-round pick on Caleb Farley. Those are the three cornerbacks that they want out on the field when it matters most.

Who is going to take the slot position when we see that? That will be something to watch. And then the final defensive spot is the third safety role. Again, I think a surprise cut could be Dane Cruikshank if he doesn't show out early on in Titans training camp. And that would mean that it would go to Matthias Farley, who I mentioned on yesterday's episode. I think he's a roster lock, special teams value, experience playing defense, more than Dane Cruikshank. I think he just gives the Titans exactly what they're looking for in their third safety.

So that battle will be very interesting. The last few here are special teams related. And we have starting kicker. I've been very vocal about the fact I think Gostkowski ends up on this roster before the end of training camp or maybe not that, but at least before the start of the regular season. You aren't a playoff team with Super Bowl aspirations and then leave your kicking job open to Tucker McCann or Blake Heibel.

You just don't do that. It's not a smart move from the Titans, and I believe that they will bring Gostkowski back by the end of the offseason, the end of the preseason. Then, Gunner and special teams. So a Gunner is the guy who lines up as a wide receiver on punt team and tries to get down there and tackle the punt returner. That's a very important role for the Titans and a few guys who could fill that role very

excellently. Nick Westbrook-Akina, who we saw do very well in that role last year. Racey McMath, the rookie out of LSU, is considered to be a special teams ace. And a lot of his draft value was based on the fact that he could do that gunner spot very well and get down the field on kickoff as well. You look at a guy like Matthias Farley, who I think could do that job very well. Now he could be tasked with other positions and other spots on the punt team or the punt return team.

I think that's very likely, but he could very well be an excellent gunner. And then you look at a guy like Chris Jackson, who was the seventh round pick for the Titans last year, really, really, really struggled at cornerback. So he's going to have to prove that he can be some sort of special team's value or his NFL career is going to be in jeopardy. The last special team's role I want to talk about is kick returner and punt returner. I'd like to think that'll go to Darrington Evans, but outside of Darrington Evans, I don't

see a lot of options for the Titans to fill that role. I mean, Cam Batson, but I don't know if Cam Batson's going to make this team. And Chester Rogers, Marcus Johnson, I don't really see any of those guys as valuable options for the Titans returning the ball. So unless they go really out of the box, maybe like Elijah Molden, something like that, then I think the Titans are in a tough spot when it comes to returners, something that they haven't really had a lot of value at for a few years now

that I wish they got a little bit more production out of. Darrington Evans is really going to have to step up and fill that role. If the Titans don't add anybody else during training camp that can realistically do that job and has good experience doing that job. So a little concerned from my perspective about kick returner and punt returner, but we'll see who steals that job, who takes a hold of it. I think right now, Darrington Evans is the leader in the clubhouse, but that's going to do it for me today, folks. Titans training camp is here. I would imagine

we will get some press conferences, some information on Tuesday, although the Titans first practice isn't until Wednesday. But I'll be breaking it all down for you guys throughout the rest of the week here on the Locked on Titans podcast. That's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.