Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Treylon Burks BOUNCE BACK, Top Trade Candidates for Callahan & Stupid WR v OT Debate

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is time for Traylon Burks to bounce back. I'll explain why 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. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:00:50 Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets. If your best bet of $5 or more wins, visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn to get started. It's time for Traylon Burks to bounce back. I'll tell you other guys who should bounce back under Brian Callahan. Also, who could be a trade option for the Titans with Brian Callahan as the head coach. And finally, I got a Rollins rant for you guys on the continued stupid debate between offensive line and wide receiver. Before we get into all of that, thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast

Starting point is 00:01:23 your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now on YouTube as well.

Starting point is 00:01:47 The show is always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, again, talking about bounce back candidates who could, you know, do more than they've done in the past. Now that Brian Callahan is the head coach, I got to start with Traylon Burks.

Starting point is 00:02:06 But of course, let me know your guys' bounce backs. Bounce, I need to bounce back, right? Bounce back candidates down below in the comments. But of course, I'm starting with Traylon Burks, and I got to say this first. I have been leading the charge. I am as guilty as anyone of writing off Traylon Burks. Throughout the season, I said he's a ghost.

Starting point is 00:02:29 The Titans should go into the offseason not considering Traylon Burks as someone on the team. They should look to potentially trade him for a day three pick. I will admit that is what I have said, and I hope, I hope that I am wrong because Traylon Bur Burke's ability to bounce back and add some value to this team could be absolutely tremendous.

Starting point is 00:02:50 We sit here and we'll talk about do you draft offensive line? Do you draft wide receiver? I'm going to rant about that at the end of the show, but while we're all talking about what the Titans need at wide receiver, we got a first round wide receiver at home. And if he could even play

Starting point is 00:03:04 like a third round wide receiver, a second round wide receiver, we got a first round wide receiver at home. And if he could even play like a third round wide receiver, a second round wide receiver, it would still be a tremendous boost for the Tennessee Titans. Now I have pointed out that I think there are some things that have led us astray with Traylon Burks. Number one, he has balance issues. Every injury that he has is a result of balance and body control. my opinion maybe if you want to take out the one in Philadelphia where is an illegal hit on him sure that's fine but the lack of body control leads to hard falls and violent falls like we saw in Pittsburgh the injury in Minnesota that's a balance issue where he's trying to control his body and catch

Starting point is 00:03:42 a ball deep but he can't do it we see the drop pass at the end of the season. That is a body control balance issue. He's so focused on keeping his body in the right spot that he loses focus on catching the ball. Can those things be improved with a brand new coach? Probably not, but you can put Traylon Burks in better situations to succeed. You can get him on more in-breaking routes, more short routes, throw more screens to him, get him involved in gadget plays where you hand the

Starting point is 00:04:11 ball off to him so he can use that big body and that speed and that what should have been yards after catch ability that we saw in college, he can use that now in the NFL. So you want to talk about guys who can bounce back now that Brian Callahan is the head coach? At the top of my list is Traylon Burks. And again, I have been incredibly critical of Burks. And honestly, I have lost faith in Traylon Burks. But that was under Mike Rabel, where you knew nothing was going to change. Now that you get Brian Callahan in here, you have the potential to use Traylon Burks in a more intelligent way, get him involved more consistently, and the Titans

Starting point is 00:04:50 ran an incredibly complicated offensive system. I don't think that Traylon Burks is a guy who is maybe as deep into a playbook as other guys will be. So simplifying things for Burks and allowing him just to use his natural talents, that is going to give him the ability to have more success. So for me, talk about bounce back candidates, number one for me is Traylon Burks. And despite my criticisms in the past, again, I always say this,

Starting point is 00:05:18 just because I think something is going to happen doesn't mean that it will. So just because I have an opinion on something doesn't mean that I'm going to be right all the time. And while I have ruled out Traylon Burks as someone to pay attention to going forward, that doesn't mean I'm going to be right. And it is possible that now with Brian Callahan in tow that Traylon Burks could have a bounce back season. And if you had Traylon Burks as a number two wide receiver, no, it wouldn't fulfill the first round ideas that we had for him, but it would still be a great benefit to the Tennessee Titans.

Starting point is 00:05:49 So Traylon Burks, I think that he will bounce back under Brian Callahan if he gets the opportunity. And I think it could be big for the Tennessee Titans going forward, even if, again, he doesn't live up to that first round pedigree and the shadow of A.J. Brown. But outside of Traylon Burks, Dylan Radins is a guy who I think could really take a step forward here. So we saw Dylan Radins play his best football at the end of the season,

Starting point is 00:06:13 came back from the ACL tear, and was a better player than we've ever seen before. I think some of that is maturation. I think that Dylan Radins is a little bit of an immature personality, and as he grows older and turns more into the man that he's going to be, I think that's obviously going to help him. But he even said himself, dealing with the ACL allowed him to really focus on strength. And he looked strong out there.

Starting point is 00:06:36 And if we're honest, you want to replace him as right tackle, but he was actually pretty solid at right tackle at the end of the season. You go back and look at his performance. So I think that you get a guy like Dylan Radins, you shift him inside to guard and let him focus on one spot instead of the Titans moving him all around the offensive line all the time and Mike Vrabel not understanding the value of continuity on the offensive line. Let Dylan Radins focus on being a guard, your right guard, using that strength, using that anchor, using that athleticism that he had coming out of college.

Starting point is 00:07:09 I think that having him with Brian Callahan and maybe offensive line coaching from Mike Munchak, Tom Cable, Bill Callahan, whoever it ends up being, I think we could see Dylan Radins. Again, the Titans have missed on so many early picks in recent years. If Brian Callahan could come in and get Dylan Radins and Traylon Burks to play better football, that would be just as big as getting more draft picks because now guys who are drafted in certain spots

Starting point is 00:07:36 are living closer to the value that you were hoping they would bring, and that would help kind of solve that issue. So Traylon Burks and Dylan Radins are at the top, but quickly, of course, Kyle Phillips. I think Kyle Phillips has not been valued. He was a healthy scratch at times during the year. His skill set was simply not valued by the Mike Vrabel organization, by the Mike Vrabel administration at the end of the day.

Starting point is 00:07:59 So having someone who understands the value of someone who can constantly separate, constantly get open, work out of the slot. Like, having a coach that respects and values that, I think that could be absolutely huge. So for me, at the top of the list, it's Traylon Burks and Dylan Radins. But of course, as an honorable mention here, you got to throw Kyle Phillips in there,

Starting point is 00:08:20 who should get much more opportunity and be valued on all three downs by Brian Callahan. But let me know down below who your top valued on all three downs by Brian Callahan. But let me know down below who your top bounce back candidates are under Brian Callahan. There are some guys though who I think could be traded by the Tennessee Titans now that Brian Callahan is coach. We're going to talk about that. Plus, I got a Roland's rant on the offensive line versus wide receiver debate that continues to rage on.

Starting point is 00:08:42 We're going to get into all of that in just a moment. wide receiver debate that continues to rage on. We're going to get into all of that in just a moment. Before we do, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Happy Super Bowl to all who celebrate from FanDuel. Again, America's number one sportsbook. If you're like me, Super Bowl Sunday is all about scoring the best seat on the couch, grabbing your favorite

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Starting point is 00:10:05 Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about players who could bounce back under Brian Callahan, but now I want to shift to players who could be traded away from the Tennessee Titans because of Brian Callahan's hire. Before I get into that, thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday,

Starting point is 00:10:51 Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. I got coaching staff breakdowns when we get coordinator hires. We're going to go into free agency preview, draft preview, cap management, roster decisions. So much to talk about going through this offseason. One of the most pivotal offseasons in franchise history. You want to stick with me here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But when you look at players who could be traded by the Tennessee Titans,

Starting point is 00:11:23 who maybe don't necessarily fit with what Brian Callahan is going to want to do. Number one who sticks out to me is Nicholas Petit Ferrer. Again, you have three guys, in my opinion, Dylan Radins, Nicholas Petit Ferrer, and Jalen Duncan. They're all kind of in a similar spot. They're maybe backup linemen, maybe your fifth starter at best.

Starting point is 00:11:48 Not Duncan. Duncan, of course, I think is still a project player. But with the investment, the money, the cost of Jalen Duncan, I think he's safe. He's going to be your eighth, ninth offensive lineman when we get to the roster. I think that's fine.

Starting point is 00:12:01 So really for me, it comes down to Dylan Radins or Nicholas Petit-Ferrer. You could make the argument that because Nicholas Petit Ferrer was drafted more recently that you would stick with him for the money. Also, Radins, second year player, but Nicholas Petit Ferrer would have better trade value because of those reasons as well. Dylan Radins is going into the final season of his contract. If somebody's going to take a risk on one of these guys and take a trade, give you a day three pick. And again, I'm talking about day three picks here. Talking about fifth, sixth, seventh round picks just to stock the covers, give the Titans more ammo to move around. I don't think

Starting point is 00:12:32 you need all of these guys on the roster because you're going to bring in free agents. You're going to probably draft some guys on the offensive line who are going to take those spots. So you don't need all of these swing tackles, depth guys. To me, who I would want in my starting lineup, I think Dylan Radins has the ability to play guard better than Nicholas Petit-Ferrer does. I think Petit-Ferrer is more suited to be outside at tackle. And the Titans need to go out and get better tackle play than Nicholas Petit-Ferrer is going to give them. And if you're talking about your backup swing tackle, I think Jalen Duncan can fill that role. Okay?

Starting point is 00:13:02 Or at least be your development young guy there. So to me, talk about who could give you the most value in a trade, I think Nicholas Petit-Ferrer is the right answer. And you talk about who I would be more comfortable with playing that right guard position as a starter, and for me it's Dylan Radin. So it makes it easy to call Nicholas Petit-Ferrer the guy who I think could be a trade option for the Titans.

Starting point is 00:13:22 Number one, Brian Callahan in his press conference even said they're looking for guys with good anchor. Pass protectors. Well, to me, Nicholas Petit-Ferrer was always better in the run game. All right? And Nicholas Petit-Ferrer does not have a good anchor. He's a little bit light in the back pocket.

Starting point is 00:13:42 All right? Where Dylan Radins has really approved his strength, I think that Nicholas Petit-Ferrer got the gambling suspension, came back, had a major injury as well. I just think that if you're looking at guys who could easily be traded and give you a day three pick to give you more ammo, not only just to stick and pick, but to move around in the draft, which is what the Titans should be looking to do here. I think Nicholas Petit-Ferrer getting jettisoned to another team

Starting point is 00:14:08 who may be looking for an offense. This offensive tackle class is good. Make no mistake about it. But there's not a lot of depth in day three because of NIL. NIL is causing less underclassmen to declare for the draft. It's making the last two days of the draft maybe not as good as they've been in the past. I think it would make sense for a team

Starting point is 00:14:28 who wanted to get a day three offensive tackle but doesn't really like the options to take that swing on Nicholas Petit Ferrer with two years left in his contract and see what they can get there. So I think whether you're talking about value, whether you're talking about fit with Brian Callahan, whether you're talking about confidence

Starting point is 00:14:43 and who could actually step in and be the fifth starter, the fifth best offensive lineman on the team. I think Dylan Radins is the obvious key, and Nicholas Petit-Ferrer is a guy who you could get a better trade for. So Nicholas Petit-Ferrer is number one on my list. Number two, it's Malik Willis. All right, look. Do I think that Malik Willis has a trade market?

Starting point is 00:15:02 No, I don't. I really don't. Some of you guys think he does. I think that's insane. I don a trade market? No, I don't. I really don't. Some of you guys think he does. I think that's insane. I don't think any team is out there saying, hey, we're going to give you anything for Malik Willis. But conditional draft picks do exist. And we've seen the Titans make these kinds of trades before.

Starting point is 00:15:17 Hey, we're going to trade a conditional seventh rounder in 2026 for Malik Willis. If he doesn't make the roster, then the pick doesn't convey and the Titans don't get it. Alright? But either way, I don't think Malik Willis is going to be on this team this year because now that Brian Callahan is in, two reasons.

Starting point is 00:15:38 Number one, if Will Levis is your starting quarterback as a second year player, your backup quarterback needs to be an experienced veteran. People talking about drafting a quarterback, sticking with Malik as the backup, I think you're insane. You don't want a second-year quarterback and then have your backup be a developing quarterback

Starting point is 00:15:59 who's young as a rookie or a third-year player, Malik who's really kind of a rookie anyways. That doesn't make any sense for the Titans who need to be focused on winning games. If you're going to have Will Levis as your starting quarterback, which they are, hands down, no questions, then you need to go get an experienced veteran backup. Not only someone who can come in and maybe win you a game

Starting point is 00:16:21 if Levis is knocked out for a couple quarters, maybe win one game if Levis is out for a couple couple quarters. Maybe win one game if Levis is out for a couple of weeks. Yeah, if he's out for the whole season, whatever. But even more reason to have a strong veteran backup quarterback. And now with Will Levis being your starting quarterback on a rookie contract, now you have the money to go out and do that where you didn't when Ryan Tannehill was making $100 million. It is imperative that you have a veteran backup quarterback for those reasons, and to double down on that, you need someone who can teach the offense to Will Levis,

Starting point is 00:16:54 be a guy who's actually a player to help the other players understand what Brian Callahan wants. A veteran backup quarterback is key, and the Titans have their young developing quarterback in Will Levis. There is no more room for Malik Willis. And if you can get a team who wants to maybe take a shot on him, the Steelers, the Seahawks, the Rams, there are teams out there who may say,

Starting point is 00:17:18 hey, we'll give you a conditional seventh rounder in 2026. If Malik Willis doesn't make the roster and we cut him, you don't get the pick. If he does make the roster, then you get the pick. The Titans are going to cut him anyways. So that would be a great, and let's just call it what it is. Look at Brian Callahan's history at quarterback. Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, Derek Carr, Joe Burrow. None of those guys are super athletes like Malik Willis. So we wouldn't even fit into what Brian Callahan wants to do on offense. Okay. So to me, it's clear cut that Nicholas Petit Ferrer and

Starting point is 00:17:52 Malik Willis are the top two targets as guys who should be traded away. I'm going to throw in a bonus one here real quick. I don't feel confident about it. So don't even get in the comments and hold me to it. All right. But depending on who's brought in as defensive coordinator, to get in the comments and hold me to it, alright? But, depending on who's brought in as defensive coordinator, Harold Landry. If the Titans do, for some reason, bring in a coordinator that wants less of a versatile

Starting point is 00:18:11 guy, Harold Landry is a smaller edge rusher. He is a speed guy with bend, and to get around the edge, good length, but he's all about dipping and bending, and he's a smaller guy, and he's got versatility. He can drop back into coverage, he'll play against the run. If for some reason the Titans bring in a defensive coordinator

Starting point is 00:18:28 that wants a more big-bodied, 6'5", 6'6", stronger defensive end that maybe doesn't have the versatility but does those things better than Harold Landry does as a big, strong end player, then maybe Harold Landry would make some sense, although he is expensive, and I think that would hurt the value. I don't think that's going to happen, but again, depending on who the defensive coordinator is, maybe, maybe that's something that would make sense, although I would not be in favor of that. I love Harold Landry.

Starting point is 00:18:56 You've got to keep him. He's going to blow up next year once he's fully healthy from the ACL, and we saw what he could do after the bye. With that being said, I've got to end today's episode with a little Roland's rant for you guys. The offensive line versus wide receiver debate has popped back up and I'm just absolutely sick of it. So we're going to get into that to finish the show here in just a moment. Before we do that, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you

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Starting point is 00:20:42 Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We've talked about Traylon Burks being a bounce-back candidate. Let me know your bounce-back candidates down below. We talked about who could be traded away from the Titans now that Brian Callahan is the head coach. Let me know your top trade options as well. But now, I want to do a little Roland's rant

Starting point is 00:21:01 on this offensive line versus wide receiver debate that continues to rage. Before we get into it, though, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. I also want to let you know that Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. It's called Locked On Sports Today. It's here for you 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day

Starting point is 00:21:24 with local experts from Locked On plus all our national shows covering every league. Go to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube and subscribe to the first ever National Sports 24-7 streaming channel. Okay. You've seen the meme. I'm sure

Starting point is 00:21:41 you've seen the meme. If you haven't, I will explain. There's a quarterback. Okay? There's one offensive lineman blocking one defender with a wide receiver unguarded down the field. One is usually in red.

Starting point is 00:21:56 One's usually in blue. And the idea is, hey, we're trying to showcase the difference between taking a wide receiver and an offensive lineman. On the blue one, you'll have top-tier offensive linemen. Anybody at wide receiver, and the quarterback is completing a pass. The other one is anybody at offensive tackle and a top-tier wide receiver, and the quarterback's getting sacked.

Starting point is 00:22:24 It goes back to the Cincinnati Bengals debate. Should they have taken Jamar Chase? Should they have taken Penny Sewell? All right. So, the Bengals succeeded. The Bengals picked right. The Bengals should have picked Jamar Chase. They went to an AFC championship game.

Starting point is 00:22:49 They went to a Super Bowl. The Bengals, with Jamar Chase, accomplished the same as the Titans have accomplished for 25 years. Two years with Jamar Chase. The Bengals accomplished the same as the Titans did for 25 years. Two years with Jamar Chase. The Bengals accomplished the same as the Titans did for 25. Titans fans have no right whatsoever to say that the Bengals failed or made the wrong choice.

Starting point is 00:23:16 Two years equal to 25. The Bengals absolutely made the right choice by taking Jamar Chase. It's not debatable. Okay? And I live in Bengals country. I am from Ohio. I live here.

Starting point is 00:23:37 I'm not from Cincinnati, but I'm an hour away. And all of my friends are Bengals fans. They would not change the pick at all. 11 out of 10 times, they would still take Jamar Chase, not Penesul. Penesul is one of the best offensive tackles in the entire NFL.

Starting point is 00:23:57 But Jamar Chase is a top five wide receiver. They went to a Super Bowl. The Titans haven't been to one since 1999. How can you say that that is a failure? And look, you can point out that Burroughs had injury issues. That's great. Yes, they have. But what they have accomplished and what they have done already

Starting point is 00:24:18 makes it a success. And also, let me talk to this point. Okay? Because in that meme, in that graph, in that graphic, whatever you want to call it, where Penesol is blocking and anybody's playing wide receiver, did anyone watch the game? You know what the Lions could have used?

Starting point is 00:24:38 A wide receiver who didn't drop passes. So we can't pretend like you can have just anybody at wide receiver. And just because you have a good offensive line, that's going to get the job done. That is not how it works either. And if we're being honest, the offensive line is a collection of people. One wide receiver can impact a team more than one offensive lineman. If you have one top-tier offensive lineman and the other four are crap, your offensive line is still going to be bad. So, let me just say this. We have proven with the Cincinnati Bengals that that graph is stupid.

Starting point is 00:25:22 That meme is stupid. They went to a Super Bowl by picking Jamar Chase over Penny Sewell. Like, and then on the flip side, the other version of it with Penny Sewell blocking and anyone at wide receiver has been proven wrong too. The Lions lost. You could blame Dan Campbell's fourth down decisions, not kicking a field goal. But what

Starting point is 00:25:46 really lost the game for the Lions was dropping passes and killing drives. They didn't score until the very last minute in the second half. You can't just have anybody at wide receiver. That doesn't work either because the real answer is you need a good offensive line and good wide receivers. If you're not Tom Brady, if you're not Patrick Mahomes, which I got a lot of faith in Will Levis, but what are the odds that he's Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes? You know what I mean? If you're not the greatest quarterbacks we've ever seen of all time and you're going to win a Super Bowl, then you need to be like San Francisco with a great offensive line and great wide receivers. So I say all that to come back to the realistic scenario the Titans are in.

Starting point is 00:26:34 I want Joe Ault. I want the Titans to draft Joe Ault, offensive tackle out of Notre Dame. That is my number one pick. That is my number one option realistically. Of course, I want Marvin Harrison Jr., but he's not going to be available. So out of the realistic options for the Titans,

Starting point is 00:26:49 I want Joe Ault. No doubt about it. But if the Titans and Brian Callahan have the choice between Malik Neighbors and Joe Ault, and they pick Malik Neighbors, I'm not going to lose my mind. I'm not going to be pissed. I'm going to be excited.

Starting point is 00:27:08 You need great wide receivers just as much as you need great offensive linemen. And that stupid graphic has been proven wrong on both sides. Because the Bengals went to a Super Bowl with anybody on the offensive line

Starting point is 00:27:22 and the Lions failed on offense with anybody at wide receiver. You need good both. I prefer Joe Alt, but I am not going to bellyache and boo-hoo if they decide to take Malik Nabors either, because you need both. And there is no one way. There is no blanket statement that you can use in the NFL to create winning. It can be done multiple ways. And Brian Callahan has seen that done multiple ways.

Starting point is 00:27:56 But with that being said, that's going to end today's show. All right. Had to get that off my chest. I'm just so sick of seeing that meme, man. It's just so stupid, but I'll be back with you guys tomorrow. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this

Starting point is 00:28:12 was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Treylon Burks BOUNCE BACK, Top Trade Candidates for Callahan & Stupid WR v OT Debate

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