Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans T'Vondre Sweat Must STEP UP, Jeffery Simmons is Elite & IDL Depth is Concerning

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

The Tennessee Titans took a major risk when they drafted T'Vondre Sweat in the first round and after missing most of the summer practices with an injury, Sweat needs to step it up quick out of the gate. Next, Jeffery Simmons has had some tough finishes to the past two seasons, but he is still elite and the rest of the NFL knows it. Finally, the lack of depth upfront is very concerning for the Titans as they do not have solid backups at any of their interior spots.Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow 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!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!FANDUEL 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)

Tennessee Titans training camp is less than a week away, and it's time for Tavondre Sweat to step it up. I'll explain why on today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. 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.

Make every moment more as the playoffs and the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started. We are continuing our positional preview series. Titans training camp is less than a week away. We've talked about the secondary with the cornerbacks and the safeties. Now it's time to talk about the interior defensive line and

Tavondre Sweat needs to step it up. Also, Jeffrey Simmons is still elite and needs to be treated as such. And then finally, I am very concerned about the depth on the interior defensive line for the Titans. Before we get into all of that, do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free.

You're not going to beat that anywhere else. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. And speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one.

Again, it's year-round free Titans content. There's a reason this is the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. And with the season kicking off, you don't want to miss a single episode. If you missed any of the offensive positional previews, I did those last week. Go back and check those out. But coming up, we're going to do Edge tomorrow and then Linebacker to finish out the week.

And then my 53-man roster prediction will be out at the start of next week, getting you guys ready to go for Titans training camp. So, so much coming your way. My Roger McCreary film breakdown is out now on the Tic Tac Titans film channel. Football season is here, folks. So strap in. But with that being said, with training camp being here, maybe the number one player who needs to step it up

is Tavondre Sweat, the Tennessee Titans' second round pick. Now, I feel like I have to give this disclaimer anytime I talk about Tavondre Sweat at this point, but I did not like the pick. Now, I feel like I have to give this disclaimer anytime I talk about Tavondre Sweat at this point, but I did not like the pick. It was out there. Everyone knows my feelings on the pick. But here's a reality. Whether we like the pick, didn't like the pick, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, the Titans need Tavondre Sweat. The Titans need Tavondre Sweat to be a second round level player. The Titans need Tavondre Sweat to be a second-round level player. The Titans need Tavondre Sweat to be an instant starter for this team.

They need Tavondre Sweat to be an instant impact player for this team, and that means he needs to step it up. Tavondre Sweat needs to be out on the practice field. He missed nearly all of the practices during the summer workouts, okay? And to some people, that's no big deal. No big deal. Hey, it's just the summer workouts. Okay? And to some people, that's no big deal. No big deal. Hey, it's just the summer stuff. If he's there for training camp, that's what really matters.

Okay, well, it's time for training camp. Training camp is here. So now with all the people who were telling me, oh, that stuff doesn't matter. It's all about training camp. Well, now is the time that all of us collectively need to turn our eyes to Tavondre Sweat, and the expectations must go up. He needs to be out on the field.

We were told by the organization, Brian Callahan specifically, that Tavondre Sweat's injury, injury, I'm doing the little finger quotation marks because I have a theory that it wasn't actually an injury that was keeping him off the field necessarily, a physical thing, but maybe not an injury. But we were told that it was a short-term injury and that he should be good for training camp. Brian Callahan said he may even be good to go for the final week of OTAs.

He wasn't. He wasn't out there. So we were told that it was a short-term injury that should not impact him for training camp. He should be ready to go. So if Tavondre Sweat isn't out there for the first day of practice at training camp, now we start to hit the alarm bells. Okay, it's not a full-on panic. Doesn't mean he's going to be a bust, blah, blah, blah.

But again, my thought process here comes from the fact that the Tennessee Titans need him. They need him desperately to be a good player. So it's not just about his individual value and whether he's a bust or whether he's this or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's about the team. The Titans need Tavondre Sweat to be great. One, they don't have another good, pure nose tackle. I hate the Titans interior defensive line group right now.

Especially the depth is awful. And we'll talk about that at the end of the show, how concerned that makes me and the names that are available here. But that makes it even more important for Tavondre Sweat to not only be out on the field, but play well. Okay, they need him not just to be out there, but to be a starter, but to be an impact player. That is absolutely critical.

And you could say whatever you want, but missing that time hurts from a conditioning standpoint. It hurts from a readiness standpoint. It hurts from a competition standpoint for the offensive line there are multiple reasons why missing those summer OTAs think about how great JC Latham's looked during that time period all right and all of the positive vibes surrounding JC Latham based on what he did on the field off the field all of that during OTAs. Devondre Sweat's been the exact opposite. And that leads me to my theory here.

Theory. I think that there's a chance that Devondre Sweat wasn't injured. He was just out of shape. They had him out there on the practice field and he was out of shape. And they're like, look, rather than have you on the practice field, we're going to have you in the building. We're going to work on your diet. We're going to work specifically on conditioning and getting you down to the weight that you need to play at,

which is something that they've talked about a ton in the press conferences with Devondre Sweat previously. So I think there's a chance that he wasn't actually injured per se, but they were just so laser focused on getting his conditioning right and getting him down to the weight that he needs to play at that it just wasn't worth it putting him out on the field in case he got injured. So if that has any, whether that's true or not, whether my theory is right or not, either way, he was not out on the field.

And now he needs to be. And now he needs to make up for lost time. And now he needs to show that he can be a starter and an impact player from day one next to Jeffrey Simmons. I've been doing locks, bubbles, long shots. There really aren't enough interior defensive linemen to flesh out two categories. But the reality is,

Tavondre Sweat is a lock to make this team. And now that he is a lock to make this team, he's got to be a big part of it. It's not about me and liking the pick or anything else anymore. The Tennessee Titans need Tavondre Sweat. Period. So, leave the individual stuff aside from a team perspective. He's got to step it up

and he's got to be ready to play for training camp like we were told that he was going to be. So this isn't meant to be more hate on Tavondre Sweat. This is meant to highlight just how important he is to this team and how important it is that he steps it up in training camp. But with that being said, we're going to talk about the other two locks on the interior defensive line. And one of those is, well, one of the best football players in the entire league, Jeffrey Simmons, who is absolutely elite.

And even though he's had a down end of the year the last few years, people in the NFL still know how good Big Jeff is. So we'll talk about that. But before we do, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Look, I love sports.

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That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to FanDuel.com and start making the most out of your summer. FanDuel, official betting partner of Major League Baseball. Titans fans, let's continue today's breakdown of the interior defensive line position for the Tennessee Titans. Less than a week away from Tennessee Titans training camp,

it is time for Tavondre Sweat to step up. But he's not the only interior defensive lineman we got to talk about. Obviously, Jeffrey Simmons is the best player on the team. So we're going to talk about Big Jeff, the other lock on the interior defensive line, and then we'll finish up the show talking about the bubble guys who have me a bit concerned at the end of the day. But before I get into all that,

I do want to thank you again for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. Tomorrow, we are going to be doing the Edge group, which also has me just a little bit concerned, you know? And then we'll finish up the week with linebackers. I'll start off next week with my 53-man roster predictions heading into the first day of Titans training camp on Tuesday. First practice is on Wednesday, so I'll be recapping that on Wednesday night for you guys. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Also, my

Roger McCreary film breakdown out on the Tic Tac Titans film channel. I'd appreciate it if you guys go check that out as well. But, in a recent ranking, so it's list season. We're a couple of weeks away. ESPN has been doing all their rankings, all their top tens at each position

from scouts, executives, players, coaches, blah, blah, blah, all that included. And Jeff Simmons came in as the fourth best interior defensive lineman in the NFL. Chris Jones, Quinnen Williams, Dexter Lawrence were ahead of him. Last year, Big Jeff was number three, okay? But I would imagine that his lack of production at the end of the year in 2022 when he was real injured and banged up and then last year, it's my opinion.

I've said this all along. The Tennessee Titans decided to shut down Jeffrey Simmons after they were out of playoff contention. It was blatantly obvious that that's what happened. Like, hey, we're eliminated from the playoffs. We have a $100 million player who we just gave a big contract to. We're not going to jeopardize him long-term, get injured, playing in games that don't really matter.

Okay? So, Jeff Simmons, out for the last few games at the end of last year. Hurt at the end of the year in 2022. His production dipped for both of those reasons. for the last few games at the end of last year, hurt at the end of the year in 2022. His production dipped for both of those reasons. And that has caused him to dip down one spot. But let me tell you this. A healthy, motivated Jeffrey Simmons is the second best interior defensive lineman in the entire NFL.

Chris Jones is the only guy who's better. It's Big Jeff. And the fact that he's had that dip in production at the end of the last two seasons, and he's still considered number four in the NFL by scouts and executives, that tells you just how good folks think he is. Big Jeff is still an absolute game wrecker.

Now, what I want from Jeff, he's incredible against the run. We know that. But what I want from him is more consistency in the pass rush. So Jeffrey Simmons will have these blow-up games. Three sacks here, two and a half sacks here, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But the consistency just has not been there. And the end of the season, tail off, has been there. I have continued to say that once Jeffrey Simmons gets over 10 sacks in a season, he will be considered the best interior defensive lineman in the league.

Maybe not with Chris Jones being a hall of famer, but at least number two and Chris Jones is an older player. So it wouldn't be long before Jeffrey Simmons would be the best interior defensive lineman in the entire NFL. If you were just able to put up consistent double-digit sacks each year. So I need Big Jeff to get over 10 sacks this season. You pair that with the ferocity in the run game, the leadership. Also, Big Jeff did an interview recently

where he talked about mental health struggles and being willing to cry and being okay with being an emotional man. And I love everything that Big Jeff is about. being willing to cry and being okay with being an emotional man and how that, and I just, I love everything that big Jeff is about. Like the, the trajectory that we're on right now, Jeffrey Simmons is going to be one of my top five favorite Tennessee Titans of all time.

I love big Jeff. I'm a big fan. Him and KB have led the defense for forever. Obviously KB gets traded last year, but big Jeff is the leader that this team and this defense needs. He is fierce. I love how he talks crap to everybody out there. He can't even say what he says out on the field in public because it's so, I mean, we got a little glimpse of it when he was telling one of the offensive linemen on the Falcons that they were completely overpaid. You know what I

mean? You're overpaid. You're overpaid. That is, boy, that's quite the cut right there. But look, Jeff needs to step it up this year and finish out the season just as strong as he starts the season. That has to happen. That's what elite players do. They stay elite all year long. So Big Jeff is absolutely phenomenal. The best player on the entire roster. But he does need to finish stronger this year

to prove that he's worth the contract that the Tennessee Titans gave him. They need him. They're going to need him, especially with the lack of talent on the interior defensive line because Sweat is a lock, but who knows what we're going to get from him right now. Big Jeff, obviously, is a lock to make the roster, and the only other guy that I think is a lock to make the roster is Sebastian Joseph Day, who the Titans added in free agency. 6'4", 3'10", played 71 games in the NFL,

had 68 starts in those 71 games, has had 229 tackles in his career, 21 tackles for loss, 11 sacks. When Sebastian Joseph Day was signed, my first thought was nose tackle. He could be the Titans nose. And I talked about it on yesterday's show when we talked about cornerbacks. But the Titans are going to play majority of the time in nickel defense where they only have four down defensive linemen.

And when you do that, what you would primarily want is a three technique defensive tackle. Jeffrey Simmons, he's your three technique, okay? And then you would want your nose tackle, the guy who's over the center in the gaps between the center and the guard, a shade nose tackle right there. And you need somebody who can take on two blocks at the same time. We know big Jeff can do that, but that's the only way that you're going to be able to stop the run and nickel. That's the way the Titans did it so well in like 2022. You had T.R. Tartt playing well, taking on two blocks

at a time. Jeffrey Simmons takes on two blocks at a time. And now the Titans linebackers can roam free and can make plays and they can stop the run in nickel, even if you have two tight ends on the field. That's a cheat code in the NFL nowadays. So I was thinking Sebastian Joseph Day as a nose tackle, but clearly with the draft pick of Devondre Sweat, the Titans don't necessarily want to use Sebastian Joseph Day like that. They might want to use him as more of a defensive end. And I don't mean a defensive end like a hand in the dirt pass rusher on a four-man line.

I mean like a five-man front. Jeffrey Simmons is a defensive tackle. Devondre Sweat is the nose tackle. Sebastian Joseph Day is the defensive end. So that's what I would be looking for from Sebastian Joseph Day. A guy who can move up and down the offensive line or defensive line. He absolutely can still play nose tackle. I think he's still going to get a ton of snaps at nose tackle as well

because he definitely has a little bit more, what I want to call it, he has a little bit more pass rush vers to call it he has a little bit more pass rush versatility than to Vondre sweat does right now and obviously veteran player compared to a rookie they're gonna be sometimes where you want Sebastian Joseph day out there as your pass rusher I think that in

four-man fronts on third downs you would rather have Sebastian Joseph day with Jeffrey Simmons than to Andre Sweat early on in Sweat's career until he can kind of work on his pass rush, staying low out of his gate, using more power in his pass rush, which is something that I've talked about and been misquoted on as well. But I think Sebastian Joseph Day is an important piece here. I don't know that he's much more than just your average NFL starter. I don't think he's above average in any way.

But his versatility to go up and down the defensive line, his experience, I think that's absolutely critical for the Titans and the lack of depth and talent they have on the interior defensive line. He's going to be a very important player. So my locks, Tavondre Sweat, Big Jeff, Sebastian Joseph Day, the three starters are the only three locks, and the depth, man, the depth certainly has me concerned. And I'm going to talk about that here when we go over our bubble, guys.

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at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, breaking down the interior defensive line group.

We've talked about Tavondre Sweat needing to step it up. We talked about Big Jeff still being elite, Sebastian Joseph Day being versatile. But now I want to talk about the depth on the interior defensive line because it is honestly a big concern in my opinion. Before I get into it, though, I do want to thank you guys again for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. Also want to remind you that Locked On has launched

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But let's talk about the bubble. There aren't any long shots, really, because I mean, how could there be? There's only seven interior defensive linemen on the team. I think they'll keep six. So, I mean, everybody's got a shot at this point, but well, there's eight. Okay. There's eight. So we'll talk about five guys here, including the three that we already discussed. But obviously you have Keandre Coburn who was with Tavondre Sweat. Now Keandre Coburn to me, not a good enough player to be on an NFL roster, but here's what we have

to think about. One of the reasons the Titans took to Andre sweat is because they thought they had mentorship around, whether it be Tracy rocker, the Titans defensive line coach, whether it be big Jeff is the leader of the defense and another guy who had his own issues coming out of college that he's worked through. But Keandre Coburn again was considered a big brother to, to Andre sweat when they were together at Texas. And I think for that reason, Keiondre Coburn's going to make the roster. And I think it's frustrating for me because it's a player who I don't think is good enough to be on an NFL roster.

But because Tavondre Sweat is so risky, they have to keep a player around on the roster who doesn't deserve it because he basically needs to be Tavondre Sweat's babysitter. All right, that has been something that kind of sticks in my crawl a little bit. But Keiondre Coburn is somebody who I do think is going to make the roster, but he could be beat out if he was significantly worse than the other options.

But the problem is I don't think that he's significantly worse than the other options because I think all the other options are bad too. So you have TK McClendon. Like Keiondre Coburn is a guy who's going to play really interior. He could be a nose tackle. He could play some three tech. TK McClendon is a guy who we should look at as more of a defensive end in their five-man front.

He's a guy who's probably going to be a pure backup to Sebastian Joseph Day, kind of in the same place that Danico Autry played last year. They did give him a two-year deal, non-guaranteed money on that second year. So it's really a one-year deal. But TK McLennan is a guy who has been, I guess, noticed at least by the Titans front office and by the Titans coaching staff. One of the things that I do want to point out is he missed a lot of those summer practices at the end with an injury.

So TK McLennan needs to be back out on the field. He's not good enough to be a guy who you wait for. So I really want to see the Titans churn the bottom of this group. I want to see them get rid of some of these guys, bring in some other guys. But will they do that? I don't know. Are they going to find anybody who is better at this point? I don't know. It's going to be tough. Another guy like Keiondre Coburn is Quinton Bohanna. Was with the Titans last year. Had some okay moments. He's a run-stuffing, nose-tackle, interior defensive lineman type.

Honestly, just like with Keiondre Coburn, I don't think that Quinton Bohanna is good enough to be on an NFL roster. The Titans picked up both those guys around the same time last year. Brought them in. I don't know if they started on the practice squad. I think they started practice squad before getting called up. But both of these guys are practice squad level players. So they can fight with each other. But I think ultimately what's going to tip the scale to Coburn

is that he can babysit Tavondre Sweat. That's not really fair to Quentin Bohanna, but that's the reality. And then finally, you have Marlon Davidson here. He's another guy who you've probably heard of, been with the team a few times here and there. And it's just, I just have to say it's another guy who I think is only a practice squad level player.

I don't think he's an NFL level player certified. So the Titans don't really have any NFL level interior defensive linemen outside of their top three. And that's concerning to me. Now, one guy I do want to keep an eye on, and I think he's more of the TK McClendon role than he would be the Quentin Bohanna, Keiondre Coburn, Marlon Davidson role is Isaiah Iton. He's a undrafted free agent out of Rutgers, six foot two, 277 pounds. So he is on the lighter side. You know, he would probably need to put on some weight, but he's a fast player.

He's an explosive player for his size. The strength is really where you want to see it improve. He's going to need to put on some weight. He's going to need to play stronger if he's going to play on the interior defensive line. But he's got good versatility. He's kind of a tweener between a 5'3 defensive end and a 3'4 outside linebacker. I think that what the Titans are going to want to do is they're going to put some more weight on Eiten and try to play him as

an interior defensive lineman, again, in that kind of defensive end role on a five-man front with TK McClendon as someone who he'll be competing against. So that'll be interesting to watch on the low end. But honestly, like I said, I hope the Titans churn

the bottom of this position group, get in some new faces, and might luck out and get some NFL talent here, add some backup. So overall, not very happy with the interior defensive line group outside of Jeffrey Simmons. We'll see what happens in training camp, though, when we put the pads on. But tomorrow, we're going to live on the edge, talk about the edge rusher group.

So make sure that you tune in for that. And, of course, check out my Roger McCreary film breakdown on the Tic Tac Titans YouTube channel. If you haven't checked that out yet, I would definitely appreciate it. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this is Locked on Titans.