Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Will Levis is the TOTAL PACKAGE, Malik Willis Roster Spot & Simple Tight End Choice

Episode Date: July 7, 2024

The Tennessee Titans are just a few weeks away from the start of 2024 Training Camp and there are plenty of questions they must answer, but who will be QB1 isn't one of them as Will Levis has shown he is the total package. This includes showing leadership which Levis did by organizing a team trip recently. Next, there is also not much doubt that Mason Rudolph will be the backup quarterback, but where does that leave Malik Willis? On the outside looking in. Finally, the tight end position has three clear choices making it an easy position to breakdown. Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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 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 only two weeks away, and we should be getting more hype about Will Levis as each day passes. 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 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 to get started. On today's show, we are going to begin our positional preview series. I'm going to start with the quarterbacks talking about Will Levis, Malik Willis, Mason Rudolph. We're also going to hit on the tight ends as well, but we're going to go through every single position on offense and defense as we lead up to Tennessee Titans

training camp in two weeks. So make sure that you're here with me on the Locked on Titans podcast for each and every one of those shows. Remember, Locked on Titans is Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Once again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, been a Tennessee Titans fanatic for 25 years. I've covered the team for Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and I've been hosting this podcast for five seasons running. On today's show, again, we're

going to talk about quarterback, and Will Levis has incredible promise, and I got some statistics for you guys and some information that just have me even more hype as each day passes. Before we get into it, do throw a thumbs up on the video. Help support the channel. Show is always free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button and shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. But with that being said, Will Levis took some players to Cabo. And while all of us would love to go on a vacation to Cabo, of course, this to me is just another example of Will Levis' leadership and how it's going to be different in year two compared to year one. Will Levis has even said himself, it feels like in multiple

interviews this offseason, that last year you're a rookie, you're not the starter, you're just trying to find your place on the team, you don't want to overstep your boundaries. Step on Ryan Tannehill's toes, of course. So it's a totally different situation for Will Levis to now have the reins officially. All right, so make no mistake about it. Will Levis is a lock to make the roster.

So how I'm going to do this positional preview is you're going to have your locks, who are guys that are guaranteed to make the roster in my opinion. I'm going to have my bubble guys who are on the roster bubble could go either way and then I'm going to have the long shots. Now at quarterback there are no long shots in my opinion. Well maybe you could call

one player a long shot. We'll get to that but there are two locks and the first one obviously is Will Levis with the second being Mason Rudolph but Levis is obviously the starting quarterback here. And again, you see the leadership from the trip to Cabo. I thought it was interesting that he had DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, Chigga Conquo, Josh Wiley, Tajay Spears. Just a great group and a big part of the Titans starters at the skill position. Players obviously no Tony

Pollard, no Traylon Burks, no Tyler Boyd. But I think the group that Will Levis went with is excellent, seeing him do things like that. I think that is the evolving leadership that we want to see. But again, it comes down to how you play on the field. And I have some statistics on Will Levis that have come out recently that I think quite honestly are eye-popping when you consider the context of the Tennessee Titans season

and Will Levis' situation last year. So we talk about the leadership, but on the field, these stats are from Warren Sharp, Sharp Football Analysis. They do great analytical work and all that in the football community. But here's a stat for you. The highest rate of red zone incompletions that were because of an inaccurate throw. So this is a red zone throw

that was incomplete because it was a bad pass. It was an inaccurate pass. Will Levis has the second best, so lowest, second best rate in the NFL last year. Only 15% of his red zone incompletions were because he threw a bad pass. The rest of them are, think about Chigga Conquo dropping the touchdown throw right on the goal line that Levis hammered in between two defenders and just dropping it through his hands behind him.

Think about things like that. So Will Levis does not throw incompletions in the red zone when they are incomplete. It's not his fault. And to juxtapose that, Deshaun Watson was the worst quarterback in the league. 60% of his red zone incompletions were because he threw a bad pass and Will Levis was second best at 15%. So he's a killer in the red zone because of that cannon arm, the velocity.

And again, it's not just about throwing it far. It's about throwing it fast. And Will Levis has elite, elite throw velocity. You want to talk another stat? Here you go. The percentage of third down incompletions that were due to wide receiver error. So this is an incompletion on third down that is the wide receiver's fault or the tight end or whoever is set to catch the pass.

Will Levis had the sixth highest rate in the NFL at 21%. So the sixth most victimized quarterback in the NFL due to wide receiver error on his incompletions. So, I mean, that's one-fifth of Will Levis' incompletions are because who he was throwing it to made a massive mistake or made a mistake of some kind. Joe Burrow was the most victimized quarterback, so 28% for Joe Burrow.

His wide receivers did not help him out last year. His best players were out a long time. But Russell Wilson's on the flip side, only 6% of his incompletions were because of an error of the person he was throwing it to. So that's not a great stat for Russell Wilson. Another one for you here. Highest rate of incompletions because the throw was bad. So out of all of Will Levis' incompletions, this is the amount of throws that were bad throws by him.

Ninth best in the NFL. Ninth lowest. 27.8%. He's got guys in front of him like Geno Smith, Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, Justin Herbert. So, you look at that, only 27.8% of Will Levis' incompletions were because he just threw a bad pass. That's ninth best, again, top 10 in the NFL.

That is, and people want to say that Will Levis is so inaccurate. All of these stats prove that his inaccuracy was not the problem last year. It was the supporting cast around him. Like these prove it. He's at the top of the league in some of these accuracy data points. And then finally, as a full team, this is a full team stat, highest rate of incompletions that are due to the wide receiver. The Titans had the second worst number at 21%.

Pittsburgh was best in the NFL at 12%, so Pittsburgh's wide receivers messed up the least. So, I mean, look at all these. A high percentage of passes that were incomplete because the wide receiver messed up. In the red zone, on third down, Will Levis' inaccurate throws only contributed to 27% of his

total incompletions. I mean, all of these stats drive home the point that Will Levis was way better last year than people want to give him credit for because people are not understanding and properly calculating how bad

the Titans supporting cast was. And I didn't even mention any stats that had to do with offensive line. This is all the person he's throwing to messing up. So I don't need to explain the offensive line. You guys know how terrible it is and how hard it would be for a quarterback to survive in that environment. Now you add in these issues on the other end of the throw, it just paints a very clear picture

that Will Levis was way better than people give him credit for last year. He was one of the better quarterbacks in the league in some of these stats. And then you add in the new leadership factor that we talked about. Again, you should be as hype as you could possibly be for Will Levis.

But we'll talk about the other two quarterbacks now. Before I do, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Look, I love sports. I love them so much. I never want sports to stop. But look, NBA is over. NHL is over.

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It is episode one in our training camp positional preview. I talked about the locks that are the quarterbacks for the Titans, obviously Will Levis being the most of those. But I did mention that Mason Rudolph was a lock as well. We're going to have locks, bubble guys, and then long shots. So let's talk about the backup quarterback situation because I'm going to be honest with you guys. I don't think Malik Willis is going to make the 53-man roster. I'll explain why first.

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But again, Mason Rudolph is an absolute lock in my opinion at quarterback. The Titans only have these three. They have Will Levis, they have Mason Rudolph, they have Mal, in my opinion, at quarterback. The Titans only have these three. They have Will Levis. They have Mason Rudolph. They have Malik Willis. And I know a lot of people were wondering if they would bring in a fourth quarterback,

another training camp arm. You don't want to wear your quarterbacks out, having them throw too much in training camp. So a lot of teams will have four quarterbacks to kind of split up those duties. But I think when you're in the Tennessee Titans position, and you have Will Levis, who it's his first year in the system, it's his second year in the NFL, you got a bunch of new faces, a bunch of new guys on the team. I don't think the Titans need four training camp quarterbacks. I don't think the Titans need to split up the reps like that

and keep Levis fresh. They need Will Levis to get as many reps as possible. And if they are interested in keeping Malik Willis around, they need him to get as many reps as possible. But again, I just don't think that there's any way that Malik Willis is making the 53-man roster. He is a long shot, in my opinion. So you have Levis and you have Rudolph,

who I think are cemented as quarterback one and quarterback two. They are the locks to make the roster. but Malik Willis is a long shot. Look, you look at Mason Rudolph, 21 games in his career, so a lot of experience. He's 8-4-1 in his 13 starts. Like, what more could you ask of from a backup quarterback than to come in and win games when he's called upon? Like, what else could you? I don't care about stats. I don't care about the film. I don't care about what.

Can the backup quarterback come in and steer the ship to safety? Can they do it? Two quarters, two weeks. And Mason Rudolph has proven that he can do that. Okay? Again, 8-4-1 in his starts in his career, 63% completion percentage,

3,085 yards, 19 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and then you look at his season in 2019, went 5-3 as a starter. And then you look at last year, just in 2023,

he went 3-0. 74% completion percentage, 719 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions. He played great last year for Pittsburgh. He was the best quarterback on the team. So, I have said this in the past few weeks. I think Mason Rudolph is one of the better backup quarterbacks in the entire NFL. I think there are certain Titans fans out there who don't like the move or

trying to hate on Mason Rudolph. And I don't think they have a good reference point of the other backup quarterbacks in the NFL. Like, I don't know how you could forget Logan Woodside, even a guy like Blaine Gabbert, who I think Blaine Gabbert got a little bit too much hate. Okay? But Mason Rudolph is a

better backup quarterback right now than Blaine Gabbert was. So I think Mason Rudolph is an excellent backup quarterback. He's clearly a lock to make the team, and I think if you look at the way that he's played when he's got the opportunity, that's all you can ask for. Now, on the flip side there, again,

Malik Willis to me, I won't call him a long shot. That's not fair can ask for. Now, on the flip side there, again, Malik Willis to me, I won't call him a long shot. That's not fair. We'll say that Malik Willis is a bubble guy and there are no long shots. So, two locks in Levis and Rudolph and then Malik Willis is on the bubble because, look, I think

if he shows enough, there are valid reasons, basically, for keeping Malik Willis in the organization. Now, I don't think that he's going to make the 53-man roster, but I think the Titans could look to get him back on the practice squad and I think that would be fair. And why would you do

that? Well, he has a different skill set than Mason Rudolph and Will Levis. Obviously, he's a much more mobile guy. He wants to get on the move. That's where he's going to be at his best. And that probably fits better with other teams. But from the Titans perspective, you could say, all right, we don't have a quarterback in Levis or Rudolph that can simulate that sort

of skill set against a defense. If we have to play a Lamar Jackson, if we have to play a Josh Allen, a Kyler Murray, guys like that who like to run. Having a guy like Malik Willis who can play scout team quarterback, I think that could help. I could see that. But that isn't a good enough reason to keep Malik Willis on the 53-man roster. You can have him on the practice squad. But here's the problem. The emergency third quarterback rule, your emergency third quarterback needs to be on your 53-man roster.

He doesn't have to be one of your active game day guys, 46 to 48 guys. He doesn't have to be one of your active game day players, and he could still be the emergency third quarterback. But he's got to be on the 53. Can the Titans afford to use a spot on the 53-man roster on Malik Willis just so he can be the emergency third quarterback when he's not a scheme fit for the quick time passing, you know, offense that they're going for now that doesn't have all the bootlegs and getting out on the perimeter like the old offense had. And here's the reality. Malik

Willis is just not a very good player. He's played in 11 games in his career. He's one and two in his three starts, 53% completion percentage, 350 yards passing. He's had zero passing touchdowns, three interceptions. He's run the ball 32 times for only 144 yards and one rushing touchdown. He hasn't even been a fantastic runner when he's got the opportunity to do that. You know, and last year, his stats were severely padded by a couple of quick screen passes that had huge yards after catch. Guys, look, I wanted Malik Willis to work.

I thought it was a good low-risk draft pick for the Titans to take a chance on him in that draft class, especially with Ryan Tannehill's situation, but he's just not an NFL player. I'd like to see him get an opportunity at the UFL level. I think maybe arena football. I think he can continue to play football and maybe improve, but I just think he's not a good enough fit

and not a good enough player for the Titans to have him on the 53-man roster. Now, if they want to bring him back on the practice squad, that's fine, but I think ultimately what the Titans will do is they'll go out and get a quarterback that's more of a fit for them after guys get cut during training camp or after training camp. I think that's ultimately what they do. So what they will do, I guess we will see. Training camp is about to tell us, but Will Levis and Mason Rudolph are locks. Training camp is about to tell us, but Will Levis and Mason Rudolph are locks. Malik Willis is on the bubble. I will go there, but that's my breakdown of the quarterback position heading into training camp.

Now, we're going to talk tight ends, and I put tight end at the end of this episode because I just think it's kind of a simple conversation, so we'll have that conversation now. Before we do, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by eBay Motors. Look, passion, drive, patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance, whether it be superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more.

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it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are starting our positional preview series before training camp kicks off in two weeks going position by position. Just talked about quarterback.

Now I want to transition to tight ends. And I'm putting tight end here at the back of the episode again because I think it's just a simple conversation to have in terms of locks, bubble, long shots. Before I get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making Locked On Titans your first listen each and every day. I want to remind you that Locked On started the first ever

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With that being said, tomorrow, we are going to do running back. Of course, you got the two top guys at the top, but the top guys at the top, of course, that's redundant. But, you got some bubble options. Some returning vets like Julius Chestnut, Hassan Haskins, then you got

these young undrafted free agents who are interesting. So we're going to have a great conversation about running back on tomorrow's show. But talking about tight ends, the locks, Chigga Conquo, Josh Wiley, and Nick Vanette. Those three tight ends.

Locks. And when we do my 53-man roster prediction, right before training camp starts, so I'm going to do the positional preview series for the next two weeks, and then the first two days of the week when the Titans start training camp, I'm going to do my 53-man roster predictions. I'm only going to have three tight ends. And it's going to be those three guys.

Chig, Wiley, Vanette. The Titans' new offensive system under Brian Callahan is not a tight end heavy offense. It's mostly wide receiver based. So I think they don't need more than three tight ends on the 53-man roster. There's just no need for that. I think that they can load up at running back

and they can load up at wide receiver and load up at offensive line if they keep quarterback at two or maybe even three if they find somebody that they want on the 53, but quarterback at two or three and then tight end at three max, I think the Titans can definitely save some roster

space at that spot because the reality is outside of those three guys, who do we have? The bubble name. Thomas Odukoye. Part of the International Pathway Program. Doesn't count against the Titans 90-man roster for training camp.

The Titans get to have 91 players in training camp because Thomas Odukoye was gifted again an International Pathway Program exemption to be on the roster. 91 players in training camp because Thomas Odukoye was gifted, again, an international pathway program exemption to be on the roster. So they could have 91 guys with Odukoye being the 91st instead of just 90. That's an advantage. You like that, and that's why the Titans applied for the exception and got it again. But here's the reality.

Thomas Odukoye has been with this franchise for multiple years and can't get off the practice squad, can't get an opportunity in a game. And the moment that they do that, they're going to have to remove his international pathway program status. He's not going to be a roster exemption anymore. So to me, it seems pretty obvious that the Titans would rather have him

as a practice squad guy, even if they don't plan to use him so they can have a 91st player and they can have an additional player more than they would ever want to use him in an actual game. He's a big guy blocking tight end, not really going to help much as a receiver, but he's going to be able to move guys around. We saw that from him last year in the preseason, you know, how much is that going to matter if he hasn't got an opportunity so far? It's hard to see him getting one with this system and this tight end group, but

maybe he impresses enough to finally get his chance. That's why he's on the bubble. I can at least see it. The long shots, there are two undrafted free agents. One, you have David Martin Robinson from Temple, 6'4", 247 pounds, and then you have Steven

Stolanos from Iowa, 6'4", 250 pounds. Both those guys are bigger-bodied tight ends, which the Titans went out and got Nick Van Et. They told Josh Wiley to put on some weight. In the Titans' new offensive system, they are going to be using

only one tight end much more often than the multiple tight end offense that the Titans have been running for the last six, seven years. I mean, honestly, go back further. Mike Malarkey into Mike Rabel, both of those guys had offenses with heavy tight end usage, big on the tight end. That's not what this roster, this offense is going to be. So there are just less need for tight ends, which makes it hard for an undrafted free agent to break through.

But both of these guys are much more the size that you want because when you have one tight end on the field, that guy's got to be a good blocker. That makes it hard for Chigga Conquo. That's why everybody's been hyping up Josh Wiley the last few weeks and why people think that he could maybe even step up and be tight end one because Chigga Conquo is just simply not a big enough guy to be that every down tight end in this offense. He's just not.

Okay? So he could still have a great role within the team. I think Chigaconquo could be the most productive statistical tight end on the team because he takes advantage of his opportunities because they use him creatively. They could use Chigaconququa as a big slot wide receiver, motion him in, and now you have like a two tight end set. I think they could do a lot of that because Chig is athletic enough

to play out on the perimeter in those spots. So I think it's a great group that the Titans have with their three. Look, it's not one of the best groups in the NFL. It's probably one of the lesser groups in the NFL, but I think the skill sets that all three guys have within an offense that doesn't need an elite tight end, of course, would love to have them, but you don't need it. It's more of a wide receiver-based, quick-passing,

quick-timing, rhythm-passing offense is what the Titans are going to. And I just, you know, you could see it from the players that they brought in at tight end with David Martin Robinson and Steven Stolanos that they're both, again, 6'4", 6'5", 250 pound guys. Okay? But, again, with everything that we talked about, I just don't see a high level need for tight end. So I got Thomas Odukoye on the bubble, and I got the two undrafted guys as long shots. But let me say this. If there is one of these long shot guys,

and this is something I'm going to do throughout the positional preview series, I'm going to pick out one long shot that I think has the best chance to break through and make the roster. I think Steven Stolanas from Iowa. Just what he brings to the table. If either of those long shot tight ends made it, I think it would be Stolanas. Iowa tight ends, man.

I mean, who's going to bet against that? Not me. But with that being said, I do want to hear from you guys. Let me know your locks, bubble, long shot, tight end at quarterback. I'm going to be back tomorrow breaking down running backs. After that, we're going to do wide receivers, and then we're going to finish the week with offensive line. Maybe not finish the week.

I might on Friday transition over to defense just to keep us on a roll. But football is here. All right, I heard you guys last week talk about anything other than football. I'm not. This is all football all the time. Summer break is over, folks. I got some great film content that I'm going to be working on this week. Harold Landry, Roger McCreary, maybe some Traylon Burks,

get you some Lloyd Cushenberry. I got a lot of film content for the Tic Tac Titans film channel, which you can find a link to down below in the description. I got a lot of stuff coming in the next few weeks as we get closer to training camp. I'm going to try to get a video out per week until we get to the season when I'm going five days a week on the film

channel to match up with us here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But football is right around the corner. I'm fired up, folks. And I hope you guys are too. Tighten up out there. With that being said, though, that is going to do it for me today. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland.

And this was Locked on Titans. on tights.