Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Will Levis the Franchise QB? Undrafted Player Impact & Becoming a Titans Fan in Ohio

Episode Date: May 22, 2024

The Tennessee Titans made many improvements to their roster over the offseason, but the most important part of 2024 is clearly the development of Will Levis. Can Levis develop into a franchise quarterback and what would that look like? Also, out of all the undrafted players the Titans brought in, who has a chance to carve out a role with the team? Finally, how does an Ohio kid end up being a Titans fan for 25 years? Tyler answers that and more in the second part of this mailbag series. 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!Yahoo FinanceFor comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor. Yahoofinance.comeBay 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. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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)  

What does Will Levis need to do to prove that he is the Tennessee Titans franchise quarterback? I'll give you my answer 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 GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your

first purchase. Terms apply. It is another mailbag episode here on today's Locked on Titans podcast. Part two of our mailbag series. Got some great questions from you guys. What does Will Levis need to do to prove that he is the franchise quarterback? I'll tell you that. Plus, what are the expectations for JC Latham, Tavondre Sweat, and how exactly do you become a Tennessee Titans

fanatic for 25 years from Ohio? I'll answer that question as well. Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys 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 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. Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you're watching on YouTube right now, throw a thumbs up on the video. Show's always free. All I ask for in return

is the press of a button. And do want to remind you guys tomorrow, I'm going to have a preview of the Titans full team OTAs taking place over the next few days. So can't wait to dive into that. But diving into your mailbag questions for today, the first one that we have here

comes from D Money. And he says, do you believe this is a prove-it year for Will Levis since we don't have a fifth year option? No. I don't. Now, I don't. Now, I don't think this is the way that you phrase the question is like, if Will Levis doesn't perform this year, he's done.

I don't think that that's the case. I think that Will Levis is constantly in a prove-it situation. Everyone is in the NFL. That's the way that it works. But I don't think that if Will Levis, for some reason, struggled at times during this year, he would be, you know, thrown in the trash and the Titans would move on next year. I think

if there are flashes, if there are signs, if Brian Callahan feels like he's improving and can get better, I think that Will Levis has this year and next year, really, to figure things out. That's what I think. So I don't know. In the spirit of your question, no, I don't think it's a prove- it year for Will Levis, even if he does have a lot to prove this year. And I don't think the fifth year option weighs into it quite yet since it's only a second

year. Now it's third year. Yes, we can have that conversation, but not right now. Ben Estes says, what do you think Will Levis needs to do this year in order to make him the Titans franchise quarterback? Well, for me, it's a simple, simple idea. Be someone who helps your team win, not someone that needs help to win. Basically, be a contributing factor. There are times in Tennessee Titans history where the team is winning in spite of the quarterback play

and everybody is trying to drag the quarterback along with them. Marcus Marietta. So what I want to see from Will Levis, and I think what he has to do to prove that he is the franchise guy, is be the reason the Titans win sometimes. Will Levis has to have moments where he plays so well that he is the reason that they won. I would point to the game against the Atlanta Falcons.

I would point to the game against the Miami Dolphins. The Titans won those games because Will Levis made spectacular plays. Other people contributed for sure, but Will Levis was a driving force in getting them those victories. He wasn't somebody who, oh, Will played so bad and the Titans won in spite of him. That's not what I want to see.

If the Titans are winning games at times, but Will Levis is not playing well, that will not get the job done. All right? Even winning games. But if they're doing it in spite of, he will not get the job done. All right? Even winning games. But if they're doing it in spite of, he's turning over the ball, he's missing open receivers, that will tell us. I want Will Levis to be the reason the Titans win multiple games.

He lifts his teams up. He makes the spectacular play. He runs for a big first down. He scrambles outside and launches a deep ball. He finds a few windows that normal quarterbacks in the NFL couldn't find. That is what we need to see from Will Levis for him to be the franchise quarterback. Guy named Art said,

What would you need to see out of Levis this coming season to consider him the future? Stats, leadership. Well, I just gave you kind of my philosophical answer, but stat-wise, I would like to see Will Levis throw for over 3,500 yards. I think that the days of quarterbacks throwing for 5,000

yards and blah, blah, blah, that's starting to slow down a little bit. We saw scoring come down a little bit in the NFL last year, so I don't want to be like, he's got to throw for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, or I don't believe in him. Like it's not that cut and dry, but 3,500 yards, 25 touchdowns, less than 10 interceptions, maybe two or three touchdowns on the ground. more philosophically looking at Will Levis in that question. But if you want some raw numbers, I think 3,500, 25 touchdown passes,

something like that would be perfectly fine. Finally, Titans Rundown says, how bad would Levis have to be for the Titans to get a 5 through 10 pick? Well, I think that could definitely contribute. If Levis is bad, then the Titans aren't going to win many games. So I fully understand where you're coming from there. But what I would say is there are a lot of things that could happen for the Titans to not win enough games to end up there. Think, this defense has major holes all over the place.

Like, they have terrible depth on the defensive line and at edge. The linebacker talent is not good. When the best linebacker on the team is a fourth-round rookie, I'm sorry, but that's not great. Still a big hole at safety, which, full disclosure, I'm on vacation. Right now, when you're listening to this, I am on vacation. So, if something happened with the Titans this week, and it doesn't sound like I'm aware of it,

it's because when this was recorded, it wasn't. So, I'll have instant reactions and emergency pods and stuff like that if things do happen. But the point is, the point is, the Titans could get incredibly injured. That defense, that Smiths and Talent could be terrible. They still have NPF at right tackle. They still have Dylan Radins or Daniel Brunskill at right guard.

That could go terribly wrong. And the protection isn't fixed. And then Will Levis is getting smoked. So while if you said the Titans had a top 10 draft pick next year, the number one answer would be, wow, Levis is probably terrible. But there are other things that could certainly happen here that could lead to that, you know, disastrous, catastrophic things that aren't necessarily a referendum on Will Levis. You know what I mean? So while I acknowledge what you're saying is probably true and probably real,

the reality is there are other things that could make that happen that aren't necessarily Will Levis playing for me. So I wanted to at least, you know, explain how I felt about that and the things that could go wrong, even though we're all hoping that they don't, of course. But with that being said, got more questions of yours to answer. I'm going to rank QBs in the ASC South, talk about Bill Callahan, Tavondre Sweat, JC Latham, all of that before I get into it, though.

Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Yahoo Finance. Let's get straight to the point. If you want to grow your portfolio to deal with the rising costs of inflation, to pay off your debt or your mortgage, pretty much anything standing in the way of you and financial freedom, you got to do it with Yahoo Finance. You can get access to the news, data, and tools that you need to help you reach that financial freedom.

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I have a mailbag question. Why did the video act so funky when I pressed it? That was strange. Caught that. If you didn't, let it go. Whatever. Either way. Moving right along. More of your questions to answer before I do. Thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen each and every day.

Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round. Always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to your team every day. But segment two, I have a question here. I think it was from D Money. I'm sorry if I'm getting this wrong.

It's slipping my brain, but I thought it was, what are the expectations for the rookies, and that included their snap counts? So I'm hoping JC Latham plays 1,000 snaps. That is, you know, around 1,000 snaps is typical for a starting offensive lineman if they play all year. You look at JC Latham, dude does not miss time. So knock on wood, let's hope that that's the case. And, you know, the worst thing is to not get the answers. If Latham plays and he's not good enough to play left tackle,

you move him to right tackle, whatever. Either way, the Titans need answers. If Latham plays and he's not good enough to play left tackle, you move him to right tackle, whatever. Either way, the Titans need answers. The worst thing that can happen is for people to get hurt and not get answers. All right, so hopefully 1,000 snaps for Latham. Tavondre Sweat, I haven't really looked up the snap counts for Jeffrey Simmons the last two years, but I would hope that, let's say, there's like 60 to 70 snaps in each game. You times that by, you know, 10 games.

That's around 700. Seven more games. I mean, I'm hoping that Devondre Sweat can play like 500-600 snaps. I think that's fair. I don't think that's crazy, but I would have to truly look up like other snap, raw total snap counts for guys to be able to have a good comparison, but it depends on how much the Titans are rotating the D-line,

but he needs to play enough to make the pick worth it, and hopefully he stays healthy and can do that. So expectation-wise, I talked about Sweat and Latham in my last video. I just want to see Latham play well, be an improvement, stay healthy. Sweat, again, I want to see some production. I want to see his conditioning be in the right place so he can be out on the field. Getting into Cedric Gray, I'd like to be right around the Devondre Sweat area

depending on what the Titans do there. Who knows if they're going to play him as a starter or not. We hope so, but we can't know for certain. So that seems about right. Weasel Blaster. Watch out, Weasels. He's looking for you. As it stands today,

how would you rank quarterbacks in the ASC South? I think I answered this question recently. I think that I put CJ Stroud as number one for me. It's not really a question there. Anthony Richardson is last for me. It's not really a question there. Dude hasn't played enough to be ranked any higher. The real question is, will Levis Trevor Lawrence? To this point, you would have to pick Trevor Lawrence. It would not be fair to have Trevor Lawrence behind Will Levis. But as a projection, Will Levis in year two,

I think Levis can be better than Trevor Lawrence. So I think it's going to be Stroud, Levis, Lawrence, Richardson. But right now, it's probably only fair to go Stroud, Lawrence, Levis, Richardson. I think that would be fair. Kevin Chase says, who will develop most under Bill Callahan? And to me, obviously, we're on the offensive line. I know this is a cop-out answer, but J.C. Latham.

Latham is going to go from, I think, under Bill Callahan. If you haven't seen J.C. Latham's Mic'd Up, go to the Titans website. Go to the Titans Twitter account, Facebook account. Watch the Mic'd Up video. It's about three minutes long of J.C. Latham. So awesome. Watching that stuff,

seeing how much J.C. Latham is talking about his improved technique with Bill Callahan already, I think it's Latham. But I really do think that Peter Skowronski is going to go. Last year was a little up and down. There are reasons for that. I've talked about it.

I think Skowronski is about to take a massive leap. Not only is he way bigger in terms of his body size and his muscle mass, but getting the coaching that he's getting now compared to Jason Hotaling from last year, I think Skowronski is about to take a major, major step forward. Jerens says, which undrafted rookie do you think we should keep an eye on at camp? I mentioned these last week.

I think Cole Spencer at guard out of Texas Tech. Dylan Johnson running back out of Washington. Iton, the defensive lineman. I think it was Western Michigan, something like that, that he came out of. And then Khalid Duke, the edge rusher. I think those are guys to keep your eye on. They're at positions of need.

I know Cole Spencer is my number one option because the Titans spend a ton of time with him in the pre-draft process. So clearly they have a plan for him and like him as a player. So Cole Spencer at guard. I think Cole Spencer could be your starting right guard in 2025.

I don't think that that's crazy. Money Memphis says, what undrafted free agents do you think could be a long-term starter or good role player for the Titans? I just answered that, I guess. Cole Spencer. Cole Spencer. Cole Spencer is a guy that I'm looking at heavily. I'm excited to see what he

can bring to the table. So, keep your eyes on the guard out of Texas Tech. I think he could be very good for the Titans. And maybe he doesn't turn into an all-pro or pro-bowler or anything like that. But I'm pretty sure that Bill Callahan in his past

has taken late round picks or undrafted guys like that and made them work on the interior. All right. I think at tackle, you need more top level athleticism, but the interior, you can get away with not drafting top talent and developing some of those guys. So Cole Spencer is a guy who I think really fits that bill. And then Ashton Kennedy asked about another undrafted free agent.

Do you think Dylan Johnson makes the roster? I do. I do. I'm not a big Julius Chestnut guy. I think that Hassan Haskins is a special teams only guy. Stop looking at Hassan Haskins like he's a running back. He's not a running back. He's not good enough to play running back in the NFL. He is a

special teams only player. So with me not being a huge fan of Julius Chestnut and not seeing Hassan Haskins as a running back, that obviously opens up the third running back spot. A guy like Dylan Johnson, who's a bigger running back, a power running back, look, he may not have great speed and great

wiggle like Spears and Pollard do, but he's got good power, he's got good vision, keeps his leg churning in between the tackles. I think that Dylan Johnson has a changeup. A lot of, I talk about this a lot, but my views on positions, like wide receiver group,

I would like a basketball team. Edge rushing group, I like versatility. Lineback rushing group, I like versatility. Linebacker group, I like versatility. I like specific role players, like a Jayon Brown, who is your third linebacker, but your number one pass coverage linebacker. I like having different styles, different flavors at these different positions. So you have Tajay Spears. You have Tony Pollard. Those are your top two backs.

They're very interchangeable. They're very diverse and versatile in how they can be used and what they can do. And then you got a guy who's a hammer like Dylan Johnson. I would like to see that as the third back. So that would make a lot of sense to me if he did make this team as the third string running back. So I'm hoping to see that. With that being said, though, got some fun questions

to end out this episode. Some non-football questions. Well, not completely non-football. That wouldn't necessarily be fair. How did I become a Titans fan being from Ohio? That's a great one. So I can't wait to dive into that because a lot of you guys ask me that quite a bit.

And I know some of my everydayers and every-ears out there have heard that one, but excited to explain it one more time for all the new fans out there, new listeners out there. Excited to tell you guys how this happened. First, want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. GameTime is the best place to buy tickets. Period. The NFL schedule just dropped. It's a great time to go on to game time and buy tickets.

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Last minute tickets. Lowest price. Guaranteed. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We've talked about whether Will Levis could be a franchise quarterback, what that would look like. We talked about some rookie expectations, rookie conversations. Now I want to get into some fun off the beat or off the beaten path questions that you guys sent in.

Before I do, thank you again 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. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Also, make sure you check out Locked on Sports today. It's a 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube and on Amazon Fire TV channels app.

You're going to get all of the biggest stories from all of the major sports with local insight from Locked On hosts just like me. You get coverage from every single league from our big national shows like Locked On NFL, which I do on Thursdays. Not this Thursday, of course, because I'm on vacation. But nonetheless, every other week

of the year, I'm here with you guys on not only Locked On Titans, but Locked On NFL. So make sure that you check out locked on sports today again a 24 7 streaming channel for free here on YouTube but final three questions this one is how did you

become a Titans fan if you live in Ohio and I really apologize to whoever sent in the question because somehow it got deleted out of my bookmark, so I don't know who sent it, so I'm really sorry about that. But I'm going to answer your question nonetheless. So I mentioned this the other day when I talked about going to the Green Bay Packers game

in the final segment earlier this week in the schedule breakdown. I was raised in a Packer household. My dad's been a Packer fan since 1966. But when I was nine years old, eight years old, somewhere in between there, when the Music City Miracle happened, me and my brother were just like, this is our team. We love this team. The jerseys. I'm from Ohio, so big Ohio State guy. Eddie George had just won a Heisman with Ohio State. So there was a natural connection there of, oh, the guy that I watched in college that I liked as a young kid, he's on this team now. The Music City Miracle happened. It was the coolest football play I've ever seen.

Again, the jerseys, Steve McNair throwing up the hooks, his style. I loved Brett Favre. So, Steve McNair kind of played like Brett Favre, that rough and tumble backyard football style. The energy, the emotion, the childlike excitement. That's what Steve McNair did. So you put all those things together plus the Titans were a new team. New jerseys. Just moved. The freshness. The newness of it. There's actually a lot of Titans fans my age here in my area of Ohio.

So it seems like I'm not the only person who was bitten by the Titans bug. But 25 years later, I'm here talking Titans with you guys every single day. But that is how I became a Titans fan from Ohio. It's just a lot of different factors into one. Logan Stafford says, 3v3, who you got and why? Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman versus Iron Man, Black Panther, and Thor.

I'm a DC guy through and through. My answer is the Holy Trinity. Batman is gonna smoke Iron Man. Once Batman disables Iron Man's suit, it is over. Okay? So, Batman is gonna destroy Iron Man. Wonder Woman and Black Panther

is going to be a great battle, but at the end of the day, the Black Panther is special because of the heart-shaped herb they ingested. Wonder Woman is a demigod. It's in her blood. It's not something she had to drink to acquire powers. Okay? So Wonder Woman wins, and then Superman and Thor.

The MCU did Thor a disservice and made him into a joke and into a punchline. But regardless of that, it's Superman. He's the most OP superhero of any of the superheroes. I'm taking Superman over anybody in a fight. So, the DC Holy Trinity.

And then finally, Hurley Bird said, what would your death row dinner be? To me, I'm starting out with an appetizer. This was tough for me. I'm going to go an appetizer of frozen or an appetizer of fried potatoes, tater tots, French fries, hash browns. There's a little dive spot close to me

with a dish called the Poana where it's like fried hash browns with cheese, bacon, green onion, ranch, like potato skins. I'm a big fan of potato skins with those. So give me fried potatoes with cheese, bacon, chives, and ranch

as my appetizer. And then for my entree, I'm going to go with a ribeye steak. A medium ribeye steak with blue cheese and fried onions on top with a side of southern baked mac and cheese, you know, with the crunchy cheese on top, and then some grilled asparagus with a garlic butter sauce on it.

Hit hard with salt and pepper. And then for a dessert, I'm a classic, man. I want a piece of white birthday cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and then kill me. But hopefully, after a Titan Super Bowl

because I need that first. But with that being said, that is going to do it for our mailbag episodes this week. I'm going to be back with you guys tomorrow to break down OTAs coming up with the full team. Very excited to dive into that. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.