Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans WILL NOT TRADE DOWN: Top Blue Chip Players, 2024 NFL Draft Rumors & JC Latham Love

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

The Tennessee Titans are just days away from the NFL Draft and while some fans think a trade down is the best move, Ran Carthon's recent comments make it seem incredibly unlikely the Titans do that and instead select a blue-chip player at the top of their board. Next, the Titans could be a major beneficiary of recent draft rumors that point to four quarterbacks being selected in the top six picks. Finally, the Titans need an offensive tackle and despite Tyler's love for Joe Alt, the Titans may be more in love with JC Latham from Alabama. 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!Home ChefNo more asking "what are we going to have for dinner" thanks to Home Chef and their chef designed recipes. For a limited time, Home Chef is giving Locked On listeners 18 free meal, free dessert for life, and free shipping on your first box. Head to homechef.com/LockedOn today.   Monopoly GO!Get in the game and join your friends. Download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Pay. The mobile hit twist on classic MONOPOLY. eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. 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. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.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 – win or lose! 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)

The Tennessee Titans will not trade down in round one, and 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, 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 Monopoly Go. I admit I have a competitive side and it is a big fan of Monopoly Go,

the mobile hit twist on classic Monopoly. Join your friends and download Monopoly Go now, free on the App Store or Google Play. I do not believe the Tennessee Titans will trade down in the first round, and based on what Rand Carthon had to say on Tuesday, I feel even more certain. We'll go over what Carthon had to say in the Titans pre-draft press conference. Plus, we're diving into draft rumors. And there are some rumors that maybe don't have to do with the Tennessee Titans that are great news for the Titans around the NFL. I'll tell you what those are.

And I'm hearing some whispers about a prospect the Tennessee Titans like a ton. I'll tell you what I'm hearing, who it is. Before I dive into all of that, 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. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team 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 tomorrow. I will have a comprehensive first round preview. Talk about big needs. Talk about best options. Talk about trade ups, trade downs, all the different possibilities that could happen. I'm going to dive into it. And then on Thursday night, I'll have a 10-minute instant recap after the Titans pick, and then I'll be going live at the conclusion of round one to break down what

has happened and what could be coming next. Next, that goes along with more instant reactions on day two, a full recap on day two, same thing on Saturday for the day three of the draft. So much content coming your way. Again, make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. But with

that being said, I do not believe that the Tennessee Titans are going to trade down in this draft. I just don't believe it. No matter how much you guys want it to happen, no matter how much of a possibility it is. Look, me saying I do not believe the Tennessee Titans are going to trade down in the draft doesn't mean that they won't, but I do not believe it. And what we heard from Rand Carthon and Brian Callahan on Tuesday basically made me feel even more emboldened in that opinion. So what did Rand Carthon say? Rand Carthon talked about the possibility of trading down.

But he said, quote, and courtesy of TennesseeTitans.com, live press conference, you guys can check it out if you want to. But he said, quote, we owe it to the organization and to the coaching staff to listen to all calls. He said, to see if there's anything enticing, anything that would blow us away. But my favorite beat reporter on the scene for the Titans, Teron Davenport from ESPN, followed that up with, are there any prospects that could be available to you that would

cause you to completely ignore trading down. Like basically, if these guys are on the board, we're not trading down, we're taking them. And Rankarthon said, quote, short answer, yes, end quote. So that right there told me all I need to know. Like there are prospects in this draft that the Titans will simply not pass on.

They're not going to pass on blue chip players. And you get into the business, Ray Carthon calls them blue players, take away the chip. Most regular people who like the NFL or follow football have heard blue chip, red chip prospects, stuff like that. But Ray Carthon just calls them blue players. All right, there are blue players at the top of this draft that there is no way that the Titans

can pass on. And this is what I've been saying all along. I have been saying I do not want the Titans to trade down because I want them to stick and pick and get a blue chip player. And it's reassuring to me.

It's a breath of fresh air. It's a sigh of relief to hear Rancar Thon say that. Now, what is a blue chip player? What is a blue player for the Titans? Rancar Thon also talked about that. He said it's a day one starter. You plug them in, you play, they're going to be good players in this league for multiple years.

That's what they're looking for. Well, who is that in this class? Who is that for the Titans? Well, number one, the Titans aren't taking a quarterback. All right. So we can eliminate any quarterback from this conversation. They're not taking a quarterback. All right. Whether you believe in Levis or not doesn't matter because in the building they they do. Alright? So that leaves you with what I think are the top four prospects in the draft. And what I say are my pure blue chip players. Number one, Marvin Harrison Jr.

Clear as day, dark as night, whatever you want to call it. The Batman references. Alright? He's just a blue chip guy. And there's no way that the Titans would pass on Marvin Harrison Jr. There is no way.

There is no way. Alright? It is pure as possible There is no way. Alright? It is pure as possible that Marvin Harrison Jr. is a blue chip player. Now, after that, that's where the debates start. I think most people

would agree that Marvin Harrison is the top, but the reality is there's no way Marvin Harrison Jr. has fallen to seven. And don't ask me the Titans are not trading up. Okay? They're not doing that. So then for me,

I have Joe Ault. Joe Ault is the top tackle in the draft. I think he is an obvious blue chipper who could come in right away, stabilize the left tackle position, and you move on. Is Joe Alt going to be Joe Thomas?

Is Joe Alt Trent Williams? No. No, he's not. I think he's more Taylor LeJuan. Jake Matthews is a comparison that you get a ton. Colton Miller from the Raiders is a guy who gets a lot of comparisons there. But that's a Pro Bowl-level player who is going to start for a decade.

Like, would you be... Like, Jake Matthews has been a starter for Atlanta for a long time now. Like, there's just no way that the Titans can pass on that based on what they've experienced recently. And then, of course, you have the two other wide receivers. Malik Nabors and Roma Dunse. I have been asked so many times,

well, Tyler, if Alt and Nabors and Marvin Harrison Jr. are off the board, who are you picking? And I have said since January, Roma Dunze. Dunze is a blue-chip elite prospect. So, to me, I think if any of those players are on the board, the Titans are sticking, they're picking, they're taking a blue chip, and that is exactly what they should do.

Now, some other things that stood out to me real quick from the pre-draft press conference of Grant Carthon and Brian Callahan, both of them agreed the depth in this offensive tackle class is crazy. And Brian Callahan even said he thinks there's going to be starters from almost every round. All right? And some people are looking at that and saying, oh, they're taking a wide receiver.

The blue chip comment, that comment, they're taking a wide receiver. And they also said, Brian Callahan specifically said, that after the first few wide receivers, the top end of wide receivers, there is a drop-off. And people are going, oh, see, they want one of the top wide receivers. But also, Rand Carthon also said that where colleges were playing more spread offense, there's been more of a swing back to more pro-style offense in college.

And there are going to be wide receivers every single year. They said that this wide receiver draft class maybe isn't that different from other wide receiver draft classes. It's the offensive tackles that are deeper. But then they, you know, like I said, they also said you can get a receiver every year

because they're pro ready coming out of college. So what does it all mean? I can't really tell you for sure, but what I do know is the Titans are not going to trade back in this draft and they shouldn't trade back in this draft, stick and pick at seven and take a blue chip prospect. And there's going to be even better of a chance that they can get one based on recent rumors surrounding quarterback trades at the top of the draft. I'm going to tell you what we're hearing there from the NFL perspective and then go into a prospect that I'm hearing whispers about personally at the end of the show.

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Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit. Only available to U.S. customers. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We went over what Rand Carthon and Brian Callahan had to say about the draft. We also need to talk about some of these rumors that can benefit the Tennessee Titans. And then I'll tell you some noise that I'm hearing. Again, at the end of the show. As a reminder, thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast

your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Get subscribed, stay subscribed. Draft preview, full draft preview for the first round tomorrow. Instant reaction.

Live video after the pick is made. Full 30-minute recap of day one and a look ahead to day two on Thursday night. Probably around midnight Eastern time. I would imagine I'll be up and doing that. I'll be hosting Locked On NFL on Friday morning as well for a full NFL breakdown of the draft. Friday night when the Titans pick, I'll be going live to give my instant reaction. Again, a day two recap around midnight when day two concludes. And then on day three, I'll be doing the same thing.

You're not going to get this much Tennessee Titans draft coverage anywhere else. So get subscribed, stay subscribed. With that being said though, we are hearing that there's a lot of conversations happening at the top of the draft. We have heard reports from Diana Russini. We have heard reports from Adam Schefter. We have heard

reports from Ian Rappaport. I think Jordan Schultz, Tom Pellicero. We have heard so many reports about the trades. And this is essentially, I want to make sure I give credit to all those people, but essentially this is what they're all getting at. The commanders are not trading out a number two. They're going to stick and they're going to pick.

And in my opinion, I believe that that is Jaden Daniels. That seems to be the overwhelming favorite. And I'm not falling for it like we did last year. Will Levis, the odds have changed. The gambling markets, they're saying, no, they're going to take Jaden Daniels. All right? I think they should take Drake May.

So if they do that, I'll applaud them, but I think they're going to take Jaden Daniels. I'm not going to get fooled by the, you know, couple of days leading up, but they're sticking and picking it too and taking a quarterback. That is what we know. All right. So what's most important here for the Titans is number one, quarterback. Number two, quarterback. No matter who it is. All right. Caleb Williams obviously won. But and then, and then the Patriots are taking calls. The Patriots

are taking calls. Now, we're hearing that the Patriots are taking calls, but Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated has said that he doesn't think that the Patriots are going to move out of No. 3. He thinks they're going to stick at No. 3. I think that could be public negotiation. Breer has ties to the Patriots. Hey, say that we're not leaving, you know? And then when you do that, that means, hey, if you want to come up to No. 3, you better really blow us away. And some other reports we got, like from Diana Rossini, I believe, she was saying, you know, the Patriots are fielding calls, but they need to be blown away by an offer to let somebody come up and take them. Because the reality is here for the Patriots,

they can move out and trade back. But someone's coming up to take a quarterback. And the Patriots need a quarterback. They have Jacoby Brissett. He is not your answer. Okay? So it would be dangerously risky for the Patriots to allow somebody to come up

and take a quarterback that they could take, like Drake Bank, J.J. McCarthy, if they believe in him, whatever. So no matter what, whether the Patriots stick and pick, or whether they trade out, it's going to be a third quarterback. And as long

as there's three quarterbacks who go one, two, three, then Marvin Harrison, Malik Nabors, Roma Dunzay, Joe Ault, the Titans are getting one of those four. It is math. All right? And as long as the Titans get one of those four,

which full circle, back to who I said, who are my blue chip, blue chip prospects? Those four players. And as long as the Titans get one of those four players, I'm going to be happy. I'm going to be happy. I would be elated by MHJ, Neighbors, or Alt.

I would be happy as heck with Adunze though. And again, for you guys who are like, why would the Titans take wide receiver? Just think about this logically. Calvin Ridley's 29. DeAndre Hopkins is 32. Hopkins is a free agent after the year he's probably not going to be in Tennessee after this year

they need a wide receiver desperately that is a major need for this team alright so good spot there now we have also heard that the New York Giants

are serious about trading up. They've done all their homework on the quarterback prospects. Okay? So that is important. Not only for trade-up purposes, but even if three quarterbacks go, and then let's say it's Marvin Harrison Jr., and let's say it's Malik Neighbors or Joe Ault.

The Giants could take a quarterback at six anyway without trading up. And now you have four quarterbacks going, and that means you're getting MHJ, Neighbors, or Ault, which is the Holy Trinity for me in this draft. So, the Giants, even if the Giants are interested enough to trade up, they would definitely consider taking a quarterback at six. Also, the Giants'

interest in trading up, the Vikings' interest in trading up, we have heard the rumors that the Vikings are pushing hard right now on the phones to try to move up. So with the Giants and the Vikings both being interested, and then you add in the final layer, the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders have Aiden O'Connell as their quarterback.

What? That's not going to do it. All right? So, between the Raiders, now the rumor is that the Raiders want Jaden Daniels, and if he's gone, they're going to bow out and just say, we're not going to make the move. But I think there's a great chance that after we get the 1-2-3 quarterbacks,

that let's say Minnesota trades up to No. 3, or the Giants trade up to number three. Well, the Patriots probably still take a quarterback, or the Vikings would probably still come up to four to get a quarterback. So basically, no matter how you want to slice it, no matter what you want to look at, every single big time rumor that we have seen in the last 24 to 48 hours has pointed to four quarterbacks going in the top six. And as long as that happens, four quarterbacks in the top six,

well, again, Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Neighbors, Joe Ault. And if the Titans get one of those three, the first round is an A+. And again, back to my point, if that is the scenario, and if that is the case, you cannot trade down and let someone come up and get a blue chip prospect at a position that you desperately need. So whether it's Malik neighbors, whether it's Joe Alt, I don't believe it's going to be Marvin

Harrison Jr. No matter what, four quarterbacks and then Marvin Harrison Jr. But I mean, think about it. Like, what if the Chargers do go Joe Alt at five? And then, for some reason, the Giants go, no, I can't do this. I can't let myself even have a smidgen of belief that Marvin Harrison will be there. But either way, all of these rumors are great news for the Tennessee Titans because the more quarterbacks that go in front of them, the more likely they get their pick of these top-tier blue-chip prospects.

And that is all that I've ever wanted from this draft process. So with that being said though I am hearing some noise about one player. I've mentioned it before but I want to dive back into it and it's JC Latham from Alabama who I think the Tennessee Titans

like very much. We'll talk about that before we do though. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is sponsored by Monopoly Go. So I told you guys at the beginning of the show, and you probably already know this, I'm a very competitive person, okay? And my competitive side is a big fan of Monopoly Go. I'm sure that you've heard of it. It's been downloaded over 150 million times. It's a great twist on Monopoly where you don't just play one Monopoly board,

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keep it all for yourself. And they have leaderboards that show you as the biggest Monopoly tycoon. It's fantastic. It's not just my competitive side that loves it. You can also team up with your friends and people all around the world in time tournaments to earn huge rewards. So get in the game. Join your friends. Download Monopoly Go now for free on the App Store and on Google Play. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We went over the pre-draft press conference from Rand Carr-Thon and Brian Callahan.

We talked about some NFL trade rumors that could benefit the Titans. Now I want to dive into, look, let me say this. I don't report. All right. That's not my thing. I've had a couple of stories that I broke. The Titans meeting with Osiris Torrance at Florida's pro day last year. The Titans did have a trade offer in place with the Arizona Cardinals to move up to number three last year. It would have potentially included DeAndre Hopkins as well, but it would have been a situation where the Cardinals were giving the Titans. Basically, the Titans weren't paying for DeAndre Hopkins. They were taking the contract off their books. The Cardinals ultimately released Hopkins to save that money,

so clearly that was the case. I had sources in Arizona. I had a double sourced as well, but I'm not a source guy. I don't try to act like I'm out here breaking news and breaking stories. And I have all of these, you know, songbirds all over the kingdom that give me information. That's not who I try to be or what I try to do. All right? So, keep that in mind when I tell you this. But I've heard from multiple sources, not all of them directly with the team, none of them directly with the team, if I'm honest with you,

but people team adjacent, people close to the team in some way. Okay? I've had multiple people tell me people close to the team in some way, okay? I've had multiple people tell me that the Titans are very, very high on J.C. Latham. I had one person even tell me that the Titans like Latham better than Joe Ault. Now, some people think that J.C. Latham is a right tackle only. You may be right.

But what I would tell you is, at the press conference on Tuesday, Brian Callahan said, you need a good right and left tackle. Most teams have their better pass rusher going against the right tackle. So you need both. All right?

And they said also that there are some guys who they think, you know, can play both sides. There are some guys who only play one side. You know, this and that. But at the end of the day, you need two good offensive tackles. So I guess even if they believe that J.C. Latham is only a right tackle, I don't think that would stop them from taking him. Now, you always have to factor in why is this information out there? Why are there, you know, four, five people who I've talked to

who have said the Titans may like J.C. Latham better than Joe Ault? Why is that out there? Well, maybe the Titans want that out there because if people don't think that they're going to take Joe Alt, then maybe they think they can wait for Joe Alt or they can trade back and get Joe Alt and then the Titans get Joe Alt anyway. Okay?

Maybe you could read the tea leaves there. You could try to put two and two together and connect the dots. This and that. We can't know the true motivations for this the tea leaves there. You could try to put two and two together and connect the dots, this and that. We can't know the true motivations for this information being out there. But what I do know is that I've talked to enough people who have said that the Titans are very high on J.C. Latham that it makes me wonder. It does make me wonder.

Now, there's no way in the world that I would pass on Alt, that I would pass on Neighbors, that I would pass on Odunze to take J.C. Latham. I wouldn't. But, again, let me say this too, if, for some

reason, only two quarterbacks go in the top six, which we just talked about all these rumors. But let me say this. Some of you guys say I flip-flop and this and that. No, you just are immature. That's what I will say. Because just because I feel strongly about something,

I am not so cocky and arrogant that I refuse to acknowledge that other things can happen. I may feel incredibly bold that the Titans won't trade down. I may feel incredibly confident that there will be at least three quarterbacks in the top six. But I'm not so arrogant and pompous that I don't at least acknowledge

maybe I'm wrong. Maybe that, it's funny because there are people who say I never admit when I'm wrong. They tell, it's funny because there are people who say, I never admit when I'm wrong. They tell me it all the time on Twitter. I never admit when I'm wrong. But those same exact people criticize me and say I flip-flop all the time.

No, it's just I acknowledge that I might be wrong. And things may not go the way that I expect. And if only two quarterbacks go, and for some reason all four of those blue chippers we've talked about today are off the board, then I absolutely could see the Titans picking J.C. Latham there. I could. I think they like him that much. Do they like him more than Joe Ault?

We're going to get our answer. We are going to get our answer. But are going to get our answer, but I just wanted to take some time. I don't do sources. I'm not big on reports. I'm not reporting this. Buh, buh, buh, buh, buh. I'm just saying I've had conversations and I've heard whispers

that the Titans like J.C. Latham a lot. Okay? So, do what you will with that information. Grain of salt, as always. But let's stay on our toes out there, Titans fans. With that said, though,

tomorrow, tomorrow's show, the next show that I upload, will be a full, comprehensive, first-round draft preview. And again, I don't think the Titans are going to trade down. I don't want the Titans to trade down. But just because I think those things don't mean that they won't.

So I'm going to look at my top options, who the Titans could potentially trade down with, and what options they could be looking at if they do trade down. We're going over all the scenarios that can play out in round one for the Titans on tomorrow's show. Can't wait to dive in the net because you know what it means.

It means the draft is officially here. You won't get better draft content than you get here on the Locked on Titans podcast. And then, of course, I'm going to be having a ton of film content on the Tic Tac Titans film channel as soon as the draft actually concludes. So make sure that you stick with me here on Locked on Titans. Get subscribed to Tic Tac Titans film channel here on YouTube.

Follow me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans as well. So much happening. It's the best time of the year, ladies and gentlemen. But that is going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.