Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TENNESSEE TITANS WORLD CUP LINEUP: Cam Ward Leads Offensive Attack & Kevin Winston Anchors Defense

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

The Tennessee Titans are all about football, but right now a different kind of football has taken over the country as the World Cup is happening on American soil. While the Titans certainly aren't qualified to participate, it is fun to wonder what a lineup would look like if the Titans tried to play some soccer. Cam Ward and Carnell Tate would have to lead the offensive attack, but that doesn't mean Ward would be at the top of the card. Facilitating in the middle to weapons around him is still Ward's best use. Having speed surrounding him will be key though and Calvin Ridley, Kevin Winston and Alontae Taylor fit the bill in the middle of the field. Being able to switch ends quickly will be key. On defense, some big men have to get a chance to play so Jeffery Simmons and Peter Skoronski get their shot to hold down the back line in front of Keldric Faulk, whose length gives him a chance to shut down the net.   LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/   Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans   TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop...   Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans   Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod   Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LockedOnTitans   Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now. Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If the Tennessee Titans had to put a team into the World Cup, I would have Cam Ward leading the offense, and Kevin Winston leading the defense. We'll build the entire lineup on today's edition of Locked on Titans. 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, Tyler. Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Odu. Great organizations win because operations matter. And that's why you should get Odu.

Try for free today at Odu.com slash locked on. That's OD OO.com slash locked on on today's show. We're going to have a little bit of summer fun. The United States World Cup team plays their final group stage match on Thursday night. I wanted to put together a little bit of a Tennessee Titans World Cup roster. What would the lineup look like? Now, of course, the Titans can't field a team that could compete on the world stage. But if the Titans had to put together a lineup, train, you know, what kind of soccer lineup would this team put together if they had to? Fun discussion to have.

Can't wait to see what lineups you guys would put together where you agree, where you disagree with me. I'm going to have Kevin Winston leading the defense for the Titans. I'm going to have speed over the middle of the field with Calvin Ridley helping out on the wings. We got to start with our primary offensive attack. And of course, it's going to be led by Cam Ward, but it's also going to feature Cam Ward's number one weapon, Carnell Tate. So if I'm putting together a soccer lineup,

and look, I'm no soccer savant or anything like that. There are going to be a lot of you guys who have a lot more experience with soccer than me who can debate the setup. But what I like to have is I like to have my two strikes. out at the top. I like to have two focal points out at the top of the formation. And I like to have some size right there. I grew up in an era with DDADRAGva. You know what I mean?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I like my big physical guys up top. So for my two strikers up at the top of the lineup, I'm going to go with Carnell Tate and E.O. Manor. Carnell Tate with a little bit more speed, a little more slender, I.O. Manor, a little bit more size, a little bit more mass. maybe a little bit better on those headers. Also worth mention in here,

Elylech Iomanner came from Canada. He might be okay at soccer. So could give us a little bit of an advantage right there. But I'm going to go with Cornell Tate. I'm going to go with Elic I.O. Manor as my top two guys. Because they give you that speed. They give you that size. They can be good in the box with those headers.

But also have the ability to possess the ball, make their runs, route running, and timing your routes, timing with the tempo that you're going to vary your speeds at. I think wide receivers are ideally suited for that sort of activity. But putting it all together, connecting the triangle. I like to have that center attacking mid. I like to have that point guard position,

that guy that can distribute out to the wings. He can distribute up to both the strikers at the top. May not have the greatest athletic skills. May not be the fastest guy. May not be the biggest, the strongest, but just has great vision, great intelligence, great passing ability, understanding the angles, how guys are going to make their runs,

where there are vulnerabilities in the defense. I got to go with Cam Ward, anchor in that spot for the team. So when you have Cornell Tate and you have Ellic I.O. Manor up at the top and then you have Cam Ward getting the ball to him. I think we're in a spot where that could make a lot of sense. We could create a lot of open opportunities, create a lot of goal chances for the team. And again, you get those set pieces when you have those free kicks

for the Titans, those opportunities where you can set things up, run some picks, run some ins and outs, get the defense, mismatch up top. You have two guys who can take advantage of all those opportunities, plus have the speed to win. I got Cam Ward setting everybody up inside, outside. I feel pretty good about the alignment that we have right now. Now, I want to take it a level deeper, though. What would be the backups in these positions?

Well, I wouldn't necessarily go exactly the same route that I went with my starter. It's like I have Cam Ward as my center attacking mid, but I wouldn't necessarily go to a Mitch Trubiske or a Will Levis if I went to another direction there. Honestly, I would totally switch things up with my alignment if I went a different direction. I would go with Tage Spears up top. Go with that, you know, Lionel Messi style guy

who could be up at the top real quick, in and out, great ball handling skills, really be able to put pressure on the defense in the little crevices. I would go with Taj Spears and go a totally different route. than I.O. Manor and Carnell Tate. And honestly, I know this sounds crazy. And it might be crazy. But I'm going to go with Jaron Kanik.

At the other striker position is the backup to Elykeyeo Manor. The Titan's seventh round rookie, 10.3 and the 100 meter in track for Jaron Kanek in high school. This dude is an absolute burner. And because Jaron Kanek has played lineback he's played quarterback. He's played tight end. He's good with the ball. He can play a little bit of defense and be physical in the box if he needs to on those headers and getting position and knocking guys out of the way. He's got that defensive toughness with the offensive instincts and touch and understanding.

Give me Jaron Kanick. And I think Kanek could be a little bit of a fullback type of guy. So if you're putting Jaron Kanek and Taj Spears together up top, Kanak can clear the way, right? That's his fullback. Clear the way for Tadier Spears. Run inside. Pull people with you because you're bigger, you're faster, straight line speed, get everybody's attention.

And then Tadier Spears can slide right behind him with the quickness, hide behind him with a smaller stature and create goal opportunities inside the box. I'm just saying, and if we're building a team with backups and different lineups, having that versatility up top, I kind of like it. So I get that Canick is a bit of a hot take in there.

But I want Tajay Spears and Jaron Canick together with that speed and that athleticism and that quickness combination. I think it would be perfect. And again, I'm not going to go with a quarterback. I'm going with Wondale Robinson as Cam Ward's backup. Wondell Robinson, hey, I've seen him throw the football. I think Wondale Robinson is a smart guy. Remember, Wondell Robinson, one of those slot-wide receivers

of Brian Dable's system, really good at reading the defense. Got those choice routes, those option, routes that Wondale Robinson has, where he has to read the leverage of the defender, read the coverage that he's being presented and change his route mid-play based on what he's seeing. Sounds a lot like a soccer player trying to diagnose what he's seeing in front of him. A lot of moving parts, you've got to read it on the fly. I think Wondell Robinson has the quickness, the intelligence, the vision, the understanding of the defense. He may not be a quarterback. He may not be a natural passer in his football

position, but I think that Wondell Robinson in the top of that triangle on offense as a backup option would be a great backup to Cam Ward. Now, could you create other options in there? Would it time to maybe get a defense, maybe a Monty Hooker? I think a Monty Hooker would be all right in that kind of role. I know he's a defensive guy, but a guy who's been living off of his vision, his instincts, his understanding of angles and things like that throughout his career. Maybe you get a defensive guy involved in there, but I'm going to go with Cornell Tate, Elykeyeo Manor, Cam Ward, as my.

starting triangle attacking on offense. I'm going to go with Tage Spears, Jaron Kanick, and Wondale Robinson as their backups. But now we're going to go to the middle of the field and that's really where I need speed and some physicality as well. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Square.

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fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked-on Titans podcast. Again, we're having a little summer fun here. The World Cup is in town. It's in America this year, and it got me thinking what a Tennessee Titans lineup would look like. We talked about our attacking triangle up at the top. Now I want to get into the midfield where I need speed, I need physicality, and I'm going to start on the wings.

Give me Calvin Ridley as my left winger on the outside. I know that Ridley doesn't present a ton of physicality and getting back on defense and being involved in that. That may not be a strength of Calvin Ridley's. But I really love speed down the sidelines. I love the ability to kick those big balls down the sidelines, let people run underneath of them and then be able to cross it into the box.

And again, if I have Cardinal Tate, I have Ellic Io Manor inside the box, two big and fast and strong guys. And I have Calvin Ridley beaten people down the sideline for, you know, deep passes. getting it on his foot with a good first touch because he's a skill player, not a power player, and then crossing it into the box

into Carnell Tate and Elykoio manner. That's my kind of setup. To me, that creates as many opportunities as possible. It creates as many scoring chances. There could be penalties. There could be additional set pieces. There could be bounces that ricochet here and there. It just creates chaos.

And the more opportunities and the more chaos that I can create in my way. my own end, the better. Because it just turns into goal chances, in my opinion. So, Cam Ward getting the ball in the center of the field, lobbing it down to the corner to Calvin Ridley, crossing it over to Cornell Tate or Elicio Manor. I think that would work out great.

I need a little bit more defense, though. I do need a little bit more defense on the other side. So I'm going with Alante Taylor is my wing there. That's what I want to do. I want to go with Alante Taylor. And listen, the, the thing. thing about Alante Taylor is this. He played

some wide receiver, some quarterback in his past. He's played inside and outside. He went to Tennessee as a wide receiver before moving to the defensive backfield. So Alante Taylor is ideally suited to have a defensive mindset with some offensive touch.

He's going to be aggressive and physical and in your face like a defense, a natural defensive player would be, but gives you a little bit more touch, a little bit more offensive instinct than maybe your typical defensive convert would have. So again, I love that five-man group to attack. Alante Taylor is kind of a guy who can hit it from long

because he's stronger than most of the guys with his kind of speed, but he's got that ability to fly back and help the defense if he needs, to, if we need to roll a little bit, maybe we move I-O. Manor out to a wing. We move Calvin Ridley up on the wing. We bring Taylor and Cam Ward into the middle of the field on offense, so we got two guys facilitating there.

I think we would have a lot of lineup functionality, lineup optionality with that group. So Cam Ward in the middle facilitating everything. Taylor and Ridley on the outsides is the wing. and I.O. Manor up front as your strikers, as your post guys. I mean, if we were building a Tennessee Titans basketball team, we're on to something right there, right? Maybe we would get a bigger man to play center.

But if we went to a small ball lineup, Elyke Iommaner, Carnell Tate, as our front court with Calvin Ridley, Yolante Taylor, on the wings, Cam Ward playing point guard. I mean, we're building a nice little, nice little group here for any sport for the Titans. But I think that would be a smart way to attack those guys. But I think one of the most critical spots,

and you could fight me on my soccer lineup, I went with a 4-1-1-4. I just like having, I like having that point guard on both sides of the ball. You have your center attacking mid who facilitates everybody on the offensive side of the ball, smart in the middle of the field, has the possession most of the time,

is coordinating things. like your quarterback. And then on defense, having that center defensive mid. That guy to really handle everything at the front of the defense, once it's corralled, once it's taken care of, this guy gets the ball and he is the liaison for the defense to get that ball back to the offensive side. Who also has the ability to bring it up himself.

So he's got to be comfortable. And that's why I went with Kevin Winston Jr. I think that Kevin Winston would be perfect for that spot. Think just on defense. His job is defense, right? That's what you want Kevin Winston doing. He's playing defense. He's a center defensive mid.

He's 6 foot 3. He's got a big frame, long arms, broad shoulders, strong legs, the speed, obviously, the quickness, the physical mindset. Kevin Winston wants to hit you. He wants to put his body on you.

Take away the ball. Make aggressive attacks. It's going to be hard to get past him. And then once you get past him, then you get to the backline of the defense and things really get difficult for you. But he is the first level of defense for the defense,

and he's going to take away so much because of his physical attributes. He's going to be able to again corral the ball, corral the possession, in the middle of the field from the defense, get the ball, take it forward, get it to Cam Ward who can set up the offense.

Now, from an offensive perspective, too, Kevin Winston has that size, has that speed. Imagine him making, you know, a backside run cutting through the defense. When they're focused on the offensive players that are there, you have Ridley and Taylor spreading things out with Tate and Iomman or taking up bodies down on the box. And then Winston makes a run through the heart of the defense,

and Cam Ward just lightly pushes it to him so that Winston can get through with his physicality. And imagine the shot power that a guy like Kevin Winston would have with his limbs and his speed and his aggressiveness. I think it could be dangerous. I think it could be a dangerous setup. So whether it be the offensive side of the ball, whether it be the defensive side of the ball,

I think Kevin Winston is the perfect center defensive mid. And that middle group of riddle, Taylor, Cam, and Winston. Intelligence, speed, some physicality, just a mixture of everything. And I think they could rotate. Like imagine if you just went like 2-2-2 with Tate Iow Manor, Ridley Ward,

Taylor, Winston, not what I would do, but you would have the versatility because of Taylor. Really, Taylor sets things off because he could play offense or defense and do enough where you could move things around how you need to. But Taylor and Winston together, such a big physical combo in the middle of the field. And then with the skill and the finesse of Cam Ward and Calvin Ridley, I like it.

I like the pairing together, the size, the speed. But we got to get to the back end, right? Because the back line of the defense has to be impenetrable, impregnable. You know what I mean? Like it just has to set it off. Not unlike the Tennessee Titans defensive line, which also needs to have those same qualities, but we're going to build a nasty front

with a little bit more beef and show some love to the trenches as we get to the back line. Do you want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Odu. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. You have one app for accounting.

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Having a little bit of summer fun here, not the most serious episode I've ever put on the airwaves. We figure we can have a good time with the World Cup game coming up on Thursday night. Go to Tennessee Titans World Cup lineup. We talked about Cornell Tate, Elicio Manor up at the top. Calvin Ridley, Cam Ward, Alante Taylor, got to the middle of the field with Kevin Winston,

patrolling the center defensive mid. Now we're going to talk about the backline of the defense. go over the backups at all these spots as well. Before we do, do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans, your first listen each and every day. Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed.

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Join the Locked on Titans every day or club today. But again, the back line needs a little bit more beef. I'm going to put Peter Skoronsky and Jeffrey Simmons as my centerbacks. Right in front of the goalie in the middle of the field. Good luck getting through them. I wanted to get an offensive lineman in here.

needed to get Big Jeff in here as well. And I wanted just a little bit more speed at goalie. So I went with Keldrick Fulk, who moves just a little bit quicker. He's a little bit longer, a little bit taller. I will tell you, though, I did consider Gunner Helm. Gunner Helm would be my backup goalie because he's got that length and that speed and that quickness as well. But I went with Keldrick Fult to stay with the defensive theme. So our defensive trio in the back is Jeffrey Simmons, Peter Skoronski.

again, Kevin Winston as the center defensive mid. That's a pretty good spine right there. Okay, that is a nice center of the defense. On the outside, I wanted a little bit more speed with Cedric Gray, but I went with Jermaine Johnson on the right hand side. So Gray, Simmons, Skoransky, and Johnson as the back line of the defense. Kevin Winston again, as that quarterback of the defense

and the center of defense of mid with Keldrick Falk at goalie. Gunner Helm, though, again, as the backup goalie, He would get some rotational opportunities as we decided that battle. I threw in J.C. Latham as the backup to Peter Skoronsky, just to give the offensive line a little bit more love. And then John Franklin Myers can back up Jeffrey Simmons. Those are the Bash Brothers. Right there, we can rotate that in.

If I want to get a little more physical, if I want to park the bus, you know what I mean? We'll bring in John Franklin Myers. If I want a little bit more speed and quickness, I'll keep Pete in. They're on the outside. You can put Cedric Gray. or Anthony Hill, and at that left back spot, you know, keep them out there to be physical, to intimidate the offense's smaller players that are trying to play with speed.

But Aunt Hill and Cedric Gray still have good speed. They're sideline to sideline linebackers. They could manage out there. On the other side, I did go with Jermaine Johnson, and I would love to see Femio out on a soccer field. I just think it would be incredibly impressive. So the lineup that we have put together in hole, we have Cornell Tate and Elyle Manor starting at strikers

with Tage Spears and Jaron Kanek given a different kind of look as their backups. Cam Ward is our center attacking mid being our point guard, our quarterback of the offense with Wondale Robinson backing him up who could do some similar things. Calvin Ridley and Chim D.K. As left wings with Calvin Ridley starting and D.K., backing him up. D.K. would add an incredible speed element.

when Ridley got a little bit tired because he's an older player at halftime. We bring in D.K. as one of our subs. I think he would be one of the first guys off the bench. Love D.K. as a wing on the outside on offense to take advantage of that speed, his facial awareness, everything like that. That works great. Imagine Cam Ward bombing one down the sideline to D.K. And then him sliding one in to Cardinal Tate. It would just be absolutely fantastic. Alante Taylor as the right wing. And I'm going to throw Tony Pollard as Alante Taylor's backup. Being a running back, I think

Tony Pollard is ideally suited to play with the physicality needed to kind of give me a similar thing to what I wanted with Alante Taylor. Kevin Winston, obviously, that center defensive mid, I'm going to have Marcus Harris as his backup, though. Again, being in the slot,

you got to be involved in the run game, you got to be involved in the past game, so that's offense defense for Marcus Harris so that he could be versatile in the middle of the field, his speed, his size. I think he can do similar things to what Kevin Winston does. He doesn't have the length and the height

that Kevin Winston does, but I think he gives some similar looks. Again, we got Cedric Gray, Germain Johnson as our outside defenders on the back line with Aunt Hill and Femi, backing them up. Peter Skoransky, J.C. Latham at the left back spot.

Jeffrey Simmons, John Franklin Myers at the right back spot, Keldrick Falk and Gunnardhelm at the goalies. Again, just a fun episode here. bit of summer action with the World Cup happening tonight, 10 p.m. Eastern time. The United States team takes on Turkey. So that's going to finish out the group stage and then they're going to move forward to the knockout stage. So congratulations to the team. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today, folks. As always,

I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was locked on Titans.