Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Add To Front Office & Division Crossover w/ Locked on Bears

Episode Date: May 5, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. We have talked all season long about adding players to this team to make the Titans better. Well, the Titans went out and added to the front office to try to improve this organization on Monday. So we are going to talk about that to start off our show, but I want to remind you guys that this episode of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Built Bar. I've actually already had two of their Built Bars today because quite frankly, they kind

of taste like candy bars and I just enjoy eating them. But remember to use promo code LOCKEDON to get $10 off your first box of Built Bars. But we are going to talk about that front office free agent addition everyone's all wrapped up in free agency or the titans still looking to sign judevian clowny we were looking at the draft little did we think that the titans would be making big moves front office wise to improve this team and i'll let you know why once again john robinson is ahead of the curve on some of these moves, not just in his roster building, but in his front office building

and building his staff as well. So we'll talk about why this move on its face is a very good move, but also while looking to the future, it'll make even more sense. So we'll talk about that first. But, of course, we are doing our division crossovers with the divisions that the Titans will play in the upcoming 2020 season, and we are on the NFC North this week. Yesterday's show, we talked about the Minnesota Vikings, but today, we are going to transition

into talking about the Chicago Bears. So we are going to have the host of the Locked On Bears on our show today. We're going to have a two-part conversation, as we always do, and get his thoughts on where the Bears are right now in the middle of their offseason and what things could look like when the Titans and the Bears do face off in the regular season. So a lot to talk about today, a lot of exciting information to get into. And that front office move, the Titans continue to have one of the best front offices

in all of the NFL. And we talk about the players a lot, but that is really where the sausage is made. So a big move for the Titans to talk about. Let's get it. When we talk about Titans Executive Vice President and General Manager John Robinson and talent acquisition, we are normally doing that through the lens of roster building. What is Robinson adding to the team via trade, via free agency, via the draft? How will those players help the Titans out on the field? What

will they produce? How will they fit into the locker room? How do they fit into the scheme? But John Robinson's job as executive vice president and general manager of the Titans is not just about building a roster. To be able to build a competitive and successful roster, you have to first build a competent and successful and well-organized front office. And that has been one of the big reasons why the Titans were able to turn things around so quickly and so consistently once Robinson showed up in 2016. That's because he has a talented front office, and they all coalesce and work together very well.

We hear that from the top down when you even hear from head coach Mike Rabel and how the scouts interact with the assistant coaches and how John Robinson and Mike Rabel interact as well. So it should be no surprise that when John Robinson is looking to acquire talent, it's not just the players on the field, but also front office personnel. It's not just the players on the field, but also front office personnel. And he has done that on Monday when the Titans add Monty Ossenfort to their front office to be the director of player personnel. Ossenfort had spent the last 15 seasons with the New England Patriots as their director of college scouting. He is known as one of the more talented front office evaluators in the league. Now, that makes you ask, why was he available?

The Patriots did not fire Austin Ford, but after 15 seasons, they did allow his contract to expire. Enter J-Rob. John Robinson steps in and scoops him up, and obviously on its face, this is a great move. Anytime that you are getting a talented person in the NFL who is respected for their craft and respected for their work then you want to add that person to your team whether it be on the field or in the front office talent is talent and every good organization should constantly be trying to add the best at their roles in their field to the organization. And that, like I said, in itself is a good reason for this hire, but this hire is also a good move in different layers and different points of view.

Think about it this way. Austin Fort is going to be the director of player personnel. In the player personnel department, his boss is going to be John Robinson's right-hand man Ryan Cowden. Now, Cowden got a promotion from the Titans in May of 2018 and was elevated to the vice president of player personnel. And the reason for that is Cowden is a highly regarded and sought after front office executive in the NFL. He has interviewed for general manager jobs around the league at previous points in time. So the Titans could foresee, and I'm sure John Robinson could foresee, Ryan Cowden at some point being hired away and being promoted to be a general manager in the NFL. And let's assume that that takes place in the near future well if that does

happen then who is going to step up and be the vice president of player personnel well you just hired in Austin Fort to be the understudy of Cowden and be the director of player personnel and report directly to Cowden so if Cowden is hired away by a different team to be a general manager well now you can elevate Austin Ford to that role, and John Robinson would have someone who is respected throughout the league, who he knows can do a good job, but also someone who he has a relationship with and has worked with previously during his time in New England

and has trust in to do their job and give them good information and not leak things to the press and all of the different things that are required in a front office relationship. So once again, this move makes sense not only on its face from having a talented member added to the front office, but also makes sense as a future move when eventually Ryan Cowden is hired as a general manager for another team which will take place now the Titans have someone they can trust and a talent that they can elevate and immediately put in that role there is a parallel to draw here between what the Titans have done with Jack

Conklin and Isaiah Wilson John Robinson is always looking down the road and looking to make sure that he has talent to replace some really talented people who will eventually move on. Now, obviously, one thing that we're going to hear a ton is, once again, it's another Patriots South move, another New England Patriot going to the Titans. I mean, at this moment in time, I think that John Robinson being laser focused on bringing New England Patriots people into the organization whether it be players or everything I think that that initial wave has died now I don't think this is a move where Robinson is just adding another Patriots person to the organization I think the Titans have moved past that in general and that this is just a great ad so it's just a very talented front office executive in the NFL

getting added to what was already one of the better front offices in the NFL. Now the Titans have Vic Marino, the talented cap guy, Ryan Cowden, who's essentially good enough to be a GM, and now they have Monty Ossenfort as well, who is one of the better college scouting directors for quite some time in the NFL. So this is a great move. There's really no negative way to view this whatsoever. So big move for John Robinson. Nice to see him continue to add not only to the roster, but to the front office.

That is going to do it for our first segment, though. We are going to get into our conversation with Lauren Cox from the Locked on Bears podcast. The Titans will play the Bears as they will every other NFC North opponent this upcoming season. So we will have a two-part conversation here with Lauren talking about the Bears and how these teams will match up in the future and kind of how their offseason has gone so far. So we will have that conversation next. Before we jump into that, I do want to talk to you guys a little bit about built bars. So of course

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I'm excited to find out a little bit more about the Tennessee Titans as we get rolling around here, because the Bears have followed some similar paths, at least at the quarterback position, and eager to see how that's all going to play out. Yeah, I can't lie. That's a perfect segue into my first question, because as a Titans fan, I know about the trials and tribulations that come with dealing with a fan base who is quite frankly split on a guy.

Those who want to believe that the high draft pick quarterback can do some things and can lean on the relative team success that he's been a part of and say that he has a future. But then the other side of the fan base who is just completely done with him and, and they say he doesn't have it. I would imagine that the, the fan base is split in a similar way with the bears, or am I wrong about that? No, I think you're pretty spot on. And it's interesting because the split almost becomes head coach versus quarterback, where it's a question of is Mitchell Trubisky purely the problem you know is this a quarterback that's just not good enough or is the head coach and the rest of the offense not putting him in the best positions to be successful it's there's some I think more and more we've seen Bears fans come around to the anti-Trubisky side for the most part but I think

there's still a pretty strong faction of Trubisky supporters and it's understandable. I mean, there's, he's shown some high flashes of great quarterback play in sports here and there, but not something that he's been able to do very consistently throughout his career. And, you know, it understandably, so the rest of the team does need to be better, but so does the quarterback yeah understandable i i do have this question do you see a lot of if parky makes that field goal you guys wouldn't be so down on trubisky is that something that people say not exactly there's definitely a feeling that if parky had hit that field goal the team would have gone a lot farther in the playoffs. But I don't know whether,

I don't know how much that would have affected the 2019 season. I mean, I'm not ready to say the bears would have gone to the super bowl or anything after winning that, that game. But if, if they had won another playoff game or maybe two, does it,

does it ultimately change who Trubisky is? I mean, I think he would have a slightly better perception, but he played pretty poorly in that wildcard playoff game. Really the first three quarters were terrible. And then in the fourth quarter, he put together this nice comeback and made some really great throws. And then of course, Parkey misses the field goal. So that late comeback kind of gets overlooked, but perhaps the first three quarters of bad play also would have been overlooked had they won the game. So I

don't, I think it would have had an impact on his perception, but I don't think it would have drastically changed where the bears are today in terms of bringing somebody like Nick Foles to compete at the spot. Yeah, yeah. I had to ask that question and kind of gauge that because I think Marcus Mariota got a lot of rope here because of that victory in the playoffs over the Chiefs in 2017, despite his poor play putting them in that hole and the offense being a little bit limited. So obviously he's gone, but the comparison there, as you pointed out, is definitely a good one. Let's talk about the other side of that comparison and the other portion of that, and that's bringing in Ryan Tannehill, which is comparable to bringing in Nick Foles. So my question is, do you see Foles as the more likely who will play, who will start more games this year? And do you think if Nick Foles plays more than Trubisky, it will make a

difference? I do think Nick Foles will start and play more games than Trubisky. And I think the expect, I mean, it's, it's being billed as a complete open competition, but may the best quarterback win, but there's a growing expectation that Nick Foles is going to win that quarterback competition. And perhaps even Trubisky has played his last game in Chicago. If Nick Foles were to start week one and play the entire season. Now, I don't know how this,

you know, COVID-19 off season might affect that. If Foles comes in with a knowledge of the offense from his time both with Nagy in Kansas City and also with Nagy in Philadelphia earlier in his career, which is part of why the Bears chose him to be their backup quarterback this year, because he would already know a decent amount of the system coming in. So that should give him an advantage over any other quarterback they may have brought in in that.

And I'm not expecting Foles to be a drastic upgrade when he is on the field. I think it's a little bit foolish to expect him to be the Super Bowl MVP for the entire course of a season. And will he be good enough, though, to keep this team afloat? I think it's possible. I don't think he's going to take this team to 11 or 12 wins again, but I think he could be good enough to keep them in that playoff conversation. And if things go their way and everybody stays healthy in the right ways and the offense kind of fixes some of its other previous mistakes, they could be a playoff team with Nick Foles.

And I'm not 100% sure they could do the same with what we've seen from Trubisky. Right, right. That absolutely makes sense. I do want to ask you kind of, again, another offensive question here before we transition into the defense, but speaking about whether or not Nick Foles will make the team better, my real question comes with, I don't see a lot of upgrades for the offensive side of the ball from the Bears offseason. They added Cole Komet and Jimmy Graham at the tight end position, which of course is going to help a quarterback. The tight end is the quarterback's best friend,

and someone like Nick Foles has had a lot of success with a tight end heavy offense. But other than those two tight ends, is there an offensive addition that I'm missing here? Because when I look at what the Bears have done on offense, it seems like they believe that with improved quarterback play they have enough on offense to to be a solid unit do you share that belief do you think that they've done enough to add with adding Nick Foles and

adding the tight ends or do you think that maybe they're still lacking and needed to do more I think they're they didn't necessarily need to do more. And I do think improving the quarterback position is the number one thing this offense needed. I'm not, again, totally sold that Nick Foles provides enough of that quarterback improvement. I would like to see them pursue a little bit of a higher quality quarterback given how many were just available this offseason. But that's sort of a separate question here. I think from the Bears' perspective, they looked at it in a couple ways. One, they needed to upgrade the tight end position because it is so important in Matt Nagy's offense, and they felt like that was the big thing missing

last year. But they also just think the young players that they've been acquiring, usually through the draft, it's time for them to take that next step. Like Anthony Miller at wide receiver, second round pick a couple years ago, didn't quite have the big sophomore season. They were hoping it's time for him to be a true number two wide receiver in his junior year. And they drafted David Montgomery as a rookie running back last year was okay, but had didn't quite have the immediate success that they were hoping it's time for him to step in and be more of a dominant rusher. And then they continue to tout their offensive line coaching change as being the big reason why that group should be better. They hired Juan Castillo, who used to coach with Nagy and Andy Reid on the Eagles offensive line, and they think that he's going They just need all the players. They had most of them, younger guys to play better. And they're sort of banking on that development, which in theory should work and they should be trending in that

direction. But as we know, in the NFL players don't always get better linear linearly from year to year to year. Right. Right. A hundred percent. Yeah. You want to believe that your young players will take a step forward, but there is no guarantee, but let's move to the defensive side of the ball. Obviously there were some more additions on the defense. You add in a, you know, a free agent like Artie Burns who has some potential, didn't necessarily live up to it in Pittsburgh, but definitely does have potential to be a solid player. Add in a cornerback like Jalen Johnson, who I personally was a big fan of in the draft. And then of course, a big free agent signing in Robert Quinn.

Do you think that this defense can get back to the playoff level, the dominant level that it was at with Vic Fangio in 2018? Or do you think that his loss and some of the moving pieces will prevent them from maybe getting back to where that defense was? Because obviously in the model that the Bears are in, looking for solid quarterback play and consistent offense with a really good defense is something that the Titans are interested in building out as well. So do you think that defense with Khalil Mack and now Robert Quinn with Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan in the middle, do you think that they can put it all together and get back to that 2018 level?

I don't think it's sustainable to get back to 2018 levels just because they were so good. I mean, they were the number one defense in the NFL and did a lot of things that just are really hard to replicate. But at the same time, I don't think the loss of Vic Fangio was the primary reason they dropped off. I mean, nothing against him at all as a defensive coordinator. Excellent, excellent coach, and the Broncos are enjoying him running their defense as well. But Chuck Pagano has done a good job through his first season,

and I'm sure Titans fans remember him well from Indianapolis when those defenses in Indy weren't necessarily great, but they also didn't have a lot of talent to work with and drafting was an issue there too. And that was sort of what hit the Bears last year in terms of injuries, taking a lot of their talent away. Both of their starting inside linebackers missed quite a few games. Khalil Mack was injured and played most of the season, but clearly wasn't 100% for a lot of it. And Akeem Hicks, their best defensive lineman was out for an extended period of time. And they just didn't have enough consistent pass rushing besides Khalil Mack. And then their secondary has slowly deteriorated some talent over the recent years. It's sort of left to

Kyle Fuller and Eddie Jackson as the mainstays there. So being able to bolster that pass rush with Robert Quinn, I think will be huge. Getting Akeem Hicks, Danny Trevathan, and Roquan Smith all back healthy will also be big. And then I think the concern is. Getting Akeem Hicks, Danny Trevathan, and Roquan Smith all back healthy will also be big. And then I think the concern is still in the secondary with the opposite corner spot with Artie Burns trying to replace Prince of Mookamara. I have a feeling Jalen Johnson will be starting at that spot sooner rather than later.

They also have a drafted guy, Kevin Toller, that they like as well. And I was really concerned about the other safety spot next to Eddie Jackson, except for just last week, they signed Tashaun Gibson, formerly of the Houston Texans, and was with the Jacksonville Jaguars before that. And he's expected to step in and kind of be that week one starting veteran safety with Eddie Jackson. So I feel a little bit better about it. And I think that the improved level of talent was needed to kind of get back to a little bit closer to what 2018 was. to kind of get back to a little bit closer to what 2018 was.

I think we'll see them somewhere in between 2018 and 2019, where back in this top 10, maybe top five discussion, but not quite best defense in the NFL with a million turnovers. Yeah, yeah, I understand completely. And when the Titans had a lot of cluster injuries in their secondary last year, the defense went from top half of the league to completely miserable in a matter of weeks because of all the injuries in the secondary so I know how that can take a toll on a defense and if the offense isn't living up to their expectation it's gonna give you a rough season so it's actually quite surprising that dealing with all the injuries and everything going on on offense with Trubisky that the Bears were

able to get an eight and eight season out of 2019 pretty impressive coaching job quite honestly looking at Nagy but I've heard that he does have some heat on him. So my second to last question for you is what do you think the status is of coach Matt Nagy or Nagy? I know that it's a, it's a divisive topic online. Even he hasn't necessarily clarified everything. I know he said he got called one thing early on, but would be okay with both kind of an Alvin Kamara Kamara situation what do you think the status is the job status of coach Matt Nagy and general manager

what do you think that you know they're looking at in terms of what do they need to do this year to ensure their jobs I think for the most part if it's not a complete disaster, they should still be okay. I mean, if this team wins three or four games and everything really hits the fan, then I could see the Bears making a change. But for the most part, I kind of get the impression that there's some patience here with ownership. That they feel like even though this regime has missed on the quarterback position at least twice and right man nick foals could be sort of a third big miss it started with mike glennon and then mitch trubisky and now potentially foals that they're at least doing a good enough job at building the rest of the roster that they're willing to keep giving them chances at quarterback

and i i go back and forth on whether and how much wiggle room i would give them but i do think if they can at least hover back around 500 or better, they should be fine. And, you know, if they're seven and nine, six and 10, then I think the whispers start, but I think it would take fewer than six wins for those guys to lose their job. But I think there's, there's some security in where they stand now, but it's, it's definitely heating up and things need to at least look like they're trending in the right direction rather than the backwards direction that they were moving last year yeah yeah that makes sense i mean you know ryan pace maybe has had some struggles at at picking the quarterback position but generally the the roster is not in a bad spot and that's how you can have quarterback play like that and still

you know go eight and eight and be competitive my My last question for you from, from my side is from the bears perspective, actually this game, and we may be months away from this game actually taking place, but from the bears perspective, what will be the keys to the game or the X factors to defeating the Tennessee Titans based on what you know about their team? Well, Derek Henry is always going to be the guy that scares me. And I know, you know, modern analytics will tell you that stopping the run is not nearly as important as stopping the pass. And certainly AJ Brown and Corey Davis can do some damage on the outside, but I'm, I'm still curious to see if by the time we get to this point, when the bears and Titans

play during the season, what level of Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee will still be getting, I know there's some question about how sustainable was his level of play last year. And I think if I'm, if I'm Mike Vrabel, I want to still try and put as little pressure on my quarterback as possible, just because that's always a good strategy for pretty much every quarterback in the NFL. So to me, if, if I can take on that Titans offensive line, be really physical upfront and try and take Derek Henry out of it as best I can. And I know that's much easier said than done. I feel like to me, then trying to put Ryan Tannehill in as many difficult situations as possible

is going to be key for me, but I still have some of my doubts about this bears offense with either of the quarterbacks under center right now, but maybe just, maybe they can, they can hold off enough to, you know, at least stay competitive in more games like this and,

and maybe fight on a slugfest if it's Brian Tannehill at various levels of quarterback play and Nick Foles at various levels of quarterback play. Yeah. Well, I can tell you firsthand that as a person who saw a middling offense for many years, even when the Titans were competitive the last few years, the offense was, was one of the worst in the league. So anytime you get the right quarterback, you get the mojo flowing, who knows how an offense can unlock. But I appreciate you answering all of these Titans-related questions. And from the Titans' perspective,

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the ultimate winner in your family. All right, welcome back into this Locked on Bears, Locked on Titans crossover podcast. Again, I am Loren from Locked on Bears here with Tyler from Locked on Titans. Just kind of looking ahead at these two opponents that haven't really played each other in a long time and don't end up crossing paths all that much. And it's my turn to turn and ask the questions here to Tyler. And I guess to start, I think bears fans want to know about the Ryan Tannehill experience with Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill taking over just given that the bears have a,

such a similar situation with a high draft pick number two, overall pick quarterback, a veteran brought in behind him, expected to supplant that young quarterback with the veteran. How have Titans fans reacted to the long-term contract for Ryan Tannehill? Is there an open arms acceptance of he's our guy or how much, I guess, hesitancy or doubt or skepticism is there about his ability to keep playing at such a high level like we saw last season? Well, I think that it I mean, if you're honest, you're going to get all kinds of responses. There's never anything uniform, especially online or on Twitter and a fan base. But I think for the most part, seeing the success

that the Titans offense had, quite frankly, that was one of the more successful offenses in the entire history of the Tennessee Titans. The Titans have never had a big time offense.

They've always been a run the ball, play defense type football team for 20 years. It's very strange that the football team for 20 years it's very strange that the offensive philosophy from 20 years ago has impacted the offensive philosophy going forward but it has until Tannehill took over and some consistent quarterback play allowed the offense to really take off so I think for the most, most people have accepted Ryan Tannehill and just happy to have somebody back there who are making things work and making the offense play at levels

that we haven't seen in quite some time. But I would be lying if I didn't say that it's hesitant acceptance. I think you described it pretty perfectly and you're going down the right path because while Tannehill did take the offense to new heights, it's Ryan Tannehill and he hasn't played that well his entire career. So obviously there are some regression that's going to take place, but most logical Titans fans would tell you that even with slight regression, Ryan Tannehill should still be able to lead this offense to being a top half of the league offense, maybe a top 10 of the league offense. So I would say that while most of the fan base has been accepting it, it is hesitant acceptance at best.

Well, I know one of the big keys for Tannehill to play at his best, of course, is surrounding him with as much talent as possible and trying to make it easy on him. But when I look at that Titans offensive line, it feels to me, just, just kind of glancing, having not gone super in depth on them. It feels to me like a group that's getting a little bit older. And I know they just lost Jack Conklin and, you know, that was sort of the bookend tackles is what they were known for for so long is, is that a concern or, or do you feel like between you know I

know they they used an early draft pick on the offensive line and they've got some other veterans in there have they done enough to keep that group I guess serviceable I would say they have done enough to keep it serviceable and you're 100 correct talking about the age of the offensive line that has obviously been a goal of Titans general manager John Robinson to add some youth to the offensive line in the past two drafts. So you have Taylor LeJuan, who obviously is still in the prime of his career at left tackle, one of the better left tackles in the league. But Roger Saffold at left guard and Ben Jones at center are both older players in their 30s. So that's kind of where you do have some concern,

but I would imagine that that's going to be more of a concern for next offseason. I think that while Jones and Saffold are in their 30s, they can still compete at a high level for at least the next two seasons, which means next year in the offseason, they should start to think about some replacements there. But on the right side, they've really gone towards the youth movement. Starting right guard, Nate Davis was drafted in the third round out of Charlotte last year and became very consistent by the end of the year

and improved quite a bit in his rookie season. Then, of course, the Titans just drafted with their first-round pick the monster of a tackle, Isaiah Wilson, out of Georgia, who is expected to compete for a starting role. But if he's not ready, if Wilson is not ready as a tackle, Isaiah Wilson, out of Georgia, who is expected to compete for a starting role. But if he's not ready, if Wilson is not ready as a rookie, then they did bring back one of the better swing backup tackles in the NFL in Dennis Kelly, who can start on the right side until the rookie Isaiah Wilson is ready to go. So I would say that the age of the offensive line was a concern, and general manager John Robinson has addressed that by age of the offensive line was a concern, and General Manager John Robinson has addressed that

by drafting right-side offensive line starters in both the last drafts. But I do agree that age is still somewhat of a concern on the interior, but I don't think it'll be a concern immediately in the next two seasons, and the Titans can start to plan for that in next year's offseason. But keeping that group as consistent as possible and as together as possible is what's most important for the Titans to keep their scheme, that outside zone scheme with the bootlegs that Tannehill is so good at. To be able to do that, you have to have a certain type of offensive lineman

that is physical but also mobile. So the Titans having four of the five starting offensive linemen back from last year and adding a dancing bear like Wilson to compete with Kelly, I think it'll keep that continuity and keep the type of offensive line together that the Titans are looking for that fits their offense. to address the offensive line age a little bit more. And I know Derrick Henry now on the franchise tag, plus they used a third round pick on running back Darrington Evans. Do you have much of a sense of long-term future for Derrick Henry? I mean, I think from what I've read, the Titans want to get a deal done, but paying running backs a lot of money is a pretty contentious point nowadays in the NFL. Do you get much of a sense of the long-term there beyond 2020? I do think that Derrick Henry eventually gets an extension from the Titans in some form or fashion. I also

understand the divisive nature of the paying running back conversation online. I would honestly argue that the value of running backs and how to treat them in the market is probably the most divisive topic in NFL Twitter. Everybody has a strong opinion and everybody's on one or the other side. And while I typically tend to side with you don't pay running backs, something about Derrick Henry is just different. He has a better work ethic than someone like Zeke. He doesn't have the injury history of someone like Todd Gurley. He doesn't have the one-year wonder or the short-term

success of a David Johnson. He doesn't have the slight build of a Devonta Freeman. He doesn't have the personality and off-field concerns of a Le'Veon Bell. So Henry is just a very special player, a very unique circumstance. And because of that, I do think it would be smart for the Titans to go ahead and get him a long-term extension. I would front load the contract, though, so that you're not too tied into him in the later years, three or four, when he could have too much tread on his tires and wear down. And that's why I really like the Evans pick because on its face,

he is a complimentary back to Derrick Henry. He had speed. He adds receiving ability. He had special teams ability, but I do think one of the underrated aspects of adding Evans is I think he can contribute in the regular run game in between the tackles running outside zone. That's what they ran at Appalachian state. So I think not only is he a great compliment to Derrick Henry but he can spell Derrick Henry

realistically which is something Deion Lewis could never do you couldn't realistically put Deion Lewis out in a drive for a whole drive and expect him to to be effective you just couldn't do that so having someone like Evans to not only compliment Henry, but spell Henry, I think adds value there and it makes him incredibly important. And it adds value to Derek Henry as well, knowing that if you do give him a long-term extension, he might have more tread on his tires for much longer because you have a competent back that can help take the load off of his shoulders. So I do think that Derekrick Henry gets a deal done, and I think it would be a smart move,

even though maybe the rest of the examples in the NFL don't necessarily point to it being a smart move. It feels like Derrick Henry is like the one big name, you know, well-known household name. I mean, Ryan Tannehill too, but Henry's sort of like the face of the frame. Yeah, it's different with Henry. Henry is one of those guys where if you're in a barber shop and you bring up ryan

tannahill half the people are going to be like ah he's just a blah blah blah blah uh if you bring up derrick henry in the barber shop everybody is saying man that boy's a beast that guy's a dog he's an animal so i think because of that fact derrick Derek Henry's greatness is undeniable by the numbers, by the eye test, whatever you want. Anybody who watches him play is like, whoa, that dude is special. It's not necessarily like that with Tannehill. So I agree with you. But it feels like when I look at the rest of the roster, there's a lot of solid guys, but just not guys that are like super well-known. Like if I think if I'm the average fan of any other team bears included, I don't know that I know who Rashawn Evans or Harold Landry,

or maybe even a Dory Jackson, Kevin Byard should probably be well-known by now, but still isn't like, especially on that defense could take, take us through, you know, for people that don't know this Tennessee Titans defense that well, it seems like they've got a couple of solid guys at every level. I know they brought in Vic Beasley this offseason, which is a name, but not necessarily as much production as the Falcons would have liked before. But I guess give me a sense of where this talent level stands on the defense.

And did they ever hire a defensive coordinator, or is Mike Vrabel just going to do that? They did not hire a defensive coordinator. They did not do that. So I think that Mike Vrabel, like, and this isn't as unusual as people would think it is. Mike Zimmer calls plays for the defense for the Vikings. Sean McDermott calls plays on defense for the Bills. You look at, you know, Bill Belichick had a call, a hand in play calling this year,

despite everyone saying that Steve Belichick, his son was calling all the plays. I just refuse to believe that Belichick didn't have his hand in the play calling and the tendencies and all of that. So I don't think it's as unusual. And if it was an offensive coach saying, I'm going to call the offensive plays now, no one would say a word. I mean, I'm not certain. I believe Matt Nagy calls the plays for the Bears and he's the head coach, Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan. So we see a coach being the play caller and the leader of a unit all the time in the NFL. So I'm, I guess, cautiously optimistic about Mike Vrabel as the defensive coordinator. But what I can tell you about the players on the team, I think that the Titans have very, very solid players to good players. But because they're the Tennessee Titans and they don't get as much national recognition

and respect as other teams, that those solid players that would be on a more nationally recognized team like the Cowboys or the Patriots or the Rams or the Packers or even the Bears, somebody like that, a solid player on one of those teams gets more recognition than a solid player on the Titans. And you don't just go nine and seven, four years in a row and make the playoffs two years and go to the AFC championship with a bunch of guys who are just okay. A lot of these players are great. Harold Landry had nine and a half sacks last year as a second year player uh with really no other help on the defensive line in a pass rush sense with uh Jeffrey Simmons being off an ACL tear and being a rookie Jarrell Casey as a talented veteran having a down year name another edge rusher on the tights that no one can and you shouldn't be able to because it's a

collection of Kamalei Correa you're looking looking at Reggie Gilbert, who came from the Packers. Derek Roberson, who was an undrafted rookie last year. The Titans don't have a lot of big names opposite of some of their solid players like Harold Landry, so he's out there doing the best he can, but I'm really high on Harold Landry as an edge rusher, outside linebacker, who was underdrafted. He should have been a first-round pick. Rashawn Evans really exploded. You look at that Patriots game. We made the goal line stand outside linebacker who was underdrafted. He should have been a first-round pick. Rashawn Evans really exploded. You look at that Patriots game. We made the goal line stand against the Patriots. That was Rashawn Evans shooting gaps and making plays. The goal line stand against the Chargers where we stopped them basically eight times in a row at the one-yard line. Harold Landry and Rashawn Evans are making plays on the line of scrimmage. Jeffrey Simmons,

who was a rookie last year, the reason the Titans traded Jarrell Casey is because they think Jeffrey Simmons can slide into the three technique and be dominant, and I agree with that evaluation. Adoree Jackson, the Titans just picked up his fifth-year option because he is so much better than anybody around the NFL realizes. Even an anonymous executive in an athletic article this week said Adoreory Jackson doesn't tackle. I mean, he's not the most physical guy ever, but he's not out there blowing a bunch of

tackles either. He's more than willing to come up and lay a shoulder on somebody and try to make a tackle. Also, Kevin Byard, like you said, he's a top three safety in the NFL, one of the best players in the NFL at his position. And he just doesn't necessarily get the pub that someone like a Jamal Adams would, or even Eddie Jackson for the bears. So Kevin Byard is the leader of the defense now, and the defense is in a transition. Another name that people need to pay attention to is Jay on Brown.

He's an undersized inside linebacker, but he is one of the best pass coverage linebackers in the NFL. And he is a signal caller for the Titans defense and him and Rashawn Evans together on the inside with Harold Landry on the edge, Jeffrey Simmons as a defensive tackle on the interior, Kevin Byron and Dory Jackson in the back end. This Titans defense is transitioning away from the Jarrell Casey, Brian Arakbo, Wesley Woodyard, Logan Ryan ledled defense and into a new kind of era of Titans defensive football with these young playmakers. And I think

people will be pleasantly surprised by the talent on the Titans defense from some of these solid players if they spend a little bit more time actually watching the Titans play. So that's what I would have to say about the defense. That's where the lesser known names, but the more talented players are actually kept on the Titans. And that's why they've been so consistent. Those young defenders really blossoming over the last few years. And I've got my, I've got one quick Adoree Jackson story for you. When I was, I went to college at UW Madison in Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin, the Badgers. And I was in a sports media class.

It's a junior, sophomore, junior season. And we had like a sister class that we were working with at USC. And we would like, we did like group projects with them remotely. And I was in Roy Jackson's group in the same sports media class at USC while I was at Wisconsin. Oh, that is pretty fun. I didn't meet him or like, we didn't like become friends or anything, but it was cool. I was like, I knew who he was and I knew it was like, it was like leading up to that draft. It was like the fall, like during his last season at USC.

So that's my story. Yeah. Really good moment. Adoree is a great player to have on the team. He's a really fun personality in all of his interviews and all of his moments with the media. And quite frankly, just to, you know, put it it back on the field look at all of the speed in the NFL right now you have to have guys who have track speed who can match up one-on-one and man coverage with some of these weapons in the NFL and Adoree Jackson is that for the Titans so while he's had up and down moments in his career I think he's a fantastic player and exactly

what you need in a cornerback in the NFL nowadays so So a big fan of the Dory Jackson over here. Glad they picked up his fifth year option. Yeah. So as, as this team kind of moves forward, like you said, a lot of, not a lot of household names, but a lot of just solid, talented guys. What are sort of the expectations for, for 2020? I mean, they, they went nine and seven, but then had the big playoff run all the way to the, the AFC championship game, which was, I think, somewhat unexpected, at least outside of Tennessee.

And Tannehill kind of turned everything around, but the first half of the season was a lot of Mariota and a lot of struggling in that process. So with Tannehill going 7-3 in the regular season, how do you sort of project expectations for 2020? I imagine they're going to be high, but will they be unfairly high? I think within the fan base're going to be high but will they be unfairly high I think within the fan base they they will be high I think nationally a lot of people are already saying that the Colts

are going to be a better team than the Titans and the Titans aren't even a favorite for the division in a lot of media members minds it's the Colts already so to me I think expectations will be very high in the fan base once you see a team Once you see a team get to the AFC Championship game, you're expecting them to continue to do that. And anything less than that, anything less than getting back to where you were and improving is going to be a disappointment. But I think realistically, if the Titans come out and win the division, which is something they haven't done.

God, I couldn't even tell you the last time the Titans won the division had to be early 2000s. So if the Titans could come out, win the division, get a home playoff game and win that home playoff game, even if it's wildcard weekend, I think that that would satisfy most fans because the reality is we all want our team to win the Super Bowl, but there's only one Super Bowl champ every year and you can't define success in the NFL by just winning the Super Bowl. So I think if the Titans are able to win their division and get a home playoff game and win that home playoff game, most fans would be able to consider that a success, even if they don't make it to the Super Bowl. Well, I can't believe you forgot about the 2008 Cary Collins, 13 and three Tennessee Titans.

I just happened to have it in front of me and I just checked to see when the last time they won their division, but it was Kerry Collins and Jeff Fisher in 08. Yeah. Yeah. 13, 12, 13 years ago. I mean, that's, that's one of the, that's kind of the part I was trying to illustrate. Um, you know, it's just been so long that it's surprising, quite honestly, the Titans have had good teams. They've made the playoffs, playoffs you know the last few seasons and it's just surprising out of all four of those competitive seasons not one of them resulted in a division title so that i think would go a long way to appeasing titans fans and it would garner some goodwill even if they don't make it to the super bowl well it's either way it's clear that the titans are not going to be any kind of walk in the park for any team they play but especially not the Bears.

I don't know if you know off the top of your head if that one's in Tennessee or if it's scheduled to be in Chicago. I do believe that one is actually in Tennessee. I'll probably be wrong about it because I feel strongly about it, but I do believe that that game is in Tennessee. I believe that the Titans play in Minnesota and play in Green Bay. Don't quote me on that, but I do believe that they'll play the Lions and the Bears at home. Well, we'll get the NFL schedule supposedly released here in the very near future. So we'll find out exactly how late or how early it's going to be in the season. Right, right. And that definitely will matter. The NFL is such a haul that uh obviously you can have a completely

different team at the beginning than you do at the end like the Titans saw last year yeah and maybe and maybe the Bears will have a different quarterback in week one as they do in week 10 so you could see it happen yeah it'll be fun to see how it plays out but I appreciate you taking the time here with us and doing this crossover so now we have a little bit of an advanced look ahead at how these two teams have fared this offseason. Absolutely. And I will look forward to speaking with you in the regular season during the week that we actually play. Absolutely.

Have a good one. Yep. You too, Lauren. Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed that conversation between me and Lauren from the Locked on Bears podcast. It was a lengthy one. I look forward to getting a chance to play some of these NFC opponents that, quite frankly, the Titans don't always get the opportunity to play. Usually,

it's only about once every four years unless there's some sort of miraculous Super Bowl trip or they happen to get paired up based on division standing. So, really nice to have a chance to play some of these teams that we don't necessarily get to see or hear from all the time. But this wraps up this edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Now, tell your smart device to play the most recent episode of Locked on Fantasy Football. It is about that time to start getting into fantasy football preparation. So make sure you checked out the Locked on Fantasy Football podcast. preparation, so make sure you checked out the Locked On Fantasy Football podcast.

I will be back with you guys tomorrow for some more Titans news and another division crossover interview. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked On Titans. you