Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans All-Decade Team Series: 2000-2009 Offense, Defense & Special Teams

Episode Date: April 9, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is Throwback Thursday, and today we are continuing our Titans All-Decade Team Series with Part 2, where we cover the 2000 season to the 2009 season. So no, this does not include the Super Bowl run but of course the legends that made that title run possible and the legends that built the foundation of this franchise are gonna be on this list so we are gonna go way way back on this throwback Thursday to cover our all decade team from 2000 to 2009 and a lot of great players on this list that I can't wait to discuss and of course

We are gonna break it down position by position Go first with the offense and then transition to the defense in our second segment and also We'll tack on the special teams as we did yesterday on to the end of the defensive section So really excited to break down this team with you guys. Let's get it. My Tennessee Titans all-decade team for the 2000 season until 2009 primarily features the legends that come to mind when you think about the early 2000 successful Titans teams that not only made a Super Bowl run but also made multiple playoff appearances during that decade and of course the list starts with the quarterback and

who else but Steve Ayer McNair. McNair played six seasons for the Titans during that decade, including his three Pro Bowl appearances and his one MVP from 2003. At the running back position, who else could we have other than the second most likely player people would think of when going back to those early Titans days? And that is Eddie George. And George had four seasons for the Titans in the decade, including his most productive season as a pro with 1,500 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns in 2000, including an all-pro selection.

The other running back on the team had to be Chris Johnson, CJ2K, one of the players who made the Titans all-decade team in both decades. CJ ran for his 2,000-yard season, the last season of the decade, and had a great season his rookie year in 2008 that put him on this list as the second running back. At wide receiver, we have Derek Mason, who played five seasons for the Titans in the decade. Four of those seasons, he went over 1,000 receiving yards. So Derek Mason makes the list, along with wide receiver Drew Bennett, who was mostly a role player during his

six seasons with the Titans in the decade, but did go over 1,200 yards in 2004. At tight end, we have Frank Wycheck, who played four seasons for the Titans in the decade, including a Pro Bowl appearance in 2000. At offensive tackle, we have Brad Hopkins, who played six seasons for the Titans during the decade, including two Pro Bowl appearances, and was the primary left tackle during all of Eddie George's

most productive seasons. The other tackle, Michael Roos, another player who made both decades all decade team. He had a Pro Bowl appearance and an All-Pro appearance in 2008. At guard, we have Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews, and Matthews only played two seasons for the Titans in the decade, but in those two seasons, the first in 2000, he was an all-pro selection, and then his final season in the NFL in 2001, he still made the Pro Bowl. So Bruce Matthews gets the nod here. The other guard playing eight seasons for the Titans in the decade is Benji Olsen. At center, we have Hall of Famer Kevin Mawai, who played four seasons for the Titans in the decade,

including a 2008 All-Pro selection and a 2009 Pro Bowl selection, where he blocked for Chris Johnson's two 1,000-yard seasons in the decade. That is going to wrap up the offensive side of the ball for my Tennessee Titans all decade team from 2000 to 2009. Make sure you are following me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. Let me know what you thought about the offensive side of the ball. We're going to break down the defensive side of the ball next. So feel free to let me know if you agree with my selections. If you think I left anybody on the list who was more deserving than who I was selected, feel free to trash my list entirely if you feel like it. It's completely up to you, but just let

me know what your opinion is, of course, on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. Also, I'm going to get into my draft breakdown information, my draft preview series within the next week, and you guys are not going to want to miss that. Also, there's tons more action up ahead in the Titans offseason, not only the draft preview that we got to talk about, but the draft itself. And of course, that clown is still out there and the circus may still come to town. So make sure that you're locked into the Locked on Titans podcast with me. Make sure that you are subscribed on Apple podcast.

You are following on Spotify, downloading from Google play, wherever it is that you get your podcast, you can check out the Locked on podcast network there and make sure that you are tuned in to the Locked On Titans podcast. Another reminder, Friday will be our mailbag episode, so make sure that you are hitting me up on Twitter or in the reviews on iTunes to leave me questions for our mailbag segment on tomorrow's show. Also, wanted to tell you about something else

while we clean house here a little bit before we move on to the defensive side of the All Decade team. The Locked On Podcast Network hosts for the NFL channel, so all of the NFL Locked On hosts are doing a mock draft where each host picks his team selection and picks a player for his team at their spot collectively. And of course, I will be picking for the Tennessee Titans. That has actually already happened and the draft has already taken place, but they are going to release the results of that mock draft of the Locked On Podcast Network NFL mock draft.

They're releasing those on the Locked On NFL channel. So make sure you are subscribed over there on my podcast feed. So Friday, when you go to open up the Locked On Titans podcast and give it that daily spin, you're also going to have another segment in your feed that you can listen to to get you primed up and ready for the Locked On podcast NFL mock draft as well. So I just wanted to let you guys know that that was going on. It is coming up. So make sure that you're subscribed over there to the Locked On NFL Podcast as well

so you can enjoy a mock draft directly from the host of each individual Locked On Podcast. So I really enjoyed doing that exercise, and I know you guys will enjoy listening to it. But that is enough housekeeping for me on this Thursday. We are going to jump into the next segment of the show where I give you my 2000-2009 all-defensive Tennessee Titans team. let's get defensive and round out our all decade teams with the defense for the 2000 to 2009 season titans team and let's recap for you the offense for the 2000 to 2009 team and that was quarterback Steve McNair running backs Eddie George and Chris Johnson wide receivers Drew Bennett and Derek Mason tight end Frank Wycheck offensive tackles Brad Hopkins and Michael Roos

guards Bruce Matthews and Benji Olsen and at center we had Kevin Mawai. So on to the defensive side of the ball we will start at defensive tackle and who else could have made the list than Albert Hainsworth. Hainsworth played seven seasons with the Titans during the decade. He had two Pro Bowl appearances, made two All-pro teams and had 24 sacks and 272 tackles with 60 tackles for loss and 42 quarterback hits during those seven seasons. Hainsworth is probably the most disruptive defensive lineman at his peak in Titans history while someone who was on the more recent all-decade team like Jarrell Casey was more consistent over a span of years the peak for Albert Hainsworth was about as good as we have seen in Nashville the other defensive tackle when I took a little bit of a liberty

with this 2000 to 2009 team and just did the four best defensive linemen of the decade. The next selection at defensive tackle, end quote, played mostly defensive end at the start of his career with the Titans, but then quickly transitioned to an interior rusher as he began to age, and that was Kevin Carter, who originally played for the St. Louis Rams and played against the Titans of course in the Super Bowl but came over to Tennessee in 2001 ended up playing four seasons with the Titans including a Pro Bowl appearance in 2002 where he had 10 sacks. So wanted to put Kevin Carter on this list. At defensive end, who else could we have on this list but the freak himself, Javon Kurse. Kurse played six seasons for the Titans in the decade, including two Pro Bowl appearances and 37 and a half sacks

during that time. He ended up coming back to Tennessee for his last two seasons at the end of the decade, which gave him even more time accrued during the decade. It made him a lock for this list. And then the final defensive lineman for the Titans for the all-decade team of 2000 to 2009 was Kyle Vandenbosch. Vandenbosch played five seasons for the all-decade team of 2000 to 2009 was Kyle Vandenbosch. Vandenbosch played five seasons for the Titans in the decade, including three Pro Bowl appearances and two seasons with 12 or more sacks. He ended up with 38.5 sacks during his career with the Tennessee Titans in the decade and was a lock for this list. And rounds out the defensive line.

At the linebacker position. My favorite old school Titan. And the best linebacker in Titans history. Mr. Monday Night himself. Keith Bullock. Bullock played all 10 seasons for the Titans. During the decade. Only one other player on this list can say that.

And Bullock, of course, with his high-profile big games when it mattered most, gave him his nickname. But he did make one Pro Bowl and one All-Pro for the Titans. Ended up with 1,078 career tackles during the decade. 1,078 career tackles during the decade, had 61 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, 19 interceptions. Bullock was the modern NFL linebacker, but back in a non-modern time. So number 53, Keith Bullock, an easy entry on this list. And the second linebacker position was a little bit tougher, but I went with David Thornton, who played four seasons for the Titans during the decade and amassed 369 total tackles

during that time. Moving on to the defensive backs, and of course we would go with cornerback Samare Roll, who played five seasons for the Titans during the decade, had one All-Pro appearance, had one Pro Bowl appearance, and had 19 interceptions during that time. The other cornerback that we went with, and it was a toss-up between Andre Dyson and this player, but ultimately I went with Cortland Finnegan who played four seasons for the Titans during the decade, had 11 interceptions, had an All-Pro selection and a Pro Bowl appearance in 2008, and is one of the more scrappy players in Titans history. At the safety position, I went with a hard-hitting box safety like Chris Hope, who played four seasons for the Titans during the decade,

like Chris Hope, who played four seasons for the Titans during the decade, had 354 tackles at the safety position. Incredibly physical, incredibly versatile in a time period where running the ball was much more prevalent in the NFL. Hope had one Pro Bowl appearance during those four seasons in the decade. And also in the decade, Michael Griffin, who played three seasons for the decade and also in the decade Michael Griffin who played three seasons for the Titans in this time span including a Pro Bowl appearance in 2008 so we will round out this list with the specialists like we did yesterday we have a kicker and a pun RIP to the best kicker in Titans history. Rob Baronis had five seasons for the Titans during the decade, including an all-pro and pro bowl season in 2007. Once again, rest in peace to Rob Baronis. And then for the punter, the only other Titan other than Keith Bullock who played in all 10 seasons for the Titans, Craig Hendrick, who had a Pro Bowl season in 2003 and was

an anchor for the Titans as a punter. The Titans have had some damn good punters in back-to-back decades. First with Hendrick and then with Kern playing all 10 seasons. Both punters each got 10 seasons in the decade. It's pretty miraculous how they basically just traded off and then the Titans had them for 10 years. So that is the entire list. So one more run through it quickly. We have Steve McNair at quarterback, Eddie George at running back,

Derek Mason and Drew Bennett at wide receiver, Frank Wycheck at tight end, Brad Hopkins and Michael Roos at tackle, Bruce Matthews and Benji Olsen at guard, Kevin Mawai at center, Albert Hainsworth, Kevin Carter, Javon Kurse, and Kyle Vandenbosch on the defensive line, Keith Bullock and David Thornton at linebacker, Samare Roll and Cortland Finnegan at cornerback, Chris Hope and Michael Griffin at safety, and Rob Baronis and Craig Hendrick as the specialists. Just a refresher for you guys for the 2010 to 2019 team that we did yesterday. We had Marcus Mariota at quarterback. Chris Johnson and Derrick Henry at running back. Nate Washington and A.J. Brown at wide receiver.

Delaney Walker at tight end. Michael Roos and Taylor LeJuan at tackle. Quentin Spain and Jake Scott at guard. Ben Jones at center. Daquan Jones and Jarrell Casey at defensive tackle. Brian Arakbo and Derrick Morgan at defensive end. Wesley Woodyard and Avery Williamson at linebacker Jason McCourty and Logan Ryan at cornerback Kevin Byard and Michael Griffin

are the safeties and then Ryan Suckup and Brett Kern as the specialists so that is going to wrap up my complete Tennessee Titans all decade team for the 2000 the 2000-2009 season and the 2010-2019 season. So we covered all of that in the last two episodes. Hope you guys have really enjoyed these lists. As I have mentioned throughout the show, make sure that you're following me on Twitter at TicTacTitans to let me know what you think of my list and what your list could be. Are there any snubs? Are there any obvious names that I missed? I don't think so after my research, but hey, maybe there's somebody you think deserves to be on the list that you did

not hear mentioned. Feel free to hit me up and let me know what you think. And of course, if you're going to be on Twitter, let me know how you feel about my all decade teams. Make sure that you shoot me a question. Maybe it's related to my process for creating the all decade teams, but make sure you shoot me a question for Friday's mailbag segment. I will be giving you guys a shout out and reading your question and giving you the answers that you deserve. So I do have some news to drop on our Friday news drop, just some of the more recent reports that I don't want to spend an entire segment on that I will put together for the beginning of Friday's show.

But we have, of course, our mailbag and then we will head into the weekend. Next week is going to be heavy, heavy draft conversation. So as always, make sure that you are subscribed to the Locked On Podcast on whatever platform it is that you do stream because I will be getting that draft content ready for you guys to make sure that you are prepared for the NFL draft that is just in a few short weeks. And I could not be more excited to break all that down with you guys and more excited for the draft itself, regardless of whether it will be virtual or however the NFL wants to do it.

I'm still excited and can't wait to break down those picks and see who the Titans add to this ball club so that hopefully they can take it one step further and get to the Super Bowl next year. But speaking of the draft, since you are done with this episode of the Locked on Titans podcast, check out the Locked on NFL Draft podcast. It is a fantastic show and will be an extra layer of preparation for you as we march towards the NFL draft. But I will be back with you guys tomorrow for the cap of the week, our Friday show.

Until then, as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. Outro Music