Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Haven't Gotten "Better Around Ryan Tannehill" & How They Can Still Fill Holes On Offense

Episode Date: March 17, 2022

The Tennessee Titans Brass told us this offseason that the goal was to be "better" around Ryan Tannehill. Well, that hasn't happened so far and viable options in free agency continue to go off the board. What is going on? Then, the Titans still do have options at certain positions in free agency and via trade, who are they? Finally, what about tight end? Can the Titans still get better at the spot? Tyler goes through all the options.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. On today's show, we're going to talk about whether or not it's time to panic as the Titans continue to watch viable free agents at positions of need go off the board. I will talk you off the ledge, but I am slightly concerned. So we'll discuss that. Then we will take a look at what options are available for the Titans still, not only in free agency, but at this point you have to consider a trade. So we'll look at wide receiver

and tight end from the free agency aspect and at wide receiver, look at some trade options as well. So all of that and more on a Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, it is a Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm excited to, well, excited is maybe not the word. I'm excited to do the show, but I don't know if I'm excited to talk about what the Titans are doing out there in free agency

because it is essentially nothing. But we'll talk about all of that first. I do got to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure that you check out the Locked on Titans podcast Monday through Friday all year long on whatever platform you do stream. You're going to find it everywhere and always free. Also, make sure you check out the Locked on Titans YouTube channel.

Subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell. Hit the thumbs up button if you're watching on YouTube right now. Check me out on social media at TicTacTitans on Twitter, at LockedOnTitansPod on Facebook, but let's get into it. So we saw some moves happen on Friday, not by the Titans, but by other teams. We saw a guy like Hayden Hurst, who I wasn't super high on as an option for the Titans, but I know a lot of Titans fans were very interested in Hayden Hurst. And to be honest with you, with all of the names that have come off the free agency

market throughout the week, at this point, I would have been happy with Hayden Hurst. But Hayden Hurst goes to the Cincinnati Bengals and replaces C.J. Uzama. Then the one that really hit me in the stomach was Allen Robinson to the Los Angeles Rams. The Titans lose out there, and Robinson goes to the defending Super Bowl champions. We had discussed throughout the last 24 hours or so, especially on Twitter, that because of what the Titans have done here, cutting Julio Jones, not signing a free agent yet. I mean, with the cut of Julio Jones, and remember, I'm going to come back to this.

This is going to be a pretense. This is going to be a looming thought throughout the entire episode. We were told, we were sold a bill of goods by the general manager and by the head coach that this team needs to be better around Ryan Tannehill. That was the off-season mission. Be better around Ryan Tannehill. That was the offseason mission. Be better

around Ryan Tannehill. That was the goal. We heard it from the GM. We heard it from the coach. That's what we've heard since the playoff loss. Be better around Ryan Tannehill. Okay. Great. Alright. So, when you cut Julio, my expectation was you

add a wide receiver in free agency, you add a wide receiver high in the draft, and you add those two to Julio Jones and A.J. Brown. And now, finally, Ryan Tannehill has an NFL level of weapons. But when you cut Julio Jones, now you gotta make some sort of big impact move to have any chance of being better around Ryan Tannehill. And when we see all of these different tight ends go off the board, and we see all the wide receivers go off the board, yeah, there are a few options left, and we're going to talk about those later in the show.

And that could absolutely, there are a couple moves that John Robinson could make here and absolutely save the all season and save the free agency period and get done what we expected. But again, without Julio in the fold, even if you add a wide receiver like Juju Smith or Jarvis Landry, and then you draft a wide receiver in the first round, you're better, certainly, but are you good enough to be better around Ryan Tannehill at that point? I don't know. The Titans

don't have a great history with rookies. Mike Vrabel either doesn't want to play them or they're just not very good. So there are some hits in there, of course. I don't mean to seem too crass, you know, but just when have we seen a rookie wide receiver

other than A.J. Brown who turned we seen a rookie wide receiver other than AJ Brown who turned into a freaking top 10 wide receiver in the league? Tywon Taylor, Des Fitzpatrick, Racey McMath. I mean, even Tajay Sharp was productive, but he didn't turn into AJ Brown. That's the point. So to me, I just, I keep going back to be better around Ryan Tannehill. They've done nothing on the offensive line. Jamarco Jones is a depth player.

He's not a starter in the NFL. They re-signed Jeff Swaim, but what are we headed towards? Jeff Swaim tied in one season again? Is that where we're going? I guess my whole point here is with some of the signings coming off the board and how the free agency market is dwindling,

I fail to see impact players that have the ability to make the Titans better around Ryan Tannehill. What are you going to go sign? You're going to go get Eric Ebron, Jared Cook, Blake Jarwin, Lee Smith, Ross Dwelley, James O'Shaughnessy at tight end. Those guys are just the same as Jeff Swain. They're not any better.

It's not going to be any better. And what? You know, the Titans go out and get Sammy Watkins, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, James Washington, Emmanuel Sanders, A.J. Green. Is that what we're talking about here? How does this offense get better? You can't tell me that the Titans go out and sign Sammy Watkins and then draft Chris Alave

and the Titans are significantly better around Ryan Tannehill. It's just not the case. You needed a big impact player in the Julio Jones spot or you needed to keep Julio Jones around and then add mid-tier weapons around him. That was the path to get better. So there's tons of time left. It's the first week of free agency

and I'm hoping that over the weekend we get some movement from the Titans here. But I just don't see how making small-scale moves here like the players I just went through moves the needle at all. At this point in time, the Titans came into the season with three major needs. Offensive line,

wide receiver, and tight end. And it's not just that they've done absolutely nothing on those fronts. It's that the options to get better become more unrealistic. What, are the Titans going to go trade for some number one tight end?

Titans going to trade for Devontae Adams or something silly like that? No. The trade market and the draft are much more unreliable because you aren't in control. You can't

make another team trade with you just because you have a need. You can't make the other teams in the draft pick players that you didn't want so that all the players that you do want are there you are leaving it to quite the chance and especially last year we saw the Titans miss out on all the viable tight ends because there was such a long gap between their picks until they got to 90 from 53 I believe it was

well the Titans don't have a pick between 26 and 90 now. So, just playing a very, very risky game here by letting the free agent market get decimated. Reports came out that the Titans are not one of the teams that is in the market for an outside wide receiver. There was a big list of teams after the Allen Robinson signing and the Titans were not one of the teams that is in the market for an outside wide receiver. There was a big list of teams after the Allen Robinson signing and the Titans were not involved. They're not fishing for outside receiver help.

Maybe they're looking for slot receiver like Crowder or Landry or Juju. Yeah, that's possible too. But with Julio Jones gone now, I'm just, I guess again, we were sold a bill of goods that the Titans were going to improve the offense to be better around Ryan Tannehill. And while there are options to do it that we'll discuss, they're less likely and more difficult to accomplish.

Remember, this offense needed to be upgraded, not just be the same. So if you just add Juju or you just add A.J. Green, the offense isn't any better. It's not any better. It's not any better. We're not any better around Ryan Tannehill. You're at minimum the same and potentially worse.

So, it's confusing what's happening. It's still early though. I realize that. I recognize that. But just saying, I understand frustration from even if it's early and we should have patience and we should trust J-Rob. I understand frustration from Tennessee Titans fans because we were told the offense needed to be better around Ryan Tannehill. And at this time, you have an undrafted free agent started at left guard.

You have a guy who couldn't get on the field and was barely active for game day starting at right tackle. You got Jeff Swain back as tight end one without Ferkser or without Pruitt. And you've lost Julio Jones with no replacement. Right now, Jeff Swain's tight end one. Nick Westbrook-Akina's wide receiver two. Aaron Brewer's left guard one. Dylan Radins is right tackle

one. And if you're going to sell me, hey, they got the draft. They're going to go in the draft and get all these guys who are going to help fill all these spots and make the offense better. Why would I believe that as a Titans fan from what we've seen? Why would I believe that? Caleb Farley played three games last year. Dylan Radins, like I said, could barely be active on game day.

And you're telling me that the Titans are going to go out and draft people that are going to immediately make this offense upgraded? Well, color me skeptical on that. So I'm expecting something over the weekend from the Titans. We can only hope. We can only pray. But right now, it is understandable if you're frustrated. If the Titans fan base is frustrated with what we've seen because it seems to spit in the face of what we were sold

by the head coach and the general manager. But we got to spin this forward. We can't just talk about what they haven't done. Excuse me. We have to talk about what they can do, what options are still on the table. We're going to talk about wide receiver first. Before we get into that,

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including live betting and your favorite Vegas casino games. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, let's continue this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about some of the names coming off the free agency market. Pretty much the ineptitude of the Titans so far. So far. Now I want to talk about what they can do.

We talked about what they haven't done so far. So let's finish this Friday on a positive note. What can the Titans do going forward? And the biggest position of need, obviously, is wide receiver. I don't feel like I'm breaking any news when I say that. But if you guys notice, I wore my red polo today because I'm a little fired up. I'm a little fired up. Can't lie to you guys.

But either way. So what can the Titans do? Let's go through a list of wide receivers. I'm just going to talk about the options on the free agent market. We're also going to talk about trade options as well. Juju Smith-Schuster is still out there. Now, I was so excited to have the opportunity to sign Juju Smith-Schuster to add him to Julio Jones, Nick Westbrook-Akina, and A.J. Brown.

The luster is a little bit diminished when you consider that there is no more Julio. So I still want the Titans to go get Juju. I still think that's the right move, but it's not going to be as much of an upgrade as we expected because you've lost a little bit in that department. But Juju right now would be my top candidate. I would be very happy with Juju Smith-Schuster.

He's still young at 25, so him and A.J. Brown can be a physical specimen group of wide receivers. You get the speed guy in the draft, and now you have a little bit of a semblance of a possible upgrade at wide receiver, but you gotta start with somebody like Juju, and my big problem is, you go any lesser

in talent, and it's basically Josh Reynolds all over again. I mean, the Titans were desperate in the summer last year, and that's why they gave a second-round pick for a guy with health issues that doesn't practice. A lot of people around the league were fairly concerned about Julio Jones' health going forward.

So that was a realized fear. Well, the Titans are putting themselves in a very similarly desperate situation if they do this again. If they go get a Josh Reynolds signing again and then go into the draft and what do you know it? All five of the top wide receivers aren't available at 26. Now what are you doing? You got to trade back, take a Sky Moore or, I mean, a Pickens.

And then you can't count on a guy like that. You know what I mean? It's the difference between getting a first-round talent and a mid-round guy. So there is a scenario where the Titans don't get a wide receiver until pick 90, and they sign James Washington. I mean, that's a realistic scenario right now. It would be a disaster. And then the Titans would be forced to give up more draft assets

and make a panic trade for a real wide receiver in the summer, and the Titans are right back to where they were. And that's not being better around Ryan Tannehill, right? So Juju is basically the only wide receiver that would really leave me satisfied at this moment in time other than him. Will Fuller. I think he'd add speed. There's familiarity

with him in the offense. But the rumor is he's just going to go wherever Deshaun Watson goes. And it looks like that's Atlanta. So that news may be out by the time you guys hear this. Jamison Crowder, but as much as I like Jamison Crowder, and I do, if the Titans would have kept Julio and then added Jamison Crowder, I would have been better off with it.

But Crowder's had some health issues. He's a smaller guy. He's not going to give you any vertical speed. He's, you know, your typical slot receiver who's horizontal. Now, I think he'd still be a good addition, and he's only 28, but does he replace Julio? I know that Julio wasn't super productive, but you know, going into, you got to look at 2022, not 2021, so I don't know there.

Same thing with Jarvis Landry. Jarvis Landry visited the Kansas City Chiefs already. There's been no report whatsoever to indicate that the Titans are one of the teams in the Jarvis Landry market. He is a guy who's had health issues, who's had a checkered past with Ryan Tannehill, who doesn't give you any vertical threat either, out of the slot, and can only play the slot. So, I don't think that would be awesome signing, by any means.

It's a massive no on Odell Beckham Jr. He just tore his ACL in the Super Bowl. He's had multiple torn ACLs. He's going to have to have shoulder surgery as well. And let's be real here, he's a massive diva. And he is's going to have to have shoulder surgery as well. And let's be real here. He's a massive diva. And he is just going to get so pissed when the Titans run the ball 35

times and give him three targets. Like, that's not going to work. He doesn't fit in the Titans locker room at all. So here, where do we go to? A.J. Green? He's just a similar version of what we got with Julio Jones at this point. A broken down, washed up outside receiver with injury concerns.

Cole Beasley, same thing like with Landry and Crowder. He's given you no vertical threat whatsoever out of the slot. And he's a nuisance. He's a drama queen. You really want him on Twitter causing headlines all over the place, being unvaccinated. Ryan Tannehill didn't want to get vaccinated. He said it publicly.

But he did it because he knew that was what's best for the team. Cole Beasley's not going to do that. He's going to make himself a pariah, make himself a martyr, and cause a bunch of drama. I don't want to deal with that. I don't want to be on here doing shows every week about Cole Beasley's tweets. Man, no. Not worth it.

Not worth it. Not worth it. Sammy Watkins? Yeah, he gives you a little bit of speed, but the injuries. He's just been injured his entire career. I don't feel comfortable with that. If you didn't like Julio Jones, then how can you be on board with Sammy Watkins?

So now we're at, names I mentioned earlier, Marquez Valdez Scantling, James Washington, Emmanuel Sanders. Titans aren't getting any better with any of those guys. It's not better around Ryan Tannehill. In the trade market,

Brandon Cooks would make sense at speed, but he's had concussion issues throughout his career and he's been traded all the time. Why do you think they could go after DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett? Is that even realistic? Would Seattle even do that at this point? They're indicating they still want to compete.

The Rams, like I said, just signed Allen Robinson. Maybe you could trade for Robert Woods coming off a torn ACL, Van Jefferson, but Van Jefferson is just their new Josh Reynolds. So does that really make you feel like it's an upgrade? LaVishka Chennault is available. But that's within the division. Would the Jags even do that? Same with Brandon Cooks.

Would the Texans even do that? Maybe a guy like Robbie Anderson from the Carolina Panthers. They got DJ Moore, Terrence Marshall. They just signed Rashad Higgins. Maybe they want to get rid of Robbie Anderson, but that's a $10 million cap it. So, I mean, that's the $10 million that you're going to save from Julio

Jones in June. Do you want to use that on Robbie Anderson, who had a terrible year last year? Tim Patrick, maybe from the Broncos, because they've got Judy Sutton and Hamler

now, I guess. But again, is this better around Ryan Tannehill? No. Some people say, what about Michael Thomas? He just restructured his deal to stay with the Saints. That ain't happening. Darius Slayton

maybe from the Giants because they got three good receivers in Galladay and Shepard and the guy from Florida who was just drafted. Kadarius Tony. There we go. It makes me mad when I can't remember names. You guys know I know who these people are, but it still makes me mad.

And the thing is about a trade, you're going to have to give up draft capital to pull off that trade and especially if you get into the summer again without any movement teams are going to know you're desperate they're going to hold your feet to the fight so now we're giving up draft assets when the Titans don't even have a second round pick because of the Julio trade

We're gonna give up more assets to get one of these guys And if you go after anybody worth a damn like DK or empty or anything like that or cooks even probably have to give up your first round pick number 26 and Then you can't add a viable wide receiver in the first round and again your pack to square one the offense isn't better So it's all just frustrating. And again, plenty can happen, but there just isn't a logical and reasonable path to being better around Ryan Tannehill.

And that's what we were sold this all season. So that's my major concern. That's all the options that I see that even make sense. We're going to talk about the tight end position to cap off today's show. Before we get into that, I do want to tell you guys about Bilt Bars, the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy. You get the best of both worlds.

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Use promo code LOCKED15. You'll get 15% off your order. Once again, that's promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off at built.com. LOCKED15 for 15% off at BILT.com. Titans fans, let's cap off this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast discussing the tight end positions. We're going to dive into all the options still available for the Titans there. Before we do, got to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

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But again, I'm frustrated. There's plenty of time to make things right, but it's just becoming less likely that things go the way that we were all hoping. Talked about the wide receiver options. Now I want to dive into the tight ends so there are still some tight ends out there that I think make sense so we got to cross our fingers and hope that we get one of them number one Austin Hooper again kind of a down year last year

he doesn't give you a lot of yards after catch ability but he's a decent blocker and he's a decent pass catcher he's going to catch the ball he's going to get open he's going to blocker, and he's a decent pass catcher. He's going to catch the ball. He's going to get open. He's going to block a little for you. He's kind of like just a better version of Jeff Swain, basically. He could make some sense for the Titans.

If the Titans come out on the weekend with Juju Smith-Schuster and Austin Hooper, I'm going to be happy. This frown is going to get turned upside down, so I'll be happy with that. Kyle Rudolph makes a ton of sense as well, even though he's in the twilight of his career. He's still better than Jeff Swaim. Gerald Everett, I've been asking for Everett for quite some time.

I think he could be a solid, solid pickup. Have Jeff Swaim play that in-line tight end one. Have Gerald Everett be that move tight end, basically the Michael Pruitt role, and Everett would be a major upgrade there. Another guy people keep talking about is Robert Tunyon. He's coming off a major ACL injury. He's only had one season of decent production,

and that was with Aaron Rodgers, who we know makes everybody look better than they really are. I just don't see that as a smart play. Just don't. You can say Gronk, but he's going to go back to Tampa Bay, man. Come on. By the way, Julio is probably going to sign in Tampa Bay, and we know how that's going to go, guys. Titans are going to look like idiots

when Julio's winning a championship with Tom Brady and getting 800 yards, five touchdowns. It's going to be awesome. Can't wait for that. It's just going to be crap on Ryan Tannehill time all the time, which basically is what this season is going to be all about. People just being done with Tannehill. I know that.

You know that. Whatever. What, you want somebody like Eric Ebron? Jared Cook? 34. Can't block a lick. Jimmy Graham? I mean, he's just literally a red zone target at this point

he can't do anything else and after that the names I mentioned earlier Blake Jarwin, Lee Smith, Ross Dwelley James O'Shaughnessy, Blake Bell, Jesse James I mean if the Titans don't get Hooper, Rudolph, or Everett I just don't understand. Listen, and I know that there are tight ends

in the draft, but again, no pick from 26 to 90. All the decent tight ends were drafted by then last year except Brevin Jordan. Give him credit. And, as I've been saying all season, the toughest transition to make in the NFL is typically tight end. That's why rookie tight ends

rarely, rarely are reliable contributors in year one. So it's not like the Titans can go out and draft a guy who's going to be their number one tight end. It's just not the case. There's not a tight end who's worth taking at 26. There's not a tight end that's going to be their number one tight end. It's just not the case. There's not a tight end who's worth taking at 26. There's not a tight end that's going to be a starter

in 2021, a number one tight end, or 2022. There's not. The Titans needed to go get a tight end one so that they could draft a tight end to be tight end two and then groom that guy to be their tight end one in one or two seasons.

And give them an easy role to transition into early. They're not going to have the opportunity to do that. And, again, if they don't go out and get any of these guys and they roll with Jeff Swaim as tight end one into the draft, now you're in desperation mode. Now you can't take the best player available. Now you have to reach for need, which is never a good place to be. I guess I just cannot believe

that John Robinson went out there and cried at the combine and said, we have to be better around Ryan Tannehill and then came out and did this. I mean, I joked about it on Twitter, but maybe it's real.

Maybe they're punting on 2022 and are saying, hey, we just need to get through this season, get Ryan Tannehill out of here, and then we'll draft a rookie QB and use the money that we saved to actually stock the offense,

to actually build a real NFL-level skill position group. I don't know. that we saved to actually stock the offense. To actually build a real NFL level skill position group. I don't know. But right now, the Titans have, outside of Atlanta, have the worst wide receiver room in the NFL. And outside of any team, the Titans

have the worst tight end group in the NFL. Along with having two super, super shaky spots on the offensive line. They literally haven't upgraded a single position yet in free agency. It's early, but basically the point is, I'm not going to blame you if you're a tad bit nervous, because I am too. Hopefully Monday, the tone is totally different.

Hopefully there are signings over the weekend, and we can break those down and have some fun talking about what the Titans can now do in the draft as some needs have been penciled in. But until then, it's hard not to be frustrated. It really isn't. But in the meantime, hope you guys enjoyed drinking green beers.

Hope you guys enjoy March Madness over the weekend. Should be fun to watch all the games. Tennessee had a nice blowout win on Thursday. So I'm sure that'll make at least a portion of the viewership very happy. but at the end of the day, tough week for Tennessee Titans fans, but that's going to do it for me, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. Thank you.