Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans League Wide Optics: NFL Power Rankings, Way-Too-Early 2022 Mock Round-Up & Rowland's Rant

Episode Date: May 20, 2021

Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by RockAuto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need.

Visit rockauto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. What I wanted to do today, Titans fans, is have a little bit of fun with just some fun talking points that we all like to discuss during the offseason. And after a major event like the NFL draft, NFL rosters are changed fundamentally, mostly for the better, some in some opinions for the worse. But either way, it does kind of change the way each NFL team is viewed after we know what their draft classes and their free agency classes look like. And with that in mind, usually right after the draft, we start to see some

way too early NFL power rankings and some way too early mock drafts for 2022. So like I said, wanted to have a little bit of fun today and go over both of those for the Tennessee Titans. So starting out, where do the Titans rank in these way too early offseason power rankings. Going to go through three different outlets version of the power rankings, see where the Titans stack up. And then we're going to look at three different way too early 2022 mock drafts and see what some of these national pundits have the Titans taking in next year's draft. And then I'm going to end the show. We have a bunch of fun in the

first two segments but I'm gonna end the show with a little bit of a Roland's rant on two different topics one a veteran free agent who I was surprised to see that the Titans had no interest in and then also somewhere where I think the Titans are falling behind the rest of the NFL. And of course, you can decide how big of a deal you think it is ultimately. But a lot to discuss on this Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. Titans fans, we are going to dive into some way too early post-draft, post-free agency NFL power rankings to see where some of these national outlets have the Titans amongst their NFL competition. And we are going to start with the NFL themselves.

And from NFL.com, we have power rankings from Around the NFL podcast host Dan Hanzus. And in his rankings, he has the Tennessee Titans at number 12. And I don't think that's absolutely ridiculous ridiculous but let's go through the quick list here just so you could see who are ahead of the Titans as teams number one the Tampa Bay Buccaneers number two the Kansas City Chiefs number three the Buffalo Bills number four the Green Bay Packers number five the Baltimore Ravens number six the Cleveland Browns number seven the Los Angeles Rams number eight the Seattle Seahawks number nine nine, the San Francisco 49ers, number 10, the New Orleans Saints, number 11, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and then the Titans.

And Hanzoose had this to say, quote, should there be concern with the Titans on offense? Tennessee has been a juggernaut on that side of the ball in recent years, but that was before offensive coordinator Arthur Smith left for the big chair in Atlanta. And number two, wideout Corey Davis got the bag from the Jets. Any offense that has Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, and A.J. Brown will enjoy dynamic days, but it's fair to wonder if the unit will take a step back considering the loss of personnel. General Manager John Robinson doesn't seem too concerned during the draft. He didn't use a pick on an offensive skill player until he snagged Louisville wide receiver

Des Fitzpatrick in the fourth round. I agree with Dan Hanzus' concerns there. I don't think it's crazy to put the Titans at 12, although I will say I think the Titans roster is better than the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints. Next, we have power rankings from Pro Football Focus, and they have the Tennessee Titans one spot lower at 13, and very similar list of people ahead of the Titans, but in this one, they have the Indianapolis Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the New Orleans Saints all ahead of the Titans, and I don't

agree with the Colts. I don't know if I agree with the Pittsburgh Steelers after all of their losses. Bud Dupree, Mike Hilton, James Conner, Andre Villanueva, the Steelers have lost some people on that defense. Big Ben Roethlisberger is a year older. The Colts, all they really did, in my opinion, was add Carson Wentz. They lost their starting left tackle and replaced him with a guy with a torn Achilles. They didn't improve at wide receiver whatsoever, in my opinion.

They lost to Nico Autry. I see some losses, so I don't see the Colts as a better roster than the Titans. So I disagree there with New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Indy, especially New Orleans without Drew Brees. But they have the Titans at 13th. The final power rankings we're going to go over comes from Bleacher Report, and they have the Titans at number 7. So the highest ranking out of all three that I've seen here. They have the Titans rated higher than the Rams, the Seahawks, and the 49ers.

And guys, I got to be honest with you. I don't know if I agree with that. So a pretty good rating for the Titans. But here's what they had to say. Quote, in 2019, the Titans rolled the dice on a talented player coming off a serious injury in round one. That gamble paid off as Jeffrey Simmons has become one of the league's better young defensive tackles.

They went back to that well in 2021. It isn't hard to see what spurred the Titans to draft Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley with the number 22 overall pick. If he recovers fully from back surgery, Farley has the talent to be a number one cornerback in this draft class. And after losing Malcolm Butler and Adoree Jackson in free agency, Tennessee had a glaring need in the defensive backfield. That wasn't the only area of need the Titans hit this offseason. The loss of Corey Davis was hopefully offset by day three selection of Louisville's Des Fitzpatrick and LSU's Rayce McMath. Quick side note, there's no way that's going to offset Corey Davis. Tennessee also bolstered its pass rush by signing Bud Dupree in free agency. The Titans have advanced to the playoffs each of the past two seasons, and they should be right in the AFC South mix again in 2021. End quote. I agree 100%. I understand their

concerns, but again, I disagree with that anecdote about replacing Corey Davis. But if they feel that way about Louisville's desk Fitzpatrick, then it makes sense why the Titans ended up as high as possible at number seven in Bleacher Report's early power rankings. But that's going to do it for our little power rankings roundup. We are going to move forward to a way too early 2022 NFL mock draft roundup. Excited to dive into that. Before we do, though, I want to tell you guys a little more about the title sponsor of the show, and that is rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is a family business.

They've been serving auto parts customers online for over 20 years. Make sure you go to rockauto.com right now to shop for all of your auto and body parts needs. You can get anything that you need from edge control modules, brake parts, tail lamps, even motor oil or brand new carpet. They have any part from hundreds of different manufacturers, all the brands, specifications and prices that you prefer. Make sure you go to rockauto.com right now to see all the parts available for your car or truck

and write locked on in the how did you hear about us box right underneath your shipping information so they know that I sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. Titans fans, we are going to continue having a little bit of fun on this Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by taking a look at some way too early 2022 mock drafts for the Tennessee Titans.

But before we get into that, just want to remind you guys that I will be putting out Monday through Friday daily Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast. There's not another Tennessee Titans content creator that can say that. Make sure that you never miss an episode of the Locked on Titans podcast by subscribing or following on whatever platform you do stream your podcasts. Also, make sure that you follow me on social media, on Twitter, at Tic Tac Titans, on Facebook, at Locked on Titans Pod for all of the video content that I put out along with my Tic Tac

Titan film breakdowns that I really, really enjoy. So a ton of additional content that I am offering not only on the podcast, but on social media as well. But we are going to continue having some fun on today's show by, like I said, looking at those 2022 way too early mock drafts. What you will recognize here is that there is a common theme in the position that is being drafted for the Tennessee Titans and before I even get into our first mock draft you may be able to guess which position

that would be of course it is wide receiver and that brings us to our first mock draft that we're going to take a look at and that comes from Pro Football Network and in this mock draft that we're going to take a look at, and that comes from Pro Football Network. And in this mock draft, they have the Titans selecting at pick 21. So a playoff team, but they have the Indianapolis Colts picking later at pick 22. So they have the Colts and the Titans flipping their draft position, which of course means they think that the Colts will win the division. Boo. Boo. Let me get an FTC.

Jesus. But anyways, for the Titans pick at 21, they have them going with Traylon Burks, the wide receiver out of Arkansas. And this is what Pro Football Network had to say. Quote, With several inside linebackers on concluding deals, this could be a landing spot for Alabama's Christian Harris.

Regardless, the Tennessee Titans currently have a lack of discernible talent at the wide receiver position. They remedy that with the selection of Arkansas wide receiver Traylon Burks. The 6'3", 225-pound pass catcher is an obvious end zone threat, but Burks has surprising speed for a size as well. He also brings physicality as a downfield blocker in the run game. End quote. I found this player very interesting. I will admit to you guys, I am not ready to start scouting or breaking down 2022 prospects, but the breakdown given here by Pro Football Network makes a lot

of sense for what the Titans will be looking for. 6'3", 225 pounds, end zone threat, good surprising speed for a size, physicality is a blocker in the run game. Well, of course, working backwards, physicality is a blocker in the run game. The Titans just absolutely love that. The Titans love size with speed. They don't put out a lot of really small wide receivers often. The Titans are looking for Josh Reynolds. The Titans are looking for Des Fitzpatrick. They're looking for A.J. Brown. They want those physical, big, wide receivers who also have size. And in my opinion, at 6'3", 225 pounds and an end zone threat, this seems like an easy guy to replace Josh Reynolds with next year

if he does move on. Remember, Reynolds is only on a one-year deal. He could look to move to a new team after this season, whether he's productive or not. So Traylon Burks, with his size, speed combination and his mentality as a blocker would on the surface fit perfectly with what the Titans will be looking for if Josh Reynolds does move on. So I do like that selection for the Titans.

And of course, a wide receiver, you just can't say that that's a bad pick for the Titans based on what we see on the roster right now. Now moving to the next mock draft we are going to take a look at, and it comes from ESPN, and it is Todd McShay. And Todd McShay said himself he really, really hates doing these mock drafts because it just never seems like the prospects end up even close. But in my opinion, even if you don't match up team with player or anything like that, you still get a very good sense of which college prospects to be looking at before the season even starts.

And in this mock draft, he had the Titans at their rightful position, winning the AFC South at pick number 22. And with that selection, no surprise again here, he has the Titans going with a wide receiver, John Mechie III out of Alabama. And this is what McShea had to say, quote, wait, another Alabama receiver? Mechie would be the fifth to go in the first round over three years.

He had a great year with the Crimson Tide, catching 55 passes for 916 yards and six touchdowns and he played a big role in the national title game with eight catches for 81 yards. Mechie was born in Taiwan before moving to Ghana, Canada, Maryland, and New Jersey. After one more season in Tuscaloosa, let's send him to Tennessee to help repair a decimated receiver corp and give Ryan Tannehill a dynamic target, end quote. And again, we just come back to the same philosophy, or the same thing that everyone is seeing here.

The Titans don't have enough explosiveness at wide receiver currently. Now, they could go out and make a trade, could go out and sign a free agent. At this point, unless they pull off the trade for Julio Jones, I don't think that any move they make can solve the problem long term. So I agree with McShay here that the Titans do need to help a decimated receiver corp and give Ryan Tannehill another dynamic target. So I would like to see the Titans go that route in the next draft, regardless of what player they ultimately choose.

I do want to say that the next pick in his mock draft is Garrett Wilson, wide receiver out of Ohio State. In his mock draft is Garrett Wilson, wide receiver out of Ohio State. And I would take Garrett Wilson over John Meche III in a second. In a second. So just wanted to throw that out there as well. Now the final mock draft that we are going to talk about here comes from Bleacher Report. And again, very confusing. Bleacher Report is a little off the mark of what other teams or what other outlets are seeing.

So as we said in the power rankings, most people, NFL.com and then Pro Football Focus, have the Titans at 12 and 13 respectively. And then Bleacher Report had them all the way at 7. Well, in these mock drafts, Pro Football Network and ESPN had the Titans at 21 and 22 respectively. and ESPN had the Titans at 21 and 22 respectively but then in Bleacher Report's mock draft they have the Titans picking all the way up at 17 so if the Titans have the seventh best roster on paper according to Bleacher Report then how do they expect them to end up with the 17th pick and not make the playoffs I don't know but either way I love the selection it's a guy I just mentioned they have the Titans taking wide receiver Garrett Wilson out of Ohio State,

who I think would be a fantastic complement to A.J. Brown. He's savvy. He's a smooth route runner, has good speed as well, incredible body control. Basically, he's the first-round version of what the Titans got in Dez Fitzpatrick. But this is what Bleacher Report had to say about the pick. Quote, the Ohio State Buckeyes could have a little Alabama Crimson Tide action going with their wide receivers next year. Alabama had a pair of targets drafted in the first round each of the past two years.

How those selections played out proved to be interesting. In both cases, the more explosive option went higher than his more polished counterpart. In this particular case, Garrett Wilson is the more explosive threat compared to teammate Chris Alave. From the moment Wilson entered the lineup, he created big plays. The former five-star recruit shows exceptional body control and separation skills. He can enter the Tennessee Titans lineup and provide a significant threat alongside A.J. Brown after the team lost Corey Davis in free agency. Spot on analysis there. Having, again, an explosive guy, great body

control, can get down the field, create big plays. That fits perfectly with the physical, bruising, pounding nature of A.J. Brown. So I like what Bleacher Report had to say there, even if I didn't like the pick and the selection that they projected the Titans to have. But that's going to do it for this way too early 2022 mock draft section of our Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We are going to round out today's show with a little bit of a Roland's rant on a veteran free agent target the Titans passed on and the Titans current department that I think could be setting them back in the

long run before we do that I want to tell you guys about betonline.ag the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action no there isn't any football right now but baseball is in full swing NHL and NBA are in the playoffs also you got a ton of UFC and MMA action throughout the summer to bet on as well. Make sure you head to their website, betonline.ag, and sign up for free today. Use promo code LOCKEDON, that's one word, LOCKEDON, and you'll receive a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. Built Bar is the best tasting protein bar ever.

Did you know that right now on BuiltBar.com, you can choose from nine delicious flavors plus some occasionally limited time flavors as well. All of them are absolutely fantastic. And as always, they are covered in 100% chocolate. I'm not even on a diet. I just enjoy the Built Bars like a candy bar, but they don't just taste good. they're incredibly healthy for you as well they're high protein high fiber

low calorie low sugar they're great as a meal substitute or a guilt-free snack make sure you go to builtbar.com right now use the promo code locked 15 That's the digits LOCKED15 and you'll get 15% off your first order. Use promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off at BuiltBar.com. We are going to cap off this Friday, junior edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with a little bit of a Roland's rant on two different just miscellaneous topics that have come up about the Titans in the last few days.

Now, before we dive into that, do want to remind you guys to check out the Locked On Today podcast. It's covering all of the biggest sports stories and all of the major sports in under 20 minutes, like having the sports section read to you. Check out the Locked On Today podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But the two topics I want to get into, the first one is a veteran free agent who signed this week, but not with the Titans.

And it was edge rusher Ryan Kerrigan. So I've been saying basically since the beginning of the offseason that the Titans need to attack the edge rusher position by bringing in at least, at minimum, three new guys. And Ola Adani does not count as one of those guys. They brought in Bud Dupree. They brought in Rashad Weaver. Now, I was hoping they would bring in another veteran free agent to compete and add depth to that position.

Of course, I talked about Rashawn Evans being a rotational guy at the edge rusher position this year, but that may not work out. That's just a hope. Derek Roberson, while being an okay pass rusher, has not really developed that much in the run game. And then Ola Adani is just a special teams player. So I think there is a world where the Titans could end up being thin at edge rusher again. And I did not want that to happen.

So I wanted the Titans to go out and get Ryan Kerrigan. it came to you know maybe he wants too much but Ryan Kerrigan signed a one year 3.5 million dollar deal with the Philadelphia Eagles a division rival of the team that he played his entire career with with the Washington football team and here's what really gets me it's not only that he only signed what really gets me. It's not only that he only signed for $3.5 million. It's not only that I think the Titans are still neglecting the edge rusher position to a point that I don't think they should. But the teams that were interested in Kerrigan were the Eagles, the Steelers, and the Bengals. The Titans didn't even ask. They didn't even get in on it. And he ended up going to the Eagles for only 3.5

and you can't say, well, you know, he had more opportunity if he went to Philadelphia than Tennessee. They have Josh Sweat, they have Derek Barnett, and they have Brandon Graham. He's at minimum the fourth highest edge rusher on their depth chart. He would have been third for the Titans. So, I don't know. It just kind of made me frustrated. I get it. I get it. I get it. But just something.

At this point, you've got Elijah Molden. You've got Caleb Farley. Again, I don't think that Kevin Johnson's signing was bad when it happened, but looking back on it now, if Ryan Kerrigan's going to sign for 3.5, well, I would rather do that and cut some costs elsewhere to make that possible than have Kevin Johnson as your fourth or fifth cornerback for 2.3. I don't know. Just my internal monologue here, just the thoughts I think during the day

that I don't think I have enough basis behind them to make it a whole segment and blah, blah, blah, but I don't know. These are just questions that I have that I don't understand. and then the final thing that I want to rant about here and I'm not as mad about it as maybe it's going to appear that I am just because the Titans clearly are doing doing decent in the wins and loss column doing decent in the production column as a team so I can't really fault their process all that much well you, you know, outside of drafting and things like that. This is just purely football. But Seth Walder, analytics guru for ESPN. He has basically an updated depth chart for the analytics department for each team.

And it goes over all of the different people they have in that department. Most of these teams, like the Browns have seven people. The Ravens have six. The Bills have five. The Jaguars have a ton. They have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. They have eight. So there are good teams and bad teams that have a lot.

The Eagles have four. But the Titans on his depth chart have none. They don't even have someone. They're one of the only teams in the NFL that literally do not have anyone listed in his analytics department depth chart. So I guess that just raises a lot of question to me. I'm not saying that the Titans should be one of these teams that overly relies on the numbers. I don't think football is the type of game you can do that. You need to have a good

balance of both, but the analytics, it's definitely a puzzle piece, right? I mean, in my opinion, the smartest way to come to a conclusion on any decision is to take as much information in as possible from all different avenues and then use that to make your final decision. Put an entire puzzle piece together, get the entire puzzle finished, look at what you got and then make a decision. Well, if the Titans outright are neglecting the analytics, then we know even if they come to the right conclusion, they're not taking in all of the available data.

They're not working as hard as other organizations. Now, like I said, the Titans have been very successful lately. And when you look at another piece of data that I wanted to put in, we're having an analytics conversation. I'm bringing up some data. But Seth Walter also did a poll from different staffers around the NFL asking which team was the least advanced in their analytics. The Tennessee Titans came in at second with five votes.

The Washington football team was first with six, but even they have an analytic staffer on the squad. Now, I do want to point out that some of the teams that did get votes, the Kansas City Chiefs, the New Orleans Saints, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they got one vote apiece. So the Pittsburgh Steelers got two votes and tied for fifth. So those are some of the more successful organizations in the NFL, and they are viewed as not advanced in the analytics department. So the point is, I just wanted to keep a balanced conversation here.

I'm not saying that the Titans will fail unless they devote more to analytics. There are teams that are successful that are considered people who don't put a lot of stock in the analytics, but not having anyone on the staff whatsoever who dabbles in that sort of information and can at least give you that puzzle piece while you make your decision as John Robinson and Mike Rabel I think that is a mistake and I do want to give a shout out to to Kenneth on Twitter who made a post and basically said you know why the Titans don't have an analytics department he had a gif of Mike Rabel and that goes back to the conversation that I was shunned for at the beginning of the all season.

I do believe that Mike Vrabel being stubborn, being ego-driven, and smelling his own farts. A lot of you guys liked that line from yesterday. But Mike Vrabel sniffing himself so much has told John Robinson, I don't need an analytics department. We don't need to spend money on that. And you guys can say what you want. But in my opinion, the further we go with different decisions the Titans have to make, the more it seems in my opinion that Mike Vrabel is a person who wears the pants in this relationship and not John Robinson. The tail is wagging the dog.

Mike Vrabel is telling John Robinson what to do. So in my mind, while they both share fault for not having a single person doing analytics in the organization, I think that it's Vrabel that is driving that vacancy, not John Robinson. Now John Robinson should have the wherewithal to supersede Mike Vrabel and make that happen anyways, just like I felt like with the defensive coordinator position. They made a compromise that they shouldn't have made

but either way for better or worse just wanted to point that out again guys the Titans are a good team but what separates you from 10-7 and playing in the wild card week and then 12-5 and getting a division home game it may be an analytics department 12 and 5 and getting a division home game,

it may be an analytics department. It may be not whiffing on some of these draft picks for character concern reasons. The margin for error is so slim in the NFL that these little itty-bitty inconveniences for the Titans can add up over time and prevent them from taking the steps that we all want them to see. Because remember, at the end of the day, every single person listening to me right now, and me included, wants the Titans to win a Super Bowl.

And I just worry that some of these little things will add up, including not having an analytics department. So that's going to do it for this Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I will be back with you to cap off the week with a Friday show. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.