Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Linked to Two OCs, Mock Draft Monday & Mailbag Monday Questions!!

Episode Date: January 25, 2021

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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, I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable weekend. And speaking of the weekend, over the weekend we got some big Tennessee Titans news in the form of two names that have been linked to the Titans open offensive coordinator spot. So I will tell you who those two names are, what they bring to the table, and if they are the Tennessee Titans top target, what the future could look like.

And then we'll hit another piece of news that we got from over the weekend. The Philadelphia Eagles landed on a head coach, and that severely impacted a Tennessee Titans rival. So I will tell you which rival was impacted, who was hired by the Eagles, and why this helps out the Titans so much. And then we are going to move into the Fan Made Monday portion of our show, and my undying love for alliteration returns with Mock Draft Monday. That is coming back for this offseason.

Going to go over three different mock drafts and see who they had pegged for the Tennessee Titans with the number 22 pick. And then we will cap off this Monday show with a mailbag. I got some questions from you guys that I need to answer. Remember, you can tag me on Twitter in a tweet and ask your question there or put a five star review in on iTunes and I will get to your question and shout you out every single Monday at the end of our show. But other than those questions that I am excited to get into, excited to see who some of the

pundits from around the league have penciled in for the Titans in the draft, and then of course, two brand new names linked to the Titans offensive coordinator position. Let's get it! It is a Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And before we dive into the headlines from the weekend, I want to remind you that I will be putting out Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content. That's daily throughout the entire offseason. So make sure no matter what platform you are listening on, whether that be Apple iTunes,

you subscribe there, follow on Spotify or Google Podcasts as well, whatever platform you do stream, make sure that you are locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast for Monday through Friday Titans content. But let's dive into these headlines from the weekend. And the first major headline that we got was a name linked to the Titans offensive coordinator spot. And that is NFL veteran coach Pep Hamilton. So you'll remember Pep Hamilton probably mostly from his time with the Indianapolis Colts.

He was their offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach through 2013 to 2015. offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach through 2013 to 2015. Obviously, a lot of his credit goes from developing Andrew Luck into the player that we saw him become. And when you think about everything that went on in Indianapolis during that time and what the personnel looked like with Ryan Grixen at general manager, it's kind of impressive that Pep Hamilton was able to keep that Indianapolis Colts offense so healthy when they had a young T.Y. Hilton, an absolutely terrible offensive line.

They didn't have any running backs to really talk about during that time. I mean, Trent Richardson was there during that time, and he was an absolute bust. So Pep Hamilton gets a lot of credit there. Pep Hamilton also gets a lot of credit for what he was able to do with Justin Herbert last season in Los Angeles. He was the Chargers quarterback coach last year. So obviously you look at his development with young quarterbacks and that's something that could be alluring to the Tennessee Titans who obviously Ryan Tannehill is a fantastic player, but I think personally, Ryan Tannehill isn't one of these quarterbacks that's going to be effective until

he's 38, 39, 40. So it would be smart for the Titans, maybe not this draft, but maybe the next draft to get a young quarterback relatively high first or second round, and then consider starting to develop him and letting him sit behind Tannehill for a couple more years until the end of his contract. So it could make sense for the Titans offense right now. It also could make sense for the Titans offense in the future from that perspective. But one thing that I have reservations about with Pep Hamilton is the RPO game, the spread game. So it wasn't something that the Chargers took advantage of a lot. Now head coach Anthony Lynn wasn't really up to speed with things like that, but I would like the Titans offense to build on the foundation they have, but also add in more of those spread

RPO elements. And I don't necessarily know if we're going to see a lot of that with a guy like Pep Hamilton. So that's some concern. if we're going to see a lot of that with a guy like Pep Hamilton. So that's some concern. Somebody who we would see some RPO elements and some spread elements with would be offensive coordinator and quarterback coach from the Houston Texans. That's Tim Kelly.

And Tim Kelly has a family connection to the Titans, Dennis Kelly. Tim Kelly is his older brother, so there's a family connection there. But here's the issue with Kelly. is his older brother, so there's a family connection there, but here's the issue with Kelly. Up to this point, the Titans and the Lions have tried to interview Kelly for their offensive coordinator position, but because he is the offensive coordinator for the Texans, those interview requests were denied, so the Titans tried to get Tim Kelly on board, and it would make sense Mike Vrabel worked with Tim Kelly while he was in Houston, and Kelly gets a lot of the credit for Deshaun Watson's development, and you guys know that I am a monster Deshaun Watson fan.

It's sacrilegious almost how much I like the quarterback of a division rival, but very impressed by Watson, so Kelly would be an excellent choice. Now, I didn't talk about Tim Kelly last Wednesday when we discussed offensive coordinator candidates because the reality is a lot of people say he's the only chance that the Texans have to keep Deshaun Watson happy. Now, while I'm recording this, we're getting reports from Adam Schefter that nothing will keep Deshaun Watson available no matter who they hire a head coach, no matter if they keep Tim Kelly around or not.

So maybe when a new head coach is hired by the Texans and they go ahead and move on and trade Deshaun Watson, maybe they'll just go ahead and let Tim Kelly go. They're not, the new head coach probably isn't going to hold over the quarterback coach in the OC from a completely different regime. They'll want to wash everything clean and move forward. So maybe once that happens, Kelly would be available for the Titans, but that would require some patience from the Titans. And are they willing to wait and lose out on other candidates like a Pep Hamilton, who's interviewed for other spots as well? Would the Titans be able to wait and be patient to wait on somebody like Kelly and take that

risk? We will see. The other news that I wanted to talk about, well, two things here. One, Matthew Stafford officially requested a trade from the Detroit Lions, and it looks like they are going to oblige and do what they can to give him a good spot. The Colts have been mentioned as a logical option, and they sure are a logical option for Matthew Stafford, but man, I just certainly hope not. Can I do that? Can I just hope not? The last thing I want to talk about is the mass exodus that we've seen happening in Indianapolis.

Their offensive coordinator, Nick Sirianni, was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as their head coach. And basically since that happened, we have seen a ton of assistant coaches from Indianapolis depart to follow him over to Philadelphia. And we've seen their offensive assistant coach, Kevin Petullo, be hired as the offensive passing game coordinator over in Philadelphia. We also have seen their defensive back coach. Remember, they habilitated Xavier Rhodes, got a lot out of Rakia Sin, so a really good defensive back coach. And Jonathan Gannon, he's going over to Philadelphia to be their new defensive coordinator.

So a couple of really solid assistants for the Colts moving over to the Eagles job with Nick Sirianni. So that's something to watch from the Colts perspective. They're losing a lot of talented assistant coaches. But that's the big news from the weekend here. And we'll see how the Titans offensive coordinator position gets filled going forward, mentioning those two big names. But before we head into Mock Draft Monday, I want to tell you guys about Echelon. When it comes to getting or staying in shape, nothing feels as good as that feeling of accomplishment,

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Just go to echelonfit.com slash locked on. That's one word, locked on. That's E-C-H-E-L-O-N-F-I-T dot com slash locked on. We kicked off today's show talking about the headlines from the weekend. Two names, Pep Hamilton and Tim Kelly, linked to the Titans offensive coordinator position. A mass exodus on the coaching staff in Indianapolis after offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as their head coach. And then, of course, the Matthew Stafford trade demand that could result in a trade to the Indianapolis Colts if things do not go well.

But let's dive into the next portion of our show, which is Mock Draft Monday. It is time to start looking forward to the NFL Draft. The Titans have a ton of needs, and they need to address those in the draft. ton of needs and they need to address those in the draft so who do some of the national pundits from around the NFL have the Titans taking with that 22nd pick in the first round let's go with one of the most respected draft analysts in the NFL a future NFL general manager candidate and a guy who I just really enjoy his content in general and that is Daniel Jeremiah from the NFL Network and with the 22nd pick in the draft he has the Tennessee Titans taking cornerback JC Horn out of South Carolina now JC Horn is1", 205 pounds, so he's got ideal size for an NFL cornerback.

He can play in press coverage. He can play in off coverage. He's kind of a do-it-all cornerback option for the Titans and has that NFL pedigree as well that you would be looking for. And, you know, a cornerback is an interesting proposition for the Titans, and it kind of depends on what you want to do with the roster as currently constructed. A lot of people talk about Malcolm Butler as a potential cap casualty.

He could save the Titans about $10 million if he is cut, but Malcolm Butler had a very productive season and was the Titans' best defensive back last year, so can you afford to get rid of Malcolm Butler well if you feel that Adoree Jackson is going to be healthier this year if you feel Christian Fulton is going to take a leap and be worth the second round pick that you paid for him last year and then you get a guy like JC Horn you're very young at defensive back but that would allow you to spend more money at edge rusher and fixing the defensive line and creating pass rush. And if you got pass rush, then you might be able to get away with two rookie cornerbacks in your defensive back or maybe a cheaper veteran and cutting Malcolm Butler. You maybe could do that. way the Titans want to go. If they do want to throw as much money as possible at the edge rusher position and save that money at defensive back, then this would be a very good option. I've seen

J.C. Horn go as high as number 11, number 12 in mock drafts. So he's definitely a highly coveted cornerback in this draft and someone the Titans will have their eyes on next. The next mock draft that we are going to look at comes from CBS Sports, and it is Josh Edwards, and he has the Titans with a pick that I would imagine will be pretty popular going forward, and that is Aziz Ujalaire from Georgia. Six foot three, 240 pound edge rusher. Now, here is the thing that I see from this selection. Ojolare is a very tantalizing prospect. He's got a lot of tools. He kind of reminds me of a Yannick Ngakwe type because while he has a lot of tools, he has a lot of athletic upside. Ojolare doesn't have a ton

of experience. He's a younger guy and he was in a rotation at Georgia. Georgia has a ton of experience. He's a younger guy and he was in a rotation at Georgia. Georgia has a ton of talented prospects, so he didn't have to be on the field nonstop. Now, the Titans getting a rookie edge rusher, bringing a rookie edge rusher into the mix, in my opinion, you can't count on that guy to be an every down edge and a consistent pass rusher right off the jump. You just simply can't, especially picking 22nd in the draft. Maybe if you had a top five pick and you were getting somebody like a Chase Young, you could count on that. But anything outside of one of those top five guaranteed edge rusher types, you really can't

count on an edge rusher from college jumping in and making an immediate impact. It's very, very rare. You don't get a Javon curse every day, ladies and gentlemen. So somebody like Ojolari, he would be asked to be in a rotation, and I think the Titans would still have to spend big money on an edge rusher in free agency and then allow Ojolari to be that third edge rusher for you in that role that they honestly wanted Vic Beasley in, where you could use Jadavion Clowney in the Jack Crawford role that we see Jack Crawford play at the end of the year once Clowney got hurt. So it would open the Titans to do those versatile things and those multiple things that they like to do with their front on defense. So that's an option. Now, a guy like Jalen Phillips was still on the board and I I tend to like Jalen Phillips a little bit more he's got a little more size and he can do a little more of those clowny things that Jack Crawford elephant role for the Titans defense than just

that pure speed off the edge guy at six foot three and then Joseph Osai is a very popular guy out of Texas who could be available for the Titans and he was available in this mock draft. He's more of a twitched-up guy than Ogilari, so I might lean towards Osai, but Ogilari I've seen go in the teens as well, so, I mean, a very good option for the Titans there. These are all names that we're going to debate for the next few months, and then the final mock draft that I want to talk about here is from Pro Football Network,

and they have the Titans taking Gregory Russo out of Miami. And let me say that if Russo was on the board for the Titans, I would jump all over that. Russo went higher in every other mock draft that I looked at. Russo was not available for the Titans. So if for any reason he drops, I love what Russo brings to the table. Now, he is not that pure speed off the edge type guy. That's not who he is. But he's a big bodied guy.

6'5", 6'6". Some even have him listed at 6'7". He's versatile though. He played all up and down the defensive line while he was at Miami. Played inside, played outside. He was all up and down the defensive line while he was at Miami, played inside, played outside. He was productive as well. In 2019, he was basically the second best edge rusher in the country behind Chase Young. Now he got a lot of attention and didn't end up playing in Miami this year. So it's kind of off the board and maybe that allows him to drop a

little bit. But I think with his athleticism his role ability and the production that he's already shown add in the versatility the size he can play that elephant role like I'm talking about but also be an edge rusher for the Titans in sub package he can fill that Jadavian Clowney role and then allow them to maybe get more of a pure speed edge rusher with their free agency money to really boost that pass rush so if Russo was available for the Titans who I would be just enthralled and I would call John Robinson myself and make him run that pick to the draft podium I don't suspect he would be there but in this mock mock draft, also a guy like Kyle Pitts, tight end out of Florida, he had dropped past the Titans pick. Joseph Asai was

there out of Texas as well, so they would be options if the Titans wanted that pure speed pass rusher off the edge. They could go with Asai, and if Jono Smith leaves and happens to go maybe to Atlanta, that's something that's been mentioned. Obviously, that would be a good fit for them. Maybe one of these other zone run schemes would invite him in, but think about the New York Jets. They could use a guy like Jonu Smith with Mike LaFleur being their offensive coordinator now, so I think Jonu Smith will have a market that will get him paid more than the Titans know that he's worth. If that does happen, I would be fully on board with the Titans maybe even trading up into the middle teens for Kyle Pitts. They're going to need a game-breaking tight end. I know Jonu Smith is a fan favorite, but for me, the Titans would do well to get an even

better number one tight end than Jonu Smith. The Titans need to try to find a Mark Andrews, a Darren Waller, a Travis Kelsey. You need a guy like that in today's NFL to win those one-on-one matchups over the middle of the field. And Jonu Smith wasn't the route runner that gave the Titans the ability for him to do that. And they needed a guy like Anthony Ferkser. And Ferkser, while being a solid option and kind of an Adam Humphreys at tight end you need a more explosive athlete to win those matchups over the middle so that's going to do it for mock draft

Monday we are going to head into our mailbag Monday I'm going to answer your guys's questions and and make sure that I give you uh shout outs here as well before we jump into that though do want to remind you guys about our friends over at Built Bar, the best tasting protein bar in the galaxy. I had a ton of Built Bars over the weekend. They got fantastic flavors. The bars are covered in 100% real chocolate. They're low calorie, low sugar, high protein, high fiber. Even if you've used the promo code LOCKEDON before at BuiltBar.com, you can use it again and get 20% off your next order.

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for a 50% welcome bonus. Don't sit on the sideline anymore. Get in on the action. Don't forget, use that promo code LOCKEDON to receive a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. We are going to cap off this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with a mailbag Monday. So we're going to dive into your guys' questions. Before we do, I want to tell you guys about the new podcast

from the Locked on Podcast Network, and that's Locked on Today. And it's going to cover all the biggest sports stories of the day from a ton of different angles, from local angles, from different experts. Locked On Today, and it's going to cover all the biggest sports stories of the day from a ton of different angles, from local angles, from different experts, so make sure that on whatever platform you do listen to podcasts, you check out the Locked On Today podcast from the Locked On Podcast Network. Also, I want to remind you guys that we are digging into all of the different questions that we will have for the Titans offseason later on this week.

Tomorrow on Tuesday's show, we are going to go through and rank the Titans position groups all the way through offense and defense from best to worst as they finish the 2020 season. And that will kind of give us a base of knowing where the Titans need to improve, where we feel good about their performance, and what we should look for going forward. Wednesday, we are going to focus on all of the financials. I'm going to tell you where the Titans' salary cap space basically sits at this moment in time,

how they can carve out more salary cap space, who their in-house free agents are, and possible cap casualties. So that's what's planned for the next few days here on the Locked on Titans podcast. And I'm certain over the next few days, by Thursday, by Friday, we'll get some more pertinent Titans news that we will be going over at the end of the week as well. So make sure that you are locked into the Locked on Titans podcast and subscribed on whatever platform you do stream. But let's answer your guys' questions here.

And we are going to start. you do stream, but let's answer your guys' questions here, and we are going to start. The first question that I have comes from my guy Tyler Chandler on Twitter, and he says, who is the one player you would franchise tag this offseason? Hint, not Clowney. He had no franchise clause in his contract. Of course, Clowney could not be franchise tagged. We agreed upon that with him when we signed that one-year deal, and I think it's tough. I do think Clowney would be

the best possible candidate, but maybe a guy like Jonu Smith, around $8-9 million just for one year. My big thing is with Jonu, we've yet to see him be a consistent threat all season long now the easy thing to say is that with you know 10 games left in the year Taylor LeJuan tears his ACL and then after that Jonu Smith's receiving production goes way down because he's asked to help more with chipping and helping the offensive line and pass protection. So I understand all of that, but the reality is the real answer for me is nobody. I wouldn't want the Titans to franchise tag anyone at this moment in time. I mean, Daquan Jones on the defensive line, no.

John U. Smith, no. Corey Davis, no. And outside of that, I don't really have a free agent option that would even be Jayon Brown at linebacker. No. So, I mean, Clowney's not able to be franchise tag, but outside of Clowney, there just really isn't anybody who I would even consider doing that to.

So if I had to choose one person, I guess I would choose Johnnie Smith. But for me, there isn't anybody who's eligible for the Titans, for the franchise tag. Not literally not eligible, but for me, I just wouldn't consider anybody a logical option to be franchise tag. So that answers the question there for Tyler Chandler. Let's get into some of the questions that came over from your five-star reviews on Apple iTunes. So number one question here that I need to get into is from Mr. Holla at your

boy and he said do you think we should draft Devontae Smith if he's available at 22? Yes that wouldn't even be a question that's best player available but man that's not even an option. Smith's gonna get picked in the top seven, top eight of the draft, probably go number three to Miami. And if not, could go number six to the Philadelphia Eagles. I just don't see even a team like the Panthers could consider taking a wide receiver. I know it seems crazy, but even the Falcons with Julio Jones getting up there in age want to pair him with Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones and keep a nice three wide receiver set.

So there's just no way that Devontae Smith would be available for the Titans. But if he was, if Devontae Smith was there, then absolutely. Even if Devontae Smith was there at like 12, 13, I'd say the Titans should just trade up and get him. Imagine pairing Smith and A.J. Brown together. It would just be the perfect combination. Next, Burr Buyer 2 asks, now as fans want to re-sign every one of our free agents, if you had to prioritize our defensive unrestricted free agents, who are your top five

fifth to first for show purposes? Okay, number one for me would be Jadavion Clowney. I know a lot of you guys do not agree with that, but that's how I feel. Number two for me would be Daquan Jones. Now, this isn't a pay the most money type situation. That's not how I feel about it. For me, it's just the amount that you would have to pay Daquan Jones to get him back, I think makes him somebody that the Titans need to try to bring

back in. Daquan Jones is a reliable player and it's not like he's going to get a ton on the market. So I think for the price that they would have to pay, Daquan Jones is my number two. Number three, I would probably have, yeah, I would probably have Jayon Brown at number three. I don't think that he's somebody that the Titans are going to bring back. I think, I don't know. I'm on the fence about it. I have to think about these things before I go with my ideal off-season episode, but Jayon Brown, it all depends on market for me, and Jayon Brown may, because of his injuries and his undersized nature, he may be somebody who the Titans can bring back. Now, I want to see David Long in an increased role, but I also want to see Rashawn Evans in

a reduced role. I don't think the Titans pick up Rashawn Evans' fifth year option. I think that they let Rashawn Evans leave, and maybe if you can get Jayon Brown back on a, you know, five-year or four-year deal worth maybe, you know, six million dollars, five to six, seven million dollars at max, then maybe you bring him back, and then you try to focus on putting David Long in that Rashawn Evans role and get him going then I would put him there outside of that number four I would say Desmond King not too high on my priority list there but somebody who the Titans could consider I was higher on King earlier in the year. But his deficiencies in coverage. I just don't think. He's a big help on first and second down.

But on third downs and pure man coverage. He just simply can't do the vertical responsibilities needed. For the defense. Outside of that. Those are the key free agents for the Titans defense. So I will stop there. And keep going. The next thing, well, this isn't a question,

but shout out to Equivis. Tyler does a great job and is passionate while still remaining fair. Calls it as it is. Keep up the good work. Most knowledgeable Titans fan. Love this pod. Thank you, Juan Balaji. Wish this pod was around when Eddie George was around.

Man, that would have been awesome. Eddie fans since, been an Eddie fan since, I'm guessing they're saying a long time. Attawatta 11. So that's the questions that I had from you guys. Not a ton of questions this week. That's kind of my fault too, though. I didn't throw out a tweet for you guys to send in your questions. I'll make sure to do that at the end of next week but either way

still went our 28-30 minutes here on the show so I will be back with you guys tomorrow remember I am going to be going through and ranking the Titans position groups as they finish 2020 from best to worst so make sure that you don't miss out on that and subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast

but that's going to do it for me today as always I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans podcast. But that's going to do it for me today. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.