Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Make Two Signings, NFL Draft Superlatives & Comp Pick Breakdown

Episode Date: May 6, 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, 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. The Tennessee Titans made more roster additions on Wednesday. They signed two brand new players, a quarterback and a running back. And I know previously this week I said any signings that we're going to see from now until after June are probably just camp bodies and while that may be true I'll tell you why one of these signings I think could actually make a major impact on the 2021 season for the

Titans after that I wanted to get into some of my additional draft content that I didn't necessarily have time to get into earlier in the week. And I want to do my draft superlatives. Who was the safest pick the Titans made? Who was the riskiest pick? Which was the worst pick? The biggest reach? We're going to talk about all of that, including which of the Titans draft picks I think I'm

going to be wrong about. So that'll be a fun conversation to have. And then I've had a lot of questions recently about the compensatory pick formula. And on Tuesday, Lance Zerloin actually put out a tweet giving some credit to John Robinson about one of the moves he made that affected the compensatory draft pick formula. So I'm going to talk about that compliment and use that as another conversation to go ahead and rehash how the compensatory pick formula works and why the Titans got a third round pick this year and why they're set to get a fourth round pick next year.

But as a reminder, I will be putting out Monday through Friday daily Tennessee Titans content, not only during the season, but all year long. Make sure that you follow the Locked On Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. And if you're a person who usually listens on Apple, make sure to tell any of your friends that there are some technical difficulties with Apple site-wide right now and get in the pod. Make sure you check out the Locked on Titans podcast on Spotify, Google Podcast, or better than all other options, the Odyssey app.

But we are going to dive into this Wednesday, two new signings, draft superlatives, and the compensatory pick formula. Let's get it! roster construction continues for the Tennessee Titans as they add two new free agents one a veteran free agent and one an undrafted free agent on Wednesday let's dive into both of those signings and the first one comes at the quarterback, and it is quarterback Brady White out of Memphis. Now, Brady White also spent some time at Arizona State earlier in his career, but he had an injury issue. It was a foot injury.

It actually sidelined him for 2016 and 2017 while at Arizona State. He made the transfer to Memphis, where he actually started every single game for the last three seasons. And he's been one of the most prolific, actually the most prolific passer in Memphis history. He has 10,690 passing yards, 90 passing touchdowns, and 28 wins. So a very decorated guy.

He's earned All-American honors while in high school. So he's the type of guy who's had a ton of success in his career, had some injuries that knocked him off early in his college career, but was able to come back, move to Memphis, and be very, very successful. Now, knowing the background that we have on Brady White, what kind of player is he? Well, he's got a really good arm. He does have a strong arm, but the places that he is lacking are his accuracy. He's not one of those guys.

And when we talk about accuracy, guys at the NFL level are expected to not only throw a good ball to the wide receiver, but throw it in a great spot that makes it easy for the wide receiver to catch or away from coverage. Think about back shoulder fades on the sideline by some of the best quarterbacks in the league. Things like that. All of that matters and he does lack some pinpoint accuracy on his throws. Makes his wide receivers really have to work hard to get to the ball instead of making it easy for them and he has a tendency to hold the ball a long time. He doesn't navigate the pocket very well. So what happens is when he struggles to navigate the pocket,

he feels the pressure coming on top of him. He's the type of guy who will just throw the ball into coverage, try to give his guy a shot. But what happens is that results in a lot of turnover. So he's a bit turnover prone. And it's a lot because of his pocket movement and because of his accuracy. But he does have a very strong arm. He was a very productive player, so there are obviously some things to like there,

but ultimately there is a reason that he's an undrafted free agent and didn't get taken in the draft. But at 6'1", 210 pounds with the production that he had and the strong arm, I'm sure the Titans are going to bring him into camp. Not a very good chance to make the roster, if we're honest. Everyone knows how I feel about Logan Woodside, but either way, I'm sure the Titans are going to bring him into camp. Not a very good chance to make the roster, if we're honest. Everyone knows how I feel about Logan Wood's side. But either way, I don't think that Brady White has a great chance to beat him out. But if the Titans can develop his accuracy, if the Titans can develop that pocket movement,

some things that Ryan Tannehill has been accused of needing to work on in his career, then they could take a very productive guy with a good arm and some good mobility, and who knows what they might get out of him. At the minimum, the Titans are smart to take a look at him during minicamp for rookies. So that is Brady White. That is the guy who was signed by the Titans as an undrafted free agent. The next guy that I want to talk about is someone who I'm much more excited about, and that is running back Brian Hill.

So Brian Hill came from the Atlanta Falcons last year. He actually played the last three seasons in Atlanta. Actually, though, he was drafted by Atlanta in 2017 in the fifth round out of Wyoming, but they did cut him in that season. He ended up playing with Cincinnati for a little while during 2017, but after that, Atlanta brought him back in 2018, and he's been a solid contributor and role player in their backfield for the last three years. In his career, he's played 45 games. He's had three starts during that time, 982 rushing yards, 313 receiving yards, and 38

catches with four total touchdowns. He's only 25 years old, so still a very young player. And just last year, he had his most productive season of his career, 465 rushing yards, one touchdown, a 4.7 yards per carry average. He had his career high in catches with 25. Like I said, he only had 38 catches for his career. He had 25 last year, only had 313 yards for his career receiving, and had 199 last year. So a boom to his receiving production last year, but a lot of that had to do with getting an opportunity. So for me, I've been talking about having insurance for Darrington Evans. I've been talking about having a guy who can not only catch the ball out of the backfield,

but also take some carries from Derrick Henry if needed. And Brian Hill at 6'1", a big bodied guy, he is the type of guy who not only can catch the ball out of the backfield for the Titans and supplement Darrington Evans if he gets banged up again, but he's also a guy who's big enough to run hard enough to simulate Derrick Henry for the Titans. So I really love this addition. I do not think this is just a camp body invite. I do believe that Brian Hill will make this roster. So very excited about this addition for the Tennessee Titans. But speaking of additions for the Titans, the Titans made eight additions during the NFL draft, and we are going to go into some NFL draft superlatives. I'm going

to tell you my favorite picks. I'm going to tell you my least favorite picks. The pick I think I'll probably end up wrong about, some other ones as well. So excited to dive into that. But before we do, Titans fans, listen up. Nugenix, the number one selling free testosterone booster at GNC, is offering a complimentary bottle to all football fans in America. To get your complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total T, text DRAFT, D-R-A-F-T, to 231-231.

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honest with you I've started film study on Dylan Radins, the offensive tackle from round two. I've started film study on Des Fitzpatrick, the wide receiver. And my reasoning for that is, so I'm really, really high on the Radins pick. I think it was a great pick. And we'll talk more about that when we get into my draft superlatives here. But I want to challenge my preconceived notions. The reality is, not every opinion I have about a drafted player turns out to be true, on the Titans or not.

There are players that I've been high on before that didn't work out. There are players that I was low on before that did end up working out. So it's not that I'm going to be right every time, and I understand that, but I get on here every day, and I'm supposed to give you my opinion, not just come on here and say, it could go good, it could go bad. That's all for me today, folks. I have opinions when these things happen. I don't just make them up to make good content. I do have opinions when these things happen and I'm going to give them to you guys. That's always my promise. But the

reality is I could be wrong. I don't do the show and you guys don't listen every day because I'm right all the time on every single guess that I take. That's not the goal here. So what I wanted to do is I wanted to take my favorite draft pick and challenge myself. What are some issues that I see? What are some things that could be potential problems? Why are you so over the moon about this? And then on the flip side, I wanted to look at a pick that I necessarily didn't like

and challenge myself to see if that player inspired me or made me happier or I learned a little bit more or changed my mind on something with a certain player. So I'm in the process of doing that, and I have some film breakdowns ready to come out for you guys later in the week. But with that in mind, I did just want to say I'm going to go through these superlatives here about the draft. And I could be wrong. I could be right. But this is how I feel today. And even one of the superlatives I did was which pick I think is most likely for me to be wrong about. But let's go into the list now. Number one, the best pick for me, and I just mentioned it at the top, Dylan Radins, offensive tackle out of North Dakota State.

Now, I'm not going to give you the entire scouting report that I'm developing for a draft player profile episode later this week, probably tomorrow, but I will tell you that I think that the need at offensive tackle is just important. I'm okay with letting Dennis Kelly go, but I thought the Titans would take an offensive tackle within the first three rounds to at least have some depth in competition and getting a guy like Radins,

who I didn't think would be available to the Titans at pick 53, I thought would go higher than that, taking an offensive tackle there while I would have preferred third round, I think with the value of Radins, it matched up perfectly. So pick 53, taking a guy who I think could be an eight-year starter in the NFL and definitely a four-year starter for the Titans and start day one.

I can't hate on that pick at all. As a matter of fact, that is my favorite pick of the Titans draft is Dylan Radins, the offensive tackle. Now, as for the safest pick, this is the pick who I think no matter what, this player is going to contribute. He's going to be an NFL player. He's going to have a career in the NFL. He may not be the best player of the draft class. He may not be this or that, but it's a guy who I feel very, very comfortable is going to come in, do his job, make sure that he contributes to the team, do everything that's asked of him. And when he gets out on the field, I think he's going to do his best and perform. him, do everything that's asked of him, and when he gets out on the field, I think he's going to do his best and perform.

Now, his best may be limited, and that's why he didn't go in the first 99 picks of the draft, but either way, I think we're going to get his best effort, and that's something that I think makes me feel very safe, and that's defensive back Elijah Molden out of Washington. So, Molden's one of those guys, not a big guy, 5'9", 5'10", not an overly explosive athlete either, but he's just a dude who understands football. He recognizes patterns. He sees what the offense is trying to do. He's always there to make a play. He's got great ball skills because he's got great instincts, so he's always a half step ahead of everybody else out on the field, and that helps negate the athleticism burden that he carries and he hits hard he's got a great mentality and that helps him outweigh the fact that he's of small size and he's got a small stature so he makes up for his deficiencies in ways that I think are very translatable to the NFL if all of these picks don't go as well as we hope they go Elijah Molden will still be a decent

player for the Titans so at pick 100 Elijah Molden will still be a decent player for the Titans. So at pick 100, Elijah Molden, the defensive back, slot corner safety out of Washington. Just a pick I feel is very, very safe. I was a little iffy at first, but after review, my feelings have pretty much certified. I feel very, very good about the addition of Elijah Molden. The next pick that I have here, the next superlative, is my boom or bust candidate. We talk about Dylan Radins. He may not live up to my expectation, but he's still going to be a pretty decent player. I said the same thing about Elijah Molden just now. Elijah Molden doesn't have the

opportunity to boom and become one of the best defensive backs in the NFL, but I also don't think he's going to bust either. So my biggest boom bust candidate is the Titans' first-round pick, Caleb Farley, and it's all to do with the back injury. The Titans could have one of the top five, top ten cornerbacks in the entire NFL if Farley does boom, and there's a good chance that he will because he's got the skill set to do that. But there's also a very good chance that he will bust,

and it's not even because he's not a good player. It's because of his back injury. If Caleb Farley messes up his back in his rookie year with the Titans, there's a very good chance that his career is affected forever, and he'll never get back to even close enough of a level for the Titans draft pick to be worthy. So for that reason alone, he is the biggest boom bust prospect. Now the worst pick, my least favorite pick, is a pick you guys probably already know. It's Des Fitzpatrick, wide receiver out of Louisville. The Titans traded up, traded three picks up to 109 to draft Des Fitzpatrick after missing out on all the pass catchers that I liked a lot more in the middle rounds. So that's my worst pick right now. Now that is the player that I'm doing a film study on second. I want to challenge myself and my preconceived notions and what I've heard about Des Fitzpatrick so far

and what I've seen so far. I want to dive into not only his game film, but also his senior bowl film and see what kind of player that he is and see if maybe I was wrong about Des Fitzpatrick in the reach. Early on, I'm not really ready to change my mind, but who knows what I'll think

when I am done and that brings me to my last draft superlative here and it is which pick I think I'll be most wrong about so the Caleb Farley thing I think he's boomer bust it's risky but I do like it so there's nothing really to be wrong about there I mean I guess I could be wrong his back goes out and it's just a complete waste Dylan Radins I think was the Titans best pick value wise maybe I'm wrong there and Radins is a bum who knows but for me it's actually the other way around I'm picking a player who I didn't like the pick who I think could surprise me and actually be a really good player for the Titans. And that's linebacker Monty Rice. I'm coming around on the Monty Rice pick. I'm still mad that they missed out on Daimi Brown, Hunter Long, and Tommy Tremble right in front of pick 85, and then they traded back to pick 92 to pick Rice.

But I don't know, something just gives me the feeling that I'm going to be really wrong on that Monty Rice pick, and Monty Rice is going to turn into a really, really solid player for the Titans. So if I had to tell you, out of all the picks I didn't like or had questions about, Caleb Farley I had questions, Monty Rice, Elijah Molden had some questions, Des Fitzpatrick, obviously, out of all of those picks who I'm about, Monty Rice is the one who I'm most confident will actually be able to prove me wrong. So that's how I see things working out. That is my 2021 NFL Draft Superlatives.

We are going to move into a quick and short conversation recapping the compensatory pick formula. Like I said at the beginning of the show, a lot of you guys have reached out to me asking for me to clarify, asking for me to go over it again. So with a recent tweet giving some credit to John Robinson, I'll use that as a springboard to have that conversation again. But before we do, got to tell you guys about betonline.ag, the fastest and easiest way to place bets on all your sports action. The NBA is getting ready to go into the playoffs. The MLB is in full swing. The NHL is in full swing.

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Visit rockauto.com today. We are going to dive into another conversation about the compensatory pick formula and why the Titans are going to end up with a fourth round pick next year most likely and I will try my best to explain again as as best as I possibly can the visual aid is really what helps there is a chart made by Nick Corti and he shows exactly how this works so I would encourage you if you have the opportunity to get a piece of paper, to get something to write with and make the chart yourself. The visual aid

will be the best thing to teach you. And also you can go to my Twitter at TicTacTitans and I have retweeted and talked about that chart as well so you would have access to it. Now before we get into the chart, just another friendly reminder about the Locked On Today podcast. You get your Titans news here. If you want all of the major sports news of

the day in under 20 minutes every morning, check out the Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your pods. But first, what was the genesis of this conversation? So Lance Zerloin had this to say. He's a NFL draft analyst for NFL.com. He had this tweet to say earlier this week, quote, the decision by the Titans to trade a sixth for Desmond King ended up putting them on the plus side of free agent losses to signings when he departed for the Texans. In doing so, they protected the fourth round compensatory pick they should receive for Jonu Smith. End tweet. I retweeted that and I said this.

While J-Rob has had some struggles lately, I've always said he's a top 10 GM in the league. Stuff like this is why. And then shout out to Jose Maria. He said the explanation of how this worked would be great for tomorrow's pod so here we go here is your explanation one more time of how compensatory picks work and again I don't feel bad about going back over this I don't you know this isn't a burden on me to go over it multiple times this is one of the more complicated things in the NFL with the CBA and how the system works and I know from my perspective I'm still learning about some of the financial aspects, some of the ins and outs. And I try to

bring that to you guys when I get a good grasp of them. And this is something I do feel pretty good about now. So like I said, a visual aid is best. I would encourage you right now, if you have a piece of paper and something to write with, to make a line down the middle and have two different sections on either side of each other. On the left side, put the free agents that the Titans have lost during this offseason. Just the free agents they lost, not people they cut. So Malcolm Butler, Adoree Jackson, Adam Humphreys, those guys do not count in this equation. We didn't lose those free agents.

The Titans decided to cut them. And then on the other side, put those free agents. The Titans decided to cut them. And then on the other side, put the free agents that the Titans have signed. Now, it's not as simple as what they've lost and what they've gained. The money plays into. There is a cutoff for the NFL where if your contract is low enough, it won't matter. Now, I believe that that cutoff is $2 million. That is the cutoff of the compensatory pick formula. And it'll make more sense when we go through this. So on the left-hand side, the free agents that the Titans lost that signed for more than $2 million, Corey Davis. His deal was about $12.5 million per year on average. So $12.5 million for Corey Davis. His deal was about $12.5 million per year on average. So $12.5 million for Corey Davis.

Jonu Smith, also $12.5 million per year on his new deal. So those are the top two free agents. They both got $12.5 million per year. That's a big contract in the NFL. Okay, keep that in mind. Next, Jadavion Clowney. Clowney went to the Browns for $8 million. $8 million per year, so Jadavion Clowney.

Then you have Daquan Jones, who went to the Panthers for $4.1 million. And then you have Desmond King, who went to the Texans for $3 million. So what happens here is the NFL assigns a round in the draft to those different money amounts. So Corey Davis and John New Smith both got $12.5 million. That's a fourth round pick per the NFL. It only goes as high as a third round pick. So the Titans got a third round compensatory pick

that they just used in this draft from Jack Conklin leaving. You may be asking, why is Johnnie Smith and Corey Davis a fourth round pick, but Conklin was a third round pick? Conklin got 15 million dollars per year the difference from 12 and a half to 15 per the NFL constitutes the difference between a third and a fourth round value so Corey Davis and John O'Smith were both worth four round picks Clowney was a fifth at eight million. Daquan was a six at 4.1 and Desmond King was a three. So that's the people that the Titans have lost to free agency, their money amounts they were paid and what round corresponds. On the other side of your line, write the free agents the Titans have signed. First, Bud Dupree, $16.5 million.

Then, Danico Autry, $7.2 million. Then, Kevin Johnson, $2.3 million. And Kendall Lamb at $3.4 million. So we know that Desmond King was a seventh rounder for signing with the Texans for $3 million. So that means that Kevin Johnson at $2.3 million and Kendall Lamb at $3.4 million are seventh rounders as well. Danico Autry signed for $7.2 million, which is right around Jadavion Clowney's $8 million.

So they cancel out. So Danico Autry and Jadavion Clowney, Daquan Jones and Kevin Johnson, Kendall Lamb and Desmond King, all of those deals cancel each other out. Which means you have Bud Dupree at 16.5 versus

Corey Davis and Jonu Smith at 12.5. Bud Dupree cancels out one of those players. One. So the Titans had four free agents they signed. They had five free agents they lost. If you cancel out by pick value, that leaves one of Corey Davis and Jonu Smith. Bud Dupree cancels out, let's just say Corey Davis. That leaves Jonu Smith at $12.5 million per year. The round value associated with that per the NFL is a fourth round pick. Therefore, the Titans will get a fourth round pick next year estimated.

And there we go. That's how it works. Last year, it was even simpler last year. The Titans lost Jack Conklin. And then they lost Marcus Mariota. They signed Vic Beasley, and Vic Beasley and Marcus's money were right around the same, $9 million to $7.5 million.

So they canceled each other out. That left the Titans with one free agent that they lost. It was Jack Conklin, $15.5 million. That's a third-round pick per value, the highest that a comp pick will15.5 million. That's a third round pick per value, the highest that a comp pick will go. Therefore, the Titans got a third rounder, which they used this year on Elijah Molden. So that's how it all works. I certainly hope that that explanation was valid enough for you guys. Like I said, I really do think that a visual aid is what you really need to be able to see how it all works out. So I hope you wrote out that graph or make sure that you go to my Twitter at TicTacTitans

and check out on Wednesday where I retweeted the chart that Nick Corti put together for the Titans. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.