Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Mock Draft Monday - No Edges Allowed!! Non-Pass Rush Options at 22 & Mailbag Monday

Episode Date: March 8, 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 guys all had a fantastic weekend, but it is time for another week of Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast. And this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is presented by Bilt Bar, the best tasting protein bar in the galaxy. Make sure that you go to BiltBar.com right now. Use promo code LOCKEDON20 and you'll get 20% off your next order.

We actually have a lot of fun centered around Bilt Bar this week and we'll talk a little bit more about that later in the show. But as for today's episode, it's a Monday in the offseason. So that means it is time for Mock Draft Monday and Mailbag Monday. Now with recent Mock Draft Mondays, as you guys have probably noticed, pretty much everyone for the Titans at 22 has them going with edge rusher. So I promised you guys last week that the next few Mock Draft Mondays, we would do something a little bit different. And I'm going to keep that promise. And today we are going to look at what options the Titans would have with pick number 22,

their first round selection, when they didn't select an edge rusher. So I'm going to go over some possibilities that I think make a lot of sense and lead that into kind of an overall feeling that I'm getting about what the Titans could do in the draft this year. I think I'm going to be right. I think I'm going to be right about it. So we will talk about that to start this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And then of course it's Monday, so that means it's time to dive into the mailbag and answer

your guys' questions along with giving out some shout outs as well. So I'm going to dive into that in the second and third portion of today's show. So excited to be back with you guys, like I said, for another week of Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. Let's go. It is a Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

And I got to be honest with you guys. No matter how many times I record the intro for this show, playing it back, hearing the beat hit, I get so, so hyped up to talk Titans with you guys and talk football with you guys. And it's going to be a crazy week in the NFL. We've heard NFL executives talk about how it's going to be a massacre. It's going to be a massacre. It's going to be a bloodbath. We're going to see a generational shift in talent this week. Teams are going to be cutting great players left and right to try to get under the salary cap due to all of the COVID-19

impacts on the financial situation. So make sure that you are locked in here to the Locked on Titans podcast. Like I've mentioned, Monday through Friday content, the next few weeks in the NFL are going to be nuts and you're not going to want to miss a single episode. So make sure that you're subscribed to the show on whatever platform you do stream, whether that's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Radio.com app, Stitcher, doesn't matter. You can find me there. But let's dive into this Mock Draft Monday, and like I said to you guys, I made a promise I would do a non-Edge Rusher Mock

Draft Monday, and that's exactly what we got here. Shout out to the Draft Network, a great tool to do your own mock drafts, and I used it to kind of craft the scenario that could take place for the Tennessee Titans. So the number one scenario I want to talk about is a tough decision that the Titans would have to make. Number one, I selected with the 22nd pick for the Titans, Kadarius Toney, the wide receiver out of Florida. Now the caveat here is all the edge rushers were still on the board. Quiddie Paye, Jalen Phillips, Jason Owe, Gregory Russo, Azizu Jalare.

I could keep going, guys. All of the edge rushers were on the board, and that made it tough, but I told you guys a non-edge rusher mock draft Monday, but it leads me just to the philosophical question here of what would the Titans do if they had their choice of edge rusher or they had their choice of wide receiver, one of the other options that they could be looking at. In this mock draft, I went with Kadarius Toney. All three of the top cornerbacks were off the board. Caleb Farley, Patrick Sertan Jr., JC Horn.

So that made it easy. That's a position of need. I think that the Titans could look for a talented option if one were to drop them. If one of those three corners dropped to the Titans, I think they'd be silly not to take a look, and I would actually select that player at that moment in time, especially if it went this way. But one thing that I want to mention here, Kadarius Toney, more of a slot wide receiver, but he's going to be one of those explosive speed guys, a track star in his non-football life. He's 5'11", so he is smaller. He's not an incredibly polished route runner, but I've talked about a speed guy for the Titans who could

take the top off the defense, can also be used as a gadget player on jet sweeps, orbit motion. Think about the type of stuff that Tyreek Hill does for Kansas City. Now, I'm not saying Kadarius Toney is Tyreek Hill, but he's going to be a player in that vein, and I think the Titans' offense needs that sort of explosiveness and it would help the Titans diversify their offensive portfolio and maybe take the offense not to a different level in terms of production. It's hard to top what the Titans have done the last two years, but it would give them a couple extra pitches in their arsenal rather than just the fastball and the changeup that

in my opinion, we see from the Titans offense now. So Kadarius Tony, think, would make sense. Now, I picked Kadarius Toney at 22 because Rashad Bateman was off the board at 21. And the next mock draft that I want to talk about is a little bit different here. And it doesn't leave the Titans with the question of edge or a different position. It's kind of an easier call for the Titans. I took Rashad Bateman at pick 22 in the next mock draft that I went with. Guy, wide receiver out of Minnesota, but he's six foot one.

He is a well-rounded wide receiver. He's going to block a little bit. He's got good route running. He's got good ball catching ability. He'll high point a ball and go get it at six foot one. Like I said, he gives you a little more than Tony, who's mostly going to be a slot guy. He can play outside. He can play inside. And I like having that versatility with that No. 2 wide receiver behind A.J. Brown. I think Bateman would be a perfect complement. And in my opinion, I would take Bateman over Tony.

But remember that first mock draft, Bateman went to the Colts at 21. And I think it is going to be tough for the Titans to find a way to land Bateman, but with Kadarius Toney and Rashad Bateman, those are two wide receivers that I would consider for the Tennessee Titans at pick 22, even possibly over an edge rusher, just based on the up and down nature of the evaluations for edge rushers here, but in this mock draft where I took Bateman, Jalen Phillips, Quiddie Paye, Gregory Russo were all off the board. So in that position, different than the Kadarius Tony pick, where all the edge rushers were still on the board

and maybe the Titans could make a move and still get one that they prefer, this, you're in danger zone here. You're in danger zone if you have a couple more edge rushers go, you have Aziz Ujalaire, you have Owego, whatever flavor the team's like in that scenario. Now you're putting yourself in a position where, yeah, you have Owego, whatever flavor the team's like in that scenario. Now you're putting yourself in a position where, yeah, you got Rashad Bateman, but you might be missing out on one of the top five, one of the top six edge rushers.

So that would be a tough call. But for me, in that position with Ojalare still on the board, Owe still on the board, I would still go with Rashad Bateman because I have come to covet Rashad Bateman as one of the top four receivers in this class rather than having Rashad Bateman just kind of mid below and underneath these edge rushers. The reality here is with the edge group, there are so many different guys. There's no lock on who the number one edge is, who the number three, top three edge rushers are. Everyone's up and down on their evaluation. It's all about your personal preference and how you think they'll fit in your scheme. To me, Rashad Bateman is a slam dunk wide receiver too for the Titans,

and I wouldn't be able to pass him up even with three edge rushers off the board. The last mock draft that I want to talk about, I'm going to go through it quickly. It's kind of off the beaten path, but Quiddie Paye was gone. All the other edge rushers were on the board. All three of the top cornerbacks were gone. Paye was gone. All the other edge rushers were on the board. All three of the top cornerbacks were gone. Bateman was gone and I decided to go with Christian Barmore, the interior defensive lineman from Alabama. So the knocks here and the concerns about Barmore is

he was never a full-time starter at Alabama. Now that could be due to just the immense talent that they have on defense and on the defensive line or it could be a signal that maybe he isn't a starter-type player or someone who can consistently dominate through a game, but the guy's 6'5", incredible raw power, doesn't have a lot in the way of pass rush moves or technique at this moment in time, but that could be due to limited playing time, limited reps,

so it's all kind of baked in there, but he shows versatility across the line. He can play the one technique, which is like a nose tackle. He can play the three technique. Think about Jeffrey Simmons in a four-man front. He can play the four technique in certain circumstances where he's outside on the offensive tackle. So he does give you versatility. I think if the Titans let Daquan Jones go, that could be an option, but I just wanted to go with something off the beaten path. I will say I would be surprised by that move, but if the Titans were to trade back into the end of the first round, then somebody like Barmore could make a little bit more sense to replace Daquan Jones, give the Titans a little more size, a little more young power and explosiveness on the defensive line. The last

thing that I want to mention here is something that I talked about on Twitter, and I think this could be a trade up year for the Titans. Whether that be trading up with their first round pick. To identify the edge rusher that they want. And jump on them before anybody else. But my prediction here is. That with pick 22. The Titans do not select an edge rusher.

Because of the like I said the up and down evaluations of the class. I think the Titans go with a cornerback. The Titans maybe an offensive lineman, maybe guys, maybe, but could look at wide receiver. If somebody like Kyle Pitts, by God, were to drop, I would tell the Titans to do that in a heartbeat. I think the Titans could look for an explosive playmaker at cornerback, at wide receiver, maybe at the defensive line, and then use their second round pick and trade up back into the end of the first round or into the early second round and then attack

the edge rusher position. I think the edge rushers will go from 18 to 40, 18 to 45 in there, I think, is a range where all of these edge rushers that we've talked about the top five top six top seven will go so to me look for the Titans to take an explosive playmaker of some kind at 22 and then trade up with their second round pick and identify the edge rusher that they need to me that's my prediction of what the Titans will do and these mock drafts that I talked about are a scenario where that could take place but that's going to do it for our mock drafts that I talked about are a scenario where that could take place. But that's going to do it for our Mock Draft Monday. We are going to go into the Mailbag Monday portion of today's show where I read and respond to your guys' questions.

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If you want to send me your Mailbag Monday question, you have a couple of different ways you can do that. I always put a Mailbag tweet up in the mid-afternoon, sometimes the late morning on Sunday on Twitter, at TicTacTitans, or you can put your question in a review on Apple iTunes, and I will get to it there as well. We are going to dive into the Monday Mailbag, but before we do, I want to remind you guys about the new podcast from the Locked On Podcast Network, and that is Locked On Today. For example, Big Ben back in the yellow and black. Is it good or bad for the Pittsburgh Steelers?

That's the type of story you're going to hear about on Locked On Today. It's basically like having the sports section read to you. And best of all, it's under 20 minutes. So you're getting all of the biggest sports stories, not just in football, but all of sports under 20 minutes. It's hosted by Peter Bukowski from the Locked On Packers podcast. I've been on Locked On today before. I've had good crossovers with Peter.

In my opinion, he's one of the most talented people in our network. So you've got to check out the Locked On Today podcast. Just a beautiful segue from my show. If you listen to it in the morning, you got a couple extra minutes to drive. My 28 to 30 minutes doesn't fill up your full commute. Just pop on the 20-minute Locked On Today and get all of your general sports news as well. But let's dive into this mailbag, and I do have a couple questions from last week that

came in after the buzzer that I do need to get into. Number one, Wesley Surgeon. What's up, Wes? He said, if we don't extend Corey Davis, who do you see as a good wide receiver two to pair up with AJ Brown? Who would be your top free agent pick for wide receiver or draft prospect for wide receiver two? So I'm going to dive into this, and I think that it's funny. A bunch of people were replying to him. Someone said Will Fuller. Someone said bring Godwin to Nashville, and I think that it's funny a bunch of people were replying to him someone said Will Fuller someone said bring Godwin to Nashville and I dig that guys I dig those answers but those guys are going to be more expensive in my opinion than the Titans are going to want to pay at that point uh Chris Godwin's a little bit better than Corey Davis in my opinion Will Fuller when healthy and

not suspended on PDs uh is probably I wouldn't even say better than Corey Davis he's just a different element and I think that his element of speed would wouldn't even say better than Corey Davis. He's just a different element. And I think that his element of speed would be better for the Titans than Corey Davis and what he brings, even though I see them as similar players talent wise. Um, but I think both those guys will be out of the price range to me. I'll do this. I'll give you a couple of different answers. If, if the Titans spend some money at the position, I would like to see a guy like Curtis Samuel. I think that makes a lot of sense. If the Titans go with an aging veteran,

they just want some consistency. I have been all over Marvin Jones. I think that would be a pretty good fit. He'd probably be pretty cheap at this point. The cap numbers and my estimates are going even further down than I thought. Marvin Jones could be looking at like $3 to $4 million based on what we're going to see here from free agency.

I had about $5 to $6 million on him. I think it might be closer to $3 to $4 now. I think players are going to have to take some major discounts, and we're going to see some crazy contracts and one-year deals that we didn't suspect. So to me, that would be an aging vet. That would also be a decent-priced guy. If the Titans want to go with a young guy

who still has some potential, I'm kind of high on Hollywood Higgins, Rashad Higgins, who played for the Browns last year. I think putting him in the Titans offense for a cheap contract would be very interesting. I think he could give you, you know, 70, 75% of Corey Davis's production for a lot less money than Corey Davis is going to get. I do think no matter what the Titans do out of all those options that I just mentioned, I do think that getting a wide receiver in the draft would still be important. And regardless of who they get in free agency, I think a guy like Rashad Bateman, who I talked about in the mock draft Monday open, I think that would be my primary target in the draft for the Titans that makes sense skill-wise and talent-wise, but also makes sense with

where the Titans are picking. So that's what I would be looking for. The next question that I have here, let me scroll up through my bookmarks. This is a payback question again, but Kyle Fulton, I'm doubling back down to this question because Kyle reached back out to me and kind of guided me to what he really wanted me to answer on the seven-on-seven question. So first, let's talk about high school style seven on seven. And that's different than flag football style. As you know, Kyle points

out here, there's no pass rush. There's no blocking. The quarterback has a set time to throw. He has a center who snaps him the ball, but then it's your five eligible pass catchers against seven linebackers and defensive backs. So I'm going to answer this in two different ways. Number one, the offensive lineup that I would use for the Titans. Obviously, Ryan Tannehill you want out there. Because there's no running, it's just a passing exercise, I'm going to have Darrington Evans out there to give me wheel routes, to give me seam routes, to give me quick flats, things like that, to give me seam routes, to give me quick flats, things like that, to give me angle routes.

I'm going to have Darrington Evans over Derrick Henry in the high school version of 7-on-7. I'm also going to have Anthony Ferkser and Jonu Smith as my slot receivers over the middle of the field. I think Ferk gives you separation against man coverage that kind of mirrors a slot receiver in a sense. And then Jonu, obviously the run after the catch ability getting open over the middle of the field would be very helpful and then of course I'll have AJ and Corey out there at wide receiver and again I'm using the 2020 roster for the Titans because I don't know what things are going to look like in 2021 at this moment in time on defense I'm going with Adoree Jackson Malcolm Butler um Jayon Brown Kevin Byardi Hooker, and Christian Fulton.

So Fulton, Adoree, Malcolm, Byard, Hooker, Jayon. I think that's only six. And Desmond King. Yeah, there it is in my notes. Desmond King. So to me, Desmond King can function as a linebacker with this group. You'll have Fulton. You'll have Adoree.

You'll have Malcolm. You have Amani Hooker who can function as a slot cornerback and a safety. You have Kevin Byron who can play deep or function as a slot guy as well. And then you have Jayon and Desmond King who can play that over-the-middle linebacker role. So I really like that as a 7-on-7 high school style defensive lineup. Now as for 7-on-7 flag football where you're playing both ways, there's pass rush, there's running, you can block. As Kyle points out here, ways. There's pass rush. There's running. You can block. As Kyle

points out here, no hands on the pass rush, but all the blockers can be receivers too. I'm going to make a mismatch of defensive and offensive players. I'm going to have Ryan Tannehill out there because you just need a solid quarterback. I thought about maybe using Derrick Henry as a quarterback in this situation. Run a little king cat, but a wild king, whatever you want to call it. But I went with Ryan Tannehill. I want that solid quarterback play. Derrick Henry over Darrington Evans here because you can run the ball,

and flag football is a little bit different than high school seven on seven. So I'm using Derrick Henry, and Henry can play as a linebacker on defense. I'll have Tannehill playing that deep safety. Remember, he was a wide receiver at times in college, so I'm not worried about the athleticism of Ryan Tannehill scanning the field, playing deep safety.

Derek Henry at linebacker. I'm going to have A.J. Brown. I'm going to have Jonu Smith out there. Physical presences, I'm not worried about them on defense. And then I'm going to have Corey Davis and Desmond King. Again, Desmond King coming up here. I just think he adds good versatility. He's really good with the ball in his hands, was an excellent punt returner for a lot of his career. And when he was in college,

we saw what he did on that forced fumble, taking it to the house. The guy's a natural with the ball in his hands. So I would want to utilize his defensive abilities and then his ability with the ball in his hands as a seven on seven flag football player. So that's my seven, Tannehill, Henry, AJ, Jonu, Desmond King, and Corey Davis. So there you go. I hope I gave you a better answer this time on that for you, Kyle. Moving forward, though, to the next question. And it's from Kieran.

Kieran Shaker, he said, With the limitations of the edge players in the current draft, are you worried about drafting under the current staff considering the regression of the Titans defensive players last season? So yes, I'm going to say yes to that question. So the thing about the draft class at the edge right now that everyone's talking about is there's a lot of talented players, but none of them are a home run and they all have down and they all have upside, and there's a lot of potential in the group. But a lot of these players that are draft eligible as edge rushers are going to require some development. They're going to require a lot of technique work.

And I do have to say I'm disappointed by Jeffrey Simmons' technique work. I'm disappointed by the lack of pass rush moves we've seen from Harold Landry. Now, I will counter this and be fair. The Titans have had a lot of talent at edge rusher. John Robinson hasn't done a great job of stocking the edge rusher cabinet. Yeah, he went out and got Clowney and Beasley, but those guys got hurt or Beasley was just a bum. So I'm kind of in a weird spot right now where I'm having a hard time judging the development

of the Titans players and Harold Landry having to do so much and not having a consistent mate on the other side to kind of balance things out and with how much they dropped him into coverage, which is the Titans' own fault there. It's just hard to tell right now exactly how much development the Titans have had, but from Harold Landry, who's the number one case study for me, I'm not impressed with his development and I do blame the coaching staff and Shane Bowen for that, but we will see how things go if the Titans are able to get some competent edge rushers. We are going to move forward, though, into the second portion of our Mailbag Monday.

I'm going to answer some more questions from you guys. Those were all payback questions. We are going to get to the second portion of the questions next. Before we do, I do want to tell you guys about another one of our friends here, and that is BuiltBar.com, the best-tasting protein bar in the galaxy. We're having some fun with Built Bar this week and going forward. We are doing Built Bar Madness. We have been telling you about Built Bar, the best-tasting protein bar on the market for a while now.

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today's matchup and who will become the best tasting protein bar of all the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy. It's Peanut Butter Crunch. That's the answer. We'll get there later. Anyways, going to move forward into the second portion of today's mailbag next. Let's dive into the back half of the mailbag here. Before we do, though, I do want to tell you guys about something really cool

that we're doing at the Locked On Podcast Network. And obviously, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson could be on the move this offseason looking like likely trade candidates. Tune in to Locked On Seahawks and Locked On Texans to hear what our local experts are willing to trade for those star quarterbacks. Kind of a crossover segment that we have been doing. Listen to Locked on Seahawks and Locked on Texans on radio.com app or wherever you get

your podcast. And I do want to let you guys know, I kind of made up this idea when it came to JJ Watt. I proposed to the network that we do kind of a crossover where everybody kind of lays out why they would be a good place for JJ Watt, I proposed to the network that we do kind of a crossover where everybody kind of lays out why they would be a good place for J.J. Watt. They have taken that idea, kind of molded it into more of a quarterback-centric thing where these hosts for the Locked On Podcast Network, our local experts, kind of debate and give what packages they would potentially put together to snag these quarterbacks. I think it's a very interesting thought experiment.

I think it's a very entertaining podcast as well. So make sure that you guys check those two shows out for those trade breakdowns and trade offers, especially the locked on Texans. Obviously, that's going to impact the Titans in a major way. But let's get back into this mailbag. The next question that I'm going to answer here is from R underscore Foth, T Foth on Twitter. He said, Tyler, Mickey Mouse scenario time. How would you feel and does it seem realistically possible if the Titans would take an edge rusher, let's say Phillips at 22, then trade our second, a third,

and a sixth to move up in the early second to grab Christian Barmore? Hey, Christian Barmore. I already talked about it, so we're on the same page. Thoughts? Okay, so I mentioned this earlier, but I do think, I don't know if it would be that way. I could see it being the Titans taking a different position than edge rusher at 22 and then trading up again to get that edge rusher that they want as edge rushers fall down the board because of the up and down evaluations on them and the depth in the first tier first and second tier of the edge rush market so I don't think that that's unrealistic I think it's incredibly possible I'm actually going to forecast that that happens but I see it the other way where the Titans take something else at 22 and then come back up in the early second late first and get their edge rusher of choice. Next, we have a question from Generic White Male.

I'm not even, can I pet your dog? Okay, that's what the Twitter handle is. Sweet. He said, what's the best Drake track ever and why is it 5 a.m. in Toronto? Okay, 5 a.m. in Toronto is a banger, but let me tell you this generic white male. I can't do this. I can't, I can't, I can't do it. I spent about 15, 20 minutes scrolling through all the Drake's albums earlier. And I was even going to give you like my favorite song off each album. And I got to take care and I wrote down five. So I can't do this. I just simply can't. I love all his music way too much. What I will tell you as a consolation answer here, generic white male, can I pet your dog? I'm dying. But of Drake's new compilation he put out on Friday, Scary Hours 2, Lemon Pepper Freestyle is my favorite song out of the three. A couple

of bars that really stood out to me. He says, I ushered in a new generation. These are where my confessions live. So anybody who's an Usher fan sees the double entendre there. Really love that. I'm a big fan of Usher. That's just so clever. What draws me to rap is the cleverness with words. Obviously, that's what I like.

Also, he says instant noodles and sriracha. I could still taste it back when mom was too tired to cook and all we had was the basics. He repeats the line again in a way, but for me, a lot of my life, I ate dinner. I'm eating ramen noodles for dinner because that's what we had and it's better than not eating. So lines like that, even though Drake's a multi-millionaire celebrity, blah, blah, blah. At the end of the day, for dinner because that's what we had and it's better than not eating so lines like that even though Drake's a multi-millionaire celebrity blah blah at the end of the day I relate to that struggle and going through it when we were younger and that relatability to me and Drake being vulnerable about the down times in his life the bad. Rap is all about machismo and bragging rights and,

you know, I got this girl, I got this jewelry, I got this money, I'm this guy, blah, blah, blah. The ability to show vulnerability and show that you have flaws, you have lost in life, the emotion that's required to do that is what draws me so deeply to Drake's music. So I can't answer that. But Lemon Pepper Freestyle, fantastic. And any of those Drake songs with samples in the back, Look What You've Done, Too Much, all of that, those always really get me. So he's speaking in that one. Moving forward, Derek Shuler. Derek, sorry that I didn't answer both your questions last week.

I guess I only answered one. I missed one. My apologies. But he says, what's your favorite movie of all time? And was someone chopping onions near you at the end of WandaVision? Because that sure happened to me. My favorite movie of all time is The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger, Christian Bale. By far my favorite movie.

I've seen it over a thousand times. I'm not joking. I've seen it over a thousand times. I know every single word. I love that movie. It's fantastic. Obviously, I'm a comic book guy, but that is not just a comic book movie. That is a fantastic movie. One of the top 10 movies of all time, period. You add in the fact that it's Batman, my favorite fictional character ever, the performance from Heath Ledger, clearly my favorite movie of all time. Yeah, I'm not even ashamed to admit it, guys. I shed a few tears at the end of WandaVision. The lines that they had there in the last few episodes,

what is grief if not love persevering? That's writing right there. And then at the end, when the wave is crashing down on them, the Hex, they look at each other and says, you know, we've said goodbye before, so it stands to reason that we will say hello again. Oh, man. Woo! Woo. What an episode.

Elizabeth Olsen is a hot, spicy tamale. And in that new costume, the costume is freaking awesome the way that it happened the story this is basically an origin story movie for the scarlet witch and uh it starts a little slow if you're somebody who's maybe not into it as much as me it does start a little slow but god it picks up at about episode four and what a great ride I miss it already quite frankly so yeah I got a little emotional at the end. I'm a passionate guy. As you guys probably know,

I'm invested in the things that I love and I love comic book movies in the MCU and WandaVision was just fantastic television and I'll never, never. I am kind of salty though that they made Pietro Quicksilver from the Fox universe just a boner joke. That is a little disappointing,

but overall, I'm very happy with what I saw. Next, we have Jorge Espinoza. Shout out, Jorge, man. You're always sending in questions. I appreciate you. What do you think of how the NBA handled their All-Star Game stuff? Okay, I totally disagree with what the NBA has done with the All-Star Game. It's a complete money grab.

They're trying to act like they're giving money to HBCUs, and that justifies it. The NBA has enough money that they could make those donations to HBCUs without a money grab of an All-Star game. We already had this over the weekend before the All-Star game. Joe Ellenbead and Ben Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers were unable to play due to contract tracing. Imagine if they would have been able to play. Imagine if there's contract tracing they're not aware of for other players. You're taking all of the league's

best 24-25 players, putting them in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the most historic champagne and campaign towns in the universe, and then dispersing all of them back to their home teams with all the players. I mean, you could have a league altering situation if things went bad. Imagine if a couple of the league's top players got COVID and took it back to their teams and we came out of the all-star break and multiple teams couldn't play for two weeks and the star players in the NBA were unavailable for a few weeks because they played the all-star game in Atlanta. I just think it's too risky. It was a silly move. And Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons not being able to play, I think is kind of a black eye and example of why it was a dumb move. It just doesn't make any sense. It was a pure money grab. So next, Philip Motley. What's up, Phil, my dog? He said, okay, so always wonder this. Explain dead cap space. Does that mean the player gets that so the team loses it or it's just money lost to no

one? Explain that please. Okay, so dead money is money that was already paid to a player. So imagine, so the way that it works is a player gets a signing bonus or bonus money or guaranteed money. Let's call it they get their guarantees up front, but that guaranteed money is spread out amongst the life of the contract. So perfect example, we gave Adam Humphreys all that guaranteed money is spread out amongst the life of the contract so perfect example we gave Adam Humphries all his guaranteed money already but that was spread out

over the course of the contract so he had five million dollars worth of guaranteed money due to him this year now he already has that money but but for the Titans that's money that they already paid so it has to stay on the books. That's the way that works. So it's dead money. The player already got that money. It was guaranteed money that they've already received based on how their contract was set up. But the way that it works is it's spread out through the life of the contract.

Now you can alter that a little bit with voidable years, which is what the Steelers just did with Big Ben. So there is no dead cap on those years. They're just voidable. Steelers just did with Big Ben. So there is no dead cap on those years. They're just voidable, but that's not the contract that the Titans set up with Adam Humphreys when they signed him as a free agent. So dead cap is money that was already paid out to the player as a guarantee and can't be taken off the books no matter what. So that's what it is. It's not just money that's gone. That money did go to the player, but it was just given to the player at a previous time based on the setup of their contract.

Have a question here that did come from a review. Fatboy Guar from Georgia. He said, I'm in Georgia and a huge Titans fan since 1996. Like to see two away games this year. Of the away games, which is your most go-see picks for 2021. Thanks. Love the podcast. So allow you guys behind the curtain here.

I'm going to flip through my notebook. We talked about the schedule a few weeks ago or last week and the away games. New England Patriots, New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, and then of course the division games. To me, out of those games, I would like to go see the Patriots game in New England. I want to go to Boston. It's a historical place. Seems like a great place to go catch a game. All of the history there, I would enjoy being there. And it's the Titans' first chance to play the Patriots after completely destroying their dynasty and ending the Patriots' dynasty. So I would like to see the Titans go back in New England. And Mike Vrabel, just remind Bill Belichick one more time, hey bud, I ruined your

dynasty. I'm here. I'm going to crush you like a grape. So that would be pretty cool. I also think the Titans will win that game. So that's kind of high on my list and then the next one would be a very tough game for the Titans but I would like to go to that Seattle Seahawks game um what CenturyLink the clink the link I think that's what they call it either way just the whole vibe in Seattle the 12th man all of that they'll probably still have Russell Wilson I think it would be an entertaining game Seattle just seems like a great place to watch a football game, and I wouldn't mind checking out Seattle. It was between the Los Angeles Rams game and Seattle because I would like to visit Los Angeles and check everything out.

Obviously, a lot of you guys know I'm a big Lakers fan too, so I could check a bunch of boxes on my bucket list for life by doing that, but it would be hard to pass up the opportunity to watch that Seahawks game in their stadium up in Seattle. I just think it would be an incredible environment, and I am all about experience and environment. Those are the things I chase in life. So, to me, I wouldn't be able to pass up, you know, checking out that game and that kind of stadium and that kind of environment. So, that is my answer for that question. I don't have a question here for you, but I do feel I owe it to the guy. I mentioned him earlier and answered his question, but Derek Shuler, I missed one of your questions

last week. My apologies for that, but Derek left a review, a five-star review on Friday, and I appreciate it. He said, I discovered the podcast a year ago, and hands down, it's the best Titans podcast out there. Tyler brings the energy and gets me pumped every time he says, let's get it. Thanks, man. Not everybody loves that.

I find myself doing it along with him. That really makes me hype, man. I will keep on listening because he's the man. Glad they have great Titans fans running this podcast. Keep it up. Thanks. Thanks, man. I really do appreciate it.

Like I said last week on Twitter, I'm always going to bring energy. I'm always going to bring passion because you guys have energy and passion for the Titans. And if I got here on, if I got on here every day with how blessed I am to do this and didn't have the same passion and energy to match you guys with your fandom, I would be embarrassed. Not every show is the best show. I have good shows. I have bad shows. It's just like everything else.

I'm not great every single day. But one thing I will promise you is I will have energy and I will have passion about this team because that's what bonds us together at the end of the day. You don't listen to me because I know every single schematic thing in the NFL. I don't. I'm not Greg Cassell. I have a good understanding, but I'm not that. You don't listen to me because I'm Adam Schefter and I have every coach in the NFL on speed dial and know all these little secrets. You listen to me because we get to have a conversation essentially

with each other every day about this football team and about the thing that we love, the thing that we're passionate about, and all the ins and outs of this team. And I love that. I appreciate that. So thank you very much, Derek. I appreciate you.

I appreciate all you guys who send in questions. Take time to listen to the show. I think it's going to be a crazy, awesome week on the show with everything going on in the NFL. A lot of should the Titans sign segments, I would imagine. But a great start to the week, a long episode. Hopefully you guys had a good, safe, enjoyable weekend, and it gets us off to a great week in general, not just on the podcast, but for you guys in your lives as well.

I've rambled quite enough today. It's a 40-minute episode. My God, they are going to be knocking on my door tomorrow, 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. ... ...

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