Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans OTAs: No QB battle in Nashville, other observations

Episode Date: May 22, 2019

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you today? Doing well. What's going on? Oh, not a whole lot. We actually have some stuff to talk about today, which is good. We're going to have, hopefully, Mike Keith next week. So keep an eye out for that.

We also had Jonathan Hutton last week. So if you missed either one of those episodes, go back and find those. The way that you cannot miss those in the future would be to go ahead and subscribe to the podcast. So wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Himalaya, whatever it is, just find Locked on Titans there, subscribe. You'll get the newest shows as soon as they're available. I remind you, Terry and I write for MuseumMiracles.com. That's where we cover the Titans for SB Nation.

So you can check that out. You can also follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry's at tlamberttn. Today we're going to talk a little bit about OTAs. Titans did their first OTA with the whole team yesterday. So a few observations from that. Unsurprisingly, we have a quarterback controversy talk going already,

which is ridiculous. So we'll get into that discussion a little bit. And then General McCoy got released and Dominick and Stu signed. So we'll talk a little bit about that and what remaining need the Titans still have on the defensive line. All right, so starting off with the Marcus Mariota, Ryan Tannehill stuff. Marcus Mariota, Ryan Tannehill stuff. Look, we knew when the Titans acquired Ryan Tannehill earlier this offseason that there was going to be a segment of the fan base that would try to make it into a quarterback controversy.

Now, any time that John Robinson has been asked, any time that Mike Braybill has been asked, including yesterday, they have both made it very clear that there is not a quarterback controversy on this team, and Marcus Mariota is the quarterback. Now, but I mean, you know, some people hate Mariota. Some people just want a quarterback controversy. I don't know, whatever it is. But, you know, like I said, unsurprisingly yesterday,

apparently Marcus Mariota didn't look great in portions of practice. And so now all of a sudden Marcus Mariota is not a good practice player. This competition should be open. All that kind of stuff is going on. Here's my few thoughts on it, and then I'll let you go with it as well. One, it would be really dumb, in my opinion, it would be really dumb for the Titans not to be committed to Mariota here. They've got to figure out this year whether or not he is worth signing to a long-term deal.

And I wrote a post about this from UC Miracles earlier today. But really, there are kind of two really bad outcomes that could come from this season for the Titans as far as the future of Mariota is concerned. Number one, he's a mediocre quarterback, and you commit $100 million to him. Number two, he's a franchise quarterback, and you let him walk into free agency for nothing. The Titans have got to do their best to figure out if either one of those things are true this year or not. Now, he could get hurt again.

They may not get a definitive answer or whatever. But if you're playing this game of, well, we're not really committed to him. We're going to make this a competition. He's going to be looking over his shoulder all year. I don't think you ever really have the chance to find that out. So, for me, that is, and aside from who's better, I mean, we can talk about that as well, but for the future of this franchise, the Titans have got to figure out what Marcus Mariota is. And the only way that they have a chance of doing that is to commit to him this year and see how that plays out.

And, of course, the counterpoint to that is he's been here for four years, right? Right. out and of course the counterpoint to that is he's been here for four years right right i mean and and while that's true i'd argue that a lot of things have not gone his way and you know like we said at a certain point in time you just have to accept that's that that's who he is but uh i think the titans are treating this like one last chance um You know, the coaching staff has just denied any sort of quarterback competition. Yet, of course, you're going to see that. I mean, people have their minds made up on Marcus Marietta. I don't think me or you do right now. We were certainly firm believers last year, you know, rewind 365 days.

We're all aboard the Marietta train. Now we're not so sure. We're in wait-and-see mode. But, like you said, there's a segment that have made their minds up about this quarterback situation. So, you know, we said it when it was heightened, traded for him. You know, training camp and OTAs, stuff like this, it was going to be brutal because, you know, you were going to see a good throw from Tannehill,

and that meant that he deserved to start next Sunday, and that's just not how it is. So what you don't need to do with your Twitter account is sit there and watch Twitter highlights and dissect every single throw and say, well, Tannehill nailed this, and Mariota was a little high. Why isn't there a quarterback competition? That's not productive.

That's not real life. You're not seeing it from the whole picture. You're just getting a snippet of information out of a Twitter video. That's what bothers me. This is Mariota's job. I don't think he could do anything to lose it outside of getting injured in training camp here.

It's Mariota's job. A lot of people aren't going to here so it's mario's job a lot of people aren't going to accept that you know tannehill's going to get his chance you know that's the thing that's what he was brought in here to do uh to back up marcus mariotta mario's probably going to get hurt if he does titans will be going in a different direction this year but um you got to let it play out i mean so many people just want to make this a thing, and I don't think it deserves to be quite yet. Yeah, and I mean, I get he's been here for four years, and you should know.

Yeah, I think that's the most frustrating part of this, and so I don't really hammer people for that argument because, yeah, I mean, sure, if you don't have an answer in four years you have your answer right i do get that i just i still feel like there's so many circumstances that have been somewhat outside of his control that have kept us from from seeing what he is you know and we've talked i mean obviously so much about that like you said i mean at this point last year we were all in marcus mariotta believers i mean when they brought him out with Fleur, there was no doubt in my mind that Marcus Mariota was going to be great,

and we were going to see him take that next step. Obviously, that didn't happen, injuries, whatever else. And there have been times where he seems like he's healthy and his play on the field just hasn't been good enough. So, yeah, I mean, I get it all. And I've moved from being 100% confident that he's going to be good to now just not being sure. But I think that that is maybe the more, I don't know, fair place to be.

That's just what it feels like to me. And, again, like you said, it's such a waste of time to try to create a controversy when everybody inside the building is saying there's not one. And so no matter how much you want it to be there, just, like I said, move on from it. Don't worry about practice. There's somebody, I can't remember who it was, they were talking about some, I guess a Dolphins writer that talks about, you know, Tannehill always looks great in practice.

So, you know, kind of be wary of that because he looks like a different player in practice than he does in the games. I had somebody come to me today about, well, you know, Blaine Gabbert, I guess apparently Travis Haney said that Blaine Gabbert, I don't know if consistently was the word that he used. I didn't actually read Haney's article. But that he consistently, or at least at a lot of points last year, looked sharper in practice than Marcus Mariota did.

You know what, that's fine. That's all well and good. But we saw the difference in those two on the field. And as bad as Marcus Mariota was was at times last year he was still a huge upgrade over blaine gabbert so to me that is a if that's true that gabbert looked better in practice to me that's a that's a huge like red flag to say okay just because a guy is looking like a you know a pro bowler in practice it doesn't always translate to the field so to me that's an argument against getting too high on Tannehill and his practice.

But, you know, like I said, some people are not taking it that way. Yeah, and I'd point out, too, Marcus Mariota is a gamer. And, you know, I don't really like that term, but lights come on in the fourth quarter. That's a guy that you want on your side. You know, we didn't get to see it last year a whole lot because he was banged up. But time and time again, when the game's been on the line, Marietta shows up. Whether it's with his legs or with his arms or catching a pass in Kansas City from himself, it just seems to come through.

Once again, it's an OTA. All this has come from an OTA practice with some Twitter videos. That's mind-blowing to me. I'm really concerned for my well-being on Twitter this training camp because I think it's going to be pretty ugly. Yeah, it is a long way from now, training camp. And the commitment we can make is that this will be the last time that we talk about Ryan Tannehill other than if we're talking about his performance in a preseason game or if when Marcus Mariano gets hurt and Tannehill's the star of that week.

That's it for us. We're not going to do this. We're not going to be breaking down completions versus incompletions for both guys in camp. There's not a controversy. There's not a controversy. That's what we're going to move with going forward. All right, coming up, we will talk a little bit more about some things that happened in the OTAs yesterday on Tuesday.

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Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, faster choice, and we appreciate them sponsoring this podcast. Okay, so OTAs. And, again, we talked about how things that don't really matter, that you can't take away that much from one on-the-field workout. But I think there are some things that we can take away from. The biggest thing that stood out to me, just watching the highlight stuff yesterday that was posted on Twitter,

was the fact that Delaney Walker was out there running around. You know, there's been a lot of talk about how he's going to come back, what he would look like once he comes back. There was some talk that he still wasn't running. Some concern as far as that was, some concern from that. But he was out there yesterday, looked to be a full participant in, you know, I mean, they were just in helmets and shorts. But the fact that he's out there running around, getting the work in now,

I think is a really good sign for where he will be once we get to training camp. Yeah, it's something that we took for granted. I mean, we joked throughout the draft process about the Titans in their tight end room. You know, so many mocks had them taking a tight end. But we seemed pretty convinced that that he was going to come back and be fine but there's some lingering doubt there with his age i mean he's mid 30s now so um just to see him back out there uh you know he described himself

as about 85 so that seems like he's he's going to be on track for for this fall um i'll be interested to see what they get out of him because he was a dynamic player a couple years back. I think he seemed to lose a step in the last season that he played. Just real interested to see if they can get him back because that's a huge part of this offense that Marcus Mariota didn't have last year. You want to talk about the Mariota debate, you've got to throw that in there too. didn't have last year. You want to talk about the Mariota debate, you've got to throw that in there too.

I think a lot of people forget that Delaney Walker was on the shelf for the entire season last year. You talk about Rashard Matthews, you talk about losing him. That's two huge parts of this offense that used to be two huge parts of this offense that Mariota didn't have. So getting him back, adding in A.J. Brown another year for Corey Davis to get it, Adam Humphreys, you know, add Roger Saffold onto this offensive line, it's an exciting time. Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, I mean, he's just such a huge piece of that offense, and a guy that we know that Marcus Mariota can rely on when things kind of break down,

a guy that you know is going to run to the right spot, run the right route, all that kind of stuff. So it will be huge to have him back out there. Another thing, A.J. Brown spent some time after practice working with Corey Davis, so that was really cool to see. Also, by all accounts, A.J. Brown was one of the last ones off the field after the rookie OTA or the rookie minicamp, whatever that's called. So, again, I mean, I don't know that that necessarily means

that he's going to be a great receiver, but you appreciate a guy that's willing to come in here and put in the work. We've had some receivers that were highly touted, you know, guys like Kenny Britt, Doreal Green-Beckham, but, you know, had some work ethic slash off-the-field issues. A.J. Brown seems to be a guy that's really committed to his craft, committed to what's going on on the field. I mean, you see all the pictures.

The DK Metcalf stuff was what got all that buzz during the pre-draft process with that picture of him and A.J. Brown in the weight room. But A.J. Brown is a pretty physical specimen himself. So we're all aboard this new Titans wide receiver hype train. I just hope this one doesn't end in utter despair like it seems like every other one has. And with him, I haven't seen many highlights yet. We haven't seen him even in a preseason game.

But he feels different. I mean, maybe it's just me, but just his mentality, his demeanor, he just feels different. He feels like he's coming in here with confidence. You think about all these draft picks that, you know, even Corey Davis, you had the injury that he was dealing with, so we didn't get to see him early on. But A.J. Brown comes in here, and he feels like a pro already.

Already looks the part, obviously. But to see him out there getting the work in with Corey Davis, with Marcus Mariota, I just have a good gut feeling about him. And, you know, it's easy to not have confidence in the Titans and a receiver, especially a draft pick, because we've just been down this road so many times. But he just feels different, does he to you? Yeah, absolutely he does.

And like I said, just all the other stuff. And there's no – you know, with everybody else, it was like he could be great, but – you know what I'm saying? Like there was always something, whether it be off the field, injury, you know, whatever it was, and he doesn't have any of that stuff. So hopefully that means we're going to get a different result this time. And listen, hopefully he and Corey Davis can kind of come into their own together with the addition of Adam Humphries as well.

But, I mean, you've got the chance to have a couple of young, dynamic receivers, and the Titans have never had, you know, I don't know if they've ever had a dynamic receiver, but they definitely have not ever had a couple of those. So hopefully that's something that we're going to see starting this year, but something they can build on in the future. On the other side of the ball, another thing that I really noticed that got much buzz was Cameron Wake being out there talking with the young guys.

And again, you have an edge group that is really, really young. And so to have a guy in here that has as much experience as he does, that's just going to be something that if he's willing to work with those guys, which apparently he is, they can take stuff away from him. And hopefully that whole group can be better for him being here. Yeah, absolutely. That's a really young room that could use some grooming. Even Harold Landry, who we think is the number one pass rusher on this team,

he could still use it from Cam Wake, a guy that's done it for a long time at a really high level. The other thing that stood out for me is Adam Humphreys. Just reading around, caught a lot of balls yesterday. I just think he's going to jive really well with Marcus Mariota's game. I think he's going to help this offense be a little crisper, be quicker, get open quicker so Marcus Mariota's not standing there in the pocket and waiting to get crushed. I think that's kind of where some of these injuries come from is him improvising and not getting the ball out of his hands. So I really like that addition.

And early on, it's already looking like he's going to be a productive player. Yeah, absolutely. And you made the point earlier about, like, Delaney Walker being back, just having a couple of those guys that he knows he can count on, he knows who they're going to be, get the ball out to them. I think that's going to be a huge upgrade for this offense this year. All right, coming up, we'll finish up the show with a little Indomitian Sioux-Gerald McCoy talk.

Okay, so since we last talked, Gerald McCoy was released by the Buccaneers. It's been out there for a while. They were trying to trade him. I guess apparently couldn't find a suitable trade partner, so they went ahead and gave him his outright release. Then you also had Ndamukong Tu signing with the Buccaneers. I think that was on either Monday or Tuesday.

I think General McCoy is interesting for this team. We talked a lot about the defensive line. We all have really high hopes for Jeffrey Simmons. We also know that we're not going to see him, probably at least until November, so they could stand to have somebody to work into that rotation in the meantime. I know they've got bodies, but I don't think they have really any productive bodies up front outside of Jarrell Casey. So I thought Indomitian Sioux was really interesting from the standpoint of,

you know you could probably get him on a one-year deal, a guy that could come in and fill that role that they hope Simmons will fill whenever he's ready. Gerald McCoy, I'm not sure. These guys are the same age. I didn't realize until we were talking before we came on the show that they came in the same class, were drafted back-to-back. And Dominick Asou seems that he's obviously in the point of his career

where he's playing on one-year deals. Everything that I've heard about Gerald McCoy is you're talking about a two- or three-year deal for him. So I think that's a little bit different because it might be tough to get McCoy, Simmons, and Jarrell Casey on the field at the same time once everybody's healthy. You're talking about heading into 2020. So you don't really have to have those concerns with Ndamukong Su.

I don't know. I mean, he's a guy that John Robinson is familiar with because of his time in Tampa Bay. So, I mean, I think he's interesting, but at the same time, you know, when he was cut, Adam Schefter tweeted out, you know, he could be interested in these teams. Schefter probably got that from his agent, I would assume. Titans were not on that list.

So, I don't know. It's something that I think the Titans should definitely at least look into, but I'm not sure if he is as good of a fit from a contract standpoint as Ndamukong Su probably would have been. Yeah, I'm kind of out on it, and you hit the nail on the head with the one-year deal. You can get McCoy on a one-year deal. I think, you know, go for it.

But I don't think it's going to happen. You're already hearing about the Colts, of course, with all their cap space that they've got. A two- or three-year deal makes sense for him, 31 years old, still someone in his prime. Look, the Titans have Brent Urban here, and I know that

name doesn't move the needle, but I do think it's an upgrade over what they have over an Austin Johnson type. You know, maybe you kick Daquan Jones inside and play a little nose tackle along with Jarrell Casey. But I don't think you can sign him to a two- or three-year deal when you've drafted Jeffrey Simmons with the 19th pick, who may or may not play this year.

You know, it's probably safer for us to assume that he won't. But what happens when he comes back and you've got Casey and McCoy and Simmons, that doesn't make much sense unless you're going to play one at nose, which doesn't make much sense either. So I'm kind of out on it. I don't know that the Titans can improve their defensive line right now. I think that the hay is kind of in the barn here. I wish they would

have gotten some more immediate impact guys, but Urban will at least be a little bit more productive than what they had last year. Yeah, I think getting Urban in there is a good thing from a rotational standpoint. Just bodies

was something that they definitely needed. I think we've seen that teams are – I don't know that every team's moving away from a nose tackle, but when you're talking about a guy that's only going to be on the field, you know, possibly on first and second down, as much as teams are throwing these days, you spend so much time in your sub packages anyway. So I really just don't – I don't see the need for a guy that just strictly plays the nose. So, yeah, it would be interesting to see that, but I just, you know,

unless they can come up with some deal where they give them a bunch of money in year one on a one-year deal or in year one that they can get out of years two and three, maybe something like that would make a little bit of sense. But anything beyond that I just don't think makes a lot of of sense for this team and then plus i mean you'd have a lot of money tied up uh in the defensive line and just which is not necessarily where you want to be tying up most of your money so uh interesting thought like i said if they can get it you know done on the right terms i would be for it but i i just would be surprised with mccoy if that's what ends up happening yeah we'll keep an eye on all that as it goes.

Yeah, and I was going to add, the Giants took a nose tackle in the first round of the NFL draft, and they traded Odell Beckham to take a nose tackle in the first round of the NFL draft. Like you said, it's just changing times in the NFL, and nose tackle doesn't really play a lot. And here's Dave Gettleman taking a running back at two and a nose tackle in the first round.

So that's just wild to me. It's wild to me that the NFL still employs someone like that. So, yeah, taking Dexter Lawrence, I think with, what, the 17th pick, it's just amazing. It really is, especially when you put it into the context that that was the pick they got for a nose tackle. Yeah, you essentially traded Odell for a nose tackle. Right, and nobody in their right mind is doing that straight up.

It's wild to think about. So, yeah. And that was another thing. I mean, Dexter Lawrence was mocked to the Titans quite a few places as we went through that draft process. That's the thing that we kept saying, and you were on that first. Like, you're not spending a first-round pick on that guy anymore. So, just different than it used to be.

But anyway, so like I said, we'll see how it all plays out, and we'll watch the McCoy offer, see kind of where he ends up. All right, that'll do it for today's show. Thank you so much for listening. Again, if you have not already subscribed to the podcast, please do that. Wherever you get your podcasts, again, Google, Spotify, iTunes, Himalaya, whatever it is, you can do it there.

We will be back later on this week with another episode. If you want to leave us a voicemail, 615-787-8762. I didn't mention that from the front. If you want to do that, we can do one of those shows coming up in the next few days. Like I said, we're going to have Mike Keith next week. At least that's the plan right now.

So be sure to look out for that. He's always really great when he's on here. And so we'll get his thoughts on the roster, on the draft, and then maybe get into some of the Titans game day, some of his preparation stuff, kind of like we did with Jonathan Hutton. So be looking for that. Again, follow us on Twitter. I'm at jmorksmcm.

Terry's at tlamborttn. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to Locked on Titans, and we will talk to you again later.