Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Practice with Fans, Roster Cuts/Additions & Rashad Weaver Film Breakdown

Episode Date: August 17, 2021

The Tennessee Titans had their first practice in front of fans on Monday night!! Ryan Tannehill, Josh Reynolds and Larrell Murchison had great nights while the fans roared for a Julio Jones appearance. Also, the Titans made several roster moves on Monday including cuts and signings. Finally, step in to the film room as Tyler reviews Rashad Weaver's performance against Atlanta!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube pagehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.StatHeroStatHero, the FIRST Ever Daily Fantasy Sportsbook that gives the PLAYER the ADVANTAGE. Go to StatHero.com/LockedOn for 300% back on your first play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is presented by the Locked on Fantasy Live Show. Do you have fantasy football questions that you need answered before your draft? Make sure that you don't miss the Locked On Fantasy Live show

airing on Wednesday, August the 18th at 9pm Eastern Time streaming on the Locked On NFL YouTube page. Subscribe to the Locked On NFL YouTube page right now so you don't miss out. Our stable of fantasy experts will be

answering your questions live or you can submit your questions ahead of time by going on Twitter and adding at LockedOnNetwork. Make sure that you check out the Locked On Fantasy live show. But it is a Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast, and we have a lot to discuss. The Titans had practice on Monday. We'll recap that. We saw about eight. The Titans had practice on Monday. We'll recap that. We saw about eight roster moves from the Titans on Monday.

I'll tell you what happened with each one of those. And then we'll step into the film room for a breakdown of Rashad Weaver's performance from Friday night. But before we get into that, I do want to take a second and remind you guys, I am going to be putting out Monday through Friday, daily Tennessee Titans content here on the Locked on Titans podcast and on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Make sure that you never miss an episode of the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world by subscribing to whatever platform you stream podcasts and subscribing to the

Locked on Titans YouTube page. Make sure you smash that notification bell so you always know when a new episode goes live. Also, check me out on social media, on Twitter, at Tic Tac Titans. My Rashad Weaver film breakdown is up. I have a lot of good film stuff throughout the last few days. Go back and check that out and follow the show on Facebook at Locked on Titans Pod. But with all of that out of the way, we have a Tennessee Titans practice to go over. It was the first Titans practice of the year that had fans in attendance.

So that's very exciting in itself. Then I mentioned eight roster moves from the Titans. They do have to cut down to 85 players from 90 by Tuesday afternoon. So we'll talk about who could be on the chopping block along with who was chopped on Monday. And then, like I said, stepping into the film room, going to do a deep dive and a breakdown on Rashad Weaver's dominant performance against the Falcons on Friday night. So a lot to discuss on this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Titans fans, let's get it.

Monday night's practice was open to fans. There were about 7,000 Titans fans in attendance at Nissan Stadium. It was a fantastic environment. Loved seeing all of the videos, all the recaps. Having fans in the building is just an entirely different experience. The Titans players tried to make the fans as welcome as possible. Because of COVID protocols, they couldn't actually sign autographs, but Titans players were signing miniature footballs and throwing them up into the stands. So love that fan interaction. As for the football on the field, it was a good night for Ryan Tannehill. He did have one interception on the

day and we'll talk about how that happened, but he had two bombs, deep passes, one to Chester Rogers, one to Josh Reynolds. He was just generally on fire having a very good night. Also, speaking of a very good night, the only kicker healthy on the Titans right now is Sam Ficken, and he went 8 for 9 on the night. His only miss was from 48 yards, but he did hit from 44, 30, 33, 31, 41, 44, 53, and 33. You love to hear all those 40s and that 50. Sam Ficken is a guy who struggled with kicks over 40 yards throughout his career. Also, do want to mention that the Titans did experience another injury, and it came again at the safety position. It was Tedrick Thompson,

who was just recently signed at the end of last week by the Titans. He left on a cart with what appeared to be a left calf injury. This is a part of the mounting safety injuries the Titans are having. Matthias Farley, Dane Cruikshank, and now we have Tendrick Thompson. We'll talk more about that safety position throughout the episode. Also do want to mention rookie offensive lineman Dylan Radins was out on the field 20, 40 minutes after every other player had left, working on his pass sets, working on his game. The rookie I thought was impressive during his time in the game

on Friday night against the Falcons at right guard and at right tackle with the injuries on the offensive line and the Titans generally resting veterans. Dylan Radins has got some work with the first team group as well. So really excited about what the rookie could be going forward. Now we do have to talk about the players that did not practice. Julio Jones did not practice. Of course, I'm used to saying that, but he did make an appearance out on the field. And of course the fans fans went crazy. Julio! So, seems like he's in good health, and although the Titans are being a little bit cautious with him, I'm not overly concerned right now. Mike Grable did say after practice that whether or not Julio

Jones participated in those joint practices with the Buccaneers would kind of be determined how he felt when they got there, and for my money, I would not play Julio Jones. It's just not worth it at this moment in time, but also not at practice. Veteran defensive lineman Danico Autry, safety Dane Cruikshank, safety Matthias Farley. Talked about those guys in the depth being challenged at the safety position because of the injuries. Brady Breeze also didn't practice because he was hurt on Friday night. So that's three safeties along with Tedrick Thompson, who was hurt on Friday night. So that's three safeties along with Tedrick Thompson, who was hurt on Monday night.

Four safeties now for the Titans that are currently injured. Tucker McCann, the kicker, obviously didn't go. Ben Jones at center. Nate Davis at right guard did not play. Darrington Evans, because of the injury on Friday, did not participate in practice. Kendall Lamb at right tackle. And then Trevin Colley on the defensive line. Do want to

mention here though, Larell Murchison had a very good night on the defensive line in the spot for Danico Autry. He had two tip passes of Ryan Tannehill's at the line of scrimmage and one of those tip passes turned into an interception for Kevin Byard. So I want to finish on a positive note talking about practice. Larell Murchison with a very good night. We are going to continue breaking down everything you need to know from the Titans news on Monday, and that included eight roster transactions. As I mentioned, a little bit of a cut down coming for the Titans on Tuesday. I'm going to tell you who was cut, who replaced replaced them and who still could potentially Be cut with the Titans happen to trim down the roster before we get into that

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It'll get you a 50% welcome bonus when you do make your first deposit. Literally giving you free money at BetOnline.ag when using promo code LOCKEDON. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. We are going to continue this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, breaking down everything you need to know about the roster moves that the Titans made on Monday. Remember, we just recapped Monday night's practice, so let's get into these roster moves. First and foremost, the Titans waived tight end Deion Yelter, and you've got to feel bad for Yelter. He barely had a time to drink a cup of coffee while he was with the Titans.

They also waved safety Reggie Floyd. They also waved safety Maurice Smith, and they also waved cornerback Kevin Peterson. Well, wave is not technically the right way to put that. Kevin Peterson was put on IR, but either way, he's off the roster for the Titans. And then the Titans backup punter, undrafted free agent out of Cincinnati, James Smith, was waived as well. The Titans are to the point. They have Brett Kern.

They know that he's their punter. And when Tucker McCann gets healthy, he can serve as a backup punter based on his experience punting in college. So the Titans let those guys go. That's five different players that were taken off the roster. But they were replaced with three new players. And those players, number one, we had two safeties and then a familiar face at linebacker. And the safety that we're going to start with is Bradley McDougal.

He's 6'1", 215 pounds, has played eight seasons in the NFL, 105 games, 82 starts, has 10 interceptions in his career, and over 500 tackles. So an experienced player, a veteran player, and a guy who you can count on, who has been through every situation that you could come across as a safety in the NFL. Also, do got to mention that they added Clayton Gaithers Gaithers is six foot two 216 pounds he's played five seasons in the NFL he sat out last year had a COVID opt out but also he was dealing with some injuries and wanted to get entirely healthy for this season he's played in 56 games in his career he has 34 starts in that time does does have one interception, and he has played a ton of special team snaps, over 500 special team snaps in his career.

So you look at those two safeties. McDougal is more of the free safety coverage type. Gaithers is more of the in-the-box, hit you, come up to the line of scrimmage, play physical type safety. So the type who's trying to balance things out. Remember, I talked about the injuries to the safety core, Tedrick Thompson, Brady Brees, Matthias Farley, Dane Crookshank. So this is obviously to help replace those bodies, but also these are two very experienced safeties. And if a guy like Matthias Farley, who was kind of in that experience vet backup safety role,

if he can't stay healthy, the Titans will replace him with McDougal or with Gaithers. And you look at a guy like Dane Cruikshank, I haven't been as high on Cruikshank as a defensive player as some people have been throughout his career, but this has to be worrisome for Cruikshank who dealt with a major injury last year and missed pretty much the entire season, has been injured throughout training camp as well, often on the practice field. If the Titans feel like they can't rely on him, well, at some point, they're just going to move on. He's in the last year of his rookie contract.

There's just really no reason whatsoever to keep Dane Cruikshank around to get another look at this point. The Titans defense needs players it can rely on. And right now, the Titans behind their two starting safeties don't really have anybody that they can consistently rely on to be a backup. So it makes sense that the Titans are not only looking to replace bodies because of injury, but also looking to bring in some guys who can compete for those roster spots. Going forward to a familiar face that the Titans signed on Monday, and it was linebacker Nick DeZubnar. DeZubnar played 16 games

with the Titans last season in 2020, had 14 tackles, played 82% of the special team snaps for the Titans, 364 special team snaps to be exact. Again, we're getting through training camp. The Titans have taken a look at these guys. They've seen some of these players play in training camp. And at some point, you look at some of the players and say, he's not really playing as good as the previous guy. You think about a guy like Jan Johnson, BJ Bellow got hurt and is on IR now. A guy like Justin March Lillard at the inside linebacker spot. These guys I don't think played very well in the game in Atlanta based on what I saw. And I would rather have a guy like

Nick DeZubnar who he is not a defensive player. He's not really going to help you at linebacker whatsoever, but you know you can count on him as a special teams player. And when you have Monty Rice and David Long as your backups, you don't need a player that you need to count on on defense. You need someone you need to count on on defense. You need someone you can count on on special teams. And the Titans know that they can count on Nick DeZudnar on that phase of the ball. So brought him on, I would be surprised if he didn't end up on the roster. But with that said, the Titans lost five guys, but they brought in three new guys.

And by my count, they're still at about 88, 89 players, and they have to cut down to 85 by this afternoon. If you're watching this on Tuesday, of course. So with that in mind, the Titans are going to have to cut a couple more people. And I have a little bit of a list that I would like to go over some people who I think could be on the chopping block. Number one, we saw Dion Yelder get cut at the tight end position, but with him out of the way, the Titans still have six tight ends. I thought Miller Forrestal played pretty well. I thought Tommy Hudson played pretty well.

So that could mean a guy like Jared Pinckney, who is generally at the bottom of the depth chart, could be on his way out if the Titans just want to cut down on the numbers at tight end. Also, you look at the offensive line. The Titans currently have 17 offensive linemen. They could look to cut down those numbers, at least cut maybe one or two guys to get to a more manageable number. Paul Adams, who was one of the last offensive linemen who got into the game, he was playing at guard. And similarly, Jordan Roots, who also played at guard on the last offensive line group

that played in Atlanta. Both of those guys could be on the chopping block, and that's just deductive reasoning here. They were some of the last offensive linemen to go out on the field. It's funny. I actually had Deion Yelter, Reggie Smith, Maury or Reggie Floyd, Maury Smith, and Kevin Peterson on my list of guys who I think could be cut before they ever actually got cut. So it's funny. Obviously they are not going to be on the list, but I thought

they could be a possibility. So with those guys not being mentioned now, because they already got cut Anthony rush at defensive tackle. The Titans currently have seven interior defensive linemen on the roster. They could be okay by cutting one. Rush played not a ton and not very well in Friday night's game. He had an offsides penalty as well. I just think the Titans could go with Kyle Petko, go with Naquan Jones on the interior defensive line, side with those guys over a guy like Anthony Rush at linebacker guys I just mentioned Jan Johnson Justin March Lillard I think both of those guys are definitely in danger of losing their roster spot and a guy who makes me kind of sad to say

this but running back Brian Hill he wasn't very explosive I didn't think he was very good in pass protection on Friday night either and if he's not going to be somebody the Titans can count on as a veteran, I'd rather go with Jeremy McNichols, somebody who you know and you're comfortable with, or Makai Sargent, who was incredibly explosive in the game on Friday. Well, incredibly explosive is a bit of hyperbole, but he was the most explosive Titans running back in that game. Also at wide receiver, Fred Brown.

I know that Racey McMath and Des Fitzpatrick are at the end of the depth chart in theory, but really Fred Brown is the roster veteran, the bubble guy who's on the back end of the depth chart. The Titans aren't going to cut their two rookie wide receivers they just drafted this early in the process, but somebody like Fred Brown could potentially see that happen. So those are the guys I think could be cut by this afternoon, I guess you could say. And those are the guys that were already cut and the guys that the Titans signed on Monday as well.

So all of the roster transactions that took place for the Titans on Monday, completely recapped for you. We are going to talk about Rashad Weaver, the dream Weaver. Next, step into the film room with me, and I'm going to give you a little bit of a verbal breakdown of what I saw from Weaver on Friday night. Before we get into that, I do want to let you guys know that rockauto.com is an online company that's been serving

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We are going to cap off this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by walking into the film room and talking about Rashad Weaver's dominant performance on Friday night in Atlanta. Yes, I know, it's just a preseason game, but it was an impressive debut for the rookie edge rusher, the dream weaver, as I am dubbing him. If you sleep on him, he will be in your nightmares. Make sure that you guys go to Twitter right now at Tic Tac Titans. Check out the film breakdown that I posted up to go with this conversation on my Twitter. It's excellent. that I posted up to go with this conversation on my Twitter.

It's excellent, and I have to say I'm very proud of the music choice, the audio production on that one. So please go check out the film breakdowns. You don't want to miss the other film breakdowns I'm going to be doing throughout the entire season. Anyway, that's a big part of what I do with the show. So go to Twitter, at TicTacTitans, check that out. But let's dive into what I really like from Rashad Weaver on Friday night. Number one, we'll talk about Rashad Weaver in the pass rush.

And it's obvious that his go-to move is utilizing his length. So he's not a speed rusher, Rashad Weaver. 6'4", 6'5", 250, 260 pounds. He's a big power rusher, and he has great long arms. And that's how he puts that combination together. So what Rashad Weaver likes to go to is go to move, which is showing up all over the tape. He gets both of his arms extended, drives them into the offensive lineman. And you want to do that as a defender, because when you keep your arms extended and straight, the offensive lineman can't get on your chest and get on your body, get in your pads and control you. You have control when you keep your arms extended. So he'll

drive the offensive lineman back with long, strong, straight arms. And then once he's parallel and level with the quarterback, he disengages either by throwing the offensive lineman to the side or utilizing a two-hand chop down to chop the offensive lineman's hands, and then he darts inside to the quarterback. That showed up three different times, and both of his sacks got one and a half sacks on the day, but I think he should have been credited with two full sacks. Both of his sacks were keeping those long arms, moving the offensive lineman with the two-handed swim, and then darting inside to get onto the quarterback. So love seeing that from Rashad Weaver, but that wasn't the only way that he was impacting the

pass rush. This really got me going. He was being used as an inside rusher. So not just on the outside Russian off the edge, but on the interior as an interior defensive lineman. And I love the way the Titans were using him, that versatility because of that size and that power can be utilized throughout the season. And the Titans were using him in a ton of stunts and games. So Weaver's going to be a little bit more explosive and a little bit faster than your typical interior defensive lineman. Think about the Nico Autry, Jeffrey Simmons. He's a little bit more slight than that.

Still a big guy, but obviously more of an edge rusher than an inside guy. But having that quickness as an outside guy and being used on the inside, the Titans are using him in ways that take advantage of that. So two plays specifically. One, Rashad Weaver was used with Ola Adani in a game. So imagine you have the guard and the tackle. Across from them is Rashad Weaver on the interior above the guard, and then Ola Dainey above the

tackle. Well, I say Ola Dainey, it's Ola-a-Dainey. So there we go. I do that in the film breakdown as well. Bear with me, okay? But either way, Rashad Weaver basically, when the ball is snapped, he goes across the face of the guard and tries to make direct contact with the offensive tackle. The hope is that the guard will follow Rashad Weaver because that's his man to block, and then he'll hit the tackle, and then Ola Adani will loop inside off of Rashad Weaver's butt, and the tackle won't be able to get around, and the guard won't be smart enough or quick enough to slide off Weaver and pick up the guy looping around. So that got Ola Adani some pressure on the quarterback.

That's a great job by Rashad Weaver doing his job. And then we saw that flipped a little bit later on where Ola Adani crashed inside. The tackle went with Adani and he hit into the guard and allowed Rashad Weaver to loop around and the tackle wasn't fast enough to slide off before Weaver flushed the quarterback out of the pocket. So being used in stunts and games on the interior, using his length and his power on the exterior, on the edge, it's just beautiful. And then in run defense, again, those long, powerful arms from Rashad Weaver, basically,

he was just bullying guys, whether it be the offensive tackle or the tight end. As soon as the ball was snapped and the ball was coming his way, he just put his hands into the chest of the offensive player in front of him, drove him into the backfield. One time, he completely took the running back's course off. He had to come back inside, easy tackle for his teammates. One time, Rashad Weaver pushed the tight end back into the fullback, and then the fullback hit the running back, and it was an easy

tackle for loss, about five yards loss for the Falcons offense. So just absolutely fantastic inside, outside, pass rush, run defense. And it wasn't just that. Rashad Weaver utilized that length, knocked down a pass on a bootleg by one of the Falcons quarterbacks in the second half, Felipe Franks. And then on special teams, he was used on punt team. He had a very good block at the beginning of the play and then darted down and was able to make the tackle on the punt returner. Now it could have been called a trip. It wasn't a pretty tackle attempt, but he got the job done. Special teams, run defense, inside pass rush, outside pass rush, everything on display for the potential of Rashad Weaver.

Got me absolutely excited watching the tape, and I encourage you guys, again, go to Twitter, check out the film breakdown that I put up. Make sure that you check out all my film breakdowns. Also, while we're doing this, make sure that you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Subscribe to the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Really enjoying doing these YouTube videos. I hope you guys enjoy the video content that I am putting up.

Tell a friend, guys. Tell somebody. Tell a Titans fan. Tell your mom. Tell your dad. Tell your dog. I don't care. Spread this Titans content around.

I am the only guy putting out this kind of in-depth daily, Tennessee Titans content So pass it on that's gonna do it for me today though folks as Always I am your host Tyler Roland and this was locked on Titans.