Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Quarantine Partner, Friday News & Notes and Weekend Mailbag!

Episode Date: April 10, 2020

Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, happy Friday and we have a great show to get us into the weekend. And as we've started to make a weekly routine here, we are going to jump into some news items to start our show that maybe didn't make the cut for the rest of the week's podcast. Didn't necessarily have time to get those items in. To start our show that maybe didn't make the cut for the rest of the week's podcast. Didn't necessarily have time to get those items in. You know, these items are small pieces of news.

So, you know, it wasn't really a five-minute conversation to have. But I will put all of them together and make sure that you guys are as up-to-date as possible on some very Titans-related, some sort of Titans-related news. some very Titans related, some sort of Titans related news, and then another update on the NFL draft and some news stories circulating around that. So we will have a news heavy, headline heavy section of the show to start our episode. Then we will move into a fun Friday conversation that takes a little bit from what's going on right now in the world and mixes it in with a little bit from what's going on right now in the world and mixes it in with a little bit of Titans talk. And that is, which Tennessee Titan would you like to quarantine with?

If you had to be quarantined with just one Tennessee Titan, which one would it be? So I have four different options. I narrowed down the entire roster to four different options that I think make some practical sense maybe some impractical sense but that'll be a fun conversation for the middle of our show and then we will round out this week's podcast with another mailbag we have a Friday mailbag I got about four or five questions to go over with you guys. I will answer those questions. And we got, of course, our regular standard Titans related questions. But got some fun questions in regards to draft day schedule and how I'm handling the quarantine that are going to be fun to talk about as well.

So a really great show to cap off the week. Once again, make sure that you are following me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. And as a matter of fact, why don't you guys let me know which Titan you would want to be quarantined with or which Titan you would pick to be your quarantine buddy. Also make sure that you are subscribed on Apple podcasts. You are following on Spotify or whatever platform it is that you stream podcasts. Next week, we are going to get heavy into draft conversation, and you won't want to miss that, as the draft is now just about less than two weeks away.

But a lot of news to get into today, a fun conversation about which Titan you would quarantine with, and then our weekly Friday mailbag. A bunch to get into, let's get it. First, the Tennessee Titans made two free agent signings official this week. Both were defensive depth pieces. First, we have outside linebacker Kamalei Correa, who will be returning to the Titans after a very productive finish to his 2019 season that saw him play on the edge for the Titans,

but also flash some potential as a stand-up linebacker and a special teams ace. Also, the Titans brought in and made official the signing of defensive lineman Jack Crawford. Crawford will, surprisingly, be the third member of the 2019 Atlanta Falcons that the Titans have signed for the 2020 season. Obviously, both of those signings were most likely delayed due to the coronavirus crisis and all of the impact that it has had on the medical world around the globe. The next piece of news that is somewhat Titans related, and we have talked about this quite a

bit, but it is an update on edge rusher Jadavian Clowney. We got reports from NFL Network's Mike Garofalo this week that the chances that the Seattle Seahawks re-sign Jadavian Clowney are now slim to none. And this is Garofalo's direct quote. Quote, I don't know that he's going to be back in Seattle. I would say that the chances are slim to none right now that he'll be back with the Seahawks that the chances are slim to none right now that he'll be back with the Seahawks, and they certainly did whatever they could, and if they didn't have the

strongest offer, they certainly had one that was extremely competitive. Nothing in the realm of what Clowney wants, and nobody's living in that realm right now. The Seahawks did what they could to bring him back. At this point, unless unless something drastically changes I just don't see it happening end quote so of course as with all of the rumors and all of the reports this time of year it is to be taken with a grain of salt it is completely likely that this is an agent Clowney's agent the Seahawks someone within that realm trying to negotiate via public media. That happens all of the time, so that could be the case here. But if the report is to be true, if we believe it to be true,

then that means that the Titans have to be the favorite for Clowney services at this time. Of course, there are still other teams reportedly in the conversation, like the New York Jets, the New York Giants, the Cleveland Browns, and even the Indianapolis Colts. But with Clowney's connection to head coach Mike Rabel because of their time together in Houston, also no state taxes in the state of Tennessee, which will make a contract that is equal to any of the other teams be more valuable because he will save money that way. And then also the Titans are a

contending team who Clowney would most likely feel he can play some playoff games and get back on a national stage and on a competitive team not that the Seahawks and the Texans weren't during that time but with that background playing on only teams that were competitive he most likely wouldn't want to go to a team like the Giants J, or Browns who have struggled competing on a consistent basis. Also, it's worth mentioning that Clowney is from the South, so a return to that region of the country does make a lot of sense for him and his family. The last news item that we will cover is somewhat Titans adjacent dealing with a division rival. And we saw on Thursday evening, the Houston Texans complete a trade

for wide receiver Brandon Cooks from the Los Angeles Rams. And obviously, it'll come to mind instantly, the DeAndre Hopkins trade and how this is most likely Bill O'Brien trying to make up for that and get another receiver in the building. But at this moment in time, when you look at the two trades that the Texans have made this offseason that involve wide receivers, they have given up one, possibly the best wide receiver in the NFL, DeAndre Hopkins, their second round pick and their fourth round

pick when they had already traded their first round pick for Laramie Tunzel and they only got back running back David Johnson wide receiver Brandon Cooks who both of those players are on more expensive contracts than you would want for their production and both have a really long injury history they also got a second round pick back and then they got two fourth round picks but that come in 2021 and 2022. So Bill O'Brien right now is the best player on the Titans team it seems. He is dismantling the Houston Texans and not getting adequate return for a lot of the trades that he is making but the Titans will gladly sit back and watch Bill O'Brien dismantle his playoff roster and the last thing that I want to cover in

our Friday news dump here is completely unrelated to the Titans in regards to them as a specific team but you know obviously involves them a little bit in regards to the draft I just wanted to mention that there are some reports coming out that front office execs and coaches are concerned about people hacking during the draft. I just want to reassure you that it does not appear from my vantage point and my experience with the team that John Robinson and Mike Rabel are going to be one worried about that or put themselves in a position where they could be vulnerable to something like that. It seems like both of them, while not being the youngest coaches or general managers in the NFL are still

technologically savvy enough to one, know how to operate things during the draft and, and to not get taken advantage of. So if you guys are hearing any of those reports, just wanted to, I guess mention that before we get into the rest of our show but that is going to do it for this first segment we are going to come back and have a really fun conversation about who you would want

to be stuck with in a quarantine out of the Titans roster and like I said I got four good players that I think each bring something to the table that, for me at least, make a lot of sense to want them with me during a quarantine. But I do want to tell you guys, and as I've mentioned this week, the Locked On NFL Mock Draft Special is officially underway. So be sure to check out picks one through six on today's episode of Locked on NFL. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify to catch the entire mock draft. And I told you guys on Thursday's show that you would have an extra snippet in your feed

today. They switched plans on me. They switched direction on me. And one of the segments from our mock draft monday show next week will include a a portion of the locked on nfl mock draft special so you guys can get an idea of what that is like so go ahead and check that out so obviously you guys are aware of the conditions around the globe no matter whether you're listening in Tennessee directly somewhere across the United States or even in a different country around the world everyone has seen the impact of coronavirus and what it's done

to society. And obviously right now, a lot of countries around the world, including the United States, are doing some sort of quarantine, pseudo quarantine, stay at home orders. Basically, everybody has had much more time at home here over the past few weeks to a month than we are typically used to. And some people are just downright, outright quarantined completely. And it makes you wonder that if you had to be quarantined with certain people and you got to choose, who would you choose and why?

And that kind of led me into thinking, which Titans player would I want to be my quote unquote quarantine buddy who do I think for whatever reason would be a good person to be locked up with if we had to be locked away and there is a medical emergency similar to to what we are seeing right now so I kind of followed down that thought pattern and and see what I what I pulled up looking at the Titans roster and as I mentioned at the beginning of the show follow me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans and let me know which Titan you would want to be stuck with during a quarantine and why and if you disagree with any of my picks feel free to let me know that as well. But jumping in, first off, the number one person that I want to name, and it seems like the most obvious name on the list, is Taylor LeJuan, Titans offensive tackle.

And there's a clear reason for it. The guy just seems hilarious. Obviously, you guys are most likely aware of the Bussin' with the Boys podcast that he does. And it's not really a Titans podcast. It's more of just a fun general NFL listen or Barstool. Well, they're sponsored by Barstool now. But it felt always like a Barstool kind of clown around, have a good time podcast. And LeJuan seems like he's that type of guy in general just based on all the things we've seen from him off the field.

Fun, has a lot of jokes, has a good sense of humor. And one thing about LaJuan, and speaking of the Bustin' with the Boys podcast, he has some good company. He knows some other fun people. He knows some people with some good stories. So he would, in turn, be able to tell you those good stories. Or he would be able to get some of those people on Zoom so you could hear those stories yourself. Or, at the minimum, meet some other people who you always wanted to meet and have a conversation with because he's connected. And obviously, having all of those guests on the show, maybe you could get a little piece of that by being stuck with him in a quarantine.

You would at least hear from Will Compton on a daily basis, and that would be a pretty fun time. So in the interest of just having a good time, having laughs, joking, everything like that, I'm going to put Taylor LeJuan as a possible option, and it seems like the most obvious option that people would think of. The second option that I have is a little bit more practical. And follow me down, you know, a darkest timeline here, if you will. But my second option is also on the offensive line.

And that is center Ben Jones. And I had a few different reasons for that. One, he's used to leading a unit he is the center he is the pivot he's leading the offensive line he's making the calls he's good with communication so I think all of that could be beneficial in a you know darkest timeline of a quarantine because if the quarantine goes south you gotta break out the world goes to crap. You're going to want somebody who is a leader, who's a good communicator, who always has a plan. And also, Ben Jones is from Alabama. Ben Jones went to college in Georgia.

Ben Jones knows how to fish. Ben Jones knows how to hunt. You're going to need those qualities if things really go south during your quarantine there's no food at the grocery store you're gonna have to go down to the crick and by hook or by crook find a way to bring yourself home some dinner and i think a country boy like ben jones could be a a great benefit to those kind of tasks so if things do go south you're gonna want somebody like Ben Jones around and in a similar vein I couldn't help but think about like I said the darkest timeline here what if things go bad during your quarantine I mean you could have somebody fun like the one who in the house he's a good time Ben Jones probably has some good stories and you could talk football and

everything like that, but you've got to make sure you have somebody who can help you when the chips are down as well, and that leads me into the next selection on my list or the next option on the list, and that is the king himself, Derrick Henry. I mean, let's just call it what it is. This guy is a certified beast. You see his workout videos. You see the speeches that he gave at the end of the year that made you want to run through a wall.

The size of that guy, the speed of that guy, the strength of that guy. If you got Derrick Henry, similar to what we were talking about with Ben Jones, if things go sideways here, if things really go south for the situation that we were in, not only can Derrick Henry help you around the community and around the neighborhood, busting people out of your way at the grocery store, wrestling over the last few rolls of toilet paper, with his physical stature and his aggressive demeanor, he is going to be able to help you in that situation as well.

But if you've got to break out of the house and it's time to go martial law out on the streets, I want a bodyguard like Derrick Henry who out there is conditioned for the long run, conditioned for survival more than Derrick Henry. I mean, he's practically a walking demigod. So I look at his physical stature, his abilities, and how that can help me out in a pinch. And I think Derek Henry is a very, very solid choice. And then the last choice that I have when I talked at the beginning of the episode about, you know, some things that are imperative and some things that really aren't this may be sides on not such important qualities this is more of a Taylor LeJuan selection where I would just have

fun hanging out with this guy and that is linebacker Jayon Brown as I've mentioned on this show before Jayon is one of my favorite players on the team because of his sense of humor and interviews some of the things that he is interested in and one of those things that he's mentioned quite a bit is his interest in Batman and if you have listened to this podcast for any length of time it is no secret that I myself am a Bat-stan clearly my favorite comic book character and I am a big comic book and comic book movie comic book content in general I'm a big fan of all of that stuff so obviously when someone says they are a huge Batman fan and I myself also am a huge Batman fan that's gonna gonna pique my interest and make my ears stand up a little bit

and I would love to kick it with Jayon Brown talk about football swap stories about football mostly just him telling me since his are obviously going to be more interesting consider the NFL experience but I would have a great time kicking it with Jayon Brown talking sports talking ball talking titans and re-watching all of the Batman content that I can get my hands on, the animated series, all of the live action films, the animated films that DC does such a great job of making. That is another selection on my list. So let's run down the four different options one more time. We got Taylor LeJuan because he's going to be a fun time. He's got jokes and he's probably got a lot of cool people that he can get on zoom or on teleconference or on facetime to share some good stories as well so that would just be a great

fun time and then we have ben jones who with his toughness his experience in the country and in the south with hunting and fishing in alabama and georgia and t Tennessee, he would be a very practical choice to help you out if things go sideways or things go south. And then Derrick Henry, because of his physical stature and his aggressiveness, his physicality, he would be able to help you once again in a practical sense if things took a turn for the worst. then Jayon Brown because he's such a big Batman fan and seems to be one of the better guys on the team to just kick it with and enjoy some time so those are the four options that I came up with and ultimately wow I came into this I came into this ready to go with Derrick Henry because of his just incredible physical gifts and how that could benefit me during a quarantine,

whether things stay good or whether things go bad. But I think through our conversation, I have convinced myself to go with Ben Jones. I think Ben Jones would have some really good stories as well. Lived in Alabama, lived in Georgia, lived in Tennessee. I really identify with you know that southern hospitality plus the hunting the fishing all of that experience I'm gonna go with Ben Jones center from the Titans as my quarantine buddy my quarantine partner if I had to pick one so once again this was just a fun conversation to have on a Friday, on a Friday episode. But let me know on Twitter which Titan you would pick and why for your quarantine partner.

But we are going to move forward into, as we always do, a cap off to the show with a Friday mailbag. So we'll get into that next. Okay guys, gather around. Let's go ahead and cap off our week and our Friday episode as we do every week with a mailbag. And of course you can send me mailbag questions on Twitter at TicTacTitans or put them in the iTunes review section and I will get to those for you every Friday. Feel free to start getting those in now and I will be ready for them next week but we will start with a question from Josh West who basically asked me how I feel about cornerback Amik Robertson. And Robertson is, you know, right now projected to go in about the late second, third round. He's a small cornerback out of Louisiana Tech.

We talked about him a little bit earlier this week. But he's just a feisty physical guy, even only being five foot nine. He had incredible production in college, a ton of interceptions, a ton of pass breakups, always seemed to be around the ball, isn't scared to come up and lay a hit on somebody. And I don't know how else better to explain this, but if you watch the tape, he just hits people, and he just plays with an edge that you love to see. He's versatile. He can do a little bit of everything. And I really like Amik Robertson, and I think that the Titans should target him in the third round if he is there

and if they're unable to get cornerback any earlier in the draft. And even if such if he happens to fall to you know the fourth round or something like that take one of those seventh the Titans have three seventh round picks package with a fifth and move up and get him I just think he's a he's one of those players who despite his limitations and size and being drafted in the middle rounds he's gonna make an impact because of his mentality so really like amik robertson there the next question is from rex green asking if the new collective bargaining agreement will prevent the titans from picking up the fifth year option on both cory davis and

adori jackson and no there's nothing in the cba right now that is specifically saying that the titans cannot pick up both those options. But there was a change in the CBA to the fifth year option where basically previously your fifth year option, the amount of money that you got for that fifth year as a player was based on where you were drafted. So it was based on salary projections for the draft, but they changed that language in the CBA to where your fifth year salary is based on performance. Now, if that holds true, and we don't have the calculations on that right now from the NFL, but based on that, Corey

Davis is still going to be or will be a lot cheaper than he would have been under the previous system in the previous CBA but still not worth it for the Titans I still if I had to give you guys my projection as I've said the entire offseason Corey Davis's option will not be picked up and Adoree Jackson's will be so regardless of what has changed in the CBA that's how it's going to shake out either way the next question we have here is from Frank Hernandez and he asked best case scenario for AJ Espinosa is Cam Hayward if he went to the Titans and I think that that is possible now in my opinion Cam Hayward is a bigger guy he's a bulkier guy and is going to be more effective in the run game. I see A.J. Espinosa at his peak, maybe being someone like Cam Jordan for the New Orleans Saints,

where he can play outside, he can play inside. He's got incredible burst. He has become a technician with every move in the book. If you want to look at the ceiling for someone like Espinosa, I would look at maybe a mixture of Cam Jordan and Cam Hayward there, so two Cams for AJ, but that would be my sort of projection, and if he does fall to the Titans at 29, I think it's very logical that they would look to bring him in. Even though he doesn't have much athletic burst, he doesn't have a lot of bend, you would think that Vrabel would be able to get the most out of a guy like that. The next question that I have here comes from Kevin Schesventer.

He says, what has been your go-to food and show during the quarantine? And I think that that's an excellent question. We talk so much football on here. I love answering your guys' football questions, but a little bit of a question off the beaten path really makes me smile. So I can tell you that growing up, I never liked bologna. I'd rather eat a hot dog. So if my dad is going to buy some sort of cheap meat that as a kid I can just eat to fill me up for lunch or whatever, I would much rather have a hot dog than bologna. But something happened during this quarantine. I believe I saw something on the Food Network about a fried bologna sandwich, of course, a high-end one, but I have really been on a thick-cut fried bologna sandwich

with, you know, obviously, you got the fried bologna. You get thick-cut bologna in two slices, fry them up nice and almost to the point of burnt. I can't help it. I like a burnt hot dog. I don't mind being extra done on the well-done side, so a little bit of a well-done fried bologna and then a fried egg. And it's got to be over easy. That's how I prefer my egg anyway. Over easy so you can crack that yolk on top. You know, the yolk becomes a sauce for me at that point. And, of course, you've got cheese.

And I love putting some butter in the pan and getting some caramelized onion on that sandwich with some toasted bread and some butter on the inside just a little bit of light butter on the toast so you don't compromise the crunchiness fried bologna sandwich right now is is just getting the job done for me and after I make that fried bologna sandwich I am sitting down to watch a few episodes of The Wire one of the best critically reviewed television series of all time obviously premiered on HBO in 2002 The Wire is all about drug trafficking and crime in West Baltimore and I am in the middle of the third season right now, so I'm going through all five seasons. It's just a show that I've never heard anything bad about. Some of the content creators

that I follow and enjoy talk about it as one of their favorite TV shows of all time. I really love crime. I love drama. I love mystery and everything like that. I'm really into those kind of shows. Like I love Law and Order. I grew up on Law and Order. I still have fond memories of waking up early in the morning on the weekends and my dad is in the living room or in the kitchen doing whatever. He used to listen to the TV so loud. It's like legendary among my group of friends. If I had, you know know any of the buddies stay over anything like that the alarm clock at my house was the law and order dun dun to wake up so you could hear that down the hallway in my room from my dad blasting that early in the morning so those

are the kind of shows and things that that I really enjoy on television I haven't checked out Tiger King because I've been watching The Wire so. So that's the kind of stuff that I am into. So fried bologna sandwiches with a fried egg and caramelized onion and cheese on toast. And then a few episodes of The Wire are my go-to quarantine food and show right now. Great question, Kevin. Really appreciate that. And then another really good question I got here from Albert Tenorio. He asked me, what is my draft day plan? And the draft day is a major work day for me, quite frankly, with recording the show. I'm going to have to stay up that day. If you're someone who listens overseas, the draft won't be recorded.

I won't be recording the draft, especially because the Titans pick so late, until like 1 o'clock in the morning, two o'clock in the morning, Eastern Standard Time on draft day. So your Friday episode, if you're listening to that, if you're someone who wakes up at midnight and gets the show, then you'll have to wait a few hours on draft day so I can get that done for you. But my draft day plan before I did, before I did any kind of content for the Titans, just growing up, high school, college, things like that, I would go get some sort of wing, some sort of chicken wings, carry out. I would bring them home and have buddies over at the dorm room,

have buddies over at the house, go to a buddy's house, maybe meet up at a bar where they have TVs and chicken wings. Chicken wings are the key, basically, is what it comes down to. So that's been my draft day routine is just watch the draft with my friends and eat chicken wings. I mean, I'm a simple guy, folks. That's what I'm into. But this year and years where I've been creating content for the Titans, I like to watch from home, guaranteed, just so I can focus in on everything, be on Twitter, following all the reports, the rumors, everything like that, all the scuttlebutt around the draft as it's proceeding,

and I really like to take in the analysis now. I want to hear what all the draft pundits and the experts have to say about all these guys, and not just the player themselves because I've looked at these players to a point maybe not as much as some of the experts but I've watched a little bit of tape on most of these guys and followed their scouting reports but hearing how they will fit with their new team is also an interesting part of the draft as well. So I really enjoy watching from home now. And if I'm going to be at home, that means I would like to have an ice cold Coca-Cola. That's my favorite soda. I'm not a big soda guy, but you know, special events like that. I'd like to have myself a nice cold, refreshing Coca-Cola. And my famous chip dip is what i'm gonna make uh this year i'll

probably have chicken wings as like a main entree of course but that was a giveaway based on what i said before but uh i make a uh a chip dip that i call magic dip it's it's got a lot of different items in it but the heavy hitters are cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and freshly cooked bacon bits. I add in a couple other mystery ingredients here and there, but it's a big hit at all of my functions and get-togethers. I have a good friend of mine who we all call Magic, and one year he started putting that dip on his hot dogs and on his hamburgers and that kind of spawned, I just called it a chip dip up until that point. So I did name it Magic Dip after a friend who said he just wants to put that dip on everything.

So shout out to my friend Magic and shout out to the Magic Chip Dip. I think I'll take a picture of it and put it on my Twitter this year so you guys know what I'm working with. But that's my favorite dip. I'll have some chicken wings, a nice cold drink, and just sit at home and enjoy the festivities and enjoy hanging out with you guys on Twitter. But that is going to do it for me and do it for our mailbag this Friday. As I mentioned earlier in the show, now that you are done with this episode of Locked on Titans, make sure you tell your smart device to play the Locked on NFL show. They have the Locked on NFL mock draft special going on right now, and you guys will not

want to miss the first six picks of that series going on today. So make sure you check that out. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.