Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Schedule Advantage, 2017 Free Agent Class & #ClowneyWatch Update

Episode Date: June 8, 2020

Titans Schedule Advantage, 2017 Free Agent Class & #ClowneyWatch Update  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, today's edition of the Locked On Titans Podcast is brought to you by Built Bar. Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to BuiltBar.com and use promo code LOCKEDON and you'll get $10 off your first order. On today's show, we are going to take a look at the Titans schedule, but in a different way than we have looked at it so far. One of the most difficult things to deal with for an NFL player throughout the season is the amount of damage and the toll that the travel takes on

their body. So we are going to talk about how the Titans are in a good position when it comes to one aspect of the NFL schedule. So we'll break that down. In our second segment, we will continue with our free agent class review series and take a look at John Robinson's 2017 free agent class, the second in his tenure as Titans general manager. So we're going to break that down. I'm going to assign individual grades to each signing, go over each player's contribution to the team, and then give you an overall performance grade for John Robinson with his 2017 free agent class as well. And we will round out the show with another edition of Clowney Watch. So got just a small tidbit of interesting conversation to have around Jadavian

Clowney as another Tennessee Titan reaches out to him personally. So we will talk about that. We are going to break down a quirk in the Titans schedule that is a benefit to them. We are going to do the next edition of our free agent class breakdowns and then talk a little bit more about Clowney Watch. Let's get it. From a player's perspective, one of the most difficult things about the NFL season is enduring the toll that traveling takes on their bodies.

But the Tennessee Titans will have a unique advantage when it comes to the distance that teams will travel throughout the regular season. According to an article from Touchdown Wire's Barry Werner from the USA Today, the Tennessee Titans will travel the sixth fewest miles of all 32 NFL teams in the upcoming 2020 regular season. They will only travel 8,994 miles. That is the sixth fewest of any NFL team. Last season, the Tennessee Titans traveled 10,706 miles, which was actually still the seventh fewest in the NFL in 2019. The Titans' longest distance that they will travel throughout the entire regular season actually comes week one against the Denver Broncos and that gives them obviously another advantage built on top of the advantage that they already had having the sixth fewest miles. If the furthest distance that you

have to go is week one, your body can be ready and you're as ready as possible to take on that toll that comes with that distance that you will have to travel. Looking at some of the other games that the Titans will have to travel a great distance for, you can head to the NFC North. Both of those games will be up in the northern Midwest, coming against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3 when the Titans travel there, but also when the Titans travel to Green Bay, Wisconsin for a Week 16 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Those games, though, come after a home game.

So the Titans are not going to be on the road in back-to-back weeks where they have to travel one of their longest distances of the season. So not only do the Titans have the advantage of having the sixth fewest miles that they will travel out of all NFL teams, they also have the advantage of having their furthest distance be week one and then having a large gap between their second and third furthest travel from week three all the way until week 16. Now, the downside of the schedule here is the other five teams that have a bigger advantage

than the Titans as they will be traveling less miles. And all five of those teams, coincidentally, are on the Titans' schedule as they all come within the AFC North and then also add the Indianapolis Colts. So you have the Ravens with the fewest miles traveled in the league, only 6,420. The Titans will play them in Week 11. The Steelers with 6,600 miles that they will have to travel, the Titans play them in week 4. Then the Cleveland Browns, 7,342 miles that they will travel, the Titans play them in week 13. And then the Cincinnati Bengals have 7,516 miles that they have to travel, the Titans will play them in week eight. And then the

Indianapolis Colts are in fifth place with 8,772 miles. And of course the Titans will play them twice, but play in Indianapolis in week 12. So one thing to think about there is the Titans do have to play some other teams that get to take advantage of this unique schedule break as well. So the Titans won't get to take advantage of those teams based on this travel toll because they will have a limited toll that they have been taking in terms of travel as well. But here's a positive aspect to look at when we consider this, and it's that the Titans play all of those teams before week 13. So the last four weeks of the season, week 14, 15, 16, and 17, the Titans will play against teams who don't get this kind of advantage, who aren't ahead of them in terms of the advantage that they will get in limited miles that they will have to travel.

So the last quarter of the season, the Titans should be able to, because the whole point of the advantage of playing less miles is that your body takes less of a toll in terms of the season, the Titans should be able to because the whole point of the advantage of playing less miles is that your body takes less of a toll in terms of the travel. So the Titans will be able to play teams that don't have that advantage at the back half of the season when the travel should be taking the most toll that it'll take throughout the year. So that is a nice advantage for the Titans and a little bit of a break in the schedule that they've gotten to experience two years in a row. And if you need a little bit of a unique advantage, then you have

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dollars off your first order once again use promo code locked on for ten dollars off your first order at built bar.com and once you take advantage of the built bar offer tag me on twitter at tic tac titans and let me know i'll make sure to give you a retweet and give you a shout out on the show. While you're there, just go ahead and follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans anyway and make sure that you subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast to make sure you're getting all this content that I will be pumping out throughout the entire offseason, including our free agent class reviews, which we are going to get into the next installment of our free agent class review series with the 2017 free agent class next. Last Wednesday, we kicked off our free agent class review series with John Robinson's first free agent class, and that was 2016.

Got some good pieces, Ben Jones, Rashard Matthews, Matt Castle was able to play two seasons as a backup. Not a great class, but when you pull somebody like Ben Jones out of there, Matthews was a contributor for a few years. Not a bad class to kick off your tenure as the general manager, but in 2017, we saw John Robinson do quite a bit better. So we will start off with the biggest fish of the free agent class, and that was Logan Ryan. Signed a three-year $30 million deal for $10 million a season. That's obviously relevant right now as he's trying to get at least $10 million for next year to match up to that contract as he had his most productive season in his third for the Titans. And speaking of production, Logan Ryan was one of the more

productive players on the Titans during his three seasons there. 251 tackles, four interceptions, five forced fumbles, 8.5 sacks. You take a look at Logan Ryan's contributions, not just on the field, but also in the locker room being a consummate professional. He taught a lot of the young defensive backs in terms of Adory Jackson and Kevin Byard what it was like to be a professional. Helped out everybody on the defense at all times. And his versatility in the slot to not only be a cornerback, but also be a pseudo linebacker. To be a player and his versatility in the slot to not only be a cornerback, but also

be a pseudo linebacker, to be a player who can be effective in the box, play against the run, blitz off the edge, blitz up the middle. He really added versatility to this Titans team that allowed them to be the defense that they were the last few seasons. Logan Ryan's one of my favorite Titans of all time to cover on the team. Again, incredibly productive, a leader in the locker room, exactly the type of guy you want to lead your team. And then also we know all of the charitable things that he did off the field while he was in Nashville and continues to do with, you know, animals, humane societies, different things like that.

He's just a leader all the way around on and off the field and was an absolute dynamite free agent signing for John Robinson in terms of changing the culture and also getting a fantastic player who could help the Titans win. He was a part of two different playoff runs, played in five playoff games with the Titans, and of course finished the Tom Brady-led dynasty in New England with a pick six in that game in the playoffs in the wildcard round.

So this is absolutely an A-plus signing. I wish Logan Ryan could still be around. The NFL's changing a little bit. The Titans' defense is changing a little bit, and that's why he will not be returning to Nashville, but an absolute A-plus signing in the three years that Logan Ryan was with the Tennessee Titans. Moving on to the next free agent pickup that John Robinson had,

and that was Sylvester Williams, the nose tackle, who came over from the Denver Broncos. John Robinson signed him to a three-year deal, $16.5 million total. He only played in 15 games for the Titans, 20 tackles, 4 tackles for loss. He played in 32% of the defensive snaps in that one season in 2017 that he played with the Titans. He did have a sack in the playoffs, but overall, to sign a guy to a three-year deal and just kind of continue the trend of John Robinson really struggling to sign nose tackles that can actually help the Titans in free agency.

Eventually, we know that Daquan Jones took over that role and was able to actually be productive there, but just another complete whiff by John Robinson on a nose tackle. I'm going to give that signing a D plus Williams played a little bit contributed a little bit in his 32 percent of snaps but just an absolute whiff to give a guy a three-year deal and then him be gone the very next season two nose tackles in a row that got a deal and had to be cut after one year the next signing was safety Jonathan Ciprian. Four years, $25 million. He played in 10 games for the Titans in the regular season. Did play in the playoff game against the Chiefs, which we will talk about a little bit more here in a second, but he had 57 total tackles on

the year. One sack. Did play in 56% of the defensive snaps, and Ciprian played with reckless abandon. It caused him to get injured quite a bit, which is why he missed so much time. But we do have to say this. He knocked Travis Kelsey out, concussed him in the playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs in the excellent comeback that Marcus Mariota was able to orchestrate for the Titans. And without Travis Kelsey being knocked out of that game late in the first half, I truly, truly do not believe that the Titans are able to come back and win that game

because the Kansas City Chiefs offense would have been too difficult to contain with Kelsey out there on the field. So right there, Jonathan Ciprian, in my eyes, has a very huge chunk of the credit that we should dole out for the Titans coming back in that game against Kansas City. And because of that, even though he only played in 10 games he only lasted one season tore his ACL in the 2018 offseason and that's when the Titans brought in Kenny Vaccaro who is a much much better player I'm going to give the signing a C plus even though he had limited action for the Titans that hit alone keeps it from a C minus to a C plus so C plus there for Ciprian.

We're going to get a similar grade for the next player, and that's Eric Decker. Signed to a one-year deal, so Robinson didn't expect a lot from Eric Decker. It wasn't like a four-year deal or a three-year deal that he gave to Williams and Ciprian. Just a one-year deal for Decker when he was cut in the offseason. Played in all 16 games for the Titans in the regular season, 54 catches, 563 yards, one touchdown, played 72% of the offensive snaps. And while Eric Decker really struggled with drops throughout the season that brought him the ire of Titans fans and the whole fan base, he did make that touchdown catch in the playoff

game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He did have over 500 yards, over 50 catches. He did make some good contributions, played in all 16 regular season games. So in a similar vein to Jonathan Ciprian, he didn't necessarily pan out as a long-term option for the Titans, but he made key contributions in the playoff win. And he had a decently productive season when he was asked to be in the role that you know. At this time, Eric Decker was looking to be like an outside receiver. The Titans had a young receiving core with Matthews. Tywon Taylor had, sorry, Taewon Taylor had just been brought over.

Corey Davis had just been drafted. Those two together. So Eric Decker was just looked at to be a veteran role player, play outside, a little inside. And I thought he was able to do that. So like Jonathan Ciprian, a veteran who didn't do a lot, but was able to contribute when the Titans needed them. That's a C plus as well. Those are the top four signings, but John Robinson had a great little trio of special team signings as well with Brendan Trawick coming over after a

pro bowl special team season with the Raiders. Eric Weems, who a lot of people thought would be the Titans returner when they were needing that. And then Darren Bates, an inside linebacker who is expected to be a special teams player as well. John Robinson really devoted resources to having a solid special teams unit with those three players. Speaking of Trawick first, he did play two seasons for the Titans, had a $4.75 million deal when he signed. Played in 32 games, so 16 games both seasons. Had 20 tackles. And here's the kicker. He played in 84% of special team snaps his first season,

and then 82% of special team snaps his second season. Played in the most special team snaps of any Titans player during that two-year stretch. I'm going to give that signing a B overall. It's just a special teams player, so you can't give it an A there, but Trawick was about as important of a special teams player as you could have in those two seasons that he was with the Titans, so a B overall. Eric Weems played in 67% of the special teams snaps in 2017, the only season he was with the Titans, but he only had four returns overall. He only had

nine tackles overall, so a lot of people thought he was going to come in and be a decent returner. Didn't really end up doing any of that, and only had nine tackles when he was playing defensive special teams per se, so C- there for that signing a two-year deal 2.6 million dollars he only played one season with the titans that's a c minus he wasn't expected to do too much but didn't really do anything at all can't give it a d because the expectations weren't high a solid c minus there weems wasn't really a contributor but then darren bates we have darren bates had a three-year six million contract when he signed, played in 45 games for the Titans, had one forced fumble on a big kickoff return against the Jaguars, 28 tackles, played in 80% of special team snaps in 2017, 83% of special team snaps in

2018, and 64% of the special team snaps last year. So you got to give Darren Bates a ton of credit for a really productive team. And he had a lot of energy in the locker room. You go back and look at the video that a lot of people enjoyed that the Titan social media team put out that had Roddy Ricch, the box, playing in the background.

It was an absolutely fantastic production in terms of the social media team and the quality of the video was great. But you can see Darren Bates is the one with the boombox getting everybody pumped up. He brought a lot of energy to the team. And three years as a special teams player, purely a special teams player to the last year entire contract. That's a B plus from John Robinson.

Absolutely fantastic signing and really devoting resources to the special teams. Getting two great players like Trey Wick and Bates who turned the special teams culture around for this Tennessee Titans team. Logan Ryan, an excellent player, an A-plus signing that contributed all three seasons. You look at Jonathan Ciprian and Eric Decker, who made huge contributions in the Titans playoff win in 2017. You look at two special teams players who made big impacts for the Titans past one season in Brendan Trawick and Darren Bates. Overall, you look at this free agent class and you have to give it a B plus for John Robinson to get a player like Logan Ryan, Ciprian and Decker, Trawick and Bates.

He hit role players. He hit an absolute stud on the team with Ryan and then he hit two special teams players. I'm going to give this class overall a B plus for John Robinson. So now we have gone through the 2016 free agent class, the 2017 free agent class. Of course, next on Wednesday's show, we are going to hit the 2018 free agent class and finish off our series with the 2019 free agent class on Friday's show. So make sure that you're subscribed and locked into the Locked on Titans podcast so that you get that content later in the week. Next, we are going to come back and talk a little bit more about Clowney Watch.

We've got just a little, little bit of information, something to talk about. So I'm going to keep the conversation going about Clowney in our next segment. We got another wrinkle in the Clowney Watch over the weekend on Twitter, and I will admit this isn't the most important news or the biggest breaking news or not even the most interesting tidbit to come out of Clowney Watch but it's something that I still wanted to talk to you guys about and go over a little bit here. So we did see over the weekend a Tennessee Titans player reach out to Clowney on Twitter. I find that kind of interesting. I also want to talk to you about why the timing right now could be why we're seeing a tweet like this.

And yeah, it's a tad bit optimistic, I will admit. But you know, why not be optimistic in this circumstance? All of you guys want that Clowney signing to make up for the trade of Jarrell Casey. So let's be optimistic. On Saturday, Taylor LeJuan tweeted out the highlight. Everyone knows the highlight. Jadavion Clowney, South Carolina, in the bowl game against the Michigan Wolverines, absolutely destroying the running back in the backfield,

popping his helmet off, and causing the forced fumble before his team ultimately recovers. That's newsworthy because on Taylor LeJuan's podcast, as a lot of you guys probably know about the Bustin' with the Boys podcast, recently Taylor LeJuan talked about this play and how this happened and how Clowney was able to get such a free inside release. And he talked about a miscommunication between him and his tight end. He called the block a certain way, the tight end and him miscommunicated, which allowed Clowney to slip inside and basically make the huge play that we all know about. Well, Taylor LeJuan tweeted out that highlight and the tweet said this hey at Jadavian

Clowney's Twitter handle two eyeball emojis we could be teammates now at the Titans tagging their account so that was pretty interesting and of course that's going to send Titans fans into a into a frenzy and into a a moment of optimism, which makes sense. But here's where things got a little crazier, just a little bit. Of course, you know, the grain of salt, this is all just Twitter nonsense at the end of the day. But we got to follow all the breadcrumbs here on the Locked on Titans podcast. So then Taylor LeJuan's tweet got a retweet from NFL Network insider Ian Rappaport with three eyeball emojis, which obviously led people to speculate that Ian would only do this and maybe he had inside

information. You can go all the way back to when Madden, NFL Madden, put out a video that had Clowney going from a Seahawks uniform into a Titans uniform. There's been all sorts of speculations, different reports, fake Twitter accounts, fake insiders everywhere, real insiders everywhere, giving updates and different pieces of information about contract offers and maybe Clowney's thoughts. So obviously all of this is at the end of the day, pie in the sky. But here's why the timing of this should leave you maybe a little more optimistic than one

would think you should be. And that's because we pair this with the report that I went over on Friday about the NFL increasing the amount of team employees that can be in team facilities from 75 to 100. And then also NFL head coaches being able to get back into team facilities. Maybe some of the employees that are able to come to the Titans facility with the increase in people allowed are medical personnel. Maybe they're able to, maybe all the medical personnel that they would need to do the physical for Jadavion Clowney.

That the coaches would be able to finally have a conversation with him about their role face-to-face. All of these things could take place on Zoom conference, so I know that there are ways around it. And there were other ways to get physicals done, sending people to a neutral doctor, different things like that. But maybe Clowney has been holding out on doing those sorts of things due to the unique circumstances.

So now maybe the Titans can actually get Clowney into the building with people who they need him to see who are going to be allowed in the building, with the coaches who are going to be allowed in the building, and maybe all of the changes that we're seeing coming up this week on Monday are going to allow Clowney to make it to the Titans facility and finally consummate the deal that everyone has been waiting on. Maybe Taylor LeJuan knows this, and maybe this is a preemptive tweet, just bringing up this highlight that he talked about recently on his podcast. Also something that he just saw on Twitter, but it's also relevant because he's about to be his teammate. I know it's all very optimistic

pie in the sky, but I wanted to at least have a conversation with it because it did get the Titans fan base a buzzing over the weekend. So Clowney Watch continues, and immediately as soon as any news is had, any news that we can get our hands on is available, I'll make sure to bring it all to you guys. But that is going to do it for today's Locked on Titans episode. Now that you are done with today's edition, make sure you go check out the national show of the Mothership, the Locked on NFL podcast.

Excellent time to go over all of the national news. They're breaking down more information about how all the procedure changes that we went over Friday are affecting all of the teams all over the National Football League. So a great time to jump into that excellent podcast. But I'm going to be back with you guys later on this week. Make sure that you are subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTit subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Send in those mailbag questions. Get them in now so that we are ready

for an awesome mailbag segment on Friday. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. Thank you.