Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Schedule After Party!! More Schedule Analysis & Titans Rookie Signings

Episode Date: May 14, 2021

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You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Friday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by the Peacock and Williamson podcast. Hosted by NFL analyst Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson, Brian and Matt give you a national perspective on all of the latest NFL news every single weekday.

So make sure that you check out the Peacock and Williamson podcast every single weekday on whatever platform you do stream. Every single weekday on whatever platform you do stream. But on today's show, we are going to continue partying after the Titans schedule release. Call this our Friday schedule release after party. I'm going to continue diving into my observations from the Titans schedule. Going to talk about the four games I'm most confident in the Titans to win. And the four games I'm least confident in the Titans to win and the four games I'm least confident in the Titans to win. Also going to talk about some X-Factor games, some swing games essentially that will determine whether the Titans are a playoff team or not. They're not the least confident, the most confident. They're those ones in the middle.

Also going to give you my take on the Titans bye week being in week 13. Also go over my personal favorite matchup. It's not about what the toughest or easiest game or just as a fan of the Titans which games am I most excited to watch this year. So we're going to talk about all of that on today's show but also we got some updated news from the Titans on Thursday. We got jersey numbers for the rookie class. The Titans agreed to terms on contracts with quite a bit of the rookie class as well and made some signings official for the undrafted free agents. So we're going to talk about all of that on this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans

podcast. Let's get it! Today may be our scheduled release after party, but the Titans gave us some updated news on Thursday to discuss as well in the way of some rookies so the number one thing that we need to discuss is that the Tennessee Titans have officially agreed to a contract with five of the eight drafted players in last week's draft and those five players are first round pick Caleb Farley which is excellent to hear the Titans have taken a little bit longer to sign their first round picks in recent years than the average team in the NFL so it's nice to see that Caleb Farley

is wrapped up early and that's really the only contract of substantial value here out of the draft class. Caleb Farley did sign a four-year $13.495 million contract. It is completely fully guaranteed and as you guys know, as we have discussed in the previous three off-seasons with Rashawn Evans, Jack Conklin, Corey Davis, the Titans will have a fifth-year option on Caleb Farley as well that they could exercise. But, of course, that is a bridge that we are years and years from crossing.

But either way, five draft picks signed other than Caleb Farley. Second-round pick offensive tackle Dylan Radins has been signed. Fourth-round pick wide receiver Des Fitzpatrick has been signed. And then the Titans two sixth-round picks, Bradens has been signed. Fourth round pick, wide receiver Des Fitzpatrick has been signed. And then the Titans' two sixth round picks, wide receiver Racey McMath and safety Brady Breeze also were signed by the team. That leaves the Titans' third round picks, linebacker Monte Rice and cornerback defensive back Elijah Molden as unsigned.

And then, of course, edge rusher Rashad Weaver from the fourth round also still unsigned by the Titans. And that is obviously a situation to watch based on the allegations and the charges that have been brought against Rashad Weaver that we have talked quite a bit about on the show. So we will move on from there. Five of the Titans' eight draft picks have been signed. Now, after they are signed, we take a look at what numbers these players are wearing. So what numbers will the Tennessee Titans draft class be wearing? I will tell you that. Number one, we have Caleb Farley, and Caleb Farley has decided to go with number 23. I like that number on Caleb Farley.

Dylan Radins goes with his college number of 75. Monte Rice will be number 56. Elijah Molden at defensive back taking the Kenny Vaccaro number, number 24. And then Dez Fitzpatrick taking what I would consider a cursed number in number 10. Rashad Weaver took number 99, which after Jarrell Casey was traded, 99 might be cursed as well at this point. Raycee McMath will be using number 81, and then Brady Breeze will be taking number 33. So that's the jersey numbers that the Titans rookie class will be wearing. Now the last thing that I want to talk about here with you guys is just confirm the list of undrafted free agents. They were officially signed by the Titans today. That

list includes offensive lineman Cole Banwart from Iowa, fullback and tight end Torrey Carter from LSU, tight end Miller Forrestal from Alabama, kicker Blake Habel from Ohio State. Offensive lineman Chandon Herring from Brigham Young. A guy I'm very interested in. Interior defensive lineman Naquan Jones out of Michigan State. Another guy I'm really interested in. Tight end Briley Moore out of Kansas State. Outside linebacker Justice Reed from Virginia Tech, running back Makai Sargent from Iowa, and then punter James Smith from Cincinnati all officially agreed to terms with the Titans on Thursday. So we got rookie contracts, we got rookie numbers, we got undrafted free agent signings,

all of that for the Titans on Thursday. Some updated news for us as we go into more schedule analysis. But before we get into more of our schedule release after party, I want to remind you guys about our friends over at BetOnline.ag. BetOnline is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. And no, there may not be any football going on right now, but baseball season's in full swing, NHL has dropped the puck, and the NBA playoffs are coming up next week.

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about the Titans schedule. You thought that I was going to read some sort of pseudo ad, talk about some other podcasts. Gotcha. Gotcha. Let's get into this schedule. I just, like I said, want to remind you guys what the schedule is. Week one, home against Arizona. Week two, away against the Seattle Seahawks. Week 3, home against Indianapolis. Week 4, at the New York Jets. Week 5, at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Week 6, at home against the Buffalo Bills. Week 7, at home against Kansas City.

Week 8, on the road against Indianapolis. Week 9, on the road at the Los Angeles Rams. Week 10, home for the New Orleans Saints. Week 11, home for the Houston Texans. Week 11, home for the Houston Texans. Week 12, at the New England Patriots. Week 13, a bye week. Week 14, home for Jacksonville. Week 15, on the road to Pittsburgh. Week 16, at home versus San Francisco. Week 17, at home versus Miami. And then capping off the season in week 18 with a road matchup against the Houston Texans, which off the top of my head, I believe has happened three out of the last four years. But with the current state of the Texans, it's hard for Titans fans to complain about

that. But outside of what we've talked about previously, we talked about the hardest game, the easiest game, the toughest stretch, the prime time games, my record prediction. What are some other things that I want to break down on the schedule? Well, number one, I want to dive into my top four games that I'm most confident the Titans will win and my bottom four games I'm least confident that the Titans will win. So let's dive into those right now. For the top four, in no particular order, a home game against the

Jacksonville Jaguars in week 14. And part of the reason that I am so confident in the Titans winning that game is Mike Vrabel is 3-0 after a bye week in his career as Tennessee Titans head coach. He's only lost one time with extra preparation in any scenario during his time as head coach with the Titans. So with that in mind, you have the Titans going up against a team that they historically beat, a team that I don't expect to be a playoff contender this year anyway, despite the addition of rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence. You add in the extra rest for the Titans, you add in the fact that it's a home game for the Titans, that should be a win for Tennessee.

If the Titans can't win a home game against Jacksonville off a bye, it's going to be a way worse season than any of us are expecting. So super confident in that game, super confident in what I consider the easiest game on the schedule, and that is the home game against the Houston Texans in week 11. As I intimated yesterday, the Texans should not be trying to win football games this year. They should be tanking for the number one overall pick. So late in the season, there's no excuse for the Texans to one, be trying to win that game, and two, the Titans to lose that game at home against Houston. So those are my top two options for most confident. Next, the home game against Miami in week 17. And you may be asking me,

but wait, crazy stuff always happens with the Dolphins. Well, guys, I am choosing to be optimistic this year. Nothing insane will happen against the Dolphins. The Titans will simply beat them. And I have made it impossible to not know my feelings on Tua Tungavailoa as a quarterback. I do not think that his career is going to work out. I do not think that he's a starting level quarterback in the NFL. I do think that the Dolphins will take a major step back this season. Last year, the Dolphins survived off a defense that was turning over offenses at a prolific level. They were scoring defensive touchdowns.

They were scoring special teams touchdowns. From year to year, turnovers do not translate like that. It's very rare that you see a team have high turnover rates on defense year to year and back-to-back seasons. It just doesn't really happen. Turnovers are luck-based, guys. I mean, obviously, there are certain teams that turn people over more likely than others, but having teams be high turnover variants, that's a luck-based thing.

And the Dolphins are not going to get that lucky this year. And they don't have Ryan Fitzpatrick to come in in the second half of games at the end of the year to bail them out. So to me, I'm not really that worried about the Dolphins. People are looking at them as a good team. I think the Dolphins are a clear-cut team to drop back from what they were last year. So I feel confident in the fact that the Titans can beat the Dolphins, especially with a game at home.

And then the final game that I am most confident in is the Titans road game against the Houston Texans I'm sorry guys at the end of the day the Texans should be absolutely terrible not only just because their roster is terrible but because they should hope to be terrible I just don't understand what they're doing in Houston taking Davis Mills when you're probably going to have the number one pick in the draft anyway in the third round the Texans barely had any draft picks. And with the first pick they actually had in the draft, they take a quarterback?

Wow. Man, all I can say is I feel bad for Texans fans, but I love it. I love it! God, I love how much of a clown car the Houston Texans are right now. And that's why the Texans show up twice on my most confident victories list. So the home game against the Texans in week 11, the home game against the Jags out of a bye in week 14,

the home game against the Dolphins in week 17, and then the road game against the Texans in week 18. So those are my four games I'm most confident that the Titans will win. Now which games am I least confident about? Well you have to start with the Titans first prime time game of the year and that is a home game against the Buffalo Bills. So I'll go into a multitude of different reasons here. I know a lot of you guys are saying, wait a minute. The Titans shellacked the Bills last year. So why would you be least confident in the Titans losing to the Bills, especially when the Titans

are at home? Revenge. The Bills remember what the Titans did to them. And quite frankly, the Bills are a better team than the Titans are right now. That's just the brass tacks of the matter. the Bills are a better team than the Titans are right now. That's just the brass tacks of the matter. So a better team with revenge on their mind in prime time, a chance to show the entire world that they got their revenge. Guys, I'm sorry, but it's hard to be very confident in the Titans there. And moving forward, after that week six matchup against Buffalo, the next matchup week seven, home against Kansas City. I mean, how can you be confident that the Titans will beat the Chiefs? I know they've done it once in the past, you know, two seasons, but it's the Chiefs, guys. It's Pat Mahomes.

The odds are against the Titans there. I'd love to see them pull out that victory, but I certainly have to put that game on my least confident list. Then those are two games that make sense. But after that, it's a very similar situation. Those might be the two top teams in the AFC Conference. Well, that's redundant to say AFC Conference. But you guys know what I'm saying.

In the AFC. Well, the two games against two top teams in the NFC also have me a little concerned. Not only because you're going up against two of the best teams in the conference in the NFC, but also because the Titans have to go so far travel-wise to play those games. Number one, in week two, an away game against the Seattle Seahawks. Incredibly difficult to play in Seattle anyways, let alone the miles that the Titans have to travel to do it, and then going up against Russell Wilson, can't feel confident in that.

The most difficult game on the Titans schedule, in my opinion, is an away game in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Rams. Again, Titans traveling across the country. Again, the time of the game, it being so late on the West Coast, throwing off the Titans body clock, and then the Titans' body clock. And then the Rams are just a dang good team. They were a good team last year. Now they added Matthew Stafford, who's clearly an upgraded quarterback.

I'm not saying that the Rams are going to the Super Bowl or anything like that, but they clearly should be improved. And an improvement on last year with that defense and that offensive philosophy adding in Matthew Stafford, that's going to be a tough out for the Titans in prime time on the West Coast in the middle of the toughest stretch of the season. So those are the four games I am least confident in winning. We are going to continue with this schedule release after party. I'm going to look at the X-Factor games that I think could swing the Titans season one way or another.

I'm going to tell you what, just as a fan, my favorite matchups to look forward to are. And then also going to talk a little bit about the Titans by week placement. So excited to get into that conversation. Before we do, I want to remind you guys about the best tasting protein bars on the planet and those come from our friends over at builtbar.com right now they have nine delicious flavors on the website they put on some occasional limited time flavors as well so make sure to check all of those out not only do the built bars taste absolutely fantastic but they're healthy for you as well. Low calorie, low sugar, high protein, high fiber. They're versatile.

You can use them as a meal replacement or as a guilt-free snack. To be honest with you guys, I'm not on any kind of diet at all, but the Bilt Bars are so good. I eat them like a candy bar. Make sure that you go to BiltBar.com, use promo code LOCKED15, and you'll get 15% off your next order. Once again, use promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off your All right, Titans fans. The balloons are floating away. The streamers are falling from the ceiling,

and the punch is almost gone. This scheduled release after party is coming to a close, but not without a little bit more schedule analysis. Before we dive into that, do want to tell you guys about the Locked On Today podcast hosted by Peter Bukowski. Basically, it's all the biggest sports stories in under 20 minutes every day. I say it's basically like having the sports section read to you every morning. You got to check out the Locked On Today podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But the last few things, I wanted to go over here. Number one, my favorite matchups, just the games that I am the most excited to watch from the Titans this year, and I picked out four of them.

Two of them are primetime games. The Buffalo game. All that I mentioned before, there's a lot of revenge on the line from last year. I think that while Buffalo is a very, very good team, the Titans had an excellent schematic plan for Josh Allen. It's actually very similar to what they do against Lamar Jackson. So, very interested to watch that game. While I'm not confident in the Titans winning,

and I ultimately do have it down as a loss, I do think it's a game that the Titans could win if they execute their defensive plan as well as they did last time they played Buffalo. But either way, that's a measuring stick game. That's one of those moments where the Titans go through the first five weeks of the year and I expect them to be 3-2 or 4-1. And then they're going to test themselves against Buffalo in Week 6 in primetime. So to me, that is a big, big matchup that I am very, very excited to watch

because the Titans, unlike they did last year, would cement themselves as one of the top teams in the AFC if they're able to defeat Buffalo in primetime. And we all know how the game goes. These national TV games really shape the national media's narrative of the team. And if the Titans can start out 5-1 after a win on primetime against the Buffalo Bills, I mean, the entire NFL landscape would talk about the Titans differently than they do currently. Next, the entire NFL landscape would talk about the Titans differently than they do currently.

Next, the KC game. I mean, I'm excited for it. It's going to be nerve-wracking. That's for dang sure. But I'm excited to watch the Titans go up against Kansas City because, again, if they win those games, if for some reason the Titans are able to beat Buffalo and Kansas City back-to-back, I mean, turn up, folks. The Titans are going to be Buffalo and Kansas City back to back I mean turn up folks

the Titans are gonna be a way better team than I expected and maybe with an improved defense and just a little bit of a step back on offense they can be that kind of team but the next game week one baby Arizona if you listen to my schedule preview episode on Wednesday. I was really hoping that that Arizona game at home in Nashville would be a primetime game. You get Kyler Murray, who's going to be running around, very exciting brand of football. You get J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins with a division revenge game. You get Malcolm Butler with a pure revenge game against his old team. I thought there were a ton of good storylines, very exciting football with Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown and then Kyler Murray. I feel like that's going to be an awesome, awesome entertaining game.

Very excited that it's on week one. So I'm excited for that. And then the last game that I'm very excited for is that San Francisco game. At home week 16. Going to be on Thursday night football, I believe. I believe off the top of my head right now. Yes, Thursday night football, I believe. I believe off the top of my head right now. Yes, Thursday night football. I just think that's going to be so much fun to watch. San Francisco,

Trey Lance should be playing by then. Again, I want the Titans to win, but I also want the team that the Titans are playing to be exciting as well. That makes for good football games, and I'm excited about these games. San Francisco is just a team that I like a lot. I know I had a couple of you say in my comments on Thursday that you don't like San Francisco. You're not worried about San Francisco. But for me, I am worried about San Francisco. I think with Trey Lance and the players that they'll be returning from injury, they have a chance to be one of the best teams in the NFC. Remember, they're only a few years removed from a Super Bowl appearance, guys. We're talking about San Francisco. So anyways, very excited to watch that game,

and I think it'll be a good, exciting football game overall. Now, let's continue going forward to the X Factor games. So, I talked about the games I'm most confident the Titans will win. That's four wins in theory. I talked about the games that I'm least confident in the Titans win. That's four wins in theory. I talked about the games that I'm least confident in the Titans win. That's four losses in theory. So what are some swing games here that I think will really go a long way to determining whether the Titans make the playoffs, what kind of team they will be?

Number one, that Arizona game in week one. If the Titans, I think Arizona is going to be about third or fourth in their division. They're going to be about seven and ten, eight-9, 9-8, somewhere in there. If the Titans aren't a better football team than Arizona and can't win that game against a scrambling quarterback, they do well against scrambling quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen. So I feel like the Titans should have a very good plan for Arizona early on in week one. Mike Vrabel, again, just simply does not lose with additional preparation

outside of week one of his first season as head coach ever in Miami, that eight-hour game. So, are we really going to hold that against him? I'm not. I expect the Titans to win that game, but if they don't, if the Titans don't win that game, that could spell that they're going to be a little bit more mediocre than we want them to be. So that's a swing game for me to start off the season. You look at the Titans opening stretch, Arizona at Seattle, home for Indy at the Jets at Jacksonville. I could very well see the Titans losing at Seattle and losing the game against Indianapolis.

So if they come out of those first five games and they're 2-3 because of a loss to Arizona and they only beat the Jets in Jacksonville. And then they got to play Buffalo, KC, Indy, and LA in a row and then New Orleans. I mean, that's tough. So the Titans have to win some games early in the season and Arizona has to be one of them. Next, coming out of that difficult stretch, playing at home against New Orleans. That is an X-Factor game. I think that the Saints are going to be a good team, but they're not going to be the type of team they've been in recent years with Drew Brees. They're going to be like Arizona.

They're going to be fighting for a wild card spot at the end of the year. They're going to be 8-9, 9-8, 7-10, 10-7, somewhere in there. And with that in mind, the Titans have to find a way to beat those middling teams if they want to be one of the upper echelon teams. So that is an X-factor game. Basically the same exact explanation for the away game in Week 12 against New England. The Titans have a chance here to beat the Patriots for a second time in a row. And coming out of that difficult stretch I talked about,

get back on track with a win against the Saints, a win against the Texans, and a win against New England. If they're able to do that three wins in a row about. Get back on track with a win against the Saints, a win against the Texans, and a win against New England. If they're able to do that three wins in a row to get them back on track after that tough stretch in the middle of the year, that'll put them right where they need to be. And the final game is a game I talked about a little bit earlier, but it's Miami. So that was in my top four most confident, but it was number four. It was my least confident of the most

confident Miami. I guess I could be wrong about two is what it comes down to. If I'm wrong about two and he's a good starting level quarterback in the NFL, then Miami could be pretty decent. Now, I don't think that Miami is going to be better than Buffalo, but there'll be another one of those teams fighting for a wild card spot right in the middle, eight and nine, nine and eight right there. And if the Titans want to be better than that level of team, well, then they got to beat that level of team. So the X Factor games for me, Arizona, New Orleans, New England, Miami. Those will play the biggest role in determining whether the Titans are a middling team

or whether the Titans are a top-notch team. Now, as for my bye week analysis, pretty simple here. I love that the bye week is week 13. I like it later in the season to allow guys to recover. I would rather have the rest later and get ready for the playoffs and the final stretch than have that rest early in the year like the Titans had last year due to COVID. So I'm glad that their bye week is at week 13.

I'm not going to lie, I would have liked the bye week maybe to be a little bit sooner and closer to that tough stretch where they go to Indy or Buffalo KC at Indy at LA. I think maybe closer to that would be a little bit better because that's going to be very difficult. But I'm not going to complain with the bye week being later in the season either. But that's going to do it for this week of the Locked on Titans podcast.

That's going to do it for this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. That's going to do it for this Friday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, our 2021 scheduled release after party. I'm going to be back with you guys next week, breaking down everything Titans. We have draft player profiles to get into still. We're going to have ultimate division

crossovers where we talk to the host of the other division shows coming up very soon as well. So a lot of football still to discuss despite the fact that the season still feels so far away. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.