Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Sign ANOTHER Kicker, Titans Talk & Rowland's Rewind

Episode Date: December 19, 2019

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

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we don't have football on this Thursday. I can't call it a kickoff Thursday. There's nothing to kick off. Hopefully you guys are using the extra time that you have away from your television to spend with your family, get some holiday shopping done, whatever it is you have going on. And while you do those things, hopefully you can enjoy the Locked on Titans podcast. I myself have had a very, very busy day. I've been traveling from sun up to sun down, essentially, so I put together a good show for you guys in the limited amount of time that I had today.

I hope you do enjoy. We are going to talk about the nightmare of a situation that the Titans kicking room is and everything that goes into that as they have signed another kicker to try to fix this situation that has cost them dearly. So we'll talk about how much the kicking situation has cost this team and talk about their replacement that they just signed Greg Joseph and what he brings to the table. After our first segment, we are going to do a little bit of Titans talk. As I said, I have been traveling all day long. So as one of our segments, I want to play you Mike Vrabel's press conference.

Let him tell you guys what he thinks about this Saints team and give you an update on some of the roster moves. And then, of course, in our third segment, we will do Roland's Rewind. And I will talk to you guys about the last time the Titans played the New Orleans Saints, and it was a much better game than I remembered. So glad I was able to go back, take a look at that, and we'll talk about that last. So ready to jump into all that with you guys? Let's get it. your Tennessee Titans lead story the Titans have made some roster moves to hopefully end the nightmare that has been the kicking situation they have signed Greg Joseph the kicker from the Carolina Panthers practice squad last year Joseph kicked for the Cleveland Browns.

He made 85% of his field goals going 17 for 20. His long make on the season was 51 yards. Not too shabby for a guy with a small sample size. Now, where things really get concerning is he is only 25 for 29 on his extra points. That is not a very high rate. The Titans are not struggling with extra points, so it would be unfortunate for them to trade one issue for another. However, seeing Joseph here now, you have to hope that maybe some of these kicking issues will be put to rest. Now, the roster moves that go along with the signing of Greg Joseph. The Titans have cut, released Ryan Santoso, the air quotes, touchback specialist. This guy was supposed to come in, have a strong leg, 6'5", 200 pounds, big guy, kick the ball out of the back of the end

zone to prevent other teams from getting returns. He was unable to do that consistently, was only able to produce a touchback on nine of his 17 kicks. That's only 52.9%, so he was cut. Ryan Suckup was placed back on injured reserve. If you recall, Suckup missed the first nine weeks of the season with a knee injury, was brought back off IR, went one for six in his field goals, including a crucial miss against the Texans on Sunday. Whether it is health or confidence, he does not have it right now. So I'm glad that the Titans, although they have loyalty to him and a contract that they gave to Ryan Suckup. Quickly, before we move on to the other issues in the kicking game, I just want to remind everyone that Ryan Suckup was given a five-year, $20 million deal,

and still at this time, if the Titans were to cut him in the offseason, he would have at least $2 million of dead cap money. That means money on the cap that shows on the cap, even if he's not on your team. I continue to feel mixed about the Ryan Suckup contract. At the time, I was happy that the Titans finally had a reliable kicker, but in hindsight, kicking is such a fickle profession, and it's so dependent on confidence and things of that nature and can go up and down with the momentum of the season that in hindsight, of course, it seems like it was unwise

to give a kicker that lucrative of a contract. Either way, the Titans will move forward now, whether they cut Suckup or try to get him healthy for next year is to be seen. I would expect them to try to get him healthy, but not give him as long of a leash as they did this year. Suckup is just one part of the kicking issues that the Titans have had throughout the season. Greg Joseph is the fifth kicker on the team this season with Cairo Santos, who was four of nine. Cody Parkey went three for three, and for some reason the team just doesn't trust him. Suck up one for six, as I mentioned. Santoso doesn't even kick field goals, but nine for 17

on touchbacks. The Titans have made 44% of their field goals this year, 8 for 18. That is 22% lower than the Jets. And it's not just that. These kicks are being missed in critical situations. The Titans lost to the Colts in Week 2, 19 to 17 by two points. There was a missed field goal by Santos. Against the Bills,-7 the Titans missed four field goals against Santos those are his five misses and then Suckup although his other misses

haven't cost the Titans completely he missed a field goal against the Texans and the Titans lost by three so that's three specific examples where the Titans were absolutely crushed in crucial AFC and division games by the lack of consistent kicking. Hopefully Joseph will be able to sure this up. That will do it for our first segment. In our second segment, we are going to do a little bit of Titans talk. I'm going to let you hear from head coach Mike Vrabel's press conference. As always, audio is courtesy of titansonline.com. In our third segment, we are going to do Roland's Rewind and go back and look at the last time the Titans played the Saints.

Before we jump into our next segment, I do want to remind you that if you are a Spotify listener, use Spotify Rap to show us your top Locked On podcasts for the year. Use Spotify Rap to show us your top Locked On podcasts for the year. Take a screenshot and tag us at LockedOnLive and me at TicTacTitans on Twitter, and we will share and retweet. Titans Talk. Let's hear from Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel,

audio courtesy of titansonline.com. Well, I don't know what the expectations would be for a kicker other than to make the kicks. You know, obviously be able to, you know, give his balls the cover down the field. We obviously know that not every kick is going to be a touchback, but hang time, direction, there's a lot of things that go into that. I think that the most important thing is that Greg's our kicker going forward this week against the Saints, just trying to prepare for them.

Just the timing, the precision, the accuracy is second to none right now. The completion percentage is over 75%. It's a huge challenge. They have great skill players. The relationship that he has with Michael Thomas and being able to find him in zone and man coverage and the route craft that Michael has now and has developed is a huge challenge. You watch the Carolina game, and it's slant, slant, slant, and then it's sluggo at the end of the game,

and it was just a well-timed, wonderfully called, wonderfully executed play that they dialed up there at the end of that game. It was one that I showed the team weeks ago that, hey, they're in a two-minute drive and it's third and six, but really the sticks don't mean anything in that particular moment. And the Saints take advantage of their aggressiveness, and they run a double move and move the ball down into field goal range. So they've seen it.

Drew and Sean obviously have seen everything that you could possibly throw at them. Michael is developing into an excellent receiver. They've got other really good players. They do a bunch with Hill. Kamara is a dynamic player. Cook is a rangy, lengthy tight end that can run. So there will be plenty of problems here to handle. They're aggressive.

They've got good players. Jordan is an outstanding edge rusher who plays physical, plays with lengths, mixes moves. I think DeMario Davis is playing great. I think the D-line is all well coached. They play physical. They play hard. They play with their hands. They're active.

And then the corners have been able to play in man coverage and really allow them to mix in blitzes that they've done. I think it's probably both. I mean, he's proven to be a reliable player for us, somebody that can do something with the ball in his hands. And then also there's times where the coverage just dictates that that's where it goes. I mean, again, Greg's here. He's got my confidence.

He's got the team's confidence to go out and do his job. I mean, just going back to last year, I mean, Kenny came in. When he did in training camp, learned the defense quickly, helped us out, and has really just continued to improve, progress. I think he's got a great relationship with, you know, Dean and Kerry and Scott Booker. He continues to learn. He's physical. He plays hard. He cares.

I think he's been a great teammate. I know this week will, you know, is always, you know, unique. Going back to, you know, playing against a team that you played for and players that you played with. But I'm sure Kenny will handle it like he always does, like a professional, and he's been a good addition to our football team. I think it has to be. I mean, that's something that's critical for safeties that are back there

working the deep part of the field, am I going to go down? Are you going back? Are we spinning? Are we locking it? And there's just a lot of communication. And Henry, we got two of them now. Yeah, no, Derek Henry and Brent Kern making the bro. Yeah, I've never, you know, again, that's for other people to decide. I'm proud of those guys, their efforts that helped us get to where we are. And again, I think they're happy for all the players that were recognized.

We're focused, obviously like we are every week on the opponent and trying to find a way to defend their Pro Bowl players and the players that they have. I don't think practice had much of an effect. We needed to try to do a lot of things better to help us, but I think that the things that he was asked to do, he was comfortable with. We're going to try to see where he is today and continue to keep moving.

Again, it's built on timing, precision, multiple personnel groups. The biggest thing I can try to tell our guys is that they rarely go no huddle, but it's going to feel like no huddle the way that Drew operates. To be able to stand and have played against him and practiced against him as a coach. The urgency, the sense of urgency in which they have and they operate with is something that is going to be a huge challenge for us. Eleven guys breaking the huddle, Drew getting them up to the line of scrimmage,

getting them motion shift as quickly as they do, and getting the play run. So it's a well-oiled machine that he leads very well. It's just another challenge to an already dangerous offense. He's physical. I mean, this is a fast and physical player. He gets the ball in his hands. It's straight ahead, no fair dodging. He's caught passes.

He's thrown passes. He's run for touchdown. We'll have to know when he's in the game and in what role he's trying to function as. That was Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. Hope you guys enjoyed that insight from the head coach himself. As I mentioned, audio courtesy of titansonline.com. We are going to jump into our third segment with a little Rollins rewind, step in the time machine, and head back to 2015.

It's that time of year. Christmas is coming up quick as we're approaching the 25th, and our friends at MyBookie want to make your season special with 12 days of gifts. MyBookie is already one of the most trusted and reputable sports books in the industry and this holiday season they're getting into the spirit of giving

with 12 straight days of giveaways. That's right. 12 days of risk free gifts. A new gift every single day so you can take your game to the next level. They kicked off this promotion on the 14th with a free parlay for the UFC, and they'll keep up the gift-giving through the 25th. Free bets, free spins, futures, and more.

While Santa has his, they've checked off their list. They've got a little something for everyone, and this is the promotion that you won't want to miss, especially with the NBA and NHL in full swing and all the college bowl games around the corner. It really is the holiday season and the best time of the year for sports betting. Parlays, teasers, specials, anything you could ever ask for. My Bookie is here to make Christmas great again.

Anything you could ever ask for, MyBookie is here to make Christmas great again. Head over to MyBookie.ag right now and use our promo code LOCKEDON to get half of your initial deposit in free wagers. And that's just the start of your savings. Make sure to check the site out during this promotion because there's going to be something new every day and you're going to want to take advantage of these deals. So go sign up for MyBookie with our code locked on and start winning today Rollins Rewind. If you will, step in the time machine with me, and we will travel back to November the 8th, 2015. Marcus had just missed a few games with a knee injury. Ken Wisenhunt had just gotten fired.

Mike Malarkey is taking over for his first game as interim head coach. The Titans are 2-6 at the time. The Saints are 4-5 and the game is in New Orleans. Tennessee does come out hot here. This is one of the best offensive performances of Marcus Mariota's entire career. They were able to win this game in overtime 34-28. The Saints ended up 7-9 this year. It was kind of one of their down seasons before the last few years where they really started to put the roster back together. But like I said, the Titans were able to get a victory in the dome away against the Saints. So really impressive either way. Marcus in his rookie season coming off of an injury, like I said, had his most prolific day in the air.

28 for 39, 371 yards and four touchdowns. Pretty great day there for Marcus, and it wasn't just good performance. There were some highlights in here as well. The very first touchdown of the game was that tip pass to Delaney Walker. I'm sure you guys can picture it in your head. Marcus threw up just a terrible pass, just literally tossed it up in the air, and it bounced off two Saints who were trying to intercept it right into Delaney Walker's waiting arms, and he ran for a 60-yard touchdown.

So really awesome play there, one of the more memorable plays of Delaney's career. So shout-out to Delaney Walker there. Who knows what comes next for him as a Titan. He had a great day overall. Seven catches, 95 yards, two touchdowns. He had another crucial touchdown late in the game. However, early in the game, the Saints did get up 21 to 10 and they're at home. and it's one of those games where you would imagine that the Titans would kind of lie down and the Saints being at home and with a great home field advantage would take over but no this Titan squad fought back there was a touchdown to Justin Hunter yes you heard me ladies and gentlemen Justin Hunter he had three catches that day for 17 yards. One of them was a slant over the middle in the red zone

that resulted in a touchdown. And then the game-winning touchdown came on a tight end throwback to Anthony Fasano. If you guys remember back, Anthony Fasano was the key to that offense. Once the Titans lost Fasano as their secondary tight end, who was primarily a blocking tight end, but also could help in the passing game, that whole power scheme kind of fell apart for the Mike Malarkey staff.

So I want to shout out Anthony Fasano, one of the most underrated players in Titans history, due to his performance or his impact on the offense and how it impacted the offense's performance. I just want to run through some stats for you guys just to bring up some old names because every time I see names like this, some past Titans, it always brings a smile to my face. Some of them, I guess. Some former Titans.

Antonio Andrews, 19 carries, 88 yards. That guy ran hard. Not a lot of talent, but he ran hard. Dexter McCluster was out there, eight carries for 19. He was just fast, but you know, the Titans still to this day don't really have a fast running back they can count on. So something they were trying to find in McCluster, they haven't found and they haven't found it yet. So hopefully they're able to do that this year. Like I said, Delaney Walker had a big day. Doriel Green Beckham, DGB, five catches, 77 yards. Harry Douglas, five for 73.

Craig Stevens even got in on the action with two catches for 25 yards. So hilarious to look at some of these names here. Another fun part of this game is Drew Brees threw an interception. He threw it to Bw web lord we have come a long way titans fans so even though the cornerbacks out there that we've seen the last few weeks have been bad my lord that's nothing on bw web out there. We had Cody Riggs, Cody Sensible out there. And then, of course, when I said that there are certain former Titans names that don't bring a smile to your face when you say them, well, this is one specifically that I was thinking about,

but definitely one of the tops, Parrish Cox. His name is perfect because all he did out there was perish due to the wide receivers. So dad joke for you guys there to end this Rollins Rewind. So I know it was a quick show today. Like I said, I have been busy traveling all day long. I promise to give you guys a jam-packed show on Friday as we did on Wednesday. So you got a good sandwich there for the end of your week.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.