Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Cam Ward was good, NOT GREAT, in loss, Big Jeff's VIRAL TD and MOUNTING INJURIES

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Cam Ward's performance against the 49ers was another mixed bag. Can we realistically expect more growth from the rookie QB this season? Plus, Jeffery Simmons caught a touchdown pass that went viral. While Big Jeff had a big day, the rest of the defense did not. We debate if the injuries are too much to overcome.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyTake control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money.Go to https://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONtoday.Aura FramesFor a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout.FanDuelIf you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL livebets all season long.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Julian Minnensohn. I thought Cam Ward was good, but not great against San Francisco. We'll dissect his performance here on the Titans Squad show. I'm Brad Hopkins. If the Titans keep getting better, they won't have that first pick of the draft. We'll talk about what that means on the show. I'm Tyler Rowland. I don't care what pick they end up with. I'm ready for draft season. Titan up. It's the Titans squad. Everything Tennessee Titans every week covering all the big hits and game changing plays from the heart of music city the way only the locked on podcast network can squad up the titan squad show starts now and welcome into the

titan squad show as you heard off the top right there i'm julian minnison that's due time pro bowler brad hopkins and that's locked on titans host tyler roland here we're talking about the titans this week. We have a jam-pack show for you today. Wanted to remind you that today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fanduil.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Of course, if you're in the chat with us live on YouTube, get those questions and comments in the live chat. We'll do our best to answer them at the end of the show. We're going to talk about the Titans lost 37 to 24 against the San Francisco 49ers this past weekend, a tough day defensively for the Titans. We'll dissect that

performance. Of course, a little bit of a rookie review on Cam Ward, what we liked, what we didn't like from the young QB. But of course, we start with our favorite segment, tighten up and tighten down. So we'll start with Bhop on this one. Bhop. What do you tighten up about this week after a loss, but a valiant performance, I'd say, for maybe three or four quarters? yeah well in lieu of the holiday season quickly approaching if if some butts were candy and nuts every day would be christmas and what i mean by that is if cam ward obviously doesn't overthrow van jefferson on the sideline after he beat man coverage joey sly doesn't miss the field goal to end the half you're talking about a tied ball game heading into the second half and who knows what could

have happened after that right but this is football it doesn't work that way um i think that's you know when you look at the whole gunner helm situation to me it kind of wraps up exactly what the titan did there was a couple of times where gunner lined up off sides and you wanted to just punch him in the face right but then he ends up making an unbelievable catch uh with an unbelievable throw from cam ward to get them on board right to really kind of keep them at least in the hunt so that's kind of a microcosm of where it went but we look at no sacks no turnovers tony pollard another 100 yard rushing day. They held Christian McCaffrey to under 100 yards rushing.

As a matter of fact, they held into under 100 yards all purpose. He only had 14 yards receiving, which is rare. Big Jeff shows he's an athlete. He's a skilled receiver and a sack machine. You know what I mean? Scoring a touchdown. He got a sack, a force fumble, and the touchdown. You got two touchdowns in the four quarterfellas that gave the Titan some momentum.

It just wasn't enough. So there's a lot to be, you know, at least positive about, but obviously it is yet another loss, which, you know, still marks their win total at two, and that's just not acceptable. But there was growth, to say the least. I think there's growth. If they would have played like this the whole season,

I think this would have been, you know, this would have been about what we expected. Some of those early season coaching gaffs by Brian Callahan, some of the really bad, ugly games early on, like the, you know, the Texans 26 to nothing, you know, like that, those have been bad. And since it happened early in the year, it skewed us. But the reality is this is just like, like what we expected coming to the year. You know, I don't think anybody would have said that the Titans would have

beat the San Francisco 49ers if we were like, all right, let's go game by game. Which games do you think they'll win? San Francisco. None of us would have been like, yeah, I think they'll win that game in San Francisco. Yeah, I think so, you know, they put some. garbage time touchdowns up and kept fighting and showed some fight early on and had some chances and like Brad said they made some good plays but again they make some stupid mistakes and they you know they just look like a bad football team but we can say they're growing so I guess

that's the tighten up is they have gotten better like they're a more competitive football team right now than they were earlier in the year the offense is still ugly but it like they have good drives and good moments and good plays like early on in the season we couldn't get Nothing. You know what I mean? There wasn't a single explosive to get excited about or a good drive to get excited about. Like, that happened far too often early. So I guess the tighten up is growth, but the zoom in for me, Gunner Helm, man, they got one. Gunner Helm is a beast and I'll be honest. Tighten up for me. I've been trying to tell people all long since April. Gunner Helm should be tight in one. They have to feature him. He's an important player. He has the size, just the natural size to block in today's NFL. his hands are going to be reliable.

Cam Ward is a gunslinger. He's not pinpoint accurate. Like Tom Brady, he's never going to be pinpoint accurate. You need guys like Gunner Helm, who are really good with his catch radius and his body control and long arms and big hands that can adjust to the ball. Like, that's what you need. So Gunner Helm not only is, in my opinion, the most talented of the rookies. The fourth round rookies, like I think Gunner Helm is a better player

and will be a better player than Chim Dike. Like Gunner Helm is a starting tight end. Jim Dike is a utility depth wide receiver in the NFL. So Gunner Helm goes over Bosecafe. Most catches for a rookie tight end in Titans history. He's about 60 yards away, right around 60 yards away from breaking Chigakonkwo's rookie record for receiving yards at 4.50. He's been super reliable for Cam Ward more than anybody else

from a hands perspective, scores touchdowns. Gunner Helm is a massive tighten up and if only he wasn't getting out snapped by Chigacanquo every single game by 15 snaps or so if only he would have been treated like the player that he should have been maybe he's a rookie so this and that we don't know behind the scenes but he's just clearly in my opinion the most talented pass catcher on the Titans

and I'm most excited for him and Cam Ward going forward through the future it's nightmare on Helm Street Real quick, Julian, before you give your, you're tighten up, I think it's a good problem to have when you have the utilities that we have at tight-in. Tight-in is a very pivotal position, especially for a young quarterback, and when you can have chig in the lineup that not only serves as a tight-in, but also as a slot receiver that he's moving around, he's in the back field sometimes, can be a running back in-back in-essence, you know what I mean? Because he has that size and flexibility. It's not necessarily an in-line blocker, but you're a 1,000 percent. right. Gunner Helm is the next Travis Kelsey. He is the next Mark Andrews. He is the next George Kittle. Well, George Kittle is more like Chigunquo. You mean, as far as stature and ability. But when you just look at, like you said, his ability to block, his ability to get

separation, his ability to go up and make the big catch, he's hard to tackle. This dude is just a flat out stud. And I can only imagine him with a more developed or a developing camp ward. His star is only going to get brighter, man. I'm right there with. you man. Gunner Helm is, he is probably the steal of the draft. Indeed. You know, remember last year you guys when we kind of looked at the season and said, well, bad season, but we always had the Tavondre sweat strip sack, right? The angry, the angry run. We had that play. Well, I look at this season and we're probably going to say, yeah, tough season, but we always had that big Jeff Simmons touchdown.

And it was unbelievable from the standpoint of just Jeff knowing the personnel on the other side as far as Cam Ward. He even talked about it after the game. Hey, I know Cam likes to throw across his body more than another quarterback should. So I just ran the opposite way and found some open space. It reminded me a lot of the Xavier Restrepo play against the Seahawks where Restrepo knows Cam. And so, hey, he's going to the sideline. I'm going the opposite way. that he high pointed the ball too and was able to make the catch because if you didn't make

that catch you know how much crap he'd probably get in that locker room after the game um so i i think you tweeted this out tyler like that that that play was worth the watch of that three hour game alone so uh i am going that with my my tighten up this week if you have any thoughts on big jeff go ahead but if not we can go into our tighten down well he's just no are you serious i mean to be able to first off to stay in bounds on the side you know, running the back of the end zone, right? To have the presence of mind, like you just said, I think he even told Cam he was available, you know, like, I'm here.

Yes. You know, getting separation from the defender, I'm like, is this dude a tight end or what is he? You know, so not only did he obviously be disruptive on the defensive side of the football, but to show his offensive prowess, I mean, the dude was, I was so proud of him to see that. For the big bodies that don't get to score touchdowns, my man, Big Jeff showed up.

He deserves it. He deserves it. This year he has been everything that people have been asking for from him. And I admit, you know, he's had great years on the field before. But what's the leadership there? There are behind the scenes of people saying, is Big Jeff the type of guy to lead? Does he really take accountability? Is he someone who they kind of have to, oh, you know, it was okay, Big Jeff.

You know, you wonder. And then this year, the way that he stepped up vocally in the public. And, you know, I can only imagine how that continue. I mean, all throughout training camp, it's Big Jeff is saying this. Big Jeff is saying that and so this is who he is and it goes off the field too we're at the point it's the holiday season

what Jeffrey Simmons has become in the community after the ugly incident he had before the draft after tearing his ACL you know and to see him cry when Amy Adam Strunk gave him a chance and him telling her I won't let you down I remember him crying on draft night saying that and my God he is not

he is a great Tennessee Titan on the field off the field what he's done I could not be more proud to call Jeffrey Simmons a Titan he's cantankerous on the field you know maybe he's done a little this and that

could be considered dirty in some parts of the world you know what football is a tough game played by violent physical people and you gotta have a little edge to you to be the Jeffrey Simmons so you know

he played a great game outside of the touchdown he had a strip sack fumble again I mean he's getting close to the double digit sacks that we talked about before the season and he has just absolutely delivered on and off the field as a leader as a player.

He has blossomed into every single box being checked for a player that you could ever ask for he's the most dominant interior defensive linemen in the NFL this season with a terrible edge group around him. Like, what an incredible player he is. I'm out on trading him. You keep that guy around. DTs age gracefully as well. It's a position in the league where you can get into your early 30s

and still be very, very effective. Jeffrey Simmons is the building block. I want Simmons as a titan for life. You know, the unfortunate part, and the unfortunate part about Big Jeff is that he is on a losing team. Because if Big Jeff were doing just what Big Jeff is doing, say for the Rams or, you know,

for somebody that's a frontrunner right now, he would be a household name. And that's the unfortunate part. You know what I mean? Because if this team had more eyes on it because we were winning ball games and they were looking at the exploits of Jeffrey Simmons, he'd be doing Campbell suit commercials right now. Yeah. Yeah, certainly indeed.

As far as a tighten down for you guys, what would you say is something that kind of left a lot to be desired on Sunday's game in your guys' opinion? Did you hear Julian change in tone there? Yeah. As for a Titan down, like, Jeffrey, as for a Titan. Really brought down the level naturally there. That's professional work. I think my. I think my. My tighten down is I don't want to do too much Cam Ward because I know we'll assess him as total But my tighten down

And this is going to sound very bah humbug I did play screwed in a school play once So I guess it's natural for me But I'm ready for the season to be over Bah humbug Like we've learned all that we can about this team I think we know what we need to know About the players

Like we've seen all the good from Cam Ward that I need We've seen the bad and know what Cam Ward needs to work on We know who the players that they can actually take with them are. Yeah, the offensive line has played better, but if you look at the financial aspect, the offensive line was going to be four out of five guys next year. Anyway, they were just looking to replace that right guard. Maybe they do a post-June 1st cut of Lloyd Cushenberry,

but I don't know that that's going to happen. So I think we know the offensive line is better than it's looked, and maybe Cam being a rookie quarterback has made the O line look worse and sometimes, and they've disappointed for the level that we expected. we know what that is. We know Helm, D.K. Spears. Like, we kind of know who's going to be on the team next year. We know what the deficiencies are, where they have to attack.

We just don't know exactly what that draft pick is going to be, but we can see the cap space being tops in the NFL. Like, we can see everything. And I'm just like, okay, sim to end the season. Like, get my man controller out. Let's, sim to end of year. Let's go, because they're going to play the Chiefs. They might win.

the Saints game they might win. They might lose both those games too. It's no guarantee like the Saints are playing pretty good football right now. Tyler Shuck is spinning it and Garner Minchu and a Chiefs team with a ton of experience, they can still come in and wall up the Titans, you know, it's not like they can't do that without Mahomes. This team isn't above losing to a backup quarterback. And then they play the Jags at the end of the year and with the Texans running, that's probably going to be an important game. Jacksonville isn't just going to sit their guys and let the Titans have that one most likely. So I just I don't think we're going to learn anything new about the team.

At this point, it's just about the enjoyment of watching the football. And this team isn't super enjoyable, quite honestly, at this stage in the season. So I'm just, my tighten down is just that we have this December stretch left because I'm ready to feel hopeful again. I'm ready to get a new coach. I'm ready to start adding some new players and start being excited about the 2026 Tennessee Titans. This season has worn me down. well let's let's hear a little bit from the interim and it's not like i have a sound bite but i'm

going to quote him because he basically will articulate my titan down he said you got to get off the field you got to be able to get off the field when you convert a high rate that percentage it's tough that's when you give up all the points so you've got to be able to get off the field on third down so the niner's converted nine third downs on 15 attempts that's 60 percent the titans only three third downs on nine attempts. That's 30%. The Niners held the ball for 37 minutes and five seconds. The Titans held the ball for 22 minutes and 55 seconds. The Niners ran 70 total plays compared to the Titans 49 plays. That's the ball game. That's the ball game, period. So a tightened down was that they weren't able to find ways to make plays, and maybe it was the injuries,

maybe it was the fact that 18 of those first downs that they got in the ball game were scored through the air. They were just running all over the secondary. You know what I mean? Just their ability to continue drives and win the time of possession are what put the Titans behind. And I know Tyler talked about garbage touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but those two touchdowns that they had in the four quarter were more than the 49ers scored, which was only six. And unfortunately, that long drive that the Niners were able to put together to start the second half, that started in two touchdowns for them in the third quarter. You know, so if they could have got out the field, better than they did in that ball game,

it probably would have been a more competitive situation, putting more stress and pressure on a team that had won, what, eight to nine games already at that point, and we're fighting for their playoff position? Right, nine games. So at the end of the day, they were super competitive on the road against a team that has life, you know,

but there are just some things that just didn't bounce their way, and unfortunately they weren't able to solve the issue of being able to get off the field and get the ball back to their offense. Not only that, Bhop, but slow starts too. I think we've talked at nauseam on this show about getting off to a faster start and how much of a difference that makes, especially for a team where you're not really good enough to climb out of a hole against the San Francisco 49ers or a team that's equivalent to that. You get down 14 to 3 and you fight back to get within 7 at halftime, but then you come out of the second half and also start off sluggish as well.

So back to back starts of each half where you start off slow, that's going to put you behind the 8th, And this team, as I mentioned, they're just not good enough right now, consistently offensively enough to, you can guarantee, oh, they're going to fight their way back into this game. And they weren't getting enough stops, like you mentioned, Bhop, to get off the field to fight their way back into this game. So that was probably to tighten down for me is just slow starts continue to plague this team in a lot of their losses.

Julian, I will tell you, I got to say, I think that's a coaching thing. Think about the opening script on offense. When you're on offense, coaches usually have that first 10 to 15 plays plot it out. Why do they do that? How can they pre-determine that? Because they see things on tape that they know will work against the defense. We know that on 2nd and 8, you run this coverage, we're running this concept. We know on 1st down, if we line up in this front, you're going to react in this way,

and if we run this play, it's going to smoke that. Well, why can't the Titans score on opening drives? Why do the Titans come out and have bad starts? because their coaches don't have a good plan. They don't have the right plays to attack the defense. They don't have a good enough, they aren't talented enough offensive minds to have a good enough plan ready to attack the defense and score.

That's why they've scored one touchdown on an opening drive all year long because where other coaches have the best part of their plan lined up for the very beginning, the Titans coaching staff doesn't have that talent on offense and can't have a good enough plan to attack the defense. So it's like they have slow starts all the time because that's where the coaching staff's preparation really shines is at the beginning of the game

when they know before the team adjust to what they've seen and the Titans coaches aren't any good so they don't get any advantage early in the game in that regard. So to me that is, you're right, the slow starts continue to plague the team but the slow starts, the real reason for those slow starts is the Titans coaching staff isn't good enough to have a good initial plan

so when the adjustments start to kick in, they're already from behind. Well, my thoughts are the slow starts, are a microcosm of bad teams. They don't come into the game the very beginning with the kind of energy that says, I have the confidence to win today. Something has to happen through the course of the game,

whether it's them staying close, whether it's them getting a touchdown first, whether it's somebody making a great play, something exciting, then jumpstarts their ability to believe that they have the ability to win the ball game. So what happens is they don't have less stack of one of our offense coordinators back in the day. You just say we have to avoid stinking things.

Stinking thinking is running rampant throughout the building when you're losing ballgames because it's easy for them to fall into the doldrums of saying, well, here we go again. They scored on their first possession, which the Niners scored on their first five possessions. Here we go again. We don't have an answer. We're trying to fight from behind. So it just seems like we're falling in the same mud that has been plaguing this team's ankles for the entire season from the very beginning of the ball game. When you're a team that expects to win, when you come out of that damn tunnel, bro, you're coming out of

with your hair on fire. You're coming out of it with some confidence, with some zest, with just you knowing what's about to happen to the other team, right? When your team is losing and you continue to lose where you've only won twice all year, you're just thinking, well, I hope we win. Well, I hope we do something different. And that hope right there is never the kind of energy.

It's never the kind of mindset that you want to have if you want to have a fast start. It's very hard to have a fast start when you've been getting punched in the mouth of all season because that's what you're used to. You just used to getting beat down, right? And it's usually to the course of the ball and that they find some sort of like footing to be like, hey, we're in this. Hey, we're making plays.

One positive thing I saw was, guess what? The team, the unit that we've been talking so much trash about all season, they gave cam time in the pocket. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? He wasn't running around under duress. And this is without Dan Moore being in there. They had Udo in there at left tackle for goodness sake. You know what I'm saying?

So they were able to do some consistent things. Yeah, that was a shot. Whatever. But the point is they play better than, I guess, most would have anticipated at that point. And I just feel like when you're talking about teams that are struggling for an identity, struggling for leadership, struggling for all these things, it's hard for them to have that Ray Lewis kind of doing his little thing when he comes out of there and gets everybody jacked up, right?

This team just doesn't have that kind of component, so therefore it's hard for them to start fast. Petition now to get Bhop in the locker room in the last three games to give that pep talk as they run out onto the field because I'm ready to run through a brick wall for you, B. Hoff, I'll tell you that. We had this, we had this big giant man. Hey, if they had this big, giant maniac, um, in the backfield when I was playing,

he wore the number 27 and he would always say, we need to have a controlled rage. And he would get us all checked that we'd have the hair on our skin, we just, you know, just standing up. We'd just go out there, we were ready to kill somebody, you know what I mean? So to have that kind of consistency, to have a dude that just walks around with that kind of bravado that kind of like

moxie to him that other people can tap into because not everybody on that team that was going to take the field was the type of guy that could say this is what we're going to do today but we had a few of them you know what I mean and those dudes were easy to then relate to and therefore easy to buy into that confidence and then that was that's what led us to our own identity and knowing that we were going to give somebody a whooping that day indeed confidence is key and also to Tyler's point makes that head coaching search, very key as well, especially for the guy we're going to talk about on the other side of the break, Mr. Cam Ward, what we liked and what we didn't like, we dissect

his performance on the Titan Squad show. Next, keep it here. All right, NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fanduil so exciting. You're not just watching the game, you're reacting to it in real time. With Fandil, you can place bets as the action unfolds, every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is best when the game starts to shift. The receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. The Titans are three and a half point underdogs against Gardner, Minshu and the chiefs.

Maybe that's some action that you want to bet on. So if you want to be right in the middle of that action this season, visit Fanduel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Fanduel, the game moves fast, and so can you. all right fellas wanted to talk about cam ward's performance and a little bit of a rookie review here finishes the day 18 to 29 for 170 two touchdowns so that's back-to-back weeks with two touchdown passes my thoughts on it as i said at the beginning of the show i thought he was good not great what did you guys think about his performance this past weekend i really i couldn't even give him

good to be honest julian i got to say it's as the kids would say it was mid. I would say it was a step below, good. He didn't do, he's doing certain things better, which are more boring and less impactful, but he's doing them better. But there are certain things that, you know, he's still missing on. The deep shot to Van Jefferson, I thought there were a few opportunities where he made some misreads, and there's guy, Jim D.K., is open underneath on an easy one, and he just kind of misses it. But getting the ball out of his hands and not letting pressure turn into sacks really good. He's still playmaking. I think some of these easy coordinated, you know, schemed up plays, as I like to call them, as we've talked about throughout the

year, I think he's doing those things with more efficiencies, more accurate, you know, on the underneath stuff, on the quick screens, he's just more buttoned up overall in the operation of everything. But the deep accuracy is a problem. And quite frankly, you know, not that, hey, if you don't pat yourself on the back, nobody's going to do it. But go watch my scouting report video on Cam Ward before the draft back in April on my film channel. Like one of the, there were three things that I was worried about. His accuracy and his timing, just going through the progressions and being on time. His ball control with the fumbles and some of the interceptions he threw in college that were really bad,

like just being smart with the ball. And then the deep accuracy, he's so bad. And listen, I'm not a, I'm not a mechanics guy. I'm not a quarterback guru. I can't be like, oh, the quarterback's back foot, his, you know, big toe. was pointing 87 degrees, it needs to be at 90, so the ball was three inches to the left. Like, I can't do all that. I don't know that. But when you watch Kim in the pocket, when he throws deep passes to the outside,

it's like his feet are aimed to throw it down the middle. So like his feet are aimed down the middle and he's trying to like open his back hip up to torque his body this way and throw. And the ball is literally going to the sideline, to the other side of the sideline. Like he's deep, he's far. It's just so scattershot to the outside. It's on the college tape. It's happened this year, and I hope that the next coach is able to fix that mechanical issue.

Now, he played five years in college and didn't fix it. He's played a year in the NFL, and Brian Callahan's a quarterback guy and couldn't fix it. Will it be fixed? He might just always be a bad guy to the deep and outside, and I want to talk about as we talk about him, what they can do going forward to help with that and to support him. You know, not every quarterback is an a plus across the board of every attribute and every throw. Like, that's not how life works.

So Cam Ward can be deficient in certain areas and still be a really, really good player if the Titans help him in those deficiencies and he helps himself by taking small steps of improvement. But it kind of goes back to what I said there in my Titan down. We know who Cam Ward is. He's checked the boxes of playmaking and arm talent and moxie and leadership and the operational stuff and leading the team

and having the work ethic to get it done. Like we know who he is now. We also know that he needs to get better going through the progressions, quicker, seeing defenses, which every young quarterback does. Put that all on the shopping list. But he's got to get better with his deep accuracy. And he's got to make sure that he's more careful with the football.

The fumbles were a problem. He's tamped that down. That's an improvement. You know? But like, we know what Cam Ward does well, what Cam Ward needs to do better. And now it's about how to get him to do that and what the best way to get that out of him is.

We have our answers on who Cam Ward is now, right now, in my opinion. Bia. Does this sound like Cam Ward, a progressive development or increase in size, capacity or complexity, encompassing physical changes like a plant or child getting bigger, and abstract advancements like gaining knowledge or skills, essentially a move from a simpler to a more mature and expanded state driven by cell division, enlargement, or new learning? That is the definition, that is definition of growth.

And that's what we're seeing from Cam. we're seeing a rookie who has never been in the situation, who has always had to gamble on himself, who has been a no star for a reason because he had to develop into the player that the college ranks would acknowledge that he is. And the same thing is unfolding in front of our eyes. I know the expectation for anybody that's taking person to draft

is that he must be a gun slur. You got to be able to do all these things that give us our team a chance to win. But in essence, growth is uncomfortable. Growth actually sucks. because when you think about when you were growing, sometimes your body just physically hurt because you're going through all these changes, right?

And that's what growth is. And what we're seeing right now is, unfortunately, the growth of our quarterback, it's not resealing in wins and losses. You're in that category, but we're seeing him incrementally get better every single week, which is the only thing that you would ask him to do. In the NFL, you're never supposed to make the same mistake twice.

Now, he's done a good job of doing just that. He's starting to see his shortcomings, navigating the pocket, using protection as a support system versus something that's been a liability for him. We're starting to see him be smarter in the game and then realize exactly what his strengths are. So, you know, while there's a lot of, you know, man, Cam ain't this, Cam ain't that, Cam's a damn rookie. At the end of the day, his growth is something that I'm enjoying watching, even though it doesn't necessarily make me feel good to say, man, the Titans are kicking butt because it's, You know, I'm not wearing a paper bag on my face, but I am out of town. And I'm not going to be wearing my Titans gear probably because if I hear something smart, I might end up what happened when you guys come get me out of jail.

You know what I mean? So at the end of the day, I like what I'm saying because I don't see Cam being stuck in the mud. I see him climbing a mountain, but that mountain is still something to climb. My thing is if he hits Van Jefferson on that play, right, it's probably six or seven. And we're probably thinking about his performance in a much different light. And so that goes back to the, I think Cam is finding out sometimes the hard way that even one misthrow, one broken down play like that could be the difference between how your day is perceived, right? One thing that I do like, and maybe this is more of a testament to the growth that Bhop talked of the offense as a whole, 24 points in three of the last four games. I think that's a step forward than what they were under Brian Callahan

during that tough stretch at the start of the season. And what would you guys say is probably the toughest division in football, the NFC West, right, with the Rams, the Seahawks, the 49ers. We don't count the Cardinals. But those three opponents are right in the NFC North is kind of gross. NFC North is pretty good too. Yeah, that's probably number one. But I would say the NFC West is probably number two.

and the AFC South, to your point, look how good the AFC South is, other than the Titans, but we are the Titans, so we got to play the other good teams in the AFC South. So that's three divisions right there that are like top four division groupings. So to that point, point taking, sorry, it's a really good thought.

No, you're good, you're good. Three of some of the better performances offensively for this team were against the NFC West this year. You talk about the Rams, you had 19 points there, and you were in that game in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks, you had 24 points there, you were in that game in the fourth quarter,

and then this past weekend against the Niners where you played one really bad quarter and you still got 24 points off the board. So my thing is, if Cam can consistently grow and progress, what this offense could look like if you're already scoring this amount of points with not exactly an all-star cast

around him right now. No, 100%. I mean, that has to get, because the guys who are making the plays to make those points happen are like the gunner helms of the world. You know what I mean? So that's what they need. I do just think, though, you're right that Cam Ward, you know,

one play can taint the perception. But I didn't enjoy that, you know, when Cam missed that and you start to criticize the deep accuracy, people go, oh, it's one play. Every quarterback in the NFL misses throws every week. And you're right, but patterns are what I pick up on. I'm not somebody who's like, oh, one play, let's dog him. It's, hey, he's missed a lot of these this year. He was 13 for 40 on passes.

over 20 yards going into the game. Like this isn't, you know, I had somebody tell me all, you're trying to create a false narrative. No, no, you look at the film, you look at the data, you look at the college scouting report, like this is a pattern for him. So you're right, one play contain perception of an individual game, but I also don't want it to feel like, well, that was just one play and it's an overreaction to criticize the deep accuracy.

When the data in the film do back up, that that is a concern for him going forward. But you're right in the totality. Look, the last five games, seven total touchdowns, one interception, 62% completion percentage. They've scored more points like you're talking about.

Like, he has done certain things much better as of late that has led to maybe him not looking incredible, but the offense functioning as well. One thing that people never think of, Cam Ward is checking into better runs now. He's learning fronts. We talk about coverage,

him recognizing a defensive front and saying, hey, we need to get out of this run. Or we need to can this and get to a run against this front. That little chess game that Cam Ward has to play based on fronts that he's never seen and pre-snap and post-snap and seeing them adjust. Like, how many times have we seen they show a pressure look? Can, can, can, can to the next play because we got a pressure look. And then the defense backs out. And now we're in a pressure look play.

and they backed out of it. You know, that little chess match, Cam is going to get so much better at the mental part of this, and I think he has gotten a lot better at the mental part of playing quarterback here in the second third of the season, second half of the season,

and that's been a part of the Tennessee Titans offense functioning better throughout games. So we, you know, I try to be balanced here with, you know, we got to point out the real stuff that he has to get better at and be honest there, but there are some things that your casual fan who watches on Sunday wouldn't necessarily think of

that I think Cam Ward is doing much better right now as well and that should be exciting because that stuff is almost look at Matt Stafford and old man Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers this week and Tom Brady playing until 40 and stuff

those guys didn't have the physical talent they did during their prime but they were so smart that they could still beat defenses with their brain so if Cam can get a little more on that track to match his physical talents that's when we get the player that we're hoping for be happy to you have any final thoughts before we go to break?

No, I mean, you know, the definition, and I hate leaning on AI because it's going to replace us all one day, but that was a good one that gave me as far as what the definition of growth was. So I do believe that that's what we're seeing. Yeah, certainly a better football team than maybe they were a month ago. I think we could probably agree on that at least more competitive. Mike McCoy made that better. You know what I mean?

A lot of people out there try to defend Brian Callahan, and every week you see certain people writing articles of, oh, well, Brian Callahan, when the Titans were, there has been a big, no, Mike McCoy, way better head coach, even though I don't think Mike McCoy is a good head coach, way better, than Brian Callahan. This football team's playing much better. Bo Harding Green, the offense has cut out some of the fat,

some of the bad run games. I can't believe that we're not going to talk about the run game, Brad. They finally got the run game going, freaking 300 total yards and combined in two weeks. I mentioned Tony Pollard's 100 yards. Yeah. Yep, they were cooking with that. So, you know, you got to give credit where it's due.

Mike McCoy, the good game plan against Cleveland, the one win they've gotten since that Cardinals thing was a good coaching game plan that had them ready to go. You know, Mike McCoy is certainly a much better head coach than Brian Callahan, even if neither of them, I think, are good enough to actually be one of the 32. Indeed, and on the other side of the rate, we're going to go to the other side of the ball.

The defensive side went wrong in allowing the 37 points to the San Francisco 49ers and what we hope to see moving forward from that side of the ball as well. Stick around. All right. Ever feel like your money just disappears each month? It happens fast. A few subscriptions here and impulse by there. And suddenly the numbers in your bank account don't match the numbers in your head.

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Rocketmoney.com slash locked on. All right, fellas. So we're going to talk about the defensive side of the ball here. Allow 37 points to San Francisco, the most they've allowed in over a month. But there were a lot of injuries on that side of the ball this past weekend. Obviously, they go in with no Jalen Armored Davis again, but Kevin Winston gets hurt. Mike Brown gets hurt. Xavier Woods gets hurt.

And so, yeah, a lot of, I guess, skeleton crew, I guess you would say, on the secondary on Sunday. Tyler, what did you make of the defensive performance? Can we chalk it up to their short-handed, or is it just the Niners are just a better team and the personnel is a lot better, and it was a subpar performance as a whole? I mean, honestly, it's full circle.

Think about everything that I've said, you know, that I think about the Titans coaching staff and all that. And I think Kyle Shanahan is the best offensive coach of my life. Like he is Diabolically awesome Just a little idea of what Kyle Justnick

The Juice they call him their fullback number 44 The way that Kyle Shanahan uses him This dude lines up out in the slot He brings him in motion He motions into the backfield And then he gets in the fullback position With a lead block

in half back lead down the middle And then they bring him in motion And they run half back lead But they play action fake And they insert Kyle Justneck through the B gap out into a wheel route and he's wide open down the sideline. Then a couple plays later they motion him in and instead of leading up through the A gap he comes out to the C gap for a kickout block and they run a windback with Christian McCaffrey.

Like this dude is a diabolical genius on the offensive side of the ball. Think about what he did earlier in the season with Mack Jones and no wide receivers in the offensive line and no George Kittle. Like Kyle Shanahan is an absolute wizard of football and I could not be, I love Kyle Shanahan, if you can't tell. I would do terrible, terrible things for him to be the coach of the Tennessee Titans. He is a mastermind of all levels, and there is no way that the Titans defense with the talent issues that they have, the injuries in the secondary.

DeNord Wilson is a good defensive coordinator. He is not on the level of a Kyle Shanahan as a play caller and designer, though. Like, that's just not. And they rolled the Titans with their, what they were doing is the Titans. play a lot of zone cover four and cover three. And the Titans have coverage rules in those where if your man goes across the field, it turns into man coverage instead of zone.

And you relinquish your zone coverage and you stay with your man. And then the safety back deep is supposed to pick up for you if anything happens to come into the zone that you vacated with your man rule responsibilities. And Kyle Shanahan just played Denard Wilson's rules all day long by bringing guys deep across the field

and then having an intermediate go. And so that he knows that that's going to turn into man and nobody's going to be in the deep third on the other side and they just ran deep crosser, deep in. Deep crosser, deep in. And they'd have these deep play action drops with six guys back and they knew the Titans couldn't get pressure. I mean, it was just a masterful plan.

So when that's going on and you're playing a Pizza Hut delivery guy in the secondary at safety, you don't have a lot of chance. The 49ers are a great football team with a great coach and great players. I can't hate. The Titans defense has been massively improved in the last six or seven weeks. They've been top ten in sacks and first and missed tackles. And, you know, they've been good for what they have because DeNard Wilson is a good coordinator.

But this is, you know, climbing up the mountain and flip-flops. It ain't happening. That's some great analogies. They're climbing up the mountain and flip-flops. You're kidding. That's awesome. I'm a dog. I do this.

It's what I do. I see. I see. I see. I see. I just, you know, when you just, it's easy to chronicle the struggles that this team has had, especially defensively. Some of it is, you know, the talents that they don't have. You know what I mean?

Some of it is a scheme. And there probably are a lot of very well-qualified offensive coordinators that have taken advantage of us being down in the situation that we're in right now. Think about it. Donar Wilson is going as, what, third years ahead as a defense coordinator, second year is the defense coordinator not a lot of experience being in that seat but it's not to say that he's not getting better at least designing the kind of stuff that actually can be problematic and also if he had the the top to bottom front forward to the to the back end you know guys that could actually fly out get after it imagine if leggeria sneed was healthy and playing at the level that he was

when he wore the red the kansas city you know what i'm saying imagine that coupled with you know sedger gray playing sideline to sideline the big two the big bodies up front really getting after the quarterback then this would be something that that DeNard Wilson could work with and create consistency on that side of the football. And it does play into everything. Offense does play in the defense. Defense does play in the offense because if the defense gets off the field and doesn't allow those scoring opportunities to happen, then an offense has more opportunities to put points on the board.

If they put points on the board, guess what? It puts the other defense and the pickle, other offense to the pickle to try and match their intensity. So they come hand in hand, you know, those special teams in the mix, too, because that matters. Field position game is a huge effect on that, right? but what we're talking about is just the team just not being consistent from top to bottom with not only the play calling and the guys calling the plays, but the dudes that are actually tasked with running and executing.

You mentioned Cedric Gray there. I wanted to talk about him for a little bit. 16 tackles. Again, it's the third time this season that he's gotten at least 16, eighth game with double-digit tackles. We've talked about him before as far as like, when you think about where he was at the start of the year where everyone said, oh, James Williams or Cedric Gray,

well, Cedric Cray, this is the reason why he won the job and is more likely than not under Mike Borgonzi's list of guys who are going to try to change the culture of this team and be a staple piece moving forward. Did you expect, did you guys expect Cedric to be this kind of productive where he's near the top of the NFL in tackles? Because I surely didn't think, especially after missing time last year, that he'd be this productive. Well, yet again, we've hit in the fourth. round in the draft. He was the fourth round picker last year, right? Gunner Helm was the fourth round pick this year. Ellicayumann, a fourth round pick. I mean, that fourth round for the Titans the past couple of seasons has been a rigger, man. We've gotten some dudes. So I'm just curious to see who we're getting the fourth round this year. You know what I mean? Because that's the guy we're talking

about, you know? And the thing is, that's when you really want to make, make it have some hay, right? It's in those middle rounds, the third round, the fourth round, even the fifth round. The first Rounders. Exactly. First rounders, you know what you get with the first rounder because they got all the attention. They've gotten all the exposure. They've probably have been really good to afford being first rounders. It is what it is.

Seventh rounders can be a surprise too because they're really nice supposed to make the roster. You know what I mean? If you end up seeing a guy that's starting from the seventh round, like who the hell missed on this cat? Everybody, you know what I mean? So when you talk about those middle rounds and like you talk about Tyler making your team work something, Central Gray just showed that at least somebody in the Titans building is doing their homework and discovering who these guys are actually taking advantage of players or teams that have passed on this guy for at least three rounds to grab them with you people.

You know, there have been three young players who have been pretty impressive on the defense throughout their opportunities this year. Kevin Winston, Cedric Gray, and Marcus Harris, and what do all those guys have in common? They're explosive athletes. They're fast. And they shine on the Titans because the Titans are so slow. Cody Barton, one of the slowest middle linebackers in the league.

Amani Hooker, Xavier Woods, two of the slowest starting safeties in the NFL. Like, a lot of guys on the defense are slow-footed or older players. And so when you see a guy like Cedric Gray, I remember a play from early in the season. I think it might have been the Colts, but Cody Barton is right behind the running back, and Cedric Gray is two feet behind Cody Barton.

And Cedric Gray runs past Cody Barton to make the tackle on the running back, and it's just like, whoa. You know, like he looked like he was shot out of a campaign, next to Cody Barton, you know? And I'm not trying to hate on the older players. They're older players. They aren't super explosive.

But this Titans team has to get faster, younger, more explosive, more violent. You know what I mean? And seeing players like Marcus Harris show speed and good man coverage ability. Yeah, he takes his lumps out there. He gave up a couple catches to Ricky Pearsall. But Ricky Pearsall is a first rounder. Marcus Harris is a sixth rounder. And Harris held his ground.

That's exciting. Kevin Winston gets hurt in the game Cedric Greg gets hurt in the game as well, sad. Again, let's sim to the end of the season. No more injuries with the young guys. Like, we know what we got. Winston has been up and down and had bad moments and good moments,

but he's been so impressive in the plays that he's made just how long and physical and violent and quick he is to the line of scrimmage. So I think it's no shock that these are the young guys that are helping the defense and showing out on the defense as they've been a little bit better along with Jeffrey Simmons up front.

Brad, you mentioned someone. Imagine if they still had Draymont Jones. Imagine if they still had Roger McCreary. Imagine if they still had Jarvis Brunley Jr. Like, this is a mash crew right now for the Titans. And DeNard Wilson will get another job as soon as the Titans hire a new coaching staff. He'll get another job as a D.C. because he's done a good job. But I just think it's no coincidence that the Titans' defense has actually got better when they've lost some guys because some of the guys that have come in and got more opportunities

are younger players with speed and explosiveness. And that's what you need right now. Yeah, I like Marcus, when you think about Marcus where he was picked too, he's turned into a nice young player for being a sixth round pick. Yes, I think he's got a spot next year. Like we talk about the cornerback position in here, you know, we got some games left, but we'll spend the conversation to the roster and changing things at the end of the year here on the show.

But I think that you can go into 2026 and say, Marcus Harris is our starting slot cornerback. We need to get two outside cornerback. So instead of having three open cornerback, which is an outright disaster. Now you can at least say, I think Marcus Harris can be, and they can use that big nickel package

with three safeties in next year because they're going to have these safeties on the team, and Kevin Winston's good at that role. So if you have Kevin Winston in the slot on early downs is the big nickel, and you got Marcus Harris as a guy who can be that passing down slot like the Titans used to do with Elijah Molden

and Buster Screen, crazy to bring up his name, but that's what they did that year. I just think that having at least one corner cornerback spot filled with a young guy that has promise like Marcus Harris is so, so incredibly uplifting and now you need two outside boundary corners. You get one in free agency, you draft one potentially pretty early, maybe you hit two in free agency, an expensive one, a cheap one, and you draft one in the first three rounds of the draft. But at least

cornerback has the potential to be solvable in a good way when you have at least one of those three spots filled. Indeed. Well, if you guys are in the live chat with us on YouTube during the show right now, make sure to get your questions and comments in. We're going to do our best to answer them on the other side of the break in our Titans talk segment. We also wanted to talk about the O-line a little bit because I know B-Hop is itching to talk about them the rest of the way. So let's do that on the Titans Squad Show when we return.

Keep it here. All right. So I wanted to chat about the O-line and the run game and how that kind of goes hand-in-hand. Um, last week, obviously a great performance running the ball against the Browns and the O line is able to keep Miles Garrett for the most part in check. He got that token sack, of course, but that was going to happen regardless. I think this week was to prove, hey, last week wasn't a fluke. We could do it back to back weeks and the Titans certainly did that with another 100 plus yard performance. No sacks from the O line as well.

Bhop and Tyler, how important is this stacking performances for the O'clock? line, considering, as Tyler mentioned earlier in the show, that the group next year is pretty much going to be the same outside of maybe Kevin Zeitler, who is only on a one-year deal a little bit older. This is the group you're going with. So how important is this for those guys to gain some competence and stack really good performances as you head into next year with this O line? Well, it's not just stacking the performances. It's stacking games. It's having time to play with one another. That's the important part. That's how you develop cohesion. The longer that this unit plays intact as it is without these changes here and there,

they'll better they'll be. And you're starting to see the results of that as the weeks go on, right? This team showed you its strength up front is running the football. Pass protection is a liability for them. If they can run the football and stay out of penalty situations that create passing downs, then you start to see the consistency of them being able to convert third down and stay on the field longer and ultimately get into scoring range by getting into the red zone that puts a pickle on the other offense.

So I think that when they're able to establish the run game, when Tony Pollard has the kind of performances that are had, even Tys R.S. In essence, when he's filling in and coming out of the backfield, when they're actually able to run the football or even show an RPO-style system where there's options for the quarterback to do certain things, then that allows them to not necessarily be in those situations

that create sacks, that create long-down. distances and ultimately end up affecting field position so that's the reason why running the football is so important it's not like we're saying hey man you don't want to have a boring pedestrian brand of football no that's where the consistency comes and being able to control line of scrimmage by having those dudes being able to fire out and impose their will versus retreating and then somehow being exploited in in one-on-one situations and this you know cam is trying to make something happen because he's got to the pocket is broken down and he's got to roll someplace and he's trying to make some strip or off through, you know, across his body, whatever else, versus sitting in a pocket

with set feet and going through a progression to find an open receiver and delivering an accurate ball. So it's important for them to be able to establish Tony first and foremost because that does create consistency in play calling. It gives you more expansive options when it comes to the playbook itself. And that's why those guys playing more unified up front with the time that they've had over the last, what, 14, 15 weeks, they just seemed to get better and better. Because like I mentioned earlier in the show, Cam wasn't under duress. There were plenty of times back there. I was like, damn, Cam's having a cup of coffee back there, man, which that wasn't the case

in the first few weeks, was it? This dude was running for his life all over the place because people were just getting beat like drums. Every now and then, every play, somebody was getting beat up front. But now you're starting to see more consistency. Even on the edges, they're playing better. You know what I mean? So at the end of the day, at the end of the day, time is what's making them better.

That pocket he had in that gunner helm throw was pretty nice. Pretty nice pocket there. Yeah, even the backups, Corey Levin played center for a couple of weeks when Cushenberry is out. He came in for Zytler when Zitler got banged up again in the game. Ali Udo is in. Ali Udo played for Latham a little bit. Like even the backups have done a pretty good job quite honestly. And I think for me, everything's about the future right now.

I'm really just like ready for the future. and Brad, what you mentioned about banking those reps together. I love my analogies. I love my dating advice stuff too. I'll give you a positive one here. Me and my fiance, when we come home from going out to eat, the dog's got to go out and the animal's got to be fed their dinner. Well, I take the dog out.

She gets the food ready for the animals and we don't even have to say it anymore. We just come in the house and do our job because we've done it so many times. We don't even got to communicate. Hey, you're going to do that. I'm going to do that like we did it. It's just, all right, we're home, it's time. You do your job, you do mine, and that greases the skids. It makes everything function well when you know somebody like that.

And for the Titans' offensive line, Brad knows, you block certain plays differently based on the front that you see. You get a tight front where it's head up on both guards. You might have to run the play a little bit differently instead of you going up to the second level. It might be the guy next to you that's going up to the second level, and now you've got to do the reach block because the defense is coming out in a different look,

and we've got to adjust. having the answers to those questions from last year going into a season, that's absolutely critical to hit the ground running for next year. So I think that is something that I find very important is that they banked all these reps together so that they can know how to operate and how to adjust. And it's kind of like having a little leg up on the competition going into next season where hopefully the Titans are a much better football team.

But I'll say this too. I hate to be the wet blanket. but they've been actually that's a lie I love being the wet blanket let me not lie to you guys but the Titans have been able to run the ball the last couple of weeks because of the fronts that they're seeing the Browns play a lot of

four-man fronts wide alignments the 49ers are basically an exclusively four-man front team the Titans have used extra tight ends and jumbo tight-end packages to extend the line of scrimmage which allows for leverage blocks like down blocks on people

we talked about it with the Miles Garrett runs last week how Ali Udo could get a down block on Miles Garrett where you don't got to beat Miles Garrett head up one-on-one right in his chest. You get a down block where you out-leverage him off the snap. You have a pre-snap advantage on him. So the Titans are extending the line of scrimmage

with tight ends and jumbo offensive linemen against four-man fronts that aren't stacking the line of scrimmage and they're having easy access to the second level, easy leverage blocks where they can down-block on a guy because they're already on his outside shoulder. I just think that the particular scheme that they've seen from Jim Schwartz and Robert Sala has been conducive to the success in the run game. I don't think that they're all of a sudden have turned into a good running the football team.

So I guess maybe that's some wet blanket, but just looking at the scheme of the two defenses they've faced the last two weeks. I think it's pretty clear how that's helped them. Because a lot of teams early in the season would put a ton of people on the line of scrimmage. They'd try to jump through the backside of a down block. they try to jump through a double team so that they can't climb to the second level and that pressure on the line of scrimmage

prevented the Titans run game from getting going so once they get back to playing teams that do that like Kansas City who's going to put a lot of pressure on the line of scrimmage like Jacksonville who already did that to them like once they get back to a team that's doing that I think the run game may go back to the worst in the NFL you know that we've been used to for most of the season

we've talked about the head coaching search throughout the season because obviously it's something the Titans are going to be, it's the top move that the Titans need to make at the top of their priority list there. We've had a couple questions in our live chat about it. One more specific from Sports Talk, TN. What do you all think about Anthony Weaver as head coach with Dinard Wilson as a DC and hire a good O.C.? Anthony Weaver is the defensive coordinator over at Miami. What do you guys think about that possibility or even just thoughts on head coaching surgeon general, too?

Let me just say that's not going to happen. That specific example, Anthony Weaver is a defensive play caller. So you're not going to have, he's not going to keep DeNard Wilson to do the job that he does. So I'm not trying to sports talk to you. Thank you for the question. But Anthony Weaver is a defensive play caller. You're not going to have Anthony Weaver keep DeNard. If the Titans hire a defensive coach, DeNard Wilson is gone.

It's cut and dry. It's simple. You're not going to hire a guy to do a job. then have him keep the guy who's doing that job right now, that Anthony Weaver would call the plays, and they would not have a defensive coordinator who also wants to call plays to prove himself. Dernard Wilson will go elsewhere if they hire a defensive coach.

So Anthony Weaver, Anthony Weaver is an okay head coaching candidate. I'm fine to talk about Anthony Weaver as an option, is strong leadership. The Dolphins' defense didn't look good against Pittsburgh, but they've been very good in the middle of the season. Defensive line has been good in Miami. Anthony Weaver is a fine head coaching candidate, but that would not include DeNard Wilson as the defensive coordinator.

Yeah, Tony's got some good questions. That's who sports talk to Ian is. So it doesn't surprise me that he's done his homework, and he's been tracking his team for a while. So that totally makes sense. You know, personnel at the end of the day is an important part of what they do. But obviously, like you just mentioned, Tyler, you've always said coaching is a here.

huge component and being able to have guys that not only teach technique and teach all the things that they need to learn, being good motivators. That's another thing. You can have a master genius at, you know, at X's and O's and play calling and whatnot, but if he doesn't understand, first off, who he's coaching and putting them in the right position, it really doesn't matter. So you've got to have that right combination. And Anthony, we were sure, he might check off a lot of boxes and we'll see what his future looks like. You know, obviously talent will rise to the top, and whether that's coaching or playing, but at the end of the day, it's got to have the right chemistry of both. You've got to have somebody that can teach you the right way, the right position, where to be where you're supposed to be,

but then also be that person that lifts you up and motivates you to be the best that you can be. Bringing out the best. That's what part of coaches. Coaching is just like fathers. You're like being a dad. You know what I mean? It's a teacher. You're a teacher. You're a teacher out of your kids. Exactly. So, you know, there's a lot to goes along with that. Some people are just great technicians and they do a great job of designing and scheming up things. But when it comes to, you know, implementing or showing why it works, they don't hit the mark. But I'm sure that anything really definitely has a future.

It just may not be here. And that's why Mike Vrable is in a perfect spot now because he is deficient in the scheme aspect of things. And Josh McDaniels is a terrible leader, but an incredible scheme guy. Josh McDaniels is a terrible head coach, but a great offensive coordinator. Mike Vrable is a terrible coordinator, but a great head coach. Them two together has made a great combination. and the Titans need that sort of combination.

I don't want an Anthony Weaver because I don't want a first-time head coach. I think the Titans need somebody with some experience to get this thing out of the mud and they may not be the most exciting names but like Robert Sala, the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator. That guy is at the top of my list

because he has experience, he's a motivator, but he's also a very gifted scheme guy on defense who's gotten the most out of that San Francisco defense with a ton of injuries. The New York Jets is where, Salah was before. His final 17 games is the head coach. The Jets were number one in EPA per

play on defense. And the next 17 games after he was fired, they were 32nd in EPA per play. Think about that. Going from first to last in the NFL because you fired your head coach. How good might that head coach be on his side of the ball? You add in leadership qualities

I think Robert Salah is a great option, but that's what I want. I want a guy who can handle his own side of the ball like a Mike McCarthy on offense, who's developed that Prescott and Aaron Rogers, but also has that experience of being a former head coach and have some pelts on the wall, so they're not completely lost in the sauce, doing things for the first time with a big learning curve. Like Anthony Weaver seems like a good head coaching candidate.

I don't think he gets hired this cycle, but he's just a little too young and too new for the Titans to take a chance on him, in my opinion. I want some more experience. That's where they need to go. Tyler, I know, you mentioned on your wish list. let me ask you this though you know Mike Borgonzi talked about I don't care whether it's an offensive guy or a defensive guy

right I just want the best leader for this team however the worry for me that if I get a defensive guy in there an offensive coordinator comes in and if they properly develop the way Cam is supposed to develop and this offense looks night and day that offensive coordinator gets poached so what would you say to that I guess philosophy I know that they're not looking they want to just look at the best leader

but there is that worry as well when you just have an O.C. on an island and if they develop somebody really well, they're gone the following year. Julian, you're using my argument against me. It's difficult to hear this. You're right. That is a major concern.

But I think we can't put the cart before the horse here. We can't be so worried about our offensive coordinator getting poached that we don't hire the best head coaching candidate. You know what I mean? Like we can't be like, well, we're going to have to replace the O.C. In two years when we play well, so we probably shouldn't hire this guy as head coach. Like, we can't do that either.

So I think if they got to hire the guy who checks the most boxes and not let that prevent them, because let's all be honest, Titans would be better off if they had Mike Vrable back, even with the cycle of deadly offensive coordinators. Eventually, a smart coach would get it right. Like Nick Siriani in Philadelphia, he had to go through different coordinators,

but eventually he got it right. Like, the right coach will get the, look at the tech, You know, they bring in Nick Cayley. That was a struggle at the beginning. D'Amico Ryan's, can he get the OC right? Can he get Stroud back on track? And now that offense is kind of humming. So if you hire the right head coach, even if he's a defensive guy,

I think he'll have the ability to hire the right OC eventually. That's why I like Robert Salas so much, because he comes from the Kyle Shanahan Boys Club. So he'll have access to all the different Kubiaks and all the different Lafleurs and all the different Shanahan's. and, you know, he'll have access to all those guys for quite some time. Every new up-and-coming smart young coach under Shanahan or McVeigh or whatever, Robert Sala will be able to poach them because of a good relationship.

So I think he is ideally suited as a defensive court, defensive candidate to defeat that concern in a unique way. Indeed, and it's certainly something we'll keep an eye on moving forward. The Titans take on the Chiefs, noon central time, Sunday, and Nissan Stadium. And it's not Patrick Mahomes. It's Cam Ward versus Gardner Minchu, just like everybody expected. Thank you guys for joining us here in the Titan Squad Show. We'll see y'all on Game Day.