Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Femi Oladejo MUST TAKE BIG LEAP in year two

Episode Date: June 2, 2026

While everyone is hyping up the Titans' 2026 draft class, we look back to last year. Outside of quarterback Cam Ward, which player from the 2025 class needs to take a massive second-year leap for Tennessee to be successful? Plus, Sports Illustrated dropped their Coach/QB rankings, placing Robert Saleh and Cam Ward at 25th overall. Is that a fair baseline for the duo, or are they being slept on? We debate it all on this episode! Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started — Play Your Game. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Betterhelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON. 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.

Well, Mike Brable and AJ Brown reunite to Safe Space Titans fans. Let it all out. Some Titans therapy next. I don't care if they reunited. AJ Brown going back to the Patriots is good for the Titans. We'll explain. Cam Ward and Robert Salab being ranked 25th in the player head coach duo. What's up with that, Sports Illustrated?

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 to the Titan Squad Show.

I'm your host Julian Minnisone, joined by Tyler Rowland, Brad Hopkins. We've got a lot to talk about when it comes to the Tennessee Titans today. We're going to be talking about Mike Brable and A.J. Brown reuniting what Tyler and Bhop think about that as two people who are tied to the organization with their heart and soul. Of course, we're going to talk about Robert Sala and Cam Ward being ranked 25th in Sports Illustrated coach and QB duo rankings. But I wanted to start with the 2025 draft class, guys. All of the talk this offseason has been about the 2026 draft class and what the potential of that those guys can do. But Mike Burgansi's first draft class from last year is entering year two.

and no matter how you shape it, those guys are going to need to take a step forward if the Titans are going to be a successful organization. So I ask this of you guys out of the entire 2025 class outside of Cam Ward, because he's off limits for this one, because that's an obvious choice. Outside of Cam, which guy do you think is going to make the biggest leap in year two? Bhop, I'll start with you. I mean, that's an easy one for me, Julian. It's gun or hell. I mean, if this team is worth anything in 2026, Gunner Helm will be a household name, and I'm not kidding.

I mean, his durability, 16 games last year, of the 55 targets he had, he caught 44 of them, which is impressive. 357 yards averaging 8.1 yards per catch, had a couple of touchdowns, top five and first downs last year in that offense in 2025. I believe basically Brian Dayball wants to achieve balance. And to do that, you've got to be effective running the ball. and in the intermediate routes. That's where tight-ins, slot receivers,

that's where they make their money. I mean, I totally expect Wondell Robinson, Chim D.K., you know, maybe even Alec Igui Manor, if you move him around a little bit, to be factors. But I also think that the tight-in will be a pivotal part of this offense. And we saw some explosive plays from going to home last year,

him showing his availability, his durability, and his connection with Cam Ward. I totally expect him to be a big, big part of what they do in 2026. Tyler, you're Mike. It's because I'm disgusted. I'm disgusted. Brad stole my answer.

Like when Brad started talking about Helm, I had to mute and disgust. You know what I mean? Like, I couldn't believe it. And I was traumatized from that. But he's right. I'm with Gunner Helm, too. I think that's an excellent answer. And I think there's a through line here.

We're talking about the second year players for the Titans taking that lead. But look at Carnell Tate. Obviously, Carnell Tate off to a pretty good start for the Titans. Everybody rant and raving about Carnell Tate. I love that. Let's get hyped up. As Titans fans, throughout the organization,

there haven't been a lot of first-round picks that come out right away and are just absolutely off to a good start. You know what I mean? So I know it was just May OTAs, but it's better than nothing. But Tate and Helm both have elite hands, right? They're great at catching the football,

great mitts, soft hands, catch everything throwed to him. Brad talked about how many targets that Gunner Helm was able to catch. I think in this offense and with Cam Ward's skill set, which I've been talking about since Kim Ward was driving. He's a gun slinger. He's not going to be pinpoint accurate all the time.

He's going to be running around. He's going to get it close to his guys. He needs guys that can adjust to the ball, good hands, go up and get it, make plays. We know Helm can do that. So just his skill set in general is a perfect fit with what you want with Cam Ward. So that alone already had me hype about that pairing.

But being in Brian Dable's offense, the increased usage of the tight end. Remember, Brian Callahan came from Cincinnati, they never use like a consistent tight end of any time. Cincinnati's a very wide receiver based offense, right? Well, Brian Dable is a little bit different. So I think that should get Gunner Helm more opportunities. I also look to the defensive side of the ball. Should we be talking about Marcus Harris?

Yeah. The way that the coaching staff is talking about him. Yeah. In the slot, they're calling him a bigger body guy who could play on early downs. He was sticky in coverage when he was healthy last year. looks healthy now. Marcus Harris maybe needs more attention as a second-year leap guy. Yeah, no, absolutely.

I think it's interesting because he's not maybe the first person you would think that this coaching staff would talk about, but he's been mentioned multiple times in a number of press conferences, and it makes you wonder, like, they must be seeing something even more so than what we saw at the back end of last year where he had to play and gave great value, quite frankly, he has a six-round pick. I'm going to stay on the defensive side of the ball, and I don't know if as much as I think he's going to make a leap in year two as much as I want him to, you know, I think it's Kevin Winston.

I think it's Kevin Winston. And, you know, we sat here on the show last year, guys, when we were giving out rookie grades, and we gave Kevin Winston an incomplete because of the injuries. We didn't see enough of him, enough of a sample size, to properly grade his rookie year. But a lot of the discussion when he was driving, drafted was, hey, this guy's first round talent, first round potential, he just dropped to the

third round because of the injuries he suffered at Penn State. And when you look at the physical traits on Kevin Winston, I mean, it's a pretty player, right? And there were times when he was healthy, whether it was during the offseason or the games that he did play where he would hit somebody and the entire stadium would feel it. You know, I mean, you talk about somebody fast, violent under a Robert solid defense, I think it's him. And similar to Marcus Harris, Tyler, that's, you know, the secondary, the defensive backs, safetys, cornerbacks, there isn't a lot of depth there. And so you're talking about Kevin Winston, not necessarily, his snaps aren't necessarily going to be in jeopardy. And the best way to improve is to play. And I think he is

going to get a lot of it, a lot of PT. And so that is why I think, Kevin Winston is somebody that if he is healthy and he makes the leap under a Robert solid defense that you hope for, could establish himself as a pillar the same way that maybe Skoronsky has in the last few years, the same way that maybe Cedric Gray had last year. I think we could see a pretty good year out of Kevin Winston, quite frankly. Let me add another name. And maybe this name is a player that needs to step up. Sure. Because when you're just outside of the top 50 players that are taking in the draft, there's a level of expectation that comes with that. Themil Adajo, I mean, what they've done in free agency bringing in Jermaine Johnson.

Obviously, John Franklin Myers is kind of an interior. Maybe you can move them out a little bit for the pass rush. But there's a lot of dudes that any drafting Celtic Falk. You know, this is like one of these situations where I hope he doesn't get buried. you know what I mean now if you're talking about a rotation dude if you want to try and keep up a level of consistency as far as the application of pressure then he's a guy that can't come in you know and kind of spell a starter but for the most part man they they took a they took a flyer on him for a reason because he's a talented player now I know he's not necessarily 100% healthy right now but I would expect at some point in time for him to establish himself either a to get an extended contract in a couple of years when his contract is up, or be somewhat of a trade value when it comes to what the Titans can get in draft equity for a player that they actually spent just outside of the top 50 pick for a player. Yeah, it makes you want to go back to the draft where the Titans traded out of 35 and they dropped back and they got 52 and what was it 81, I think it was, but they get Femio and they get Kevin Winston. And while I have high hopes for both of those players, would you

rather have a Luther burden right now. And then you didn't have to spend $70 million on Wondale Robinson. And wouldn't last year's team have benefited from a Luther burden to be that excellent slot guy? Remember, Xavier Restrepo, he's probably not going to be who he was

in college in the NFL. I think we're getting pretty close to, he might not make it you know, through to August at this point. With the turnover, you could see at the bottom of the roster and with some of the new guys they've added, who might be leapfrogging him, like Hank B, or Tyron Montgomery, stuff like that.

But that type of player is going to be very valuable to Cam Ward going forward. And Wondale Robinson is that type of guy. That's an NFL talent version of Xavier Restrepo in the slot in college, right? So at this point, yeah, I know the Titans wanted to have more picks in the top 100, but Nickymanwari is better than Kevin Winston right now. And, you know, you could have taken Nickymanwari. you could have taken Luther Burden, you could have just stuck right there and got one of those first-round talents that fell down the board. And they decided to take the value, the quantity over the quality.

And I think if people could go back, but Kevin Winston has the ability to turn that on its head. I think that Femmy at his best, if Femmy develops into the best version of Femi, he's a good number two edge rusher. Play solid against the run, give effort, length, strength, body type. He's never going to be like an alpha edge rusher. but Kevin Winston could be a superstar player in the NFL, 6-3, 4-4 speed, that aggressiveness. But I wonder, and I want to bring this in, we heard from the position coaches.

The position coaches always say a little bit more than the head coach says about certain guys, and that makes sense. But they mentioned Kevin Winston's just playing back deep right now. They're just having him play deep safety. They're not having them worry about the big nickel, playing up front at the line of scrimmage, dime lineback, or all these things that I think would be maximizing his talent

is to use because he's so physical and gifted at tackling and going forward. Having him go backwards as a deep safety, that's curious to me. So when I heard that and then we heard Tony Adams might be doing more of the big nickel stuff that they do that, you know, they didn't confirm those things, but the questions that got asked made it seem like

the people watching practice have seen that stuff. So it's like, if Kevin Winston is just being a deep free safety and they're just having him focus on that and not being towards the line of scrimmage as that big nickel or dime linebacker or anything. I just wonder if he can turn into a true superstar because I think what he does best is the stuff they're not asking him to do. So it's just curious to me on Kevin Winston. Yeah. And Adams obviously has experience with Robert Sala too, right, like from his previous stops and stuff like that. So he's been more of a deep guy in the past, you know, like a guy ranging in the back.

So it's just, I don't know if they're trying to throw us off the scent. Maybe it's just lies, you know what I mean? But like Winston as a guy towards the line of scrimmage, Adam as a guy in the back end is more aligned with what it seems like they would do unless I just, I just have it wrong. Maybe I'm just wrong about how the coaches see him. And I'm going to trust Robert Salah and those guys more than my vision of a player. That's certain.

But it is just something I want to put a pin in and kind of watch with Kevin Winston's development. Is that maybe what's best for him where last year, DeNard Wilson again was using him in that big nickel role, using his length and his tackling ability and his physicality, his ability to blitz, rush the passer. Like they had him towards the line of scrimmage. And Salah's doing the opposite of that. It's just something to watch because both those guys are good defensive minds. And I have a hard time saying that either of them are dumb.

So will that help or without hinder Kevin Winston's year two leap? That's something that I'm interested in. That's a good point, Tyler. Good point. Going back to what you're thinking of Femnihiel La Dejo, right? Like, are we, is it too early to look back at the draft class and say that that could be Mike Borgonzi's miss of last year? And I don't want to, I don't want to just disregard Femi before seeing what he could do. Well, because when you pick a second round pick, the consensus

is like, hey, you're getting a starter, but it was clearly a project. Femmy, drafting Femi was clearly a project at 52. And so. are we worried that that could just be a miss? Because, you know, quite frankly, all these draft picks aren't going to hit either every single year. So is there any worry or concern about that considering not only the health thing, but he's a project as well? Well, listen, if Femi were drafted outside of his draft prospect, you know, then that might be something. But this guy was the second round pick, okay? And you played in six games last year.

That's not enough of a sample size to establish who he actually is. You know, so I don't know what was it that was it help? Was it competition? What kept them off the field? Because I really wasn't paying that much attention to. Broken leg. He broke his leg in the Raiders game. I think it was.

Yeah. So then to me, then that makes sense. Okay. So if in other words, it was affected, it affected his ability to be on the field, him having a broken leg, well, duh. Yeah. That would say that there might need to be a reset.

Okay. He was the first person I met in the building when he had OTAs coming out. And I thought that, you know, here's a guy with the size, the link, a lot of God-given talent. So let's see him put it together. This guy might be somebody if you think about it. Let's just say he comes back and recovers nicely and all of a sudden gets into the fold. You know, when you're talking about an aging Jermaine Johnson, well, I'm not, you know, poo-pooing his abilities.

But if this cat comes in there and all of a sudden does some things and surprises some people because there's not enough tape on him to establish who he actually is. He might be a surprise story that we're talking about in 2026, you know, because his career, not career, but his season ended prematurely, and we just weren't able to see enough of him consistently to say, that's the guy who he is. We don't know that yet. Well, he's got as good a chance of ever with Aaron Whitecotton as the defensive line coach.

He's, you know, he said it himself. He's a, what he called it, a deranged raccoon or something like that. He said at the press conference is what he was. I'm sure he wanted to say something else. That was a strange comment, but he looks like a deranged raccoon the way he's coaching out there. I mean, I kind of get it. Like, he's wild.

So Femi has as good of a chance as ever with this coaching staff to become something. But Brad, you're right. He's got to reset because last year he was a three, four outside linebacker, which used some of the linebacker skills that he had in college before he transitioned. You know what I mean? So now he's going to be a defensive end as the coaching staff has said, they're not having him do linebacker stuff. He is going to have his hand in the dirt going forward, playing defensive end,

and that is a reset for him. And that's why I am concerned about him not being out on the field for OTAs right now. Because when you're a project guy, when you're a development guy, when you're going into your third year of changing what you're, he started out his last year in college, he's working at linebacker during the summer. Last year he's working at three, four outside linebacker during the summer. Now he's working at four three defensive end this summer.

When you have a guy who's already a project guide, he's changing every system, he's changing position, doing all that. These summer reps, people act like they don't matter. Everything matters. This is when it matters most. Your individual technique, when you can go slow with these reps, work with the bags, practice stuff, you don't have the pads on. It's not training camp where the intensity really ramps up.

I think this is critical mistime for Femiola-Dazio. And when we're talking about year-two leaps, He's got a great opportunity, but he's losing time. He needs to get out there on the field and hopefully whatever he's dealing with. Because he came back from the broken leg and practiced at the end of the year last year. So he was healthy from the broken leg to practice. I'm hoping this isn't a re-injury or something of that, but I'm hoping that it's not an injury of major significance of any kind and they're being cautious.

But any missed time when you're in femial adageo circumstances, I just think it's a critical, critical error or miss for. him, I guess. It's a way to put it. If he was actually healthy enough to come back and join the team and practice and whatnot, and you've had a couple of months since the end of the season. You should be on the field. It could be a new injury.

And if it's a new injury and he had the broken leg and now he's got a new injury, hinder him in year two. And you know how these things are, Brad. They can linger throughout the year and you can never be right. And if he's never right physically or even hinder in any way, can he develop? There's just a lot of concern. I wonder if it's his body still developing because you said in college he's a He is a 6-3 260 pound that's a defensive end that's not a linebacker

So if he's adding weight to his frame getting used to a new position Maybe there's still some development in there that's actually hindering his ability to you know like be comfortable at what he's doing That's that's a great point our director of fitness on this show coming in with the excellent That's a good way to think. Brad's thinking about his body, how it responds, doing different things. Very smart. But Julian, you're right.

GMs don't hit on every pick. And Mike Morgonzi is not going to get every single draft pick. Right. Like Jackson Slater may not start this year and get passed by Fernando Carmona. There's a missed pick. Like, okay, maybe Elycayo Manor or Chim Dek. One of them never takes a step. And they're just a backup who eventually gets pushed out in a couple of years after their rookie deal.

like maybe Femiola-Dajio isn't a hit. You know, Mike Borgonzi isn't going to hit every single pick and fans have to have proper expectations. I mean, like I always bring up, Howie Roseman took Jalen Rager over Justin Jefferson. And he's the best GM in the world and the best at it ever. So Mike Morgonzi isn't going to hit on every pick. So maybe you're right.

Maybe Femi is just one of those guys who never really lives up to where he got drafted. Maybe he's more of a day three pick that the Titans took too early. Yeah. Maybe time will tell. We'll see for the Titans sake. We hope that Femiola Dejo develops into the player that they think he could be. On the other side of the break, we're going to talk about the coach QB rankings from Sports Illustrated. Cam Ward and Robert Sala 25th.

Is that fair or not? That's next here on the Titan Squad Show. Workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill still sitting open. When the pressure is on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsor jobs. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the people who actually. actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experience, location. So you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post. And here's the step that says it all. In the minute that

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and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. All right, fellas. So according to Sports Illustrated, Cam Ward and Robert Sala as a QB coach duo ranked 25th in the NFL, just for context. And I'll have all of the names on a ticker across the screen

if you're with us on YouTube here in a second. But, you know, Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, are first, Sean McBey, Matthew Stafford, second, Mike Brable, Drake, May 3rd, Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert, and then Matt Lafleur and Jordan Love round out the top five there in Green Bay at fifth. And so I ask you guys this, because Bhop, you mentioned you were like, what the heck is up with that? Twenty-fifth? Do you think that's fair?

Well, I said that just kind of being dramatic. I don't think that it's like out of character for that whole conversation than being 25th. Why? Because first of all, Robert Sala is not an offensive coach. Okay. So it doesn't mean he isn't involved with his team's offensive identity, but that's not his vertical. Cam was a second year quarterback for a team that won three games last year. We didn't bring in an established explosive playmakers on offense, like a Justin Jefferson or Travis Kelsey. So they just don't know what to expect from this guy, right?

Like in that blockbuster trade that we just witnessed on the first with Miles Garrett going to L.A., there's an expectation that they're going to get better. There are better, even though they did trade Jaredverse, right? That's an explosive player that you know, you can predict some good things coming from. We don't have that kind of predictability when it comes to Robert Sala and this second year quarterback. So back to work in our favor, though.

I mean, they don't know what to expect. And that's, you know, that's good for us. I'm just seeing what kind of development that Camas made from one year to the next. But when you just look at basically a coach that was fired as a head coach, you know, I mean, sure he did some great things in San Francisco's defense to afford this ability to be a head coach again. But yet and still, there's something to prove as a head coach and a quarterback going into a second season after having to, you know, an okay year as a rookie, you know, that just kind of

puts us right at the 25th. So I understand it, yeah, but I think we'll be better than that. I don't think that it's wrong, but I got to be honest, I'm surprised they're ranked that high. Like, I look at the list and I look at some people who, and again, this is like a combination of how bad, what's the difference between the coaches, what's the difference between the quarterbacks, much that all adds up. I mean, it's a very subjective thing at the end of the day. But I look at the Saints are at 26 behind the Titans. Kellyn Moore and Tyler Shuck. I mean, Kellynne Moore won a Super Bowl with the Eagles. Kellyn Moore, so I mean, Robert Sala went to a Super Bowl as a defensive coordinator with the 49ers.

So that one guy has to be ahead because he won. Kellyn Moore's Saints were a good team at the end of last year. They beat the Titans last year. Not that that should give them credit, but it's just example of the Saints won a lot. They were like four and five in their last nine games last year. Five and four in their last nine. The Saints were a good team, and Tyler Shuck had a better season than Cam Ward.

Like I think Cam Ward is a better player. I think that Tyler Shuck had better weapons and a better O-line and better coaching and other things that, but Tyler Shuck outplayed Cam in the game that they played against each other. Tyler Shuck played good football and helped his team win those games down the stretch. And then again, Kellan Moore. So I'm like, how are the Saints behind the Titans? And then the Panthers are at 27.

Dave Canales and Bryce Young, they went to the playoffs. Like I know Bryce Young, I would take Cam Ward over Bryce Young, certainly. But like Dave Canales has shown that he's a good coach to turn that Panthers program around, win the division, even at 8 and 9. Like they won eight games last year. That's more than double what the Titans have won the last two years combined. So how could you have the Panthers duo behind the Titans? I think the Titans could be ahead of them by the end of the year

and should be ahead of some of those teams by the end of the year. But man, I think this list honestly is favorable to the Titans. So I can't complain. I think it's hard, guys, to have this kind of correlation between coaches that don't affect the offense as head coaches versus those that do. I mean, it's easy to say McCarthy and Rogers, McVeigh and Stafford, you know, and Allison Young,

why? Because those guys actually have a direct effect on the offense. It's their offense that these guys are running, basically. Now, if you want to put a de facto offensive coordinator in there and have him run practice, but yet it's your system, it's still you having the most influence over that guy. So a correlation between head coach and quarterback, it's easier to see the value when you know you're having a direct influence or impact on what they're doing versus like, you know, like Mike Brable. Mike Brable isn't going to be affecting A.J. Brown because he's not an offensive. it's a coach. That's Josh McDaniel's job. Robert Sala is not affecting Cam Ward. Why? Because that's Brian Dayball's job. You see what I'm saying? That's a Josh McDaniel? I hope they did. Anyway, the point being, it's just harder to make those correlations between the head coach quarterback duo when they're not actually a duo. The two totally different situations. Right. And I think that's what was taken into consideration almost in some of this list because you look, but the bills are 14th. And a lot of that isn't Josh Allen. A lot of that is because because they're going to have Joe Brady, right?

And Lamar Jackson and Jesse Mentor are, I think, 17th on this list or 16th on this list. And that isn't because of Lamar Jackson. That's because they're going to have a first year coach in Jesse Minter. So you think of Cam Ward. Obviously, we only have one season of proof. And there are traits there, but they only won three games, right? There isn't a lot of proof of concept of actually, like,

winning and turning whatever traits and statistics into actual Ws. And Robert Sala, we just haven't seen them together yet. I mean, Robert Sala, you know, obviously didn't have the best of records in New York. His defenses were awesome. But the problem was the offensive side of the ball. And the hope is that, like you mentioned, Brad, it isn't a duo because you have Brian Dable now in the mix to kind of supplement that. And so that is probably what S.I is going off of.

Like there's not a lot of proof of them as a tandem together winning the same way there is a Reed in Mahomes or a McVeigh and a Stafford. So I think 25th is fair. And like Tyler mentioned, there's there is an argument to be made that they could be lower. And then there's an argument made that there's a lot of teams on this list and duos, I should say on this list, that could be higher just based off one part of that duo. And so, yeah, I think I think 25th is fine. You know what I find funny?

I say the teams behind the Titans that I think realistically if I was doing the list I'd have ahead of the Titans but the Falcons are ahead of the Titans at number 24 and I would have the Falcons behind the Titans because here's the thing

Kevin Stefansky at this point is a much more proven coach than Robert Sala like he's one coach of the year two times taking teams to the playoffs you cannot make an argument right now that Robert Sala is a better coach than Kevin Stafansky

maybe he becomes better than him But right now, if you're doing a list like this, with Kevin Stefansky's pelt on the wall, there's no way you can put Sala ahead of him in any ranking. But I will say, I think Cam Ward is so much better than Michael Penix or Tua or whoever, I don't care. Cam Ward is so much better than those quarterbacks

that I would flip, you know, the Titans and the Falcons. I would have a couple of teams ahead of the Titans who are behind them, but I would have the Titans ahead of the Falcons. I don't quite understand that. I don't like their quarterback group over Cam Ward in any capacity. Where does the Sala Cam Ward duo, let's say there's a list at the end of the year, where do you hope that realistically they could end up, you know, given a, I guess, quote unquote, successful season in your eyes

and how we talked of what a successful season is? There's a reason why I think that, and I'm just saying this loosely, Robert Sala could end up being coached the year. And the reason why I say that is because if the Titans are incrementally better than they were last year, I mean, just talking like, you know, they won three games last year, if they won 10 games, just saying if they won 10 games, you've got to say that Robert Sala turned this program around so much because his successor, his predecessor did the same thing. Mike Frable went to a four-win team in New England, coached them up to what, 12 wins, okay, looking like the totally different team. And he's amongst the coach of the year conversation because of how he actually affected the team and changed them. So Robert Sala could be in that same conversation if the Titans have that kind of success. I'm not guaranteeing it.

I'm just saying because none of us when we talked about predictions for this upcoming season, nobody said double digit wins for the Titans. Nobody said that. That's not realistic. But if he were able to do that, you've got to think that they're going to be mentioning Robert Sala is that dude. And if that is the case, if the Titans have won double digit games, that meant that Cam Ward balled out in his second season. So both things being relative,

I think that you've got to look at this situation and say, man, if they were to have an unbelievable campaign closing out Nissan Stadium, that those are two conversations that most of the, I guess, the football community are going to be having. See, I think if we go a little lower than that, six, seven wins. Cam Ward is good. I think that Cam Ward could be considered a top. 13, 14 quarterback.

And the Titans with Robert Sala, pull it off, you know, that, they'd probably move into the top 20, right? They'd probably be like 18, 17, 16, something like that. And I think if that is the case, it's a great season for the Titans. We're moving in the right direction. We're going forward. We open the new stadium.

Now we have expectations of, hey, they should compete for the playoffs. Now is the 10, 11 win season after another all season to add talent and be in this system and everything. That's at least, you know, I would love the 10-win season out of nowhere and the Titans to blow up. We're all hoping for that. But even if they get to like six or seven

and they end up, you know, 18th, 19th, 17th on this list next year, that's a big time win and moving in the right direction. Yeah, no doubt. So we'll wait and see the expectations, at least for this team, a lot higher than it was going into last season. That's for sure. A lot of good free agency pieces and draftics, I'll say that. All right, Brad mentioned one of Robert Salas predecessors in Mike Brable.

He's going to be reuniting with another former Titan in New England, A.J. Brown. We're going to see what these guys think about that. That's next here on the Titans Star. Professional Segway. Insert professional segue here. That's next. Get your daily Titans fix completely ad-free by joining the Every Day or Club today. start your seven-day free trial right now and get closer to your team without the interruptions. Click the link in the show notes or go to locked on podcast.com slash every dayer.

Once again, that's locked on podcast.com slash every dayer to claim your free trial. The NBA playoffs are here and every possession matters. If you're looking to get even closer to the action, Fandu has a great offer to get you started. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins, of course. That's right. Turn five bucks into $1.50 in bonus bets just for getting started. You can check stats, trends, and matchups before making your picks,

which makes the whole experience feel a lot more informed. For example, the NBA finals begin this week, and the spurs are favored by minus four and a half. They're minus four and a half right now in Fendul. Maybe you like those odds. So head to Fanduel.com to get started. Fanduel, play your game. All right, guys, I mean, this trade was a foregone conclusion, right?

It was only a matter of time before A.J. Brown and Mike Brable reunited. They are going to be a wide receiver coach duo in New England. And as I mentioned at the start of the show, Bhop, you played for the Titans organization. You're part of the Titans radio broadcast now. Your heart and soul is with the Tennessee Titans. Tyler, you're a fanatic in every sense of the word for this team. You know, I just want to know when that news dropped yesterday. What did you guys feel, if anything at all? Well, I mean, from a fan standpoint, you should have expected that. I mean, players that have good relationships with coaches. It's no different than coaches that have good relationships with coaches that become part of the

staff on the next team. You know what I mean? There's familiarity, there's understanding. But what I also think is unique is that this is a personal thing because Mark Brayble isn't coaching A.J. Brown. That's Josh McDaniel's job. He's creating that offense. So why did A.J. Brown choose to go there if he said that Mike Brable had any sort of influence. It's because of that connection, that constant communication that allegedly they had while Brown was still in Philadelphia. You know what I mean? Just a well-wisher. Like, you know, hey, congratulations. I win the Super Bowl. You know, I knew you could do it. Just being a support system right there, you know. So I think that it was personal, just the fact that, you know, a guy that he understood when he

first got drafted was the coach and he saw the culture and the atmosphere that Mike Braybaud created. And admittedly so, the results say a lot in the fact that he was. able to turn a team that won four games into the team that's respected in the AFC now. And AJ gets to work with a young quarterback that maybe he can have influence over, right? Jalen Hertz is Jalen Hertz. I think that he's going to be that guy. Maybe there's still some more growth and continued development as far as relationships are concerned with Drake May and the rest of his core. And that's where maybe, you know, A.J. Brown can establish himself a better relationship than he had with Jalen, which I think might be a little harder because Jalen and A.J.'s

shit went back to college. You know what I mean? So whatever got funky between them, especially have I heard correctly that one of them is the godfather to the other ones kids? So there's a personal relationship that somehow got broken. And maybe that because it is personal lent to more of the pain that was felt. In other words, if I'm not so closely related or connected with this guy,

it doesn't matter that he doesn't throw to me at often or that, you know, we keep running the ball through Saquan Barkland. I'm not pissed off about it because we're not as close as we, you know, supposed to be. But from a Titan standpoint, the Patriots got a hell of a lot better, bringing A.J. Brown in to Josh McDaniels' offense. And if at some point in time, the Titans have a successful season and they end up bumping into each other in the playoffs, we got to play those guys. You know what I mean? So if you think about the addition that A.J. Brown in that offense with Romeo Dobbs, with, you know, Kishon Booty, with Mac Hollins. Hunter Henry was, like,

second behind Stefan Diggs in receiving last year for that team. So, you know he's just going to be a quality edition that is a legit number one for Drake, Maine. So they're better. And if we got to bump into them in a playoff situation, that could be something that we have to deal with. You know, Brad, you're talking about Mike Grable texting him well wishes and this and that. I call it tampering. Lock him up, all right?

Somebody do something about this rogue cowboy in the NFL, you know, getting with the beat reporters and tampering with the wide receivers. Do you really want A.J. Brown with your young quarterback? Is that really what you want? Do you want A.J. Brown with your young quarterback? Are you certain about that? Because I don't know. He seems like he could be a problem for a young quarterback.

Meeting the Patriots with A.J. Brown in big games later down the road. That's a down-the-road problem. More immediately, the Titan schedule got easier. A.J. Brown isn't on the Eagles anymore. Don't got to see him in week two. Philadelphia got a 2028 first round pick and a fifth round pick, they ain't going to use that to get better right now. So the Eagles just got worse,

and the Titans play them in week two. And then add in other news, Miles Garrett. Miles Garrett is off the Browns. The Titans play the Browns, what, week seven, right? So yesterday was great for the Titans, because both those teams just got worse. So that's good news for the Titans. That's the only way that I see it.

As soon as we get done. I never thought of it, man. That's what I like. That was my number one reaction why I saw those moves yesterday is neither of these dudes are on the Titan schedule anymore and that's good news for us

for right now. But I just want to say to the overall question, Julian, after if Rable lost that Super Bowl and after AJ has won his and now had this unceremonious exit

from Philadelphia, I really don't care anymore. Like, It hurt more when Vrable is going to the Super Bowl. We don't have a coach. And Callahan is doing all this stupid stuff and looks like the worst coach in the league. It hurt more.

But Vrable didn't get his Super Bowl in year one, which would have been incredibly painful. You guys know I was openly rooting against him. That would have sucked, you know? And A.J. Brown got his, and we know that that's a mistake. And Robinson's been fired. And now we have Cornell,

and I have continued to say throughout AJ Brown's time after the Titans, The only thing that will truly remove the pain of trading away AJ Brown is for us to get a true number one wide receiver again, is to replace AJ Brown. Once we have a new true number one wide receiver and we can all be like, yeah, we got a dog wide receiver again. Then the pain of AJ Brown will fade away. And Carnell Tate is here.

So I think it's a perfect time. AJ, you go back to Mike Frable. Sure. You guys go ahead. We don't care. We have Cam Ward. We have Cornell Tate. we're into a new era.

I would have felt differently a year ago. But right now, I'm over it, man. I really don't hear. Tyler, to your point, that actually puts more pressure on Carnel tape because we've been trying to replace AJ Brown for years now. DeAndre Hopkins, Trailerblerkes, we're trying to find that dude that connect with the quarterback to make us more explosive vertically and otherwise in the past game.

And we've been just kind of missing in essence because Calvin wasn't held. D. Hop was good edition, I thought. He did some really good. Yeah, D. Hop was good. Treyland Burks, obviously had his best play as commander, not with us. Yeah, that was a great case. It was just kind of part of the course, I guess. Let's trying to replace A.J. Brown over the last, what, three or four years?

We've never had great wide receivers. I mean, Derek Mason was a good wide receiver, but he was a returner. You know what I mean? Like, Dyson was around for a short time. I mean, Drew Bennett was good. Nate Washington. Like, this is what we're talking. talking about. These are the best.

AJ Brown is the most talented wide receiver since the Tennessee Titans came to Tennessee. You know, and that made it tough. And it was a mistake to trade him away, but everyone knows that now. I think Cornell Tate will be fine. I don't think he's held down by that in any way. And he's going to get it back for us. So that makes me.

You know why that is? You know why that is? I'll give you examples of why this team hasn't had great receivers. I know. Edward George. Chris Johnson. Derek Henry. When you got monsters in the backfield, bro,

that's probably why AJ was complaining. Why? Because when they won the Super Bowl, went through who? Same one. Which is crazy. That's part of, when we think about this

from the New England side of things, this is a risky move. AJ Brown has some knee problems. He's close to 30 now. They just went to the Super Bowl twice, won it once, won their division, went to the playoffs every year. He was competitive.

He had good stats, and he still wasn't happy. So you better hope that it was a personal falling out with Jalen Hertz that kept him upset because he seemed upset about football stuff too. So if he can't be happy in that scenario and the knee and the age and the draft pick given up

when you're in a title window with Drake May and a rookie contract. It is a risky move for the Patriots more risky than I think people want to accept. And they're playing a... I think Mike Brable said, or AJ Brown said, Who y'all got in the back field? Remindy Stevenson? Oh, yeah, I can play.

Yeah, I'll go there. Okay, cool. I'm good. To your point, Tyler, they are also playing a first place schedule. And with a lot of the off-the-field stuff, brutal. With a lot of the off-the-field rable stuff, if they start, like, one and three, that off-the-field stuff, he's kept his job now,

but that's going to be the first question that gets asked in the press conferences, was this off-season the distraction and why you started the way you have so far this season? And Mike Vrabel, Julian, I don't know how, like, were you around for any of the Vrable years? I got here in the back end of Callahan's first year, yeah. Okay, so Vrable was notorious for don't do dumb blank to hurt the team. Yeah. Like, that was his thing. He said it all the time.

Like, do not create distractions for your team. It's the number one thing you can do to hurt your football team is to create a distraction. He comes from the Patriot system. And for him to be the guy who created the biggest distraction in the NFL that made airy through the season. It's just so ironic and it makes it hard when when the the thing you stand on crumbles beneath your feet, it's just hard to keep your balance, man. Yeah, well, let me ask you guys this then because the reason I posed the question is when I got here for Callahan's first year, it was very apparent that there is a rabble-sized shadow over the

organization. It's kind of like an ex-girlfriend. Like you're always comparing the new one to the old one if the old one was good and it broke your heart or whatever. And, and it, it it seems like the Titans because they haven't won enough and because they've been cycling through the front office and the head coaching staff that they haven't been able to get out from under that. Are you confident that not only with the moves that the Titans have made and the draft picks that they have made, the coaching staff that they have in place now, the front office that they have in place now, but also the off the field stuff with Mike Brable is

helping them from getting out from under that shadow. Do you think that is the case here? I think there's certainly some like, man, this could be us. Like, would you rather be in that spot, like dealing with this if you're like, because it would be worse if he was in Tennessee. Like the Patriots have cash a organization. Robert Kraft is a powerful owner. Like he can do what he wants and not get pressured to make a move. The NFL may go to Amy Adams Strunk and say, hey, this is bad. You got to, you got to let him go or something.

Like, it would be worse. And especially a lot of the stories that are coming out are like Julio Jones era, the boat story. how she pushed the Julio Jones stuff, that could be construed as directly helping the Tennessee Titans tamper to get a better deal. So the fact that he's not in Tennessee anymore and that isn't a conversation or a factor, it would have been worse if he were still here.

So I certainly think that that makes people not feel as much buyer's remorse about the variable situation with what he's dealing with right now. But it still was a mistake if we're honest. We got to be honest. It ain't speeding unless you get a ticket, right? Yeah, you ain't get caught. Look, don't do as I do. Do as I say.

Well, the NFL isn't the most, let's just be honest, professional sports isn't the beacon of morality. Yeah, like let's just be honest. Adultery is quite prevalent. It's one of the most prevalent industries in the world to have cheating and things like that as professional sports. So let's not play dumb either. Well, Bhoff, just know that Tyler and I aren't going to do a two-hour boat rental with you. That's for sure. That ain't going to happen.

All right. All right. Next on the Titan Squad show, we're going to do our best to answer your questions and comments. That's next here. Don't go anywhere here on the Titan Squad Show. All right, guys. So I wanted to get to some of the comments and stuff that we have here in the live chat. Daniel underscore Caribbean says when we talked about Tyler, like the Titans passing up on certain players in the draft to get whether it be a Femiola Dejo or a Kevin Winston,

Jr. You mentioned Luther Burden. And Daniel Caribbean said we didn't have the culture built yet for a Luther burden. And the bears did. The bears were in year one of Ben Johnson. They had no culture built. They were coming off a year with Matt Eberfluse where the team revolted because of who was it? Tyreek Stevenson with the Hail Mary against the commanders was jawling with fans and gave up his assignment.

Like that locker room had revolted on the coach. They had a first year coach. I agree. I get it, Daniel. But at some point, the Titans got to quit worrying about culture and worry about talent, too. You know, there has to be a balance in the NFL. So I get it. But the Bears didn't have some great culture built either.

And Luther Burton's looking good for them. Yeah. The CRA won when it comes to the QB coach duo ranking says 18th would be a good spot to end this year. And then he says in 2027, ninth, so falling into the top 10. So a gradual progression. And that's kind of the progression you were talking about FIHA. Yeah, 100%. I mean, if you think about it, if long as you're not picking inside of the top 10 or yeah, picking inside of the top 10 by year, what, 27 is next year, then that's a good trajectory, I think. You know what I mean? And if you think about it from

coaching staff that creates culture, accountability, you know, all the things that you want to hear from a coach, players that are now talented, developing nicely, you know, especially when we're talking about 2025 draft. These cats are, you know, set to be nice and positioned to be cogs of this team by 2027. So it totally makes sense for that duo to, you know, to be in the top 10 ranking because this team should get better. I don't see them taking a step back. You know what I mean? I don't see them doing a Miami Dolphins reset. You know what I mean? Just get rid of everybody, fire sailing, and you got a guy and Jeff Happily, like, Who the hell is Jeff Hathley? Seriously, though.

You know, I'm just wondering, you know, got to bounce around a lot of different teams. Is a defensive back coach most of the time, coordinator maybe a couple of years before he ends up getting the job? He must have been one hell of a guy to get that hit coaching job so soon, right, unless he's a taxi, you know, going to take the fall for a lot of other way. Wasn't even that good of a college coach? What about Mike Tomlin, man? Mike Tomlin might be available if they all said, how long? In other words, Brandon Staley didn't last long in Los Angeles, did he?

So I don't think that the Miami Dolphus would be. scared to pull the trigger on this guy, you know, especially with all the craziness going on down Miami. Arizona's another team to start. I think Michael Flore has a little more respect in the league and probably a little more qualified or credentials to be a guy that can stick around for a little bit, especially once they address quarterback next year because Jacoby-Resette is not their future, obviously. And they don't have anybody else on the roster that's going to, you know, to be that

compliment. So it is what it is. But we're not in that situation, nor have we positioned ourselves to be that of like, oh, let's look towards the future. This team is obviously putting position, putting coaches and players in position now to win. So we'll see what happens. Yeah. And to the ranking point here with Cam and Sala 25th, we talked about Tyler Shug and Kellynne Moore being 26th on that list. And QB Easy 88 says it's situational. Cam is better than Tyler Shuck.

Let the O line continue to build and watch how Cam explodes. And that's going to be a big thing because Tyler Shuck, look. I think a lot better than we anticipated this year, but he also had a lot more going for him around him. And so this would be to that point, Tyler. And he's older and more experienced as well. I mean, that dude was, he was Justin Herbert's backup in Oregon. That's how long that dude was in college. Like, it's just insane. So you factor that in. Yeah, I mean, that's the point. I think Cam is a better player than Tyler Shuck and will be a better player than Tyler Shuck. But I think New Orleans is a year ahead of the Titans in their kind of.

of progression as a team. And the NFC South is way easier than the AFC South. Like Houston and Jacksonville are better than whatever they got in the NFC South right now. So I think that factors in as well. I do worry though, let the O line continue to build.

Well, I felt like the Titans went backwards on the O line this year. So if that's a big factor, that'll make it even harder for Cam Ward. But, you know, hopefully I'm wrong about that and the Titans, you know, with Carmen Bracillo, take a step forward that they haven't taken in quite some time. I think it's really ironic the fact that Kellan Moore and Tyler Shuck had the year that they had last year, despite the backfield kind of being inept.

You know, Alvin Kamara played 11 games, 471 yards, one touchdown. That was your backfield. You know what I mean? That's probably why they brought in Travis and again. Yep. To basically make up the difference, but they were still able to make strides and play a lot better down in the stretch. And that's probably why you start to see that relationship. And also, like I said earlier,

Kellyn Moore has a direct impact on Tyler Shuck, calling that offense. And this is a dude coming off of a Super Bowl before he got the head coaching job. So you know the kind of effect that he had on offense. And Dallas. Think Dak Prescott. Some of his best years in Dallas were when

Kellen Moore was under Mike McCarthy. Like, Kellan Moore is a good offensive coach. Can he lead men well enough to, you know, take the Saints where they want to go? But they have Chris Olave, Juan Johnson. Now they add Jordan Tyson, who was still my number one wide receiver in the draft.

Like, I'm high on the Saints. I know it's Titans, but I'm high on the Saints this year. I think that's a good combo. So I was surprised that they were rated as low as they were in that thing. But that's a team that I think watching their success and the Titan success, it should be pretty similar over the next couple of years. Mike Bell, 09 says Chuck is a 12-year veteran talking about his age. I covered Tyler Shuck when he was in Eugene.

That was six years ago where he barely took over the starting job for Herbert after he was drafted. That's crazy to think that dude's been around that long. He is 26, man. I mean, he was a rookie last year. Hendon Hooker. How old was Hendon? They're about the same age, weren't they? Yeah, Henan's about 27, I think. Yeah. Oh, man. Old youngsters. The last one we have, the CRA1 says 25th, referring to where Sala and Ward rank on that SI list. We have had four losing seasons in a row. How long is our rebuild going to take feels like everything always takes much longer for us.

Yeah, well. But what if you have to keep changing your general contractor? You know what I mean? Four years of a rebuild. If I hired a dude to build my house, I don't want to fire him, get a new G.C. Fire the next guy, get a new G.C. There's something going wrong in every one of these replacements that I've got as a general contractor.

So we've gone from, you know, I think we were okay with Mike Brable. You know, he was doing some things. I think he struggled because the offensive line, and therefore it made him expendable, you know, as far as the team in totality. Then we got Brian Callahan in here, tried to make that experiment work. It was, you know, kind of failing maybe even before it got started. Now we hired another general contractor and Robert Solow to see if you can come in here and build some stuff. So the rebuild has just come from the, I guess, the development of the project.

You know what I mean? Some guy ain't putting the roof on, right? This guy, the doors don't line up, right? The paint ain't what I asked for. You know, so it's like at some point in time, you got to get the right. right materials and the right guy to build the house. And the general manager carousel has been an issue too. Don Robinson, ran Carthon, and now hopefully stability with Mike Burgundy. So far, so good. But we'll see how that works out for the Titans for. I got to say,

stability is what people talk about. You know what I want someone who's good at their job? Because I don't want to be state, you could have bad stability. If you just stay with the wrong person for a long time because you don't want to leave and you're comfortable, that's bad You know what I mean? Like sometimes change is good. So I feel like, I feel like stability is only good if it's the right kind of stability. You can't just stay with a bum forever and it's going to like work out. Like, you know, this guy's, hey, I take this guy to fix my car.

Oh, does he do a good job? No, but I've been going to him for years. You know what I mean? Like, no, that's like we're stable, man. You know, like that's not good either. So I just feel like that the Titans were set back two years because they picked Rancarthon and Rancarthon and Rancarthon picked Brian Callaghan. and those were bad picks.

So they got set back two years, but that turned into Cam Ward and Cornell Tate, and you've got to hope that Borgonzi and Sala are the right guys now, and that's all we can hope for. Yeah, that's all we can hope for. As a wise man on this podcast once said, you're selling wins or you're selling hope.

And right now the Titans are selling a lot of hope with this 2026 draft class and the pieces around it. There you go. That's next. So that'll do it for us here on the Titan Squad show, make sure to like comments subscribe all of that fun stuff get us twice a week here on youtube live and of course wherever you get your podcast and tune into the locked on titans podcast with tyler roland every single day but for now i'm julian minnesone that's tyler roland and brad hopkins see you guys later this week