Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Gunnar Helm SHINES and Elic Ayomanor TAKES NEXT STEP in preseason win in ATL

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

The Tennessee Titans take down the Atlanta Falcons 23-20 in week two of the preseason. The rookie pass catches were able to shine led by tight end Gunnar Helm and wide receiver Elic Ayomanor. We discuss their growth and the next steps for quarterback Cam Ward.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Yahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Play Now at yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnflRugiet150,000 men have made the switch →https://Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONNFLUse code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off your order!BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Your well-being is worth it. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedonnfl today to get 10% off your first month. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.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)

Titans beat the Falcons in Atlanta, and Holy Helm, Gunner Helm shines. We'll talk about it here next on the Titan Squad Show. The Cam Ward show is coming to Nashville. Should we pump the brakes or match the gas? Tighten up. It's the Titans squad. Sponsored by Game Time, 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. Welcome to the Titans Squad Show. Yeah, there it is. Got the nasty face there from BeHop to start off on your Saturday morning, just like your favorite cartoon.

I'm Julian Minneson. That's Bhop. Two-time Pro Bowl or Brad Hopkins. Brad, we got a win. The Tennessee Titans come away with a preseason victory 23 to 20 over the Atlanta Falcons, how you feeling on the Saturday morning? So I don't want to invest too much in wins and losses and preseason jewels. You know what I mean?

Because at the end of the day, we didn't see the starters for 60 minutes. So should we then, you know, look at a win like it really meant something? You know, there was more position of stuff that we needed to uncover. There was more depth scenarios that we needed to see in competition. So that way, when the regular season starts, we know who's qualified to get on the field, if in case there's an injury, right? That's what we're doing here. to develop the back end of your roster,

which is usually why you look around the league, you don't see a whole bunch of starters starting. Well, that's by design. You don't want to waste those reps in preseason, but like Cam said, they do need the repetition. They do need to be able to get out there on the field and work together in those game-type scenarios that allow them to be comfortable and familiar

once the regular season starts. So there is a little necessary evil to that whole deal. I get it. But I'm just saying, you know, when we look at, you know, the Titans getting a win, which is good, you know, not to say that, you know, we're going to discount that because it's been a long nine, ten days and then out on the road and working with each, you know, working against an uncommon

opponent in two different scenarios and competing and things like that. And I'm sure that you just really want to, at this very point right now, Julian, wake up in their own beds. You know what mean? And it's been, you know, kind of a missed situation, I guarantee for them. So I just don't want to get too wrapped up, but I do feel that the Titans have made improvements, that they continue you to kind of shore up those things that could be problematic for them. You know who's looked really good? I've just scared to even say something about it. The offensive line, man.

They're giving quarterbacks time to do things. Now, of course, we saw Cam working outside of the pocket when necessary. But for the most part, I do see noticeable improvement from what we saw last year, which, in my opinion, it might be a little early to say this. I don't think the Titans will be picking first this year. And that's good because probably if you're a head coach or a judge, GM, you're only allowed to pick the first pick one time in the NFL. We wanted to remind you that this episode is brought to you by Monarch Money.

Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NFL at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. So Bhop, you mentioned the offensive line and we've talked about, I mean, go back to that first preseason game when Cam Ward made his first completion. I don't remember seeing a pocket that wide within the last 12 months for a Tennessee Titans quarterback. What have you liked about the old line? I know Dan Moore had to be sidelined for a second there yesterday, but he came back in there.

What do you like about it, and especially with Lloyd Cushenberry coming back, that's only going to add to this team. Yeah, Dan got rolled up from behind a little bit. That's just always the worst situation where you're a casualty of a friendly fire, because I think it was one of his own buddies that did it, but he's okay, which is good. Lloyd Cushingberry, I think, will be a welcomed reedition to this offensive line. Not that Corey Levin hasn't done a good job, but I just don't think that, you know, if he were the starter and his thing, we wouldn't have had a reason to bring in a free agent in Lloyd Cushenberry last year. So they should be much improved in that situation. And I can't wait for the veteran Kevin Zeitler to show up as well.

Here's a big body that had a lot of success in Detroit. And I guarantee you he's going to show his worth his value, what's the regular season starts. What I like is the fact that they're balanced in what they're doing, Julian. their protection has been ample. It's been good. You know what I mean? They've they've allowed enough time in the pocket for Cam to kind of do what he needs to do. I'm talking about that first unit particularly. But they're also balanced in opening up holes for the run game. Okay. So they're creating these more predictable situations like third and forever where you don't have a bunch of plays dialed up in the playbook, you know, to convert those first downs. They're at least in manageable down and distances because of what they're able to do and being physical up front. So I like the fact that they're balanced. They're both adding ample protection and they're also doing enough in the run game to give, you know, Tony Pollard, Taji Spears eventually because we've seen a whole lot of Julian Chestnut. He's doing great. And Khalil Mullings, hey, that's a former linebacker.

So he knows how to be physical, right? He knows also how linebackers think because he is a linebacker, right? And I just think that he's added tremendous value. They're going to have a hard, hard situation to deal with in that. that 3RB spot, you know what I mean? Somebody's going to be on practice squad, I'm sure. And maybe the other guy that doesn't, you know, back up Tony Pollard will be on special teams.

But I think both Julius Chestnut and, and Khalil Mullings have really shown themselves to be values this offseason. Yeah, Coach Callahan talked about how he loves that they're both big body backs. And they run really hard. Last night, Kelle had eight carries, 25 yards. Julius Chestnut making the most of his opportunities for for 16. And you talked about the offensive line there, Bhop. When you think about some of the younger guys on the O line,

like Peter Skoronsky, who's looking for ascension this year, you're talking about J.C. Latham coming in lighter on his feet, haircut and all, Ascension for him, too. How big Kevin Zitler is going to be for that group. So it's good that the signs are showing now with him not even playing, Zitler's 14-year experience, helping those guys, especially with J.C. over there on that right side. That is going to be huge because he's seen it all in this.

league he's seen the success with being on good teams he's seen it being on losing teams and he's seen what it's like to kind of rebuild the franchise from the ground up so that's only going to help the old line i will soon yeah 100 percent i mean i think that when you look at experience that really tells the tape and they need to because this is a unit that has to work with each other i remember bob young was my first offensive line coach when i got drafted back in 1903 former office him so and he used to say we have to perform like ballerinas men working in unison the synchronization right spacing understanding what our job description is what we're supposed to be doing and the only way that you get good at that is by doing it over and over and over again so i think that you know

once we get him into form once they start really you know hitting the field with regularity together we'll start to see them improve as a unit because they've got to play together like that so excited just about the, you know, the potential for them. You know what I mean? Because that that unit was under fire for the last couple of seasons, you know what I mean? Because I think it was bad offensive line play that got Ryan Tannehill sat. You know what I mean? Then those bad offensive line play that ultimately created a sense of urgency to get a QB back that they could do it and Will needed more protection to be able to do to just have a, you know, a good enough season because under duress, his decision making was questionable, right? But any quarterback would

time, they made it to that level for a reason, right? Because they're obviously good at throwing the ball and reading defenses, but when you add that element of pass rush and pressure, that changes the whole game. You know what I mean? So that has been a situation that they needed to address. They did it in free agency. They did it by moving JC from left to right, just trying to find a more natural fit. Peter Skoranski has been developing nicely as the first round picked just a couple the seasons ago. So, you know, I think that they've done what they needed to do. Let's just see them continue to get better. And, you know, this is, we're going to talk about Cam Ward and the quarterback play here in a second, but this is a perfect segue because you mentioned your first

offensive line coach, and we do have a comment from Scott McMillan in here that is asking Bhop, what's your favorite Titan memory? A lot of them, I'm sure, but is there one that sticks out in your mind? You know, it has nothing to do with football. You know, one of my favorites, moments is we had a we had a fourth round pick named john henry mills and us rookies were tasked with bringing in the saturday morning breakfast right usually donuts from shipleys or someplace nice you know something that the guys can munch on as we get ready to you know before walk through and then we hit the road or do whatever we got to do to get ready for the next day's game right well john forgot about him needing it was his turn to bring in breakfast he went to the grocery

store and grab some of them cheap grocery store donuts that did not go over well with the rookies or with the with the veterans they then proceeded to tie him to this pole um like a this big big long wood pole they had they tied his ankles and they tied his feet to it and they took him into the cold tub and they dunked him like repeatedly in his clothes so I just you know I don't know it was light hazing but it was just yeah it was just funny to see this whole situation. Actually, I'm just glad it wasn't me. So there's moments like that, you know. So if Scott, you're asking, like, what is one of my favorite Titans moments? It's not going to be, you know, some play where I knocked a guy on his butt or, you know, where I, you know,

defended the pocket so well and I felt great about myself. No, it's those little moments that bind you. And I'm guarantee you the Titans had a lot of those being on the road together for nine days. You know what I mean? Because there's going to be those little moments that you're going to always look back and say, remember when somebody did this and remember when we were in Tampa and that happened? Remember we in Atlanta and that happened? Those are the things that galvanize the team and those are the things that are lasting memories for players. Yeah, and you mentioned that, Bihab. I know it was a long road trip and the guys talked about, you know, and we'll hear from Cedric Gray later about just wanting to go home, sleep in their own beds. But it kind of seemed like

the perfect situation for a young team with a lot of young cornerstone pieces, looking to build a winning culture here with a new regime and a fairly new head coach. It seems like, though it's atypical to be on the road that long in the preseason, it's kind of perfect given that they are going to know each other a lot better. They're going to be closer for this. They're definitely closer now coming back to Nashville than they were leaving Nashville before this road trip began, wins, losses, and everything aside. Let me tell you this, Julian. There are so many things behind the scenes that Brian Callahan has done to establish his culture and create a winning environment that they just go unnoticed. He tasked that team with getting to know each other,

almost intimately, because that matters. You fight harder for you brother than you do a stranger. It's just the way it works. That's the reason why we saw them even in the locker room. You know how they used to be connected as units in each space in different parts. J.C. Latham is sitting next to a DB. You know, Cam Ward is sitting next to a defensive back in that locker room. Why? Because we get out of our comfort zones and get to know something about somebody that we otherwise wouldn't have an association with like that, you know what I mean? Which is one of the reasons why you see Big Jeff and Cam Ward having such a unique

relationship already. Yeah. Because the environment has not been forced in essence, but it's been a point of emphasis. let's just say that right so this team is getting to know each other so that way they play harder for each other they feel more familial and then they go out there and they work together because they care about each other they like going to work you see what I'm saying so the more they get to know each other the more that they go through scenarios where they win a game they shouldn't have you know what I mean or reflect on one that they should have and trying to find ways to get better this team is less likely to turn on itself you know so I really like what what Callahan has done in tasking this unit with doing things that are just as important off the field as they are on the field because building that camaraderie is super important because that's the only difference because guess what every team has pro bowlers every team has all Americans all pros they have all these things right their first round picks on every single

team what makes them different the why because we're playing for each other that's why it's super important to keep the core of the nucleus of a team together for as long as you can because they continue to establish even for the new pieces, the things that need to be in place, right? They establish the culture and the people that new people that come in, it's up to them to learn that culture. But it starts with the players first. And I think that that's something that Brian has addressed in them playing more like units than just, you know, random individuals. Yeah, it's no coincidence that Calvin Ridley is one of the, the lock, the law, that are by, that's by Cam Ward's locker, obviously intentional with them having the

connection. But it's already showing itself in those, the way those two interact is all off season. And then it showed itself in the first game, the first preseason game, when who is his top connection? Who is Cam Ward's top connection? It was, it was Calvin Ridley for the three for 50 yards. I don't think that's a coincidence of just quarterback to receiver. That's an all off season of sharing a locker room together, sharing, being locker mates together. So that's certainly something to keep an eye on. I know we're going to talk about here, Cam Lord. We're going to take a quick break and talk about him and his play on the other side of the break. For now, when the Titan Squad Show returns, we'll talk about him. We'll talk about the rookie pass catchers and the defense right here on the Titan Squad Show. Keep it locked here.

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Use code locked on NFL at Monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at MonarchMoney.com with code locked on. fell. All right, B. Hot, we're back talking about Cam Ward. Cam Ward has, at least if you look at the box score, just with the naked eye, two of seven there for 42 yards. You know, I had a buddy text me. He said, oh, Cam only went two for seven, but I don't think the box score tells the

whole story all the time. It does not. He had the really nice throw rolling out of the pocket to Elyke-Ile-Manor to start off that first drive 35 yards for there his other completion was a shorter one to bryce oliver later in the game but there were some on target throws but i think a lot of it coach callahan talked about it they were just put in some unfavorable downs and distances and kind of had an uphill climate sometimes what are your take on on cams performance yesterday because i don't think it was a step back i think it was actually a positive step in the right direction i'm actually shocked julian

that you didn't mention the throw and potential catch um to van jefferson that you did last night you did on the channel two broadcast you're talking about and that just couldn't bring it in that was great but that was almost a microcosm there were throws there were there were passes that you know there were there were throws to make he made a lot of them you know but there were a couple of drops too you know i mean someone you know the incompletions created you know longer down in distances or whatever and they just got to um when they didn't necessarily want to obviously that's why they went three series when call they said we were on two series because that that that second series they're like no let's run this back, you know, let's get out there and finish on a better note, you know.

So I thought what we saw with Cam, even though you saw him in his 15 attempts, he completed seven of them, and that's in both the preseason games, man, he gets better every week. You know what I mean? And I think that his poise and confidence are the things that lend to him, not just blowing the play up. You're starting to see those downfield attempts. Why? because the one thing that Cam was doing earlier in preseason was what getting the ball out of his hands quick right getting the ball out of his hands quick well a lot of times you can't do that unless you're working with the shorter to intermediate stuff you know what I mean because it's very rarely that you see somebody just get beat immediately at the line of stream it's not so that go route is of super available and you can in three seconds you'll hit a guy for a 40 yard game very rarely does that happen coverage won't dictate it and a guy just not get beat like a drum that early on most in most instances right so what it's left with is going through a progression oh there's my back there's my tight end you know there's my slot you know because i get this thing out of my

hands quick right but what we're what they did yesterday was they took away that short to intermediate stuff and made him look longer holding on to the ball more but what he did when he even when he had to escape the pocket julian was keep his eyes down field he could have turned into a runner which you know cams is a very effective runner with the football as well but he knows the bigger plays that be made if he can extend the play even if it's working laterally and not down the field north and South. I mean, hate going east or west, but at the end of the day, if you can make a play north and south because you're giving a guy a time to find himself opening the coverage, then there's a big play potential there. So I like the way that he stayed poised in continuing

to play, trying to be a passer versus the obvious thing, which would be to maybe get three or four or five yards, you know, with your legs, which will come into it, you know, and be an advantage later on. But right now, while he's learning things, while he's learning what defenses are trying to do and take away from him, I like those adjustments that he's making in this game. I wanted to talk about the Van Jefferson play here because that was obviously talked about a lot on social media after after that play yesterday. Coach Callahan even credited Cam, beautiful throw, which it was. Van, at least I've never been an NFL receiver. I'll never be an NFL receiver, but it seems to me probably should have come down with that ball. But what I liked about this, Bhop, is after the game, Cam took the accountability for it. He said, he said, oh, you know, I talked. to Van, you know, we talked about maybe where I could place it better. And I think that goes a long way. You know, earlier in the week, he said, hey, we have a top five receiving core in the NFL. Now, whether you believe that or not, I think it's important that Cam instills that belief in

his guys and then takes it a step further by holding himself accountable by saying, I could have been more perfect on that throw. I could have put him in a better position rather than say, what the heck man why did you drop it that that could have been six or could it let us to six i think that goes a long way yeah i mean you don't point fingers in that situation because that might have been that might let's just say it was van's fault to just catch it because it should have been you know if it hit your hand you should catch it right there's going to be one that well we did see one um cam over through a guy on the sideline you know what i mean and you know so it happens so what he's not going to do is going to sit there and point fingers and pass blame because at some

point in time it's going to be your fault and you have to be able to acknowledge that fix it and move on you know i mean so he's just being a team player he's being a team player julian and he's being a leader because that's what they do you don't roll your teammates under the bus because all that would have done is he said yeah man sure should have caught that if you left it at that that's going to that's going to be some stinking thinking in that locker room man that's what less tackle used to say all the time don't let that stink and think and affect your altitude won't let your attitude affect your altitude right so the fact that he's sticking up for his boys the fact that he'll he'll take it upon himself to say hey my bad we saw jemar jefferson do that a couple

times when he missed a hole right my bad yeah i like when you i like when we see players do that because it says that first off they're thinking more about the team and it's meant it's you know it's confidence and mentality and whatever else but it's also admitting hey look i can do better and i will do better i will be better in those instances where you see a guy take the blame for that that's exactly what that means because that's a selfless player and those are the ones that usually get the most out of the relationships that they have in the locker room and on the field. Are you more optimistic now that you had a little bit of a sample size on Cam, are you more optimistic going that he is going to be ready for that first game of the season

against Denver than you did prior to these first two games of the preseason? I would expect him to continue to get incrementally better. What I mean by that is do I expect him to kick the door in and all of a sudden beat the Broncos who have a stout defense? and a really good young quarterback working with Sean Payton's system. Do I expect them to come and just boat race the Broncos? No. Even if they lose

the game, I want to see how they lose. Even if they win the game, we want to see how they win. It's how you perform, how you compete. So I'm not wrapping things up in wins and losses because you're talking about a relatively young team that's still being put together. But I want to see are the games that they lose close?

You know what I'm saying? Or are they winning the games that they win convincingly? Or are they just winning them by the hair of their chinny chin, chin, you know, how does that look? But I do think the optic is that Cam has complete control of this offense. He's garnering the respect and almost admiration of his teammates on both sides of the football. So you're going to see that support in tough situations, you know, if he were like, say he had a bad series or something like that, I don't expect him to go sit on the bench by himself. No.

I expect somebody to go over there and pat him on the back. Hey, you got this. It's okay. And if there wasn't Big Jeff, I'd be surprised. You know what I'm saying? Let alone be in Calvin or, you know, somebody else. But then again, me even saying that, does Cam look like the kind of guy that when things go wrong,

he's going to go over and just stare off into the abyss about how things are going bad? He doesn't seem like that guy, you know what I mean? Which is important because you've got to be able to compartmentalize everything that's going on and not let your highs be too high and your lows be too low. And he seems to have that perfect balance. You talk about that respect. Jeffrey Simmons said it after the Nissan Stadium practice.

He's going to be the first guy that I have his back on Sundays. I covered Cam. I mentioned this on the show. Covered him for two years at Washington State. I didn't see him sit down on the bench one time. He was constantly standing and looking at film or looking at notes from the coaches or whatever it was. We do actually have a comment here from Amar O'Harras.

They looked a little shaky, only probably going to win six games this year. But hey, I'd take six wins. That's double your win total from last year, and that would, six wins to me would exemplify positive growth in progression in the right direction, which is all you're looking for out of this season. Yeah, I will say three wins got you picking first in the draft, right? Yeah. Can't get any worse than that.

So let's just assume with the money that Amy spent in free agency, let's just assume that, you know, with what Chad and Mike and Brian have drafted. this year that this is a better unit units than last year i don't think that we'll see the situations that we had to deal with last year be present this year you know mistakes being made and not being corrected that kind of stuff you know i mean so as long as the titans do a better job of missing their foot when they're shooting into the ground then this this team will be all right so Six wins. Sure, do you want to see them win the division? Of course. Do you want to see them getting to the playoffs? Absolutely. Is that a reality? Maybe not. You know, even eight and nine,

you know, would be a tremendous outing for a first year quarterback, you know? Six wins, I think that's probably the floor for me. You know what I'm saying? Because I think they'll go out there and compete. I'm going to say this team is seven, eight wins, which would then, if you look back at it and be like, dang, you know what, man? This Ricky can't, Ricking came shut up. Here, how about this? This is an example. I wouldn't have got my oil change the other day. And, you know, the guy that always changes my oil, first thing he said was, man, Cam Ward looked good. And the thing is, if the public is excited about it, just even the potential,

they're like, you know, hey, we can get behind this guy because they are starving for Steve's replacement. And they have been for seemingly like decades, you know? and I think this is probably one of the first situations in a while where the fan base is feeling confident about what we have at quarterback collectively. Scott McMillan comes in with another really good question. And I think we've answered this a couple times on the show, but if the Titans have a losing season like we were just talking about, but show improvements, do you believe Amy has patience with Brian Callahan?

And Cam kind of answered that this week is the hope that those two are together for a long time. you see some of the best quarterback coach duos and successes in the league. You know, Pat Mahomes and Andy Reed. You see Joe Burroughs, Zach Taylor, you know, Lamar, and Harbaugh. You know, these guys are paired for a long time. They're kind of kind of kindred spirits with each other. And that's the hope with Brian Callahan that, you know, at least if you have a losing season, six, seven wins, which would put you at a below 500 record,

I don't think you change that over because then Cam Ward will have to start over. he'll have to learn a whole new system and a whole new head coach and he'll have his own ideals and then basically you're starting from ground one i think six seven wins though you're not necessarily in the playoffs that's still an ideal scenario if you're the titans because that is a step in the right direction yeah i think that there was a combination of things that created this environment where the titans pick first and you never want that to happen you had suspect offensive line play which created suspect quarterback play and therefore your offense is inept they really weren't problem solvers and it just continued to exacerbate itself it just was bad

just a bad deal right there's too much newness in this version of the titans for amy to be so knee-jerk and say hey you know what if it just didn't work this year it ain't going to work and just start all over again because guess what you've got to bring somebody else in that's brand new and has to do the exact same thing. They have to establish their culture. They have to, you know, try and create a new team identity, which makes you take even further steps back. And is that what you want to do when you try and develop the first pick of the draft? Probably not. You want consistency, right? You want familiarity. And I think that what Brian does is he connects with the guys to make them play as hard as they possibly can. And that's what you want. You want players that respect and understand and want to

see you succeed as a coach, you know, versus man, this dude sucks. You know what I mean? Let's get his butt up out of here. You know what I mean? Nobody likes playing for you anyway. That's not the case. Now, I think if anything, you know, drafting a rookie quarterback with that pick just kind of says, hey, look, you know, we're going to give him, you know, a stay of execution, if you will, in his first year, especially if it goes crazy. You know, we want to see how this team competes. Did they get better as the weeks went by? Or was his message numbing to everybody? and nobody heard it, you know what I mean? So I don't think that that's what Amy's trying to do.

I don't think she's trying to make it even worse by basically firing Brian Callahan after this season if, in fact, it doesn't work out. It just, in my opinion, it will be counterproductive. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, we're going to get more to your questions. You have a lot of comments coming in on the other side of the break about the defense, about the offensive line, and Behoff and I will try to answer all of your questions through the second half of the show.

We're also going to talk about some of the rookie pass catchers and what we were impressed with and what we need to look forward to as we head to that final preseason game at the end of this coming week. So keep it locked here in the Titan Squad Show. All right, this episode is presented by Yahoo! Fantasy. It's the best time of year.

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or join a public league. Stay tuned for more killer announcements and start playing Yahoo Fantasy now at yahoofantasy.com slash locked on NFF. All right, Bhop, I wanted to talk about two of the young pass catchers, at least in particular. We can kind of generalize it to the group, too. But no Calvin Ridley or Tyler Lockett last night. Veteran rest and also the idea was to showcase those rookie receivers who maybe didn't get as much burn in the previous preseason game.

Gunther Helm shined, four catches, 48 yards, had that. Beautiful touchdown catch from Brandon Allen there before the half. Elyke Iow Manor had two reception, 47 yards. Of course, we talked about the one with the yak after Cam Ward passed the two and that play from that first drive there from Iow Manor. So what are your thoughts on the past catchers, particularly those two guys? Yeah, and in perfect positions, right? You're talking about Elek, who is an outside receiver, showing big play potential.

and Gunner Helm, kind of being that underneath guy that will be Cam Ward's safety valve when Chigacuankwell isn't on the field. I like Gunner, man. Big Body do, 6-5, 240, nimbleness, enough to block, but also being able to be a mismatch in linebacker coverage, you know,

because he's a big dude, which means he's probably going to be bigger than guys that are covering him to create those mismatches. So, you know, as needed, that fourth round was super productive. You know, Shemar Dyke was another dude, in the fourth round that it seems like, you know, could potentially be a playmaker.

They made out really well in the rounds that kind of really matter as far as like developing your roster, right? Those third, fourth, fifth round picks, the guys that you see had the potential to get on the field and earn some playing time. It seems like the guys did a really good job in the front office of finding those players. So I'm excited about that depth. Let's just say that because, you know, in a perfect world, we won't be hearing much from Alec or Gunner, because Calvin Ridley would be out of making plays. Tyler Locker will be making plays. You know, Van Jefferson will be making plays.

But in rotation, if things get, you know, get hectic, in other words, we have long drives put together. And you need to, you know, have those players be set up for. You got playmakers that come on the field immediately, you know? So, hey, somebody put in Jackson Slater in the comments. I agree 100%, man. Dude looks violent. He's another example of that middle round.

situation as a fifth round pick but you know talking about your receivers i think there's just a lot of big play potential which is what you want a lot of opportunity for explosive plays and these guys have shown early that they have the potential to do that so i like i like what they're i like what they bring to the table you know a couple of shows ago we talked about the depth chart and how we felt it was still chig Ongo's job to lose at tight end and though i still feel that way i'll tell you man maybe it's recency bias but gunner helm is making it hard hard decision for for the Titans not to play him more and more and more. I know Chig's got the versatility. I know consistency was some of the big things with him. And maybe with Cam Ward in the

mix, a better quarterback play will help that out. But you mentioned Gunner's size. He's huge for blocking two at that size. So that is going to be a big thing to watch moving forward for him. And you know, the drive where he shined, where he had the three of his four catches in the touchdown. That came after Brandon Allen had thrown an interception on the previous drive. And so there was a conscious effort from Gunner, at least on that possession, to be like, you know what, I'm helping take this team down the field and responding to adversity. And that shows a lot for a first year player. Yeah. I mean, he caught it in traffic. You know what I'm saying? Had the concentration enough

to come down with it, sticky hands, you know, in the end zone, a well enough place ball for to make a play on it, you know what I mean? So I like that. But you also got to think about this. I was talking to Delaney when the Titans had that Nissan stadium practice. We're up in the suites, big dogging it. Free wing. Yeah, right? By the wings, love it. He was talking about the combination of tight ends that work for this system, that work here. And there's always been two. Even when we were going to the Super Bowl, we had Frank Whitechek, and we also had Aaron Kenny.

We had more than just a guy. One served the purpose as being almost like a slot receiver. You know what I mean? Someone that you actually could even put an X on the outside, but also a guy that could work in line. Frank wasn't the most dominant blocker. You know what I'm saying? But he was a playmaker for sure, right?

Aaron Kenny would come in there and put them big. That dude was massive. You know what I mean? So Delaney was talking about who's the other guy, and you've got to help me with this. I know you just got here, Julian. in town but when delaney was here he was that that utility swing man that could do a lot of things and line up in a lot of different places but then he had also in a cop maybe the guys in a chat

could help me out there's another guy that would come in in those running downs to or they're running 12 personnel where you have two tight ends you know you saw both of them on the field at the same time right that's the same situation here potentially with gunner or josh working with chig because chig is that utility guy he is that dude that might line up at the end of the line streamage but then all of a sudden he he then motions to the slot you know when they start moving things around just to see what the defense has got going because he can he can run great routes and he's got that that shiftingness about him that makes him just as qualified as a receiver as he is a tight end because he is a bigger body at 240

pounds you know what I mean so I just like the versatility that both of this this tight in group actually brings to Callie's office we do have a comment coming in from chill mode. And I know a lot. He's become a fan favorite because of his relationship with Cam Ward. We're talking about past catchers. I don't understand why they don't play Restrepo more. He looks so smooth out there, even from the little he showed. He had two catches yesterday for 18 yards. But it just seems when you looked at the depth chart Bhop that that it was going to be an uphill climb for Restrepo probably to make this team. Maybe he could show some more in the third preseason game when most likely you're going to see the back end depth chart guys. But

That's also one of the reasons they brought in a Trevor Simeon, too, to help not throw any interceptions like Tim Boyle did in that first preseason game. So these guys can show a little bit more. But what is your take on Restrepo here? Because it may not be the Titans, but it may be another team he could be auditioning for. See, people want to see, and I'm sure Chilmo does too, he wants to see what that connection in college looks like at the pro level. because your strepo had a tremendous career at miami and a lot of that came from his connection with cam ward so does that automatically you know make them going to be a duo that needs to be contended with he's got some good receivers in front of him you know what i'm saying and i know that he brings

a lot of good qualities to a unit like that but most of his his playing time has gotten with the twos and the threes not necessarily with the ones where you want to see a mess of a can't him, a guy that's familiar with him. So I do think he has, you know, he's got that just that gritty, um, um, Wes Welker type approach to him. You know what I mean? I hate just creating, you know,

analogies like that, but he just seems like that gritty dude that's just going to, that finds the holes in coverage and can make the contested catches and maybe get you a couple yards after he does get it because he's not going to be an easy tackle. So I see where, you know, there's some potential excitement about his addition. I just hope that he makes squad, you know what I mean?

And, And maybe I say special teams because if you're not competing for a starting job, then you're going to be paying teams, right? So hopefully there's a spot for him on this roster and he can get an opportunity if, in fact, there's an injury or something like that because there are some pretty talented dudes in front of him. But I do think that he does deserve a shot. I wanted to go back to talk about Alec Ayo Manor.

We caught up with him after the game in the locker room yesterday before the Titans headed back out after the preseason when. Here's what he had to say about the wide receiver group. his game as a whole. Big week for you. I know you weren't happy with how you practice, but I mean, you get times with the one, you make a few plays tonight. How would things wrap up for you? Good, good, yeah. Yeah, you just try to keep sacking more days, right? You know, you're going to have ups and downs. Try to stay pretty consistent emotionally, and, you know, I think that's a good way to have progress over time. How much you think you grew up, I guess, in this 10-day trip?

I don't know. I don't know. That much. I think it's more, I think growing up, it's more of a yearly thing. But it definitely was a, I definitely got a lot of experience just being on the road traveling, you know, facing a little bit of diversity. So, yeah. Team heads up and downs. Nice to end this 10-day Odyssey with the W? Yeah, for sure, yeah. It's always great.

You know, wins are not easy to come by, especially the higher you get up in level, especially at the NFL level. And so anytime you can get a win, it's something great. What's the biggest thing you know is to these two NFL games that you've gotten to play? It's got to take advantage of opportunity. Windows aren't very big. Yeah, or, yeah, like you get opportunities and you have to be ready to go 100. You know, I think sometimes starting the year you're not always firing on all cylinders right away, but you've got to be. So that's one kind of.

You know, the interesting thing there, that looks a very honest guy. He's talked about the yearly improvement and all that stuff. But I know we mentioned the preseason games were not tied up into wins and losses. It's more about kind of like the sample size of what we see. But given the fact that a lot of vets did sit in that game, it was nice to show at least that they could compete and they weren't blown out of the water.

And the guys were able to, I guess, man up pick up the slack and still be competitive in a game no matter who was on the other side yeah think about this they are on the field for three series right yeah almost a scam amount well we did see maybe a little bit more run from them against Tampa bay but at the end of the day how much ebbs and flows happened during the game you know i think that cali addressed the fast start well the fast start is only really super important if you're talking about preseason because you're going to see limited opportunities from starters in the first place you know you got to make second half adjustments you got all of a sudden getting to the foot look what happened in that

first drive in Tampa versus the second drive in Tampa sometimes you just got to get out there you got to work through some stuff you got to get into the flow of a game it's not immediate that all of a sudden you go out there and start making plays and putting points on a board you know what I mean sometimes it takes time it takes a big play maybe to make a spark get something going you know so I think that when you think about the starters playing 60 minutes what that looks like you know being able to either wear down a defense or or make those strides that keep them on the field and start building confidence,

that's the most important part. Because right now in this small, simple size that we're seeing, we're not even seeing playing a half. You know what I mean? So let's just think about what this thing looks like. That's why I'm excited to see week one against Denver just because we're going to see a game plan, right? We're going to see specifics that are dialed in

to take advantage of whatever it is that Denver is deficient at, and we're going to see them play to their strengths. We're going to see just an all-in-out, all-out effort to win a ball game versus trying to discover what you have heading into this season. Those are two totally different scenarios. Yeah, absolutely. I think Cam Ward is also ready for that first game. He mentioned it after in the post game.

He's like, man, I'm just ready to get going. I'm just ready to get the ball rolling and play week one. I feel like I could play a game right now. So we'll see how that goes. Okay, on the other side, we are going to talk about the defensive side of the ball. I know they had some running defense issues last week. We wanted to kind of talk about it as a whole. And maybe who shined on the defensive side here in our final segment of the Titan squad show?

Keep here. All right, B. Hobb wanted to talk about defense as well. Titans last week gave up 178 rushing yards as a team. They were about 115 this week. tell you what, man. You talked about the slow starts. And that was a big talking point at practice this past week, that first Atlanta Falcons joint practice where it wasn't their best day and them needing to start off quicker. And that's kind of been an issue over the last 12 months dating back to last season with this team. They bounced back in that practice on Wednesday.

And then you talk about the defensive start that Cedric Gray provided. He blew up. He blew up that running back on that other side man man talk about setting the tone um that's exactly what you want to see and he was one of uh he had seven tackles five solo tackles had that half sack tackle for loss and um he he's really shined i thought in these last two games um getting more more burn at that inside linebacker spot um as he's competing with james williams to start alongside cody barton there these are my first quarter notes the run defense without its starters up front is holding its own. Sedric Gray smacks the running back to get Easton Stick.

Put that in my nose. Created a third and long, and the defense gets off the field. That's what you want, right? Then the next series, the Falcons we did see start to gain a little bit of rhythm in the run game. Gabe Judy Lawley.

Yes. His blitz for the tackle for loss. That really was big. Femi, flattened out of line scrimmage on that sweep, the other direction for a TFL. We started to see them make sense. some plays. Kendall Brooks, obviously, the pick six. You know, Kendall, or Easton trying to throw it to the out, basically, and Brooks read it just right there on Johnny on the spot. Of course, the extra

point was no good. But either way, we saw a lot of potential. Now, there was somebody in the chat that said they're worried about the depth. You know what I mean? I think that this is the opportunity for the depth to grow, you know, I mean, to learn how to make plays and also be available if and when injuries do happen you know so i think that legurious need is close to returning we've been waiting for this for a couple years now you know a couple seasons now just the consistency into seeing what you know the former kansas city chief uh cornerback can bring to our secondary right at least consistently more than five games anyway and hopefully he'll be healthy enough to to be a welcomed and uh needed addition but i think when you're talking about the ability the ability to apply pressure

We're starting to learn to do that on the edges. We're starting to have guys like Cedric Gray and Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, B-U-R-N-E-Y. Yes. Yes, my man was out there make us a place, too, flattening down the line scrimmage, playing sideline to sideline. There was a lot of growth that I saw happening for DeNar Wilson's group. Now, I will say that like when he was talking to Bledsoe, DeNar was talking to Bledsoe, you know, I think that somebody was in the wrong spot. and gave up a touchdown on a longer pass on the outside. And he wants those issues corrected.

You know, let's not have these things happen with regularity. I don't know if it was a safety over the top that wasn't there or if it was the corner, you know, getting too greedy or whatever and it gets beat, you know, to where he's open, you know, and lose his coverage. But at the end of the day, you know, I think that these things can be fixed. And hopefully the younger players that were seeing featured in the preseason, and just get those game time reps that make them valuable during the regular season when the starters are on the field consistent.

You know, we do have a comment, another one back from Chilmode, and he is a guy when you talked about Bhop, the value that they got in the draft after the later rounds. Marcus Harris, I felt, got his name called a ton. I mean, there was the four tackles. I think he had two past deflections, if I'm looking, memory correctly here. Yeah, two past deflections. a guy who played all different levels of football was at Idaho and then played

Pac-12 football at Cal and now he's seeing it at the next level in the NFL and has had some pretty good practices and had a pretty good showing yesterday but that goes back to what we were talking about Bhop when you look at this depth chart from an aerial view how many young players are expected to make an impact right away second year players and of course rookies it's nice to see that in the preseason when you're trying to build depth you're trying to build growth and a step in the right direction for young players to show up like that yeah i think that um somebody in the chat was a chill mode that basically said he wanted to see them go back to the four three yeah versus the three four so for me three four is the easier

defense to block um because the defensive end is sitting right over you he's right in front of you you know i mean you've got a linebacker that's outside of him and sometimes you have to slide to that outside guy but guards are uncovered right so that means that they have more access to the linebacker level working with either the center or tackle going to that next level um but for the most part you don't have to you don't have the guys needing to move their feet as much to me and if you've got four if you like remember what we saw in the super bowl this past super bowl with the chiefs and eagles they never blitz much they didn't sure they did stunts and stuff like that but they They rushed four consistently and got there with four big bodies, right?

Because they were making the offensive line and move their feet, whether it was in space, on the outside, or just even trying to get those mismatches underneath that were so problematic for the chief's interior. And I think that that's what you want to create regularly. And I do think that we do have those kind of players. We do have, you know, Sebastian Joseph Day, if left in a one-on-one situation, can win because there are going to be four hands on Jeffrey Simmons and Devonre Sweat. These are two massive men in the middle that should then allow those mismatches on the outside for those players to take advantage of it.

And I understand the premise behind the three, four, is you want to have more athletes on the field because you've got one more linebacker than you do de-alignment. Well, that means that you're going to be blitzing a lot. You can be bringing a lot of guys from space, you know, just, you know, that kind of stuff. If you don't necessarily need to do it with scheme, then there's more bodies that can also be dropped off into coverage. You know what I'm saying? So I think that that was one also thing that we saw the Flanathalcons do and adjusting is that even in those shorter down in distances where you thought that the Titans would run the football and they maybe chose the pass, the Falcons were thinking that also. So they dropped linebackers off into coverage, creating double teams in a lot of spaces, right, covering a lot of zones. So, you know, you've got to be able to have that ability.

And sometimes being running at 4 or 3 allows you that capability more so than running a 3, 4 where you've got at least one, two. three, four, five dudes on the office on the line of scrimmage. Absolutely. And, you know, something that I thought about as the game was happening yesterday. And, and again, I know the results, you know, the win-loss thing doesn't matter really in the preseason. But the defense, when big moments came to happen, no matter who was out there, second, third, you know, fourth string, whatever, they did make plays when their backs were against the wall. There was the fourth down stop, or I think it was the fourth, was it the fourth, was it the fourth,

down stop or the third down stop. Yeah, it was the fourth, yeah, there was that stop. And then there was the sack that basically sealed the deal at the end of the game. And you like that because you didn't get to see a ton of that last season. I think the one game that they, that sticks out in my mind was the road game against Houston, or they got the sack, was it the sack in the end zone? Or was it Simmons, or was it Landry? I think it was Harold Landry who had that sack in the end zone or something like that. My memory doesn't serve me correctly. But maybe the chat can help. But yeah, your defense putting you in, when you are backs against the wall,

your defense making plays when it mattered, no matter what happened, you know, the sequences prior. I think that goes a long way in the growth and development of this team as well when you're DeNard Wilson looking to say, who can I rely on in big time situations. That was something that really stuck out with me, at least watching it in a small sample size in yesterday's game. Yeah, I'm actually looking at the chat and they're saying who would you line up in that four front defense? Arden Key is 6-4, 240 pounds.

Maybe seems like a linebacker size, but I think that, you know, he reminds me like a Michael Barrow type when I got drafted. He was a guy that loved to rush the passion, love to get on the outside. I think he was a weak side linebacker. Key Bullock was also a good pass rusher wouldn't need to be, you know, play on the outside. that Sebastian Joseph Day is a natural defensive end. And we don't even mention the three techniques. I mean, good God. That's probably one of the potentially best duos in the league once they start playing consistently.

I think about that. With Tavondry and Jeff both making plays from the interior, if both of those dudes had, if both of those guys had eight, nine sacks this year, that meant that the defense is doing some things. They're getting off the field. You know what I'm saying? And they're also going to create opportunities. for the guys on the outside, too.

That's if they ran out. We're not trying to have Denar Wilson reinvent what it is that they're doing. We just want to have the playmakers on the field as best as they can possibly do it. So just one thing I noticed. That's interesting. So we're going to go to some of the comments here. There are a couple that we really wanted to get to. What do you think about this?

Hmm. From Swalt 10. Hey. Well, put this way, hopefully Swalt 10 was watching those games back then because we played with a level of nastiness that just, you know, it's hard nowadays, you know, especially with rules, changes and stuff like that, you know, but. For our audio listener, Swalt 10 said, I just want the Titans to have that nasty attitude again. Early 2000s, you knew it was going to be a street fight. They took no BS. Williams and Schwartz were nasty.

we need that identity in a bad way. Judy Lawley, nasty. Cedric Gray, nasty. We know Big Jeff, nasty. Tavondry Swet, nasty. These dudes, James Williams, right, flying around nasty. You want those intimidators, man, those guys that the offense has big, wide saucer eyes because they're like, woo, you know, we're in a dog fight, man.

So you want that intimidation factor because these guys have just put on the tape that says, hey, they fly around and hit people, you know? And that's, you know, Jim Swartz back in the day, well, Jeff Swartz. Jeff was obviously a knockoff of Jeff Fisher's defense, which is a knockoff of Greg Williams. Well, Greg Williams was a knockoff of Jeff Fisher's defense. Jeff Swartz, Jim Swartz was a knockoff of Greg Williams' defenses.

But when you look at Jim Washburn, who was the defensive line coach back then, that was the kind of coached that, boy, he got those guys fired up you know what I mean he got them where you go out there he's the one that made Albert Haynesworth one of the highest paid football players in the game at that time because he could tap into Bert's psyche and just get him wound up to where he was unblockable you know what I'm saying so when you have that kind of attitude that you're going to go out there and you're going to punch somebody in the mouth not literally but you know

and you keep consistently doing it and you making plays, defense sets the tone for everything we do, man. There's a lot of thinking that goes along with offense. You know, a lot of scheme, I have play calling that really make a difference, right? But when you just line up and you take another man's will and you just take his lunchbox and dare him to say something about it, that's what defenses do, you know what I mean? That's why when you see in practice and stuff, look, oh, the defense won it.

Well, you know, the defense, they have to play with a level of intensity all the time. you know just that pin your ears back just get after type stuff where you know there's a there's a lot of technique and stuff that offensively have to be in place for you to have consistency right i just can't go out there and just i wish i could just put my hand in the dirt and run block for 60 plays you know what i mean or something like that i would love to just be just ball at my fist and just go out there and just maw people but you have to have a level of finesse and you have to have a level of ingenuity, if you will, when you're playing an offense. I'm not saying that they're smarter.

I'm just saying they just have to be more disciplined on offense than you do defense. And Swalt Ten actually just responded. Those were the teams that made me a fan. So yes, I was watching. I was young, but I was watching and remember that very well. I knew he was young. I knew he was going to say he was young. You know how long I get that, Julie, I'm in the streets, man.

Hey, man, you came and spoke at my elementary school. I met you back in, you know, when I was seven years old, my dad took me to get an autograph, you know, that kind of stuff. It's really, really cool. I love that because what that does show, Julian, to me, is that we have a generational fan base. We have a fan base now that take their kids to games because their dad or their mom or their family member took them to games. We've been around long enough now to say, hey, look, you know what? There's been a lineage of Titans fans, and it goes back a long way. Because that's what I was drafted to into Love You Blue Era in Houston.

Man, this was one of the original franchises in the AFL. You know, Houston had a fan base that had been following that team, those teens, for 20, 30 years. You know what I mean? 40 years almost. And now we're getting to, with the 25th anniversary of the Titans here in Nashville, you're starting to see that same kind of presence, man. And it's wonderful to see.

I love it. Certainly wonderful to see. And maybe that next generation of fan will be the Cam Ward fan. when Cam Ward's walking around Nashville doing a podcast with some media member and say, hey, Cam, you spoke at my middle school one day. So we'll see. The Titans have their final preseason game this coming week here at Nissan Stadium. Their only preseason game here in Nashville, that's against the Minnesota Vikings,

7 o'clock on Friday. But for now, we'll see you guys later this week. Hopefully, my name is Julian Minnesone. That is Brad Hopkins. Thanks for listening. And remember to get the Titan Squad show wherever you get your podcast on audio. and then we're here live on YouTube twice a week. See you guys next time.