Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Mitch Trubisky AHEAD of Will Levis in backup QB competition

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

OTAs are underway for the Titans, and the position battles are heating up—especially for the backup quarterback role. Veteran Mitch Trubisky seems to have a slight edge over Will Levis, highlighting the critical importance of finding a reliable second-in-command for starter Cam Ward. Plus, we break down expectations for veterans Jermaine Johnson and Calvin Ridley heading into the upcoming season. 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! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started now. 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. 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. 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.

While Cam Ward is QB1, the battle for QB2 is important. We'll talk about it. And we could talk QBs all we want, but the big story is Cornell Tate keeps on rolling. And Calvin Ridley, how much gas does he actually have left in the tank? We'll get into it. 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, 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 Julian Minnesone. Join by my friends, Tyler Rowland, Brad Hopkins. We got a lot to talk to you guys about today as the Titans are back on the practice field this week.

We wanted to remind you that today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. The biggest stage in world soccer is here. Let there be goals on Fanduel. visit fanduil.com to get started now. And guys, I wanted to talk about the quarterback situation and not Cam Ward. We know Cam Ward is going to be the starter in week one, right? But Mitch Trubisky is on the practice field this week.

He was brought in to out of veteran presence to that quarterback room and compete for the QB2 spot with Will Levis. And Hooker is in there as well, the former Vol. And one thing is apparent so far in the early moments of practices this week. Trubisky is ahead of Will levels. And it seems like by a considerable margin, at least just from optics on the field, I know the idea is that you never want to see your backup quarterback, right?

But I'd also think it's a little naive to think that Cam isn't going to have bumps and bruises along the way. You know, he went relatively unscathed his rookie year, up until that final game of the season. And when Brandon Allen comes in, the game felt like it was over. right and so the hope is that you have a little bit better backup situation to where if he has to sit out a series or sequence or whatever that you compete a little bit better than you did with last year's group so how important is the qb this cubby battle to you is it important that will levis starts to play a little bit better and raises his stock a little bit knowing that his future in tennessee is also uncertain kind of what do you make of the the big picture of this so far beha up I mean, Mitchell Trubisky is already proven who he is. I mean, he's a veteran that had his chance to start years ago.

He was the man in Chicago. 2018 was his best season when he threw for 3,200 yards at 24 touchdowns, 12 picks. 2019 wasn't that much different, 3100 yards, 17 touchdowns. But I think when you look what Will Levis inherited, it was a bunch of BS. I mean, this team wasn't near the talented roster that it is now, and he wasn't getting near the coaching than he was. The proverbial ceiling was already established before he got here. He just didn't perform well enough to keep his job,

and that's why the Titans ended up first off having the first pick of the draft and then taking Cam Ward. But that ceiling has definitely been, I think, increased when it comes to Brian Dayball constructing the kind of offense that he can work in. I think that right now his novelty, world of us is, because if Cam Ward were to go down, they wouldn't restructure everything they're doing to fit another quarterback system.

Mitchell Trabisky, I think, is well qualified to be able to do whatever it is that Brian DeBowellon needs them to do in that offense efficiently. It would just be to a guy that is a, you know, basically a guy that keeps the seat warm while the starter nurses himself back to health. They don't need Will Levis to be anything other than maybe an extended trade value piece. You know, maybe Arizona comes calling if Jacob, if Jacob Myers isn't, you know, on the roster because he wants more cash or Miami's definitely going to be picking somebody early in the draft at the QB spot next year. So maybe this is a trade situation that the Titans can get some value in if, in fact, Will Levis shows improvement during the preseason.

So, I mean, I don't think that Will Levis does necessarily works his way into the number two spot because I don't think that Mitchell Trevisky, I mean, needing to prove anything is going to do anything that needs, you know, proving to show that he's not a quality backup. because at this point, that's exactly what he is. I think there are two different factors to this conversation, and both of them go towards Mitch Trubisky. Number one, the football itself. Will Levis, make no mistake, and we've talked about it. Will Levis has a higher ceiling than Mitch Trubisky. Will Levis is a younger man.

Will Levis has an elite arm. He's got good athlete. He's not as good as a runner as Trubisky ever was. But Will Levis could run if he needed to. He's not some stick in the mud or anything like that. But Trubisky is so much calmer. He can execute the offense. There isn't the up and down.

And when you're looking for a backup quarterback, yeah, if Cam Ward gets hurt in week two and he's out for the season, I'd rather see Will Levis out there because he's got a higher ceiling. Maybe you can get a trade for him at the deadline, different things like that. It'd just be more exciting, the up and down nature than to watch Mitch Trubisky, who you know who he is. But if Cam Ward's out for, like you said, Julian, a couple of drives,

a couple of weeks, Who do you really want to go in there and pilot that plane? Do you want up and down Will Levis? Or do you want Mitch Trubisky, who's been in the system, who is, yeah, exactly. He's more of a metronome. He's just solid, consistent, know what you're going to get, run the offense, get the ball to our playmakers.

Don't try to be a star. Levis can't help but try to be a star and make the big play and then ultimately make the big mistake. So that's the football side of it. And then the other side of it, what do you want to call it, the quarterback room, the poll, the motivations, the whatever you want to call it. Will Levis's motivation right now is,

I can still be a starting quarterback in this league, and I'm going to prove it, and I'm going to show you. And it's not going to be here, but I'm still, I'm going to go somewhere else, and I'm going to show people that I'm still that guy. I'm sorry, but that, I don't blame him for that motivation, and that should be his motivation. But there's no way that that motivation is going to result in the best thing for Cam,

Ward, which is really what this organization has to be about. Trubisky knows who he is. Tribisky isn't saying, I'm going to get back to be a starter in this league. Trubisky saying, I'm a vet, I'll play if I need to. I'm going to mentor this young guy, teach him the system, and enjoy my NFL career until I can't have it anymore. And that is a wise older veteran that's best for a young Padawan, not a rival Jedi who wants to prove that he's the better player.

Like competition breeds X iron, iron sharpens iron. But quarterback is a little different. And whether it's on field or that aspect, it all points to Trubisky. So I don't really think there is a battle for QB2. I don't see a realistic path where Trubisky isn't the backup quarterback for this team. It's about whether or not they keep Will Levis. Ask three, trade, cut, whatever is the real combo. Yeah, that's kind of what I was saying, just wrapping it all up,

is that, you know, Will Levis being the novelty, Mitchell Trubisky is not going to elevate that quarterback position if he were to come in, but he's not going to sink it either. He's going to be that guy that keeps things moving, just the right direction, right? I'm not going to give you these explosive players or move around with his feet. But I do agree with you 100%, Tyler. Will Levis would want it to be about him. And listen, the way things have worked out, I don't blame him, you know what I mean?

Because it seems like he's just like he's been done dirty a little bit. You know what I mean? Just bad team drafted me in that terrible situation. I sat there in the new room, got myself embarrassed all night and not getting picked in the first round when everybody had me going in the first round. Coach cussed me out on the sideline. Remember Brian Callahan screaming at him, embarrassing me in public? That stuff sticks

with players, man. You don't do that. But I think also it's just that I think that Will thinks, and maybe some people do think, it's an incomplete story. We're not done with what Will Levis can be, you know, because I think that we've seen enough stories in the National Football League where guys go to a different system, different coaches, different philosophy, different environment,

and all of a sudden they flourish. You know what I mean? There's been a number of dudes, and they get cash in the business. back in, not necessarily in the front end. I don't know who will levis is that guy. I mean, sure, he's got a big arm, talented enough, but what Ramon Foster and I noticed over the past couple of practices and they were watching, any mistake that he made was in her intermediate stuff. It was decision making. It was staring down a receiver. You know what I'm saying? Trying to double move and look off a guy

and it wasn't fooling anybody. But can he go deep? Hell yeah. Is he accurate enough? Absolutely. So you can make the big play, the seam route, the post, the goal, those kind of things that, you know, really kind of get the ball moving down the field in a big play fashion, but he is a big play chaser. That's the thing. He doesn't necessarily want that thing to just kind of go, you know, steady, slow and steady and keep the race going. You know what I mean?

He will certainly be the hair and not the tortoise in any type of situation. He reminds me of a linebacker. When I watch Will Levis play football, he reminds me of, oh, this guy should have been a linebacker or tight end, but he was trained to play quarterback. Like that's how he played. And Brad, when you say that, it's like, yeah, he's got the athleticism, the arm to drive it deep, to make the big play.

He can be accurate when he just stares at it and lets it go. But when you've got to kind of feel it, you know, when you've got to feel the holes in the zone, when you've got to have that pocket presence and move around and slide your shoulder in to get up and through. He just doesn't have the instincts of a quarterback. He doesn't have good feel. He doesn't look like he's meant to be a quarterback out there. His personality, his body type, his aggression, the way he plays, he looks like somebody who should have been a linebacker

who was trained to play quarterback because he was the best athlete at his high school. That's what he looks like to me. And I feel like if he would have been a linebacker or tight end, his whole life, he would be in the NFL right now too and probably be better at it. But he was just taught to play QB. Even with the lack of infrastructure around him when he was the starter, it just felt like he was never okay with the boring stuff. And that goes to your point, Brad,

of always wanting the big play to show off the big arm. Because when you go to practice and you see the quarterback standing next to each other, physically, he looked like the most quarterback. Captain America. Yeah, pretty much like the prototypical Friday night lights, the long flow with the big shoulders and the height and all the measurables and all that stuff. And I think if you're a Titans fan right now, the hope is that, you know, no matter how he looks here in mini camp or training camp,

The hope is that he plays well in the three preseason games and that it could up his value as much as possible. So I'll ask you this, guys, because inevitably, there's going to be a team that a quarterback gets hurt this summer. And maybe they're going to need some depth in that QB room. And they look at Will Levis and maybe he's playing well in those preseason games and they say, hey, like maybe there's some untapped potential there. Maybe we can get something out of him and he might be cheap. What is the ceiling if he plays well for actual vassens? value in return, do you guys think? Because right now, there's not really a value, right?

But let's say he does play well. What do you think the value could be in return for the Titans to get some sort of draft capital, let's say? I think if he would have worked his way into a fourth round pick, you know what I mean? I think that that would be saying a lot for what he's able to do. Because think about it, he is a second round pick. The Titans aggressively went and moved up and got him in that second round round he's not a slouch you know because they're i mean hell uh kirk cousins was what a fourth rounder you know what i mean so at the end of the day you can find value in a quarterback right that was in the first 130 what in the first 35 picks because that's what we'll have us was so i think if he

would have played well enough the titans could see themselves getting a draft pick that is in that range of of need you know i mean like third fourth maybe fifth those guys end up developing into something at a cost efficiency right um that really really really makes sense. That's where you make your hay. You obviously know what a first rounder is. Second rounders aren't that far off. Third rounders, man, those are the steals. That's where you really make your draft. Fourth rounders, same situation. If Will were to play well enough, I think if he could probably, you know, at least bring a fourth round conversation when it comes to trading in potential. I think that could be a ceiling if he does play well. I think the

floor is a seventh round pick, maybe like a, you know, a 2028 seventh round pick that can turn into, like if they put some conditions on it, if he starts eight games, it turns into a fifth rounder. You know, they can do that. It's a fifth rounder. If he starts eight games, it turns into a fourth. I think some sort of conditional pick probably in 2028 would be about as good as they could do. You're right, Brad, how he plays in the preseason and in joint practices. Because the Titans can say he's doing this and that in practice. But when other teams play against Levis and see him play all right in practice. They'll be honest with other teams who may be looking to

trade for them. So I think joint practices are really, really important as well. But yeah, I think fourth is about the best that they could possibly do if things go perfect in my mind. But I think like a seventh or sixth round pick with some conditions on it could be the optimal outcome for the Titans. But

let's be honest, if he keeps playing like he's playing in OTAs right now, you guys are seeing him throwing picks all over the place. Yeah, he'll make a great play but then he'll have two terrible plays. and this. If he keeps doing all that and Titans media keeps reporting on it, that's not going to help us get a draft pick.

Everybody be quiet, okay? Stop telling us how Bad Levice is playing. We don't want to hear about it. You know what he's doing? You know who actually who reminds me of a lot of guys? And even to his career tenure at this point, he reminds me of Baker-Ma-Pil. Mobility-wise and mindset.

Baker-Ma-Pil is a tough guy, can be mobile when necessary, but not necessarily the guy that's going to beat you with his feet. gambles, takes chances, right, and has a lot of confidence in his own ability. This guy was a, I mean, they were considering him a joke as the first pick, you know, taken by the Browns back in the day. And obviously, the carousel is still going in Cleveland. They'd never saw it when they drafted him.

But this is a guy now that's basically talking to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers about getting another extension because he actually got some big coin down there before Liam Cohen left. So there's definitely a possibility if that's the body type, that's the mindset that you see. like I do with the way Will Levis plays the game, the way he sees the game, he reminds me a whole lot of Baker Mayfield. Hey, Julian, you said,

you know, Will Levis' career so far hasn't been boring. When is anything he does boring? I mean, he had the shoulder surgery that was controversial because he sat out the whole season after Cam, the leaks that happened to him early, his girlfriend, leaving him from Morgan Wallin or whatever. Like, Will Levis has constantly been more

from, you know, his girl in draft night and the draft fall and that literally everything about Will Levis is chaos all the time. He's never boring, good or bad, whether he's playing or not. There's always drama with Will Levis. His mom's going on a podcast talking about the leaks now. Like, why would you want your mom going on a podcast to talk about leaks of like you and like it just he will not be boring. He refuses.

So you're right. There's Baker Mayfield in there for sure. Isn't he like the perfect reality TV star too? Yes. If football doesn't work out, like that is just a collaboration. course I feel waiting to happen if this football thing doesn't give him a second chance here. Hey, I'd like to have a beer with Will Levis. He seems like a fun guy to hang out with, even if he isn't a good quarterback. Was it Morgan Wallen for real? That was the rumor that his

girl left. The streets of saying it be hot. I mean, worst things have happened. Worst things have happened in life, you know, you can maybe take that one on the chin, but it's just all the wall, man. I love his music, man. Whether it's real, whether it's true, whether there's just always something going on with Will Levis. Yeah, that's true. And that's a good comparison, Bihab, because Baker, Mayfield and Will, at least earlier in their careers, seem to also wear their hard on their sleeves a lot. And it seems like Baker, he's doing a lot better. He's kind of rained it in a little bit more. And so we'll see if Will, whether he gets a second chance somewhere else or not, if he's able to do that. One thing's for certain, we do not

want to see a backup quarterback on the field through the Titans because that means something went wrong. All right, on the other side of the break, we're going to talk the other side of the ball, a guy that popped up at OTAs this week as well, Jermyn. Johnson, what kind of impact can he make with the Titans here in 2026. That's next. Stay with us. The biggest stage in world soccer is here and every match feels like it has potential for a memorable moment. One goal can completely change the energy of a game, shift momentum and after the outcome

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All right, guys. So Jermaine Johnson is on the practice. practice field for the Titans. He was acquired in the offseason for the trade for Tobondres sweat. A familiar face for Robert Sala as they spent some time together with the New York Jets. Had a pretty impressive first day. You know, the big thing with Jermaine guys is that a lot of the talk this offseason was the Titans are going to draft an edge. Tines are going to get some defensive end help. But they ended up going with an offensive guy in Carnell Tate. They do not pick somebody like a Rubin Bain, which puts a lot more onus on Jermaine Johnson to make an

impact? What kind of impact do you expect to have him have this season in Robert Salas' defense? Tyler? He's got to be the number one edge, so he better have a major impact. Think about it. I mean, the other two guys who are going to be in your top rotation are Femioio, who's not out on the practice field, and boy, I am not happy about that. I mean, it's a massive failure that he's missed so much time in a critical all season. And then the other guy is Keldrick Falk, who is number one, a rookie, and number two is a tween. like he's not even a pure edge.

He's kind of an inside-outside guy like a John Franklin Myers would be. That's how they're talking about using him. So if Keldrick Volk is going to be used as an interior rusher, which is what Robert Salad and Gus Bradley have both said publicly at this point. And Femiola Dejo isn't a good rusher

right now. He's just good against the run. Then who's going to rush the passer from the edge? It's got to be Jermaine Johnson. I mean, he's getting paid $13 million this year. It's a contract year. He's a full year removed off Achilles recovery. They always say they, the proverbial medical experts out there say that that's when people should be back to 100% and you should expect a return to production. There is so much pressure on Jermaine Johnson. He's one of the most

critical players on this entire roster this season. So to see him not only be back out there, start to get that momentum going, not like he was hurt, but you know, just whatever he was doing, and they're voluntary OTAs for him to be back out there and splash. It seemed like, you know, I read all the observations. I read all the reports. I ask people questions and stuff. Every single, whatever, coming out of practice said, Jermaine Johnson made some flash plays.

Got in the backfield, got Tage Spears in the flat, knocked down a pass, this and that, put pressure on cam one time. Like, if he's going to make impact plays for the defense, that is what takes this defense from, hey, we think this defense is going to be good to, oh, wow, this is one of the top eight defenses in the entire NFL. fell this year because not only were they dominant on the interior, but they got an edge rusher that can actually make impact plays as well. So Jermaine Johnson, one of the critical X factors, in my opinion. So nothing but a smile for me here. And he had an impact on day one. Yeah, I think the question,

obviously, Jermaine Johnson and his impact. Let's run through who Jermaine Johnson actually. It started his career, 22, 312 snaps, 14 games, 3 sacks, 71 PFF grade. The best year of his career was the following year, 748 snaps, played in every game, 83 PFF grade, had nine sacks, even had a touchdown in 2023. Now, he did follow that with his worst season, injury riddled, only played in two games, no sacks. Obviously, the PFF grade reflected that 41. Last season, 678 snaps, three sacks, 61 PFF grade.

So it seems like his health guys is the determining factor, right? A full season looks potential like double-digit sacks, which is what this, what this defense, needs. And Tyler, you mentioned the $13 million cap hit. That's serious, of course. And him being in a contract year, where next year, he'll be a free agent. If he wants to stick around, he's got a ball out. And he did have a PBU yesterday to break up a pass. He did get in the backfield. Put it this way. There was a lot of offensive pushups at the end of those team drills, which is what they do because they compete offense versus defense. And the losers got to do pushups. The offense did a heck of a lot of pushups yesterday. Not only with the picks from Will

and I think Cam had a pick too. But guys getting in the back field, you know, really kind of disguising certain blitzes and certain things, pressure coming from different directions. You know, Cam having to hold into the football because of coverage, some of the other guys having to do the same thing. And Jermaine Johnson was right in the middle of that. So I think a veteran, a guy that's obviously familiar with Robert Salas' defense,

is set to make a huge impact, one, because he needs to. Can I make a quick note of what you said, Brad, just, outside of the Jermaine Johnson conversation, every time Carnell Tate makes a big play, everyone goes, oh, well, Alante Taylor and Cordell Flott aren't out there. Okay, well, if the offense had to do a lot of push-ups yesterday and they were struggling, well, that means that the backup cornerbacks and the secondary that we've talked about and had concerns about

and all the guys that were, you know, where there's that, they must have had a decent practice, right? So every time Carnell Tate makes a play, it's, all these backup cornerbacks suck, this secondary. Well, I guess the secondary had an okay day yesterday, you know, so maybe everybody should calm down on taking every good thing that happens and spinning it a negative way. Let these guys battle it out, you know? Yeah, KJ Osborne got lost in the coverage and he had a big playdown on the sideline. That was six.

Krono Tate actually had so much time because he broke coverage that he had to wait on Cam's ball on a seam route, which was another touchdown. So it just kind of shows you, you know, guys were out of position, guys were. I guess chasing ghosts a little bit, you know what I mean? So I'm not going to say that's an indictment on how the entire secondary looks, but it definitely weren't the starters out there. That was for sure. One thing I will say about the Jermaine Johnson conversation, and it goes into also depth that you talked about, Tyler, edge position. I do like the familiarity with Robert Sala. I do like the fact that the Titans got him in a player-for-player swap. And I do like the fact that the Titans are getting him two years removed from the injury.

And the hope is that he gets back to that production that he had before the Achilles tear. But what I will ask you guys is this. Are you a little concerned about the production at edge potentially this year? No, no, no. Okay. I've watched Keltrick fall. I've watched him in individual drills. I've watched him in team stuff. This is a long lean kid with a motor.

We just don't know much about him in this defense. You know what I mean? So there's potential there. Sure, you got Jermaine Johnson and just laid out what his career looks like over the past four seasons. And you kind of get an idea of what he's capable of doing. But they've got some dudes that are in their depth positions that can actually maybe do some things.

You know what I mean? So I think that there's a lot to be seen, especially when the pads come on, we're going to know, right? I think it's pretty clear what the plan is. Oh, sorry, Brad. No, no, go ahead. You can finish up. I just thought, you're right, Julie.

And I have concern about people being able to win quickly on the edge. I mean, I would say that Jacob Martin, is the only like true speed rusher that wins with speed and he's 30 years old and has been a journeyman in the NFL. So can't really count on him to be your number one pass rusher on the edge or anything like that. That seems like a little bit of a dangerous bet. But again, with Femmy not being a proven pass rusher at this stage in his career and now missing time and Falk being a rookie just in general, maybe he surprises. That's great.

I would love that. But it's a rookie. I still can't count on too much. Jermaine Johnson has never been like a quick win. He's more of a Bud Dupree style effort, clean up rusher, you know, push the offensive tackle back and when the defense wins, you're right there to hunt down the quarterback. So without anybody who can win consistently right away, the plan is clearly, we're going to push the pocket from the edge with long and strong players like Jermaine Johnson,

Femmy, and Caldric Falk, and then we're going to let our interior guys win. Solomon Thomas, Jeffrey Simmons, John Franklin Myers, when we put Caldric Falk on the interior, they're going to win the one-on-one matchups and win quickly. It's not going to come from the edge. Our edges are just going to contain and press the pocket and hopefully push the quarterback up into the guys who are going to win quickly. So I think it's clear that that's going to be their rush philosophy. It's just whether that works. I think you do need a guy who can win quickly on the edge to maximize that philosophy, but that's probably the best they can do for right now. Yeah, I think that with John Franklin Myers and Jeffrey Simmons,

collapsing the pocket, or at least not giving the quarterback the means to step up once he feels the pressure from the rush. He's not going to have anywhere to go. I'm talking about a quarterback, which then lends to more opportunities from those edge guys. They're going to play off of one another. You're going to see a lot of stunts, a lot of, you know, zones and all kinds of different things that they're going to do up front. But for the most part, when they play off with each other because of the pressure that's created from all angles, you know what I'm saying? Now, this is where the coverage is important because it doesn't matter if the quarterback has the ball of his hands once his back foot hits that third step or whatever it is and his drop, right?

If the ball comes out immediately because he has somewhere to go with the football, that's going to be a problem because the pass rush doesn't have time to get there. But if coverage is adequate enough to keep these receivers, at least making the quarterback go through maybe even to his third read, because everybody else is taken away, that's where the front four, front seven get a chance to eat. Well, the idea you collapse the edges, you're going to go up into Jeffrey Simmons and John Franklin Myers.

John Franklin Myers and Jeffrey Simmons win up the middle. Are you going to go out of the pocket? well, our edge rushers aren't going to be too over aggressive. They're just going to get up field vertically. If you're going to rush out, we got six foot five athletes who are going to chase you down right away. So pick your poison. That's got to be the idea going forward.

And Jermaine Johnson, 100% can be a big part of that. Right. And if you guys remember when Jermaine Johnson first was brought on to the Titans in the trade, he was very active in mentioning John Franklin Myers on Twitter and kind of a semi-recruiter. Yeah, because he knew if you bring that big dude

and pairing him with Jeffrey Simmons on the interior, I might be able to eat too. That's going to help me. I love Jermaine Johnson. Just from the fan perspective, him coming in right away, the moment he got traded, being like tighten up, I can't wait, being active on Twitter, trying to recruit people to the team.

Anytime that he's been involved with anything with the team, he's got a great energy about him. A lot of Jets fans, when he got traded, said, yeah, the Achilles, yes, he a 10-sac guy, but he was a fan favorite. The team loved him. He's great in the locker room. He's great for the culture.

and it's clear outside of just who he is as a football player that he truly is going to be a fan favorite and a guy that's real easy to root for it. And that's been enjoyable for me from that perspective. One name that we haven't talked much about and it's from a depth scenario at the tackle spot. Whenever Big Jeff Taps his helmet needs to come out, I love Solomon Thomas, man.

Has he been bowling? They've been posting a lot of his videos on the Titans' Twitter account. God, he's a monster. You know what I mean? He's an effort dude. and if you look at him, Julian, Tyler, this cat is small, man. He got a neck like a quad. You know what I'm saying?

He is just a monster. And he plays with that level of energy that kind of mirrors. He's not as big as Big Jeff. You know what I'm saying? But when Big Jeff takes the sideline, you're going to still see that level of intensity that's going to continue from the interior guys. I like that.

Hey, that was a top five pick too. Solomon Thomas was a high pick. That's a player, man. Yeah, no, that's certainly an important depth piece. And another thing for Jermaine Johnson is, though he is a new player, given how much he looks like it likes it here. And Robert Salaf familiarity, it doesn't feel like he's new. It feels like he's kind of just fit right and seamlessly.

So certainly an impact player for the Titans for sure. Okay, on the other side of the break, we're going to go back to the offense. We're going to talk about Calvin Ridley. And what can we expect from Ridley in 2026, where he might rank in receiving yards on the Titans this year? Will he be in the top three? I'll ask these guys after the break. That's next on the Titan Squad Show.

Get your daily Titans fixed completely ad-free by joining the Everydayer 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 Octonpodcast.com slash Everydayer to claim your free trial. Support for today's episode comes from Square,

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bringing payments, operations, and insights together in one place, so you're ready for whatever's next. Right now, listeners can get up to $200 off Square hardware. When you sign up at square.com slash go slash locked on NFL, that's SQUA-R-E.com slash go slash locked on NFL, get started with Square and build a setup that works the way you do. All right, guys, another guy that's been moving around at Titans practice this week so far is Calvin Ridley, obviously coming off of an injury season, a disappointing year for Calvin And Ridley, he had the hamstring early in the year.

Then when he comes back, he has the broken fibula. And so now you look at Ridley another year older, a restructured contract, and a crowded wide receiver room. What can we realistically expect from Calvin here in 2026? Bhop, I know you teased it on the top. I'll let you go first on this one. Yeah, the Titans do appear to have Calvin on, you know, the proverbial pitch count. I mean, he didn't do everything the rest of the team did, but he was out there participating.

And most of the drill, it's just not the team stuff, you know what I mean? Now, that could change, obviously, next week during mini camp when most of the guys should be in there. If everybody's not in there, that would surprise me. This is OTAs, which means it's voluntary. You know, so it is what it is. But I would much rather manage Calvin's minutes, you know, especially now and have him healthy for the beginning of the season versus, you know, him trying to prove he's healthy prematurely. That, to me, doesn't do anything. He's 31 years old heading into his seventh season.

Now, his one year in Jacksonville in 2024, in back-to-back seasons, he had over 1,000 yards. You know, 12 touchdowns in those two seasons collectively. 2025 was a mirror image of 2021 in Atlanta when he played in only five games. Seven last season with no touchdowns. He had at least two touchdowns in 2021. But if there's a pattern, I think, guys, that can be determined is that, you know, he really has good seasons after the injury riddled one. You know, so to me it means like he's due.

Seven games last year, he should be able to play at least with them managing his minutes and making sure that he's healthy as possible, especially during the week, he should be able to kind of return to some of those big plays that we have. Now, I think what's going to help him, obviously, is he's not the X. He's not wide receiver one, which then kind of takes some of the pressure off of him. There'll be a lot of attention paid to Carnel Tate and what he's doing out there, which things should allow Calvin Riddley if he's healthy on the field, to take full advantage of that and really have some plays himself. So I kind of expect him to have a bounce back year in 2026.

All of that stuff, absolutely perfect. I would just add in, Brian Dable has worked with Calvin Ridley before they have a relationship, going back to their Alabama days. So Brian Dable was going to have an idea of how to get the best out of Calvin Ridley, what situations to put him in. And Brad, you're right. It just cannot be understated how Calvin Ridley was wide receiver one. Everything.

And not only was Calvin Ridley wide receiver one, but they didn't always necessarily have an NFL quality starting number two. You know, it's Van Jefferson. It was Jim D.K. in his rookie year, like, that's so, okay, yeah, we're just going to stop Calvin Ridley and make sure he doesn't beat us. Who else you got? Let's, uh, someone, James Prochet, get out here, catch a pass.

Let's see, you know, like, there's just nobody else to worry about. So I think the presence of Cornell Tate and Brian Dable, those two things, what you said, Brad, and then adding in the Dable factor, I think that's going to be huge. But I'll be honest, I still think that I would say third or fourth in terms of receiving yards, total receiving yards. I think Wondell Robinson and Carnell Tate will have more, I think, because Carnell Tate is the big

play weapon. And then Wondell Robinson is that chain mover. You know, it's funny. You don't hear anything about Wondell Robinson and all the reports and observations after practice. No one ever says, oh, well, Wondell Robinson had a pretty good day. But then you go in and Jim Wilde will put Wondell Robinson

had six catches today. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, so the dude just catches all these passes. They just aren't remarkable. that in and of itself, I think it's going to be Carnell Tate and Wondale Robinson are the top two weapons. And then I think Gunner Helm, Gunner Helm and Calvin Ridley will be the next tier of guys.

If Gunner Helm is the player that I think he is, I think Gunner Helm could be third and Calvin Ridley could be fourth. But either way, I think that Wondale and Carnell Tate will ultimately have more. I will say this, though, if Calvin Ridley has the second most receiving yards on the team and he's over 600,

I think it means great things for the Titans offense. I think if Calvin Ridley shows back up as it's Tate and Ridley and that's their one-two punch and then Wondale is the three, that's great news for the Titans. It's funny because you mentioned Wondale, Tyler. He's like the basketball player that you look up and it seems like he's had a quiet day, but all of a sudden he's got over 20 points because he constantly gets to the foul line a lot, kind of like quiet point. Yeah, but he, but effective though.

I also think, you know, Calvin Ridley has been in the league for a little bit. You're having a number one receiver come in with high expectations. I think there is something to having a veteran presence in that room too. You know, a veteran presence to kind of teach Carnell Tate the everyday aspects of being a pro. Because it doesn't happen necessarily in year one. Behop, you talk about it all the time. It took you some time to learn how to be a pro and what your body needed and what recovery is like

and what nutrition is like. And especially with the high expectations that Carnell Tate has, I think Ridley's value in that room is one of the biggest when it comes to just every day showing up to work type of mentality. Yeah, I mean, if you think about it, you know, I think that, you know, vertically explosive-wise, Carnal-Tate will be the guy that's the target for those plays when they're available, okay? Wondell was a thousand-yard receiver last year filling in from Malik neighbors,

you know, in that offense that Brian was ranked. So you know that he's going to man the underneath stuff. I'm like you, Tyler. I think that there are big things for this 20, 26 season for Gunnar Helm. I really love that kid. They used them a lot in the slot. They moved him around a lot. He was running what looked like trips personnel,

but him being a tight end couldn't make it trips on that side, but he was still running routes like he was a receiver, right? Yep. But then what happens is when you've got that double coverage, someone bracketing Carnal take because they know, then guess what? That Y over there is going to be a little more open. And that's when you can even disguise things like,

hey, look, Carnot, we know they're going to double you over here. So I'm not looking at you, Calvin, but I'm talking to you right here right now. You're going to be open because that guy that's, that safety is going to be eyeballing Cornell over here. And that's when you're going to get an opportunity. So it's going to be the things that then are sneakily available to Calvin that make him effective as long as he's healthy. You know what I mean?

So I have been watching the fact that they have, you know, been taking him off to practice field once he gets to a certain number. He hasn't been limping off. He doesn't look like he's hurt. At the end of the day, you know, I don't want to use up all of his minutes in stuff that's meaningless versus how. having him available and ready to go when the season starts. And he has chemistry with Cam Ward.

Sorry, Julian. Like, you know, they did their whole offseason together last year, whereas Wondale and Carnell Tate do not. So it makes sense that they're holding Ridley back a little bit to get more reps for those guys. Well, I was just going to say, Tyler, you said, hey, Ridley could be three or fourth in receiving on the team this year. Bhop, is that kind of where you land with Calver Ridley on this team around the third,

fourth range? 100%. And that's not bad because what that means is there's a nice even distribution of the football. You're going to have your playmakers. You're going to have guys that, you know, obviously are stand out in the crowd. But for the most part, I think that even distribution, kind of like what we've seen in the offense, not that Brian Dayball's offense was the most effective, but, I mean, looking at last year's number, Chig had 560 yards, Ellick had 515 yards.

Chim had 423 yards. So in the lower, it's just a nice, just even distribution. There wasn't like this one go-to guy. Now, when Wondell was running Brian's offense last year, it was a noticeable difference. He was the target. He was the guy. You know what I mean?

The last two years. 100%. So I'm just saying, I think that when you have a quarterback that hopefully has enough time to go through a progression and get the ball of his hands, there won't be one guy that you can key on that neutralizes the offense. There'll be a number of different options. And Calvin at the third spot, third option, that's fine. That means that he's still out there.

He's still effective. And that means that the other two dudes have been, you know, they're going to get there for a reason. So that's the way I see it. Yeah. We have to acknowledge Jim D.K. as well. Like, if D.K. takes a step forward, DK. and Ridley could be rotating pretty heavily. You know what I mean? So it just depends on how good Calvin still is and how quickly D.K. can advance as a route runner because I can see some of Calvin's opportunities being cut down by D.K. who can do some of similar things. Yeah. And I'm interested to see D.K. this year because we know what he could do

on special teams front, right? Like, that's why. why he made it to the Pro Bowl, his rookie year. But let's see what he could do under Brian Davel's system, that speed that a lot of people talked about going into the offseason last year. All right, we have a couple of questions, and some of those is in regarding to the receiver and core. We're going to talk about that in our Titans Talk segment on the other side of the break. Don't go anywhere.

All right. First question, Daniel Caribbean asked, what is the likelihood that Ile Manor beats out Ridley for a starting job? Word from training camp is he looks excellent. Well, I was just to say his body looks excellent. To my knowledge, unless it's been private practices that media is not at any of the open OTAs so far, ELEC hasn't been out there for seven-on-seven or team drills. He did stretch and individual and some things like that.

So can't really say he looks excellent when he hasn't been playing right now. His body looks excellent. He does look like he's in great shape, but I thought he looked great last year from that perspective. So I'm not going to act like I.O's a totally different guy or anything like that. But I think it could be matchup based. Imagine if a team has smaller cornerbacks. And instead of having Tate at X and Ridley at Z and Wondell in the slot, you go with a big version of that where you go with Elyko Manor at X.

And then Tate can play the Z and go in motion. And then you can have a big slot in Chim D-K. Like there are different things the Titans can do. So what's the likelihood? I don't think it's super likely. But if you want to say, you know, I think there could be games where I.O. and Tate are the number two or the two wide receivers out there to start the game

because of matchups. I think that's possible. So you could say it's likely in that realm if you wanted to. Right. And coming into the draft, he had, his thing was combat catch. I mean, we all remember the game at Stanford he had against Travis Hunter. And the catch he had in the end zone mossing to do.

That was the big thing. He was a big physical type of receiver. So maybe it could be a matchup, situation. Bihap? Yeah, I just think that with Elek, I mean, his opportunities are going to be determined by what Calvin Ridley is able to do. Calvin is the starter. He's going to go into this offense as the starter. If all of a sudden he's injured or just for whatever reason doesn't have what it takes to keep that starting job, then I think that he knows that this guy behind him in IU manner that can make those plays. You know what I mean? Neither one of those guys are going

to be, you know, the key focus of this offense, which then gives them opportunity to kind of make plays and do things that we talked about earlier, especially when we were mentioning Calvin Ridley and his potential. So at the end of the day, it really does come down to how effective or ineffective Calvin Ridley is in his offense that way we see ELEC in certain situations. Because right now, it's not like Ehrlich is doing so many things better in camp that it looks like, ooh, this guy might be the starter, especially if Calvin Ridley is healthy. The reason why Ehrlich had the opportunities is because why, seven games for Calvin really last year, put him in a line for a lot of opportunities.

But if Calvin were healthy, I would expect those plays that we saw Elyke IU manner making last year to go to Calvin River. And to put a bow on it, Daniel followed that up by saying, I heard IEO had a near touchdown in the end zone, but had a foot out. Guys, correct me if I'm wrong,

but wasn't that Chim D.K., that they were all arguing about whether the guy had the foot in or not in the middle of practice, I saw a report saying that that was DK that almost had the foot in and didn't get it down, not I. Maybe I misread that, and it is ELEC I-O manner,

but I don't think the I.O's been out there in full team drills too often, at least. I'm trying to remember because I do remember. Multiple accounts of that debate, you know, the coaches, the refs, the, was he in, was he not? I'm pretty sure that was a Chim D.K. Yeah, because that was when they showed. They showed it. I was watching Peter Scronskine. He was doing the old NBA, review it, review it, you know, run back, run back, because it didn't make sure that was in the deal.

He was in balance. Yeah. But anyway, just moving right along. Earlier in the show, Tyler, you compared Will. Levis's kind of demeanor to a linebacker in a sense. It got Terrell Wells asking about the linebackers. Do you guys think the starting linebacker group would be Anthony Hill, Cedric Gray, and James Williams, of course, of course, you know,

not on that trio right there is Cody Barton. Hey, man, the Rook Will Hill, Anthony Hill, was calling the defense yesterday. You know what I mean? He was out in the middle of the midst doing some stuff. They trust him. Cedric Gray, I saw coming in on a blitz one time from the right side, man. It came and through unblocked, basically. basically. So it does make sense to have Gray and Hill on the field at the same time. Williams,

I saw him making some plays, but I just didn't think he was nearest present as what we saw Anthony Hill and, and Sedge of Gray doing. Settigre Gray is all over the damn field. It's kind of what I'm growing to expect from this kid, man. You know, this guy just flies around, plays with that energy. If you don't see him, you hear him just because of his engagement with that defense. He knows, I'm telling you that he's playing right now, like he knows that this defense is his defense. You know what I mean? And that's, that's what you want from your linebacker. He knows he's got some dogs in front of them to keep the big bodies off of them and that linebacker level. But the way that he flies around, the way that he plays with that

motor and engagement, this cat right here, I really love his play. And it seems like Anthony Hill is going to play right off of that. These two are going to be a nice tandem in the league. I don't know about the Sam linebacker spot and whether that would be James Williams or Muhammad Diabody or I think, you know, whoever that happens to be, the Titans are going to play a ton in 4-25 anyway, so it's not overly concerning. But Anthony Hill is going to start Like when you don't trade up in the second round and take a guy in the second round if you don't think he can play over Cody Barton.

Like Cody Barton, I want on the team this year. He seems like an awesome vet. Another guy, I'd love to have a beer with Cody Barton. He seems like such cool dude. I still remember videos of last training camp where he's coaching up undrafted free agents. Like he's probably going to be a coach. He seems like an awesome guy to have on the team.

You need good personalities to act as, you know, grease to grease the wheels of all the testosterone in there. You got to have a couple of guys who are just easy going. And I think that's Cody Barton, but Cody Barton is not what Robert Sala wants at linebacker in any stretch of the imagination. He wants downhill physical violence. And that's not who Cody Barton is at this stage of his career. Quite frankly, it's never who Cody Barton has been as a former safety in college.

It's just not the way that he plays. He reads with his eyes. He wants to stay in space, shoot through a gap. He doesn't want to go down like a hammerhead hammerhead shark and just smash you. And Anthony Hill does. And if Anthony Hill, they're already trusting him to call the defense and be out there and wear the green dot and make, you know,

that's the big obstacle for Anthony Hill was the mental part, not the physical. He's already there physically. He's a freak athlete from a physical standpoint. So if he's already to the point mentally where they're comfortable with him out there calling the defense in June and OTAs, I think that's a great sign. I think he will be the starter.

On another note, when it comes to James Williams, you know, a lot of the talk going into last offseason was the competition between Cedric Gray and James Williams. And obviously Cedric Gray won the job. And James Williams could have pouted. Yeah. And James Williams could have pouted. But back into the season, he actually played quite well. I mean, he did have that special teams play, the blocked punt in Cleveland. So we'll see how his camp goes under a new defense with Robert Sala.

Daniel Caribbean has another question, and we talked about Gunner Helm a little bit. You mentioned Gunnerham guys in maybe the top three or four of receiving yards on this team, but will he exceed Ridley's receptions this season? Overall catches. I don't think that Gunner Helm can be the household name that I think he's going to be in this offense if he doesn't. Yeah, I mean, but then again, unless we see a lot of designed tight-in type stuff, you know what I'm saying? I think that that might be hard for them to say it's going to exceed it. But I do think he's going to be one of those highly targeted players in this offense,

and therefore we'll have the opportunity completely. Normally in the past game, you don't see tight ends excelling past wide receivers. I mean, not from the number one, number two spot. We do see a lot of offenses that do feature the tight end a lot in their offense, and therefore their targets and receptions are up there. But I completely see it feasible that gunner helm, especially with what they're trying to do, move the football around, not be as obvious sitting in the pocket, that kind of stuff.

That will make it available for Gunner to help the kind of year that I expect him to have. So yes, it is completely possible for him to do that. Easy yes for me. I'd write it in pen. I think Ridley could have more yards, but Helm will have more catches, no matter what. I would go affirm yes. Okay, gotcha.

And last comment of the day, drunk chefs 6-913, I hear Cam is not progressing. What do you think Bhop about his performance in camp so far? I know exactly how this happened. You go, Brad. Yeah, I don't see that. Yeah, I don't see that at all. As a matter of fact,

all that happened is the worst, the worst media guy that covers the team went on a rant yesterday saying camp sucks and isn't getting better. So now people will just hear that and run with it and say, but no one else is saying that out of camera. It's like, you know what, when you see a guy,

when you see somebody selling something on Facebook marketplace, and they've got four and a half stars. You're like, where does the half come from? Like, you just kind of curious. Why is he a five star? You know what I mean? You look and you see one guy, oh, you didn't respond to me fast enough,

so you give him a one star. You know what I mean? But he's got fives all across the board. Kim is the first guy in the building. They constantly go over tape. He's learning a very detailed offense that Brian's putting out there in the field. He's adjusting nicely.

You know, I mean, I think that there's no warrant to that whole conversation about him, you know, not progressing in, in this offense. I don't see it. I say this all the time. The offense that they're running is going to be harder to learn than other offenses. Because what's more difficult, knowing that coffee means double slants or being able to look at the receiver and say 3-3 double slants? You know what I mean? Like it's harder to learn the words and the code names for all the route combinations. And it's a wordier offense. But once you learn that

offense. The games are simpler. It's simpler to use that offense. It's just more complicated to learn it. So give Cam some time, man. It's, it's a ridiculous conversation. People trying to act in bad faith. It's frustrating. Yeah. Well, and then he follows up, Drunk Chef's 6-913 says, I definitely trust you guys better, just asking. So thank you for that, Drunk Chef. We appreciate you. It gave a good opportunity to have that conversation. That's a good question. Sometimes it sounds like I'm coming at you and saying you're wrong. I'm not. It's a good, there are other people who are thinking that too. So it's a good opportunity to address it.

You added clarity to it, Tyler, which is good. I mean, obviously the question came up and you saw where it came from, put yours out there, and it obviously give us levity and ability to talk about it and kind of put that to bed. I have bad tone, Brad, I just have bad tone. Screaming with you, not at you. That's Tyler Roll in the nutshell. All right.

That'll do it for us today here on the Titan Squad Show. Make sure to like, comment, subscribe all of that fun stuff. Listen to us wherever you get your podcast, live on YouTube here twice a week with the Titans squad show and every single day with the Lockdown Titans podcast with Tyler Rowland. But for now, I'm Julian Minneson. That's Tyler Rowland and Brad Hopkins. See you guys next time.