Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Robert Saleh SETS defensive line expectations

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

Week 2 of Titans OTAs is in full swing, and new head coach Robert Saleh is already laying down the law. His golden rule? If a defensive lineman plays four snaps in a row, "you aren't doing it right." On this episode, we break down the philosophy behind Saleh’s high-frequency rotation and debate whether it’s practical when you have a superstar like Jeffery Simmons on that side of the ball. Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhlRugiet. Performance medicine for men. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, Carnell Tate impressed in week one of OTAs, but what if I told you he was even better in week two? Oh, I like to hear that. What about Cam Ward? Do we feel like Cam Ward could turn into a running type of quarterback? We'll get into all the details. That's coming up next. Tighten up. It's the Titans squad.

Everything Tennessee Titans every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the heart of Music City, the way only the locked on podcast network can. Squad up. The Titan Squad Show starts now. And welcome to the Titan Squad Show. I'm your host Julian Minneson, joined by Kayla Anderson. Brad Hopkins will join us back here next week.

But we'll hold it down for you in the meantime. And it's a big show for us because the Titans had their next open media OTA practice today. There's Brad Hopkins replacement right there, Taylor's dog. This is what happens when I'm gone all day and I get home and he's like, oh, my mom's home. I got a little appearance on the squad. Mom, mom, tell me about Carnell Tate. Please, please. Well, there's a lot of big takeaways from the open media practice for the Titans today.

And I want to start, and I know it's not on the rundown specifically, Kayla, but Carnell Tate again, I mean, he was, I'm sure you've seen some of the social media clips since you weren't there. you were hosting your show out there in Sacramento. But, I mean, the one-handed catches, contested catches in the rain. I think he had one drop on the day. But still, I think the consensus among some of the media members was that, man, he impressed last week and he impressed again today. I mean, I don't want to get too ahead of myself because it is the first kind of time we're seeing him with the vets. It is just an OTA practice after all. But the hype for this guy right now is real.

Yeah. I mean, it should be, Julian. I know that it was a surprise with the Titans taking him at four. I get that. And it's more so because I think we were also focused on them either taking the one offensive prospect in Jeremiah Love or it was just the answer was on defense, whether that be, you know, Sonny Stiles or, you know, one of these guys, like that was the other question.

But when it came down to it, this guy kind of snuck up on us, but it did not sneak up on the Titans. And it did not sneak up on Robert Sala and Brian Davel and what they were looking at and what they wanted specifically in this offense for this young quarterback. And I've said it on here before, Julian, covering, you know, the Ohio State Buckeyes, even when they won the first, you know, football bowl championship years ago, they were producing wide receivers at that time. And they were producing wide receivers that weren't the one or two or three option even. I feel like he maybe got discredited just a little bit there because of everything else that's around Ohio State and all the other guys that maybe were getting the love in front of him.

but when it comes down to it, if you've got good hands and you don't have many drops and you are an athlete like he is, we've seen some of the pictures with him, even standing next to Ondell Robinson. I mean, the guy is a beast. I just feel like this could be a, this could be one of those picks you look back at the Titans and the Mike Borganza era and say, man, did they strike goal on this? And we're actually going to go to some sound right now from Cedric Gray because I thought it was funny. he was the last sound bite of the day that we talked to some of the players. And I mean, even the defensive guys who have to cover him every single day were just in awe.

Here's what he had to say. He's the truth. Y'all just saw it today. He had a few plays today. I actually literally just went up to him after practice today. I told him you cold because for real. I'm a huge fan. I'm on the tape bandwagon right now.

I mean, you got guys like Cedric who had coming off a great ear, great defensive players so far for the Titans. like establishing himself as a pillar saying after two weeks of OTA practices so far that this guy is the real deal. And it seems like Kayla that he, Tate has established himself so early that the training wheels are off. I mean, they're not babying the guy at all. He's going out there and consistently being the best player on the field, which is only a good sign for the Titans. It's crazy to think about like the last few years and especially, you know, the years that they, in particular last three years they've picked a little bit higher in the draft and I think like Titans fans are so used to just maybe not hitting big time and especially on a wide receiver

like I know going back to the draft where they picked Corey Davis and look I loved covering Corey and I respect Corey but like Corey wasn't he didn't prove to be you know living up to what that pick was. And when you pick that high, especially like at a wide receiver spot, the expectations, Julian, are from day one to be that guy. I mean, we look at a Jamar Chase. We look at a Justin Jefferson. They were productive year one. And, you know, in terms of Jamar Chase, he was Joe Burrell's best friend from the start in terms of who he went to. And he was able to count on him as his main guy. And like, I do believe that's what the expectations are for take. Regardless if people thought he was worthy of that or not, the Titans did. And right now, it seems to be like

he is on that fast track to being that guy. And I love hearing the fact that like they've taken the training wheels off of him, obviously very quickly, because they should be off. And he should only be progressing at a high rate. So he is absolutely ready to be that number one guy at the start of season. Yeah, I mean, the guy has like oven mitts for hands and you can see why the no drops. You can see obviously the Ohio State, the class of receiver that they bring out of that program. And it can only mean good things, hopefully for the Titans. So I just wanted to touch on that real quick because we couldn't go through this show without mentioning the most impressive player in practice, which was which was Carnell Tate, that's for sure.

Something else that got, I guess, a big talking point of today was Robert Sala was asked about the expectations for the defensive line. And he mentioned that, well, with what they expect up front, if you are playing four snaps in a row, you're not doing it right. And so it's worth asking, Caleb, because you have Jeffrey Simmons on that defensive side of the ball, who's going to want to be there all. all the time. He's going to want to play as many snaps as possible. But when you talk about Sala and what he wants, he wants some clean rotation up front to get to the quarterback. He wants

those guys, his Jeffrey Simmons, John Franklin Myers, Jermaine Johnson to be fresh when those big high leverage downs come, whether it be third down, fourth down, etc. Are you okay with that? I think at first I had to think about this because I was like, okay, and I get, I, I, I, I, get why it would be maybe a little bit confusing to some people of like, you've got a guy like Jeffrey Simmons, Franklin Myers, in particular that they, you know,

went and got and expect a lot out of. And it's like, okay, well, when your best players are those guys, aren't they expected to be on the field as much as they can be? Like, that's what I think expectations are.

I think the thing is, is we are coming into a different type of defense, under Sala. And as he's trying to prove himself again as being a head coach and he's getting a second opportunity to do that, we forget like how good of a defensive coordinator this guy is. And that is where he has always made his, you know, bread and butter. Like it's, that's what he is the best at. And so when it comes to the defense and how he wants to run a defense and his expectations, even though they might not be what we're used to covering or what fans are used to seeing, if he sees that that fits right to set that defense up for success to be able then to rush

the pass or better because you are maybe giving a little bit of a break for those guys and then you're letting him attack. Like, I'm not surprised that this is something that has worked for him, but that's the thing. It's got to work. Like, do you feel confident that you have the right? personnel here right now, he clearly feels like he's going to be able to get to that point by the start of the season. It's going to be interesting to watch. That's for sure. But I do believe

if that's what Salaf feels is best to do and that has worked for him, then I have to trust that that's going to be what's going to work for this Titans defense. And if it doesn't, like you're going to have to figure out a way to change that. His defense has surely given him the benefit of the doubt, right? And I think for him, when it comes to this specific philosophy, it's quality over quantity, right? Let's say Jeffrey Simmons plays 60 snaps in a game. Robert Sala is more than okay with, or let's say 60 snaps for a defensive side of the ball. He's okay with Jeffrey Simmons playing 40 if they're a really good 40. You know, that's only two thirds of the time.

It's quality over quantity for Robert Sala. And this is actually what Robert Sala had to say today about the full. philosophy behind the four-play or four-snap rule for the defensive line. If Jeffrey is too tired to rush on third down, then our D-Line coaches haven't, we have a problem. So the objective is to make sure guys like Jeffrey, John, Jermaine, Jacob, Femmy are as fresh as heck when it comes down to third down in two minutes, so we can go get after the quarterback. So he doesn't want them huffin and puffing, basically, on big downs.

Because how many times, Kayla, did we see the last couple years where it's third down, the Titans finally get there and then they can't get off the field. And then the defense continues to be gas, you know, they're gas throughout the game. And then it just spirals from there. And so he wants his best guys playing on the best downs or at least the high leverage downs in the best spots when they're the most rested and, I guess, able to. And so that goes part in this philosophy under Robert Salah. And I understand that. And yeah, I know you were just bringing me back to like some of the stuff that we've seen over the last couple of years, especially when the defense has had to do so much to at least keep this team in game sometimes because the offense just couldn't score points.

And at some point, it was just like they got so tired, you're right. It was just like it just was a mess. And so you have a game plan like this. And again, it doesn't mean that Jeffrey Simmons, if he feels like he can go and he feels like this guy is clicking on all cylinders and is able to stay out there longer, then he's going to keep him out there longer. And we saw what Jeffrey Simmons did last year by slimming down. Like Simmons knows what he's doing at this point of his career. Like he's putting his body in the best position too to be able to play as many downs as he can. But I get Salas philosophy behind that.

Yeah, no, 100%. You know, it's one of those things that if the defensive front is fresh, and we know how important that is to Robert Sala getting after the quarterback, it's also only going to help the rest of the defense, too. It'll help the linebackers. It'll help the defensive backs, which we've talked about, isn't very deep right now. That whole DB room could use some extra bodies.

It's going to help them in coverage because they don't have to be one-on-one or on their assignments as long. And so I just think that Robert Sala, at least, given his pedigree, has earned the benefit of the doubt for us to say, okay. And, you know, these are grown men he is coaching. And so like you mentioned, if Jeffrey Simmons says, coach, I'm good, you are giving him the autonomy to say, okay, keep him in the game. It goes back to another thing that Sala talked about today about the defensive ends where you could find them flip-flopping depending on assignments or he doesn't have a defensive end specifically. on the rider left side. He is giving them the choice throughout the game that says,

hey, I trust you to know the matchup in the moment. This is another thing of trust from the coach to player as well to say, hey, if you're good enough to go, just go. Right. And again, you look at examples of Solace defense when he had a lot of pieces put in place when he was in New York. And again, we weren't, you know, giving the New York Jets crap when it came to the defense there. This was all the offense side of the ball. And so I feel like sometimes, to tell you

the truth, I feel like sometimes when he was there, this Jets defense didn't get as many props as they probably should have because it was all distraction of what the offense couldn't do. On the other hand, when he gets to San Francisco and there is a ton of talent there, but then all that talent is gone because of injury, and he's still able to put pieces out there and make what he wants worse. That right there is a great example of like, I feel like the Titans are in really good hands and should trust what he decides to do in terms of execution of how the defense looks. Absolutely. Well, we have talked about this on the show that the defense does have the potential to be a top 10 defense in the league under Robert Sala with the defense and the talent that they brought on that side of the ball. So only time will tell.

On the other side of the break, we're going to talk about one of the more consistent Titans over the last few years in Tony Pollard. What can we expect from the running back in 2026? Now that we know he's RB1 with the Titans. That's next here on the Titan Squatch. We can stream anything. Order food and minutes. Do everything from our phones. And somehow buying tickets to live events still feels way harder than it should be.

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Download the Game Time app, create an account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. All right, Kayla. We also talked to Tony Pollard today and his running backs coach, Randy Jordan as well.

And one of the big things that we wanted to know from Tony Pollard was, hey, with all the talk about the Titans potentially getting Jeremiah love. How did that make you feel? How did you go about your job? And Tony, of course, gave the very diplomatic pros, pro answer of he understands what this league is. It's a business. And once they get you, it's almost time they're looking for your replacement a few years later. But he is with the Tennessee Titans to stay. He is going to be the running back one. Running back one. And look, outside of Derek Henry, he's the only other running back who's had four straight, 1,000 yards seasons. Yeah. And And I feel like that doesn't get talked about enough.

So let me ask you this, Kayla. Is Tony Pollard underrated, underappreciated? Maybe not inside the building, but, you know, when it comes to how we're looking at him as national, regional, or local media outlets. I do. I think that since Tony Pollard has come in to Tennessee, while I think we appreciate him, and I do think fans appreciate him, Tony Pollard, and you know this firsthand by covering him, he is the type of player that goes about his business quietly. And sometimes when you look at these running backs in the league and the ones that get a lot of the credit, yes, their stats prove it.

But a lot of them too are a little bit more outspoken or they're just those, you know, like Derek Kennedy, he's just like a beast. Like he's different from any other running back. And every running back kind of seems to have their own way of play that drives. more attention to them. Tony's just like not that guy. Tony is a quiet guy. And I think sometimes the way he plays, and I don't mean to say this as putting him down, but like sometimes he goes about his business quietly in terms of the stats. Like he's maybe not making these crazy big plays or stuff that is like eye catching or makes like sports center or anything like that. He just

goes about his business. But this is what's so great about it. He does it consistently. And that is actually what we can't say about all running backs in the league. Even with a guy like Sequin Barclay who helped lead his team to a Super Bowl. And that you can't take anything away from it. But it's not like Sequan Barclay's been the most consistent back in the league. Like he's had his major ups and downs. Tony Pollard has been really good since arriving here in Tennessee.

And he's done his part. Unfortunately, they're just having. hasn't been a lot around him to do much in terms of showcasing this offense. But I do think he gets a little bit disrespected. And I know that people love Jeremiah love. But I think like when they looked at the whole entire situation, it was like, what do we really need that can affect us immediately for Cam Ward? And I think like that was the receiver position.

And I think they're like, we have enough left in Pollard. Like he's 29 years old. he has like enough in him to at least get a couple of good years out of him. Look, any team would love to have a Saquan Barkley, I mean, or Jimmy or Gibbs, or even the Titans fans know, you know, Derek Henry had them for a few years. But if you have a running back that just runs hard, you could do a lot of things in this league. Like look at the Seahawks this past season. I wouldn't put Kenneth Walker in the top five running backs in the league.

Right. But he ran hard, had a really good postseason, and they had the talent. around him to where what he did was enough to get them over the hump. What did they have? What did they go out and get, you know, in the draft? And then obviously Sam Dornow came there. They got him Jackson Smith and Jigba. Oh, yeah, another Ohio Statewide receiver who tore it up.

Yeah, no, exactly. No, and look, we were waiting for a lot of last year for them to get the run game going. Yeah. And part of that maybe was the O-line two. And part of that was the new quarterback trying to. to understand the offense and all of that stuff. But once they did, you know how much better they got. Yeah.

I mean, like there was the three straight games. Pollard had over 100 yards and three straight games in the back end of the year. And it might have been the quietest thousand yards season that I've probably ever seen, which is right on brand with kind of who he is. I mean, you've been in that Titans locker room. That dude sneaks in. Yep. avoids us sometimes because he's very quiet.

And then goes out and just does his business, right? And so I think it's, I do think he is underappreciated, maybe not by the Titans and the people in their building, but I think he's underappreciated maybe by the national media outlets because you don't consider him in the same elk as a Derek Henry, of course, or a Sequin Barclay or Jamir Gids, but he is a quality running back. And it felt like last year that there was still a lot left on the table because of just the offense and their inefficiencies that he could have done a lot more throughout. the year than he actually did, which was still pretty darn good. You know, and it's funny, too, because you were talking about, like, maybe not getting the recognition from the national media. And I think that partly goes to the fact that he came to Tennessee. And this is what I hate about the national media because I know Titans fans get so

annoyed with this. And I do myself, like, you know, the Tennessee market, the national market is still not considered a big market. Whether you like it or not, it's not. And I would probably say he got a lot more credit in Dallas and probably a little bit more love when he was in Dallas just because it's Dallas. Sure. It's not like he was, he was, he's dropped off at all or that he's done anything less here. It's just for the fact that he was in Dallas and, you know, that's America's team and they're always going to get coverage even when they're not good.

Yeah. No, that that's true. It's so funny. Robert Salas said that, you know, Tony's been a. pros pro and that one of the first things that he talked to him about was giving San Francisco over 100 yards earlier this this in there in the end of last season a game that the Titans actually made closer than a lot of people anticipated. Tony had 14 carries for 104 yards in that game. So a fun little back and forth between the head coach and the running back who is going to be just as valuable for the Titans here in 2026. On the other side of the break, we're talking Cam Ward. Could we see him using his legs a lot more? What improvements is he's making as we've talked to their quarterbacks coach Shay Tierney today?

All of that next on the Titans Squad Show. Don't go anywhere. 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 interruptions. Click the link in the show notes or go to Lockdownpodcast.com slash Everydayer. Once again, that's Lockedon Podcast.com slash Everydayer. to claim your free trial. All right, Kayla, so we talked to a number of the assistants today.

As I mentioned, we talked to Randy Jordan and Carmen Priscilla from the offensive line, but we also talked to quarterback's coach Shea Tierney. And this is what he had to say on working with Cam Ward and what changes he's kind of making because one of the big criticisms last year was Cam Ward's footwork and just different things that rookies sometimes go through transitioning to the league. He said, quote, I wouldn't say there was a big change we focused on with him. He's been very consistent. just doing their everyday drills to build consistency.

And this tells me, Kayla, they're still in the early phases of what they want Cam to do. They don't want him to get rid of the stuff that makes him spectacular, you know, like the extending plays and all of that stuff that makes the highlight reels and gets on Instagram and all of that stuff. But they do want some subtle improvements. And I think that is important to recognize. So it's not like a, I know Robert Salas said they're kind of restarting with Cam on how to be a pro. But I appreciate that there are some little nuances that they're changing,

nothing huge when it comes to his actual on-the-field stuff. Yeah, and I like how they're going about that. I think it's, first of all, you have to be aware when you come in as a new staff, and especially on the offensive side with Brian Daibald taking over as the OC, that you have to kind of be able to bring in your own things and expect him to not start from the jump, but it is a new playbook. Like it is new things that he's going to have to learn for the umpting time in his career. Oh, gosh.

He's from so many offensive coordinators and different offenses. But he's done it. Yeah, but what you love about Cam is like, honestly, Julian, like, because I know we both followed him at Washington State because you were in the Northwest at the time. And I'm a graduate and I was obsessed with Cam. I love Cam. But like, I don't know how many different quarterbacks can really do what he did and found success year after year. Oh, yeah. Different OCs and different I really do.

Especially at Washington State, you know, and this is no disrespect to that school. Like, it is not the easiest place to win. You're at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting, when it comes to NIL. It's the reason they got left off the big kids table when it came to the big 10. and he was able to take him to a bowl game in that first season when amidst the coaching change, just getting a new coach and coach Dicker and able to make that adjustment. So yes.

Exactly. So it's like I do love that about Cam. And that's why I'm like comfortable with again, a new offensive coordinator coming in and there's a new playbook. I'm not worried about Cam not doing what he needs to do to soak that all in and be ready for the season. Now, am I saying that that's going to from the jump be perfect? No, I mean, he's still going to be learning as he goes.

But what I do feel comfortable about is like, I do believe we feel the offense is in a little bit better hands. It's going to be a little bit better organized. The play calling is going to be better. And setting your quarterback back up for success, especially when you went out and got him a really good weapon, is only going to benefit Cam. And then you sprinkle in some of the.

other things that you want him to do. Yeah, that's what they expect. And I think Cam is going to be capable of doing that. I just think he's going to be better set up for success this season. Do you think he's going to be a little bit more mobile this year? And what I mean by that is he's not necessarily like the Lamar Jackson. No. Michael Vic, traditional running QBs, right?

But he does have that kind of slipperiness to him. So, and Shay Tierney said that that stuff is going to be situation-based and will it let instincts take over. So do we see Cam using his legs more? Because I feel like fans were clamoring for that a little bit last season. Yeah, because I think you saw, and again, our time watching him where we're not surprised with at points his mobility is that goes all the way back to Washington State. I mean, that's what made him so fun to watch there is because he had the ability, like the pocket awareness, like he's going to try to keep a play alive if he can. And he is able to kind of like get out and extend a play if he wants by using his

feet and then also keeping his eyes down field. Like he's really talented in that way. Backyard football kind of. Yeah, exactly. And so now I think like I think maybe fans are like, are they going to be making all these designed runs for him now? Is that what they're trying to do? No, I don't think that it's going to turn into anything like that.

But if there is something that can benefit them and they feel like Cam, by losing, losing a little weight by being a little more athletic that way. He has the capability to do that at times. So if they can scheme up something in particular, I think we'll see it once in a while. I don't think it's completely out of the realm for Cam to be able to use his legs a little bit more. But that's not going to be his bread and butter. I mean, that's not going to become more than plays here and there.

When he lost the waiter said that he lost the 10 pounds, the first thing I thought of was, well, wouldn't conventional wisdom tell you that losing weight would make you more vulnerable to getting hit and getting hurt, but in reality, it's less forced taken off the shoulder that got hurt on a run play. I might at the end of last season, the ironic part of that where he got hurt, the Jacksonville game running the football using his instincts. Bad luck there. But also the ability to be lighter on his feet in the pocket to navigate and extend those plays. And to continue that spectacular highlight stuff that we've seen that makes him.

him worthy of that number one pick that we talked about. Again, he isn't going to be Lamar Jackson. He's going to be more like a Mahomes type. Yeah. Where Mahomes could extend plays. He uses angles. He uses his football IQ and instinct to evade trouble. And so that's what I think we're going to see a lot more of this year. I think it just begged the question because there was a stat that our buddy Teran Davenport put out on ESPN that over the last couple of seasons, whether it be with Daniel Jones, Jackson, Dart, and I, Daniel Jones, Jackson, Dart, and I'm blinking on somebody else with Brian Davel, that they averaged over seven yards or seven rushing attempts per game. And so I don't know if Cam gets to that,

but I do think you're going to see him run at the right times this year and not be a afraid to just take it and go if that's what his instinct says because he's going to be better set up for success. And this goes back to the talent around him is going to be better. Right. And so defenses are going to be a little bit more honest than they were last year too. Yeah. I just, I think that I'm excited to see how that helps him. And you go back to what we said about being better set up for success in so many different situations. I just think, like what a year can do for a rookie quarterback that is already that like football savvy and that you know already puts in the work we all know what cam ward is like as a competitor and he

literally lives breathes eats football um i bet it's like exciting for him too to be able to work with a guy like brian dayball who is such an offensive mind and i'm not trying to dis on callahan but like I just feel like Callahan had his plate so full as like the head coach role that I don't even know if he could have ever have been his best offensive mind because I think he was trying he was just doing other stuff you know it felt like they were he was trying to make the system the players fit the system rather than fit the system around the guys like the players not plays didn't take into effect until McCoy took over in the back half of the year exactly and just for reference that stat. I wanted to get it correct here. Under Brian Dable, Josh Allen in 2021, 7.2 rushing attempts per game. The next season, Daniel Jones, 7.5. And then last year, Jackson and Dart, 7.2 rushing attempts per game. So will Cam get to that 7 mark? Who knows? We'll see? I don't think so. But I think he can get close as long as the right attempts. I think that's something that we need to keep an eye on. Okay. On our other side of the break,

we're going to talk, Titans talk. There are some. comments in the live chat we're going to address some of those next on the titan squad show all right mem ant 247 and i assume he's from memphis because of the the username and his comment pollard is a born memphemean he comes back uh he comes to work does his job and goes about his business i think that's to the point what you said earlier kela about why pollard maybe doesn't get looked at in the same light as a derrick henry or jemir gives is yeah yeah those guys are talented no doubt but number one tony plays for a very quiet franchise in the Titans, haven't done a lot of winning lately, and that will certainly help if they do. But also, he's not really the flashiest of backs either,

but when you look up at the stats, he's just got the yards to prove, you know? Yeah. And that's what I love about Tony Pollard. He is okay to be himself. He's always been that guy. And I respect that about him because that's, I think, what's able to keep him grounded and be able to do what he does year in and year out. He doesn't care if it's doing it quietly. Like, again, he's putting up those thousand yards season. We act like that's like an easy feat. That's not an easy thing to do, especially when you look at this offense and he's been

relied on so much. Like, it's like, oh, well, we got to get the run game going, well, Tony Pollard, you're pretty much it because we can't do anything else offensively. and people know like what's coming at time. So I think it's just like respect to him, keep doing his thing. And I think now he is also in a better situation under dayball. And now with some of the weapons added, obviously improving the line is the top of the thing that we need to hope that happens here. And then quarterback in terms of Cam Ward in his second year should also help.

Don Price, E-A-W says, play Big Jeff, 75% of the. defensive snaps. So this goes back to our discussion about, you know, Robert Salas saying, if you're on the defensive line and you play four snaps in a row, you're not doing it right. Just for context, Jeffrey Simmons logged 764 defensive snaps last season, which ranked among the top 10 of the interior defensive linemen in the league. Early season highlighted him around 87% of the snaps in the earlier part of the year. So, you know, Jeff is the kind of guy who wants to win really bad. He's the best player on this team, the de facto leader. He is never going to say, I need to come out of a game. Right? So it's going to be interesting to see how that whole dynamic works,

but I think there's going to be a trust there from Simmons to Sala that Sala knows what he's talking about on the defensive side of the ball. And they're not doing this just to get everybody a turn on the defensive line. They're doing this. So when Jeff does have his turn, he is able to be, the most effective and get after the quarterback. And I understand Jeff is coming off of a tremendous season where I give him all the credit in the world for doing the work in the off season, for losing the weight, for staying healthy. But remember, guys, Jeff has always dealt with some sort of an injury that he is such a tough guy. He's played through a lot of this.

He's played through a lot of the injuries that he's had in the past. when he couldn't absolutely go, obviously he wouldn't be in those games. But we're talking about a guy that no matter what, father time is father time. Like you're getting a year older. I think Saul is actually kind of smart for doing something like this. It's a good point. How to manage that because you want your best player to still be your best player on defense this year. And the key thing you need to make sure happens that he does stay healthy. Yeah. And Jeffrey Simmons, like getting that percentage down a little bit. I don't think it'll be at like 87. Like it was in the start of 2025, but getting it down a little bit, even if it is like 75,

like Don Price says, like that will just elongate his career, keep his shelf life and him that much more effective later into his career for a position of defensive line that already, as we've seen in this league ages pretty well. Yeah, and I'm going to add something to that too, Julian, because I think in a way, like in terms of how many snaps he logged last year, honestly most of it was because he absolutely had to be out there. Like he was by far the best player on the defense. And at what point were you thinking you needed to even take him off the field? So it's like in a way you kind of had to do it out of necessity too.

Yeah, you don't have that now when you have John Franklin Myers, Jermaine Johnson, Keldrick Falk in the mix, and then the rest of the defense behind those guys up front. Patty Boy, 27 says any chance, Tage Spirit, gets traded with a good camp from rookie running back, Nicholas Singleton. I know you're a big fan of Taji Spears, Kayla, like talking to him over the last few years, but he is in the final year of his rookie deal. And, you know, it is worth asking the question, considering you did draft the running

back. And so that's number one. That might be a sign. And number two, if he's not part of your future plans, you lose him for nothing. So I guess it really depends on what kind of value you get. back from him, but I certainly think he could be if he doesn't, if Nicholas Singleton develops how they're hoping he develops, I think. And there's a lot of hype around Singleton too. Yeah. I always say this, Julian, in terms of no matter what sport it is, when you have like a new

GM, you know, on top of it, you've got a new head coach, you've got a new offensive coordinator, but especially like with the GM position, like if that's not your guy and we know, obviously Tadje Spears. And I am a huge fan of Tadj. I just love him as a person. He's, he's kind of been through a lot in his career and with the injury stuff. But when it comes down to it, like, you have to perform and you have to stay healthy. And unfortunately, he's not been able to do that year to year. This isn't Mike Borgonzi's guy. This is Rancarthon's guy. This is who ran Carthon drafted. So there is never any guarantee that a guy like that, especially, if he hasn't done like a crazy amount in terms of numbers on the field and all of that

that comes along with it, there's no guarantee he's going to be here. So yeah, there's absolutely probably a chance that he could get traded. But then again, what is his value right now? I'm not quite sure what that is either. But Singleton, that's his job to lose. You know, Singleton's got it, the court is there for him to go out and perform and win that job. I do believe that. Yeah, Singleton obviously dealt with some injuries this past season at Penn State that kind of followed him into the offseason. But he did take team reps today in practice. So that was good to see.

And Jeffrey Mullins, 2110 says Pollard and Spears will start. And Singleton will take over next year and we pair him with a vet or even another rookie. Angleton is good reminds me of a more athletic Nick Chubb, which I like that comparison. So that's pretty good. There is one last comment that I wanted to get to. And it's just more of a fun one selfishly for us. Drunk Chef's 6-913 says Kayla for general manager. Oh my gosh, Drunk Chef.

Man, it's my dream one day to be like I want to own part of a team. Oh, there you go. I mean, I would love to do that type of thing. I think it would be so awesome. Now, I couldn't handle like the full general manager. duties but you would need like a borgonzi brinker situation exactly but like i know brinker wasn't that loved so i mean hopefully you're you're the bourgonsie of the group then yeah so so that's that's all good um all right that'll do it for today on the titan squad show make sure to like comment subscribe all of that fun

stuff and listen to us wherever you get our podcast that's twice a week here live on youtube for the titan squad show and every single day on Locked on Titans with Tyler Rowland. But for now, I'm Julian Minnesone. That's Kayla Anderson. We'll see you guys for the rest of the offseason as it continues next week.