Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Trade Up Scenario - Mock Draft Monday & Mailbag Monday - Answering Your Questions

Episode Date: April 12, 2021

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You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by Bilt Bar. Go to BiltBar.com, use promo code LOCKED15 and you'll get 15% off your next order of the best tasting protein bars ever. is presented by Built Bar. Go to BuiltBar.com, use promo code LOCKED15,

and you'll get 15% off your next order of the best-tasting protein bars ever. Hope you guys all had a fantastic weekend. It's time to kick off the week here on the Locked on Titans podcast, as we normally do during the early offseason, with a Mock Draft Monday and a Mailbag Monday. And for today's show, the Mock Draft Monday and a Mailbag Monday. And for today's show, the Mock Draft Monday portion, I'm going to do something a little bit special that's inspired by a report that we got from over the weekend that identified a target the Titans may be looking to trade up and select in the first round.

So I'm going to let that guide me through a mock draft where I trade up at all three of the Titans' third round picks. And I say three, even though there are four, and we will get to that later. But after that conversation, to kick off our show about what a Titans trade up mock draft could look like, we are going to dive into your questions and your reviews on iTunes. Going to make sure I answer those, give you guys some shout outs, and empty out the mail bag from the weekend. So excited to dive into another Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

Let's get it! Titans fans, we are so close, so close to the NFL draft. I'm starting to get those butterflies, starting to get that anxiety every day just thinking about what the Titans could do. I've been hitting all of the mock draft machines on all the different outlets, trying to coordinate trades. I spent about an hour of my Sunday afternoon with the Masters in the background just looking at different trade possibilities and calculations based on that old school Jimmy Johnson trade chart

and seeing what the Titans could do. And that's why in this Mock Draft Monday, we are going to focus on Titans trade up options what they would have to pay to go after specific targets so a drum that I have been banging throughout the offseason is I think this is a trade up year for the Titans similar to what they did in 2018 trading up to get Rashawn Evans trading up to to get Harold Landry. I think this is a year where the Titans have specific needs on the roster, and with nine draft picks in John Robinson's pocket, not including his 2022 options,

which I think should be on the board, considering I believe the Titans have about one to two years left of their title window of having this core with Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry, and this version of the Titans has a couple more years left so I don't think it's a bad idea to maybe sacrifice some mid-round picks in 2022 to make some moves but I didn't even have to do that in this scenario so we're going to talk about the Titans trading up and I'm going to let a rumor that came well not a not a rumor, a report, a statement that came out over the weekend talking about something the Titans might do in the draft kind of guide us, at least in the first round.

Before we dive into this mock draft, this three-round mock, I do want to remind you guys, not only do we have our mock draft Monday and mailbag Monday, but also we are in the middle of the Locked on Titans NFL Draft Preview where I go position by position through the offense and defense, breaking down a ton of different names at different round possibilities for the Titans. We went over 32 wide receivers on Friday. I mean, one, you're not going to find another Titans content creator putting out daily Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content all year long like this. And you're're not going to find another Titans content creator putting out daily Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content all year long like this. And you're also not going to find such a comprehensive breakdown for free surrounded entirely about

your Tennessee Titans. So make sure that you follow the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream, Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, the Odyssey app, Spotify. Doesn't matter where you get your pods. You'll find the Locked on Titans podcast there. I would very much appreciate it. And if you missed any of those positions we talked about before, quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end,

check those out and make sure that you're locked in so you don't miss any of the positions coming ahead, which should continue tomorrow with the interior offensive line or the offensive tackle position. We're diving into O-line next. But this mock draft is inspired by a statement from Charlie Casserly, longtime NFL personnel man, scout. He's been in the business for a very long time. He had this to say, and it came from a tweet from Sean Calderon

on Twitter someone who I'm very friendly with he's a good guy good writer for the Titans as well but he transcribed something that Charlie Casserly had to say and it was basically that the Titans and the Colts are seriously interested in Oklahoma State offensive tackle Tevin Jenkins in the first round he says quote for the Titans it's a no-brainer. This guy is going to be better than Jack Conklin, who they selected in the top 10. That's what Casserly had to say. So it led me to a position, what would the Titans do? Where would it make sense?

Well, if you look at 15 all the way to the Titans pick at 22, you have the Cardinals, you have the Raiders, you have the Bears, you have the Washington football team, you have the Colts. All of those teams could be interested in an offensive tackle. And if we see Rashawn Slater, Pene Sewell, we see maybe Christian Derrishaw go before pick 15, which very well could happen. Could the Titans trade up to pick 15 if the Patriots want to go down? And obviously there's a connection between the organizations. Could there be a trade there at 15 or 16 that makes sense? And what would the Titans give up?

Because there's a lot more, I guess, smoke to this fire. Justin Mello said this on Twitter. He said that the Titans had met with Tevin Jenkins multiple times so more smoke there you got the Casserly report you got what Justin's saying on Twitter you take those two things together and you take the fact that Tevin Jenkins is a very he's like the opposite of Isaiah Wilson he's very, played in college for quite some time, three-year starter at Oklahoma State, nasty on the field, drive you into the field. We'll get into his evaluation later this week, but he's just a more experienced player. He's 23 years old. He's not a young guy

who you got to worry about maturity problems. So he's kind of the opposite personality-wise and college experience-wise of Isaiah Wilson. So I'm not rendering the opposite personality wise and college experience wise of Isaiah Wilson. So I'm not rendering whether I agree with the move or not, but we have to at least say if the Titans are meeting with the guy multiple times, if we're hearing rumors that they might trade up to get him, well, then we have to consider those. So Tevin Jenkins at 15 for the Titans, what would it cost? What would they have to do? Well, I took a look at the options, and I think that he could be had, and that move could be made given the 22nd pick up, of course, and then throwing in the Titans' compensatory pick at 100.

So give the Patriots the 100 pick, which is a third-round pick. Combine it with your 22. Pop up about seven spots to get the right tackle of the future for the Titans. Now, the Titans would still have seven picks remaining after taking their first round pick and solving right tackle for the future going forward. So they're not in a bad position with that trade. Would they need a little bit more? Would a sixth round pick in 2022 get the deal done? I think it certainly would. So going forward, the second pick for the Titans, pick number 53.

Well, what I saw happening was the cornerback market got a little slim. We saw a lot of people come off the board in the first 42 picks. Now, Asante Samuel Jr. was still on the board. And after that, you had Aaron Robinson, you had Elijah Molden, you had Melifan Wu, you had Tyson Campbell, you had Paulson Adebo. I don't like any of those options, and I think Robinson, Molden, Melifan Wu, Campbell, and Adebo are all a step lower than Asante Samuel, who is just absolutely, totally experienced in man coverage with what the Titans want to do.

Smooth hips, agile, incredible instincts. He's the son of a former player. He understands the profession and what it entails. He's going to be ready to play. He's great at matching patterns by wide receivers. He's going to help you in run defense as well. He's not timid. He's not scared to go up and tackle. He'll make plays in the run game. Again, a guy who knows what it takes to be an NFL cornerback. He knows the physicality that's necessary to play that position and stay in the league. So I love that pedigree right there. Now, he's only 5'10". Maybe only a slot guy. Has some experience outside. I think he could play some outside, but the Titans need a slot more than anything. Fulton needs to be an outside guy. Janoris Jenkins, Jack Rabbit is an outside guy. Kevin Johnson is going to battle.

Maybe you move Fulton inside and put Breon Borders outside, and then Kevin Johnson's not on the field, but either way, having a guy who is going to be primarily a slot guy who does struggle against zone coverage, doesn't have the best ball skills, but for me, all of the other qualities, Titans trade up to get Asante Samuel. And what they do is they give up a sixth round pick, 215. Combine it with number 53. Trade up with the 49ers. 10 picks. That's it.

Going up 10 picks to number 43 and getting Asante Samuel Jr., who can be a long-term starting slot cornerback for the Titans. Pair him with Christian Fulton. Now you have one good outside corner. You-term starting slot cornerback for the Titans. Pair him with Christian Fulton, now you have one good outside corner, you have one good slot corner, and this is what the Titans have to hope happens. Of course, if Fulton doesn't work out, then it's going to set the Titans back, but that would be a great long-term answer there. And then the final pick that I have, number 85 for the Titans.

Remember, we traded 100, so the Titans would have that third-round pick still remaining their original third-round pick at 85. What I did was I took the Titans' fifth-round pick, 166, combined it with 85. I traded up to number 68 with the Atlanta Falcons, which actually in the mock draft simulator I used, the Falcons proposed that trade to me. So I said, yes, I would still love to do that at this point in time on the board at wide receiver.

Amon Ross, St. Brown, Tylan Wallace, Tutu Atwell, Frank Darby, Seth Williams, Daz Newsome. Those are some of the names. I don't feel comfortable with any of those names other than Amon Ross, St. Brown. I think he can be a Juju Smith, Schuster type play in the slot for the Titans. And no, he doesn't have dynamic speed, but he's ideal size for a wide receiver at 6'1". To play in the slot is going to be a big slot, not one of those small guys, and he just understands the nuances of the position. Good route runner, great hands. I really like Amon Ross St. Brown, especially at the value of pick number 68. You may be asking yourself well what do the

Titans even have left well in this scenario the Titans would still have three picks left they would still have 126 which is a fourth round pick they would still have 205 which is a sixth round pick and they would still have 232 which is a seventh round pick so they can go out and get some depth at other positions you add in that I think those 2022 mid-round picks could be on the table for the Titans to help them maneuver a little bit more they can come out of this draft with five to six players and I think for the Titans financial situation and their roster situation that would be a perfect amount so I really like that as an outcome for the Titans in the first three rounds with three different trade-ups. You fill right tackle with Tevin Jenkins.

You fill slot cornerback with Asante Samuel Jr. And you fill the third wide receiver spot with Amon Ross St. Brown from USC. We are going to move into the mailbag next. Before we do, I want to remind you guys about betonline.ag. The fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action we got the NBA in full swing NHL in full swing MLB in full swing they also have award shows TV shows and reality TV make sure that you head to their website betonline.ag today or use your mobile device and sign up for free. Use promo code LOCKEDON, that's one word, LOCKEDON, and you'll receive a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit.

BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. Let's continue this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by diving into the mailbag. I'm going to make sure that I read and respond to your guys' questions that you send me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Remember, you can also put your questions in the Apple iTunes reviews, hopefully as a five-star review, and I will make sure to always get to those first. Before we dive into the mailbag, your daily reminder about the Locked On Today podcast.

Have the sports section read to you every morning in under 20 minutes by the great Peter Bukowski, who hosts the Locked On Packers podcast. You get your Tennessee Titans news here with me, but make sure that you're always up to date on your national sports news from every different league. Check out the Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. But first, have to give a shout out here to Larry049.

Gave a five-star review on Friday. Said, best Titans podcast. The content on this podcast is excellent. My only recommendation is to cut back on the ads or the length of ads. So I wanted to put this in. It's a five-star review. Thank you very much, Larry. I promise to always read your guys' five-star reviews, but it also gives me a good opportunity to address this. I mean, this is some people's complaint, but when you sit at home and you watch your favorite TV show, and it's time for a commercial, what do you usually say? Dang it, you know, it's a commercial, blah, blah, blah. But that's just how we keep the lights on, man. I wish I had a better answer for you, but it takes a lot of work to do the show. I love doing the show.

Anything worth doing takes a lot of work. It's a passion for me, so I love doing it. But I don't want to be paid any less, so I don't know how else to say it. The work that I put in, I feel I do deserve the pay that I get. And if there were less advertisements, well, then there's less money and there's less content and less time I can put into it. So I understand where you're coming from. Every show that I've ever enjoyed, I want less commercials too, but that's how we pay the bills. That's how I, you know, make a living and pay my bills a lot of the time. So, you know, I hope for more ads, quite frankly, but I can do a better job

of maybe making the ads a little bit, you know, quicker and more to the point. So I will work on doing that for you guys. Always willing to be open-minded and bounce ideas off of me. But I wanted to make sure to get you in there because I'm sure you're not the only one with that. I will say I did get a few one-star reviews last week. Some people very upset about my take on the Houston Oilers connection. I'm sorry. I got to have my own opinions here, guys, and some people are going to be mad. But if you would take the time to maybe give me a review to make up for those low reviews

I got for that opinion, I would greatly appreciate it. It's the offseason, so not a lot of reviews rolling in then. I would greatly appreciate any feedback of course as well I'm always taking everything into consideration but let's continue diving into the mailbag and the next question that I have here is actually a holdover from last week just right after the buzzer but I always make sure to get to your guys questions even if I gotta hold them over and it comes from Mike Inclon who says how long uh how much longer will we get out of Ryan Tannehill do you think and is that length of time basically our Super Bowl window the answer is yes however long Ryan Tannehill can play at a

high level is our window because after that we're gonna have to look at different options whether that's drafting somebody whether it's trying to find another reclamation project or a veteran. And either way, if it's a rookie, if it's a young guy, it'll take some time for him to really pop, probably a year or two. And if not, it's a veteran who I'm just not as convinced will be as good as Ryan Tannehill is right now. So, yeah, having Ryan Tannehill at quarterback basically signifies what this window is. Now they could sign Tannehill to another deal after his deal is up or give him an extension, but that would probably come at the cost of some of the players currently on the team

and it would change the identity of the team and change the window and Tannehill would be viewed as more of a late stage veteran in his career than kind of still in his prime like he is right now. So yes. And how much longer honestly this season next season and that's my opinion for the window this upcoming season 2021 and then 2022 after that I think the dynamic of the team will most likely change uh the next question that I got here is from Slappy my boy S Slappy, always with some good questions.

But he said, let's say we get the trilogy Ravens-Titans in the playoffs, facing off for the third year in a row. It's 7-7 at half. Our offense is stuck in the mud. What adjustments scheme-wise could they make to get the offense going if the running game wasn't working again? Okay, well, I'm going to give you my answer to some things that I thought the Titans should have done in the game against the Ravens in the playoffs, and I also think that they're things the Titans need to focus on adding into the offense this year, and based on what I

saw from Todd Downing as an offensive coordinator during his time with the Oakland Raiders, they were still in Oakland at the time, don't come for me. I think they could add these things because clearly he's done them before. Using more matchup-based plays like isolating a tight end on the formation, getting A.J. Brown in more advantageous situations, isoing him to one side of the field, using him in the slot, moving him around. I think we could do better with matchups. But I think the Titans need to get better with the quick game, talking about tunnel screens, talking about RPOs, talking about wide receiver screens,

quick flare outs to the running back, into the flat. I think using Darrington Evans primarily, using maybe Cam Batson if the Titans do get an Elijah Mora, Kadarius Toney, a Rondale Mora, Tutu Atwell, somebody like that. If they get somebody of that ilk, a quick, speedy, wide receiver, I think that would help a lot. Darrington Evans could be used in that role as well, as I've talked about. Doing more RPO, doing more quick game, doing more screen game, using more matchup-based attacks on offense rather than just the scheme itself, I think that could diversify the attack. My analogy I always use is baseball. We have our fastball with the run game. We have our changeup with the play-action game.

We need to add the slider. We need to add the cutter. We need to add the curveball. We need to add some dimensions to the offense so that when our fastball and our changeup are not working like we saw in Baltimore in the playoffs. We have something else that we can rely on. So that's my answer to that question, but that's going to do it for the first section of the mailbag. I'm going to continue answering your guys' questions after this, but I do want to remind you about rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers online for over 20 years. Their catalog is unique. It's remarkably easy to use, easy to navigate. You can see all the parts available for your vehicle

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Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. It is time to round off this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by answering the last few questions that I have here in the Monday mailbag. Before we do, got to remind you guys that April 19th through the 26th, listen to the ultimate mock draft 2021 presented by Odyssey and the Locked on Podcast Network featuring analysis from NFL experts Michael Irvin, Brian Baldinger, and Michael Lombardi, our local experts from every team making trades and picking the next stars of their team.

Follow the Ultimate Mock Draft 2021 podcast feed on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. But the next question here comes from Richard Matlock. Says, kind of a biased question being from Ohio and a huge Buckeye fan. I hear ya. But with Vrabel's Ohio State connection, what Buckeye players do you see as good fits or potential targets for the Titans? I'd love to see us get Luke Farrell late in the draft.

Amazing hands. We didn't see much. That's funny that you bring up Luke Farrell. I'm not, I guess I'm not very high on any of the Buckeyes coming out this year in terms of what the Titans need. I don't really see a fit schematically for the linebackers. Pete Werner, Tuff Borland, maybe Baron Browning. Jonathan Cooper is more of a 4-3 edge to me.

Tommy Tugulaya, I can't even say it right. I try. I hear his name all the time. It's very hard. But I don't really see him as a scheme fit for the Titans defensive-wise. Looking at cornerback Sean Wade Wade there's some talk about him maybe moving to safety I don't really see him as a fit for the Titans they're not going to have a chance to get Justin Fields Luke Farrell I think could make some sense as a target for the Titans but quite honestly only as an undrafted free agent I wouldn't take Farrell but I will agree with your assessment that I think Farrell is a little bit better than maybe he's getting credit for just because the tight end

isn't something that's accentuated in the Ohio State offense. So that's kind of how I feel about that. But if there are good Ohio State players that the Titans take, I'm most certainly going to support them as well, Richard. Next question is from Derek Shuler he says say John Robinson did something crazy and moved up in the draft to an early position so early we'll call early top 10 who would you want the Titans to take Kyle Pitts or Patrick Sertan I know it may be a silly question but I think taking a guy like Sertan would really make our defense top notch okay so yeah sorry, Derek. I can't agree with you. Kyle Pitts, in my opinion, is like a generational talent in terms of what he can provide at the tight end position. And I talked earlier in the show about how the Titans need to find a way to have that

curveball, have that change up. Well, if you just have a couple of guys who can beat man coverage every single time, like how the Chiefs have Travis Kelsey and Tyree Kill. If the Titans had Kyle Pitts and A.J. Brown, I mean, there you go. You can blitz six or seven and play tight man coverage against the Titans, but Pitts is going to win over the middle against a linebacker of safety. And if you do anything else, the Titans will win with A.J. Brown if you're not rolling coverage over there like we saw from Baltimore.

So, to me, Kyle Pitts is just an enormous difference maker, and you can get a little bit more value later in the draft at cornerback than you're going to get compared to missing out on Kyle Pitts. So that's Kyle Pitts. If Pitts falls to like 10 or 11, man, I'm okay with trading a 20-22 first to go up and get him. That's how I feel. So next question here is coming from Jeremy McFarlane. He said, what positions of need should the Titans look to fill in rounds four through seven? To me, depth along the interior defensive line and the interior offensive line could be used. This is assuming the Titans go, let's say, offensive tackle, wide receiver, cornerback with the first three picks.

Let's say they don't trade or do anything and they just take their four picks in the first three rounds. Offensive tackle, wide receiver, cornerback, edge. Let's just say for conversation's sake. For me, I'd be looking at interior offensive line, interior defensive line, inside linebacker, safety. That's where I think the Titans could use some depth. Yeah, I'd love some at tight end too, but to me, out of the top five tight ends in the draft, I wouldn't be interested in any of them anyways, unless we're looking at seventh round or

priority free agent for like a Kenny Aboya. So for me, that's interior offensive line, interior defensive line, off ball, inside linebacker, and safety. Basically up the middle from offensive line through the defense. The Titans need reinforcements in terms of depth. And then the last question I have here is from Tyler Chandler, and I saved it for the end for obvious reasons here, but he says, what is your favorite DMX song? Okay, that's tough.

First off, R.I.P.X. I listened to a ton of DMX growing up. It was my brother's favorite artist when we were young kids. I'm talking about like the late 90s, 98, 99, 2000, 2001. I mean, obviously you have all the classics. X Gonna Give It To Ya, Party Up, the Rough Riders Anthem, but for me, What They Want, you guys know the name of the real song. And then a personal favorite for me is Get It On The Floor for weird reasons, but me

and my friends made a little remix to that song when I was a younger kid and every time I hear that song I hear the song and I hear the little remix me and my friends made and uh the beats hype swiss beats on it get it on the floor man get it on the floor but uh R.I.P. DMX um big influence on not just me but you know obviously many people, and a very cultured guy. Just seemed to have a bunch of random stories, doing a bunch of random things with different types of people. So never want to see somebody go with those circumstances at that age with the impact that he's made, but unfortunately, life is the way it is. Just hug your loved ones, tell your loved ones that you love them whenever you can because you never know when's the last time

you're going to see somebody. RIP to DMX. Excellent rapper. Great guy overall to follow throughout his career. That's going to do it for me today, folks. That's going to round up and cap off this Monday edition of the Locked On Titans

podcast. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and cap off this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.