Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Treylon Burks Will Be FINE, Dillon Radunz Reality Check & Malik Willis' Biggest Issue

Episode Date: August 21, 2022

The Tennessee Titans may have won against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, but the biggest stories are more about individual performances. One that has been scrutinized is the play of rookie wide receiver Treylon Burks. The narrative on Burks is all wrong. Tyler sets the record straight. Next, everyone is piling on Dillon Radunz, but what does the tape say? Tyler breaks down what he saw on film. Finally, Malik Willis had some good and bad moments on Saturday, but one correction he made in game has Tyler very excited!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NFLNETWORK.BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we have a lot to discuss coming out of the Titans' second preseason game of the year against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The number one thing that I want to talk about is Traylon Burks. Guys, it is not time to hit the panic button on Traylon Burks. I'll explain why. Then we got to talk about the right tackle battle.

I have watched the film. I have watched the tape. I'm going to tell you exactly what I saw from Nicholas Petit-Ferrer and from Dylan Radins. Then I do want to talk about one development issue for Malik Willis that he made a really good correction on during last night's game. I'll explain what I saw and what I want to see him do going forward, breaking down all the big stories coming out of the Titans preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

Let's get it. You are lockeded On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, we are going to kick off today's show talking about Traylon Burks. Guys, everyone needs to calm down. It's not time to panic. Before I get into why, I do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts.

Also, I want to let you guys know that I do appreciate you making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash the notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video

if you're watching right now. It goes a long way to help support the channel. You can find me on Twitter at TicTacTitans, guys. On Sunday, I did a ton of film clips and film breakdowns on my Twitter account. I don't see how you can listen to the show and not check out the Twitter account at TicTacTitans. Show Facebook page at LockedOnTitansPod. Remember, here on the LockedOnTitans podcast,

it's your team every day. But let's dive into the number one story I want to talk about, and that's Traylon Burks. So my whole message here is it is not time to panic about Traylon Burks. I know the first preseason game, he only had one touch. It was a jet sweep from four yards. I know that last night he only had one catch, and that was for four yards. But what I want to do is, I want to point to some comments

that Mike Vrabel made on Sunday when he was evaluating the game. He talked about Traylon Burks, and he said this, quote, receivers can't control when they get the ball. Their job is to get open. We were encouraged by the things that he did without the football. Blocking, getting open. Still has room for improvement, however. End quote.

So right there, Mike Vrabel was telling you, coming out of that first preseason game with Traylon Burks, they were saying, we didn't really see things translate from practice to the game like we wanted to. But now, now we're hearing, hey, we're encouraged by the things that he was doing out there, the way that he was blocking, the way that he was getting open. And we have to have a conversation about Traylon Burks as a player. Coming out of college, it was obvious

Traylon Burks needed to kind of work on his route running craft, all of the little technicalities that go into that, the nuance in running routes. It's great to have Robert Woods there with him to help him with that development. But he's still a rookie, and you knew that, hey, coming out of college, he does need to work on those things,

but what he can do is he can take a quick slant over the middle and take it for 70 yards. He has great body control and great contested catch ability, so he can go up and win on go routes down the field and on the sideline. Oh, he's really good at some of these gadget plays. Jet sweeps, a little pop pass, little quick screen, little tunnel screen, little smoke screen.

Those are the things that Traylon Burks is going to be good at on day one that the Titans can use to get him involved and make him productive. Yeah, he's got to work on all the other things. So the other things are consistently blocking downfield, getting open and getting separation with his route craft. So basically what I'm saying is all the things that he needs to

improve upon, we're getting good signs that he is. And all the things that we know that he should be good at right away, well, he's not getting the opportunity to do those things. And I want to point to another quote from Mike Vrabel here. He says, quote, Are you going to, well, the question is, are you going to manufacture ways to get the rookie traaylon Burks the ball? Mike Vrabel said yes, but not in a preseason game.

So, honestly, that's why all this stuff people, oh, he's getting a bunch of reps. Well, conditioning was an issue, right? Don't you want Traylon Burks to get a bunch of reps out there? I don't think that him getting reps in the third quarter and the first quarter of preseason games as some sort of indication that, you know, he's way down the depth chart and the Titans aren't going to use him at all? No. If conditioning is an issue for Traylon Burks, then you want him to take snaps from the first quarter

all the way to the fourth quarter so you can simulate what his workload would actually be in a game. Duh. It's not him playing snaps from the first to the fourth isn't a declaration of the lack of need for him when the season rolls around. Oh, if he's playing in the fourth quarter, they don't really need him that much. That's not what it is. It's his conditioning.

You want him to feel like he's playing full games so that he can be ready. So let's just, one, I don't see the workload and the snaps as a problem because he is a rookie who needs the reps and needs to get acclimated to how his conditioning needs to be for a full game. Two, Mike Rabel said wide receivers can't control when they get the ball. So he's getting open. He's doing the right things. And sometimes he's just not getting the ball.

We saw that on the drag route that he was open with. And it's been multiple weeks in a row when he's been, he should have had a seven. Imagine if Malik Willis on the last play of the game against Baltimore, imagine if Malik Willis hits the wide open Traylon Burks on the seam route down the middle and he scores a 60 yard touchdown. Are we having these conversations about Traylon Burks where everybody's freaking out? No. He's like, oh, he had that big, long touchdown in the first game. It wasn't his fault.

So he's not getting the ball when he's getting open. He got open, and Logan Woodside threw a duck that was way underthrown, and he beat the guy down the sideline. A good quarterback is making a throw and giving him a chance. He hasn't even had a chance to do a lot of the contested catch things. Mike Vrabel admitted they're not going to scheme up plays for him in the preseason. So the things he does well right out of the gate, they're not doing for him. Everybody just pump the brakes on your Traylon Burks. Hey, Ryan Tannehill is going to put him in positions to succeed. He is going to get schemed up opportunities to do what he does

well right now in the real season, all I can tell you Titans fans is if you're listening, all this is going to matter at is your fantasy draft. When all the chums that you're doing fantasy drafts with don't draft Traylon Burks because they've been reading the tea leaves and hearing the nonsense, you are going to know, oh, that preseason stuff, this preseason stuff, Traylon Burks is going to be an asset fantasy-wise in the season. So you all should just be happy that you're going to get better value on Traylon Burks in your fantasy drafts now than you would have otherwise.

But I want to move forward and talk about the right tackle position between Nicholas Petit Frere and Dylan Radins. I watched the tape, guys. It's never quite as good or never quite as bad as you would think it is. But before we move on, I do want to tell you guys more about our title sponsor, BetOnline.net.

BetOnline.net is the fastest and easiest way to check in on all your betting needs. You can find all your favorite sports and events at the number one online source for odds, lines, and games. They have league news for everything. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, combat sports, esports, even golf. They have live betting. They have scores. They have news. Everything that you need from a sports wagering information standpoint, you can find at the top

online resource, BetOnline. Head to BetOnline today. You can use your laptop or your mobile device to learn more about all the action and the trends happening right now. BetOnline. Head to BetOnline today. You can use your laptop or your mobile device to learn more about all the action and the trends happening right now. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's episode just still diving into all of the big storylines coming out of the Titans preseason victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We talked about Traylon Burks, and I think the panic around Traylon Burks is just insane right now. It's an overreaction. But next, I want to talk about Nicholas Petit Ferrer versus Dylan Radins

and what I actually saw on tape because I got a lot of stuff from my rewatch. At the end of the show, we're going to talk about a Malik Willis deficiency that I don't think is being talked about enough, but that he made real in-game corrections to that led to his best play of the preseason. But before we get into the right tackle conversation, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Guys, fantasy drafts are right around the corner,

and we got you covered here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Listen to experts from Locked On Fantasy Football and experts from Locked On Dynasty Football. They're going to bring you daily positional top 10 lists this entire week. So go to Locked On Fantasy Football. Go to Locked On Dynasty Football. They're going to bring you daily positional top 10 list this entire week. So go to Locked on Fantasy Football. Go to Locked on Dynasty Football. Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast and get ready for your fantasy

drafts ahead. But what I want to talk about here is so I'm just going to cut to the chase. Nicholas Petit Frere is a better player than Dylan Radins right now. That's just the reality. Okay?

And I think the NPF should be the starter. So I'm just going to say that right now. But I also want to say, and that's something I said before the game. That's what I said before the game. But, Dylan Radins wasn't quite as bad as I guess everybody the game. But Dylan Radins wasn't quite as bad as I

guess everybody's acting. There was some good in there, even if it wasn't a great day. But again, what I'm seeing from NPF, he should be the starter. So, my big difference here is NPF while not being taller than Dylan Radins,

I believe NPF is about 6'5 Radins is 6'6. They're both pretty similar but Nick is just a much bigger stronger man. He's more thickly built and he's more powerful. That's the only way to put it. Radins

is slim built for a guy his size. One of the big things that was needed in development for Radins was to put on mass, to put on core strength. And you can see in his game how that's an issue. Nicholas Petit Frere is just simply a thicker, stronger man. He's got a more powerful punch in his hands when he's trying to punch past rushers

he's better at driving guys off the line of scrimmage and getting movement in the run game he's just simply better at those things and the deficiencies that stick out for Raidens are just tough for me it's something that I identified when I scouted him coming out of college. The guy is just always on the ground. It doesn't even mean that he's always losing the rep, but he's always on the ground. Falling down in pass protection. Stumbling forward when he's in run blocking. I thought that he did a poor job of cutting off backside.

So the Titans are a wide zone team. They run zone runs, which requires the backside tackle to usually cross the face of a defensive lineman. Think a defensive lineman is on the inside shoulder of Dylan Radins. On the snap, he's got to take a reach step with his inside foot and find a way to slide and cross the face of the defensive lineman to cut him off on the backside from getting to play side and coming down the line of scrimmage to make the play.

Well, when he does that, he just lunges forward and his upper body gets ahead of his feet and the linemen are just able to wash him down. Now, maybe he wins the rep and he cuts off the guy backside. So great, but it's a consistent issue that shows up and there are going to be reps that he loses more often than not because of those balance issues. And again, that all comes down to core strength, your center of gravity. Radins just seems to play a little high and without that core strength, that comes the balance issues. So two issues that come out to me, number one are the balance issues when he's trying that come out to me, number one, are the balance issues when he's trying to cross the face of a backside defender, lunging forward in the run game,

and then his punch. He just simply doesn't have a powerful enough punch to knock a pass rusher off their balance or off their path on that initial touch. And if you don't win that, think about two Rams, boom, banging in. Well, that first contact before the edge rusher and the offensive tackle, that's those two Rams knocking. Whoever gets that initial knockback is going to have an instant advantage to win the matchup. Okay? And Radon's punch never wins him the initial contact.

So he's going to be playing on his back heels. And when you also have balance issues and core strength issues without the punch to help you slow them down before they get into you, well, that's a recipe for disaster. And I want to point to the pro football focus grades. And yes, PFF is not a pure science. It is just a piece of the puzzle here. But overall grade, here. But overall grade, NPF 54, Raidens 27. Pass blocking

grade, NPF 74, Raidens 17. Run blocking grade, 52 for Petit Ferrer, 55 for Raidens. And that gets me into some of the good stuff here. I pointed out the deficiencies. And by God, if you guys are watching, that breakdown right there,

I'm spitting, baby! Bars! Bars! I hope you guys are watching, that breakdown right there, I'm spitting, baby. Bars. Bars. I hope you guys are enjoying the content. Expect to see this all season long and even more in depth when I talk about, you know, the schematics, what I'm seeing on the field. Hold on. Hold on.

I'm getting the hate from the chat. So I guess this guy missed the first 10 minutes of the show when we talked about Traylon Burks and we talked about the routes, where he got open and his blocking and how they can schematically use him within the offense and how that's not happening right now in the preseason. That's not Titan stuff enough for you.

Some of it goes over some people's heads, guys, but I appreciate you guys who are tapped in here. So let's talk about some of the positives that we're seeing. So Nicholas Petit Ferrer, I thought got better push in the run game, but I thought he was better at right tackle. When he's driving guys off, setting the edge, he did a good job setting the edge a couple times in Baltimore as well. I appreciated that. So I like what MPF was able to do out there, but here's a reality. He gets beat inside sometimes when he's trying to

drive guys outside. He gets beat inside, and Mike Rabel talks about all the time, inside-out. Tackles have to play inside-out. You can't get beat inside. So, I think that while he needs to improve that overall

the gap between with his punch and his balance and his core strength the gap in pass protection it just makes him the better option so while Radins did a good job in the run game when he was play side, going to his direction, while I thought Radins wasn't as bad in pass protection as maybe some people are saying and maybe that grade indicates, I think that the qualities that make him have his bad reps

are not improving quickly enough to be the starter by the end of the year. Now, I do want to say this lastly. This doesn't mean it's time to give up on Dylan Radins. It simply doesn't mean that. Okay? Some guys, this is like the conversation about Caleb Farley and Roger McCreary. Roger McCreary is maybe more ready to play right now

than Caleb Farley because Farley needed more development. That doesn't mean that Farley isn't going to develop into a better player or a similar player or a starting worthy player. Same thing with Radins. Just because Dylan Radins is not ready to start as

quickly as NPF is doesn't mean that it's time to give up on Radins who's had some good moments. Think about the San Francisco game. He had some really good moments. Think about the San Francisco game. He had some really good moments. So, all I'm saying is, while Radins wasn't great, and there's a lot to be worried about, it's not time to give up.

Let him develop. He's going to need to play this year. He's going to need to play. Appreciate that, John. Thank you. So that's all I'm saying. While Radins was bad, and I think the NPF deserves a start, that doesn't mean that your development is over as a player.

And there's no reason that it doesn't mean that in year three, in year four, Dylan Radins is a starting quality tackle or a starting quality guard. Just don't give up yet, even if he's not ready as quickly as we all hope. But that's what I saw from the right tackle battle, what I'm looking at individual traits-wise, and why I think NPF has the edge right now and will ultimately be the starter. But we're going to move forward.

There's a part of Malik Willis' development that I think, while it has been discussed, it hasn't been focused on quite enough, like a literal micro aspect of his development that we need to talk about that I saw him make in-game improvements on on Saturday night. Before we get into it, though, I do got to give you guys a little bit of a serious message here.

So, just, you've all been here. You're hanging out with some friends, putting back a few drinks. A few becomes a few too many. The evening comes to an end. People start to head out. You're thinking about calling for a ride. Nah, you live nearby.

You can make it home okay. It's no big deal. I mean, what are the odds that you're going to get pulled over anyways? Even so, what's the worst that could happen? Your insurance goes up. You lose your license. You lose your job. You lose your job.

You total your car. You kill someone. Everyone knows about the risks of drunk driving and the results are tragic and often deadly. However, that doesn't stop everyone from getting behind the wheel when under the influence. And that's why police officers are out there right now

looking for impaired drivers on the roads to save lives. So if you think you're okay to drive after a few drinks, guys, think again. Play it safe. Plan ahead. Get a ride. It only takes one mistake to change your life or somebody else's forever. Drive sober or get pulled over.

Alright Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's show talking about a part of Malik Willis' development that stood out to me on tape. And what really stood out is how he made an in-game correction that led to his best play of the preseason. Before we get into that, though, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Now make Locked On Fantasy Football your second listen. You're going to find the intellectual fantasy expert, Vinny Iyer,

bringing over 20 years of NFL expertise. He's going to give you a unique angle on the moves that no one else is going to give you. Get ready for your fantasy football draft with Locked On Fantasy Football. But I want to move forward. We talked about Traylon Burks. We talked about the right tackle battle and Dylan Radence and Nicholas Petit-Frayer.

Now I want to talk about Malik Willis. Okay? And a question here that I got from Ryan that I do want to answer real quick before we get into it is are you concerned about the run defense? Actually, after watching it get into it, is are you concerned about the run defense? Actually, after watching it back, Ryan, I'm not concerned about the run defense. A lot of the guys that we're getting, I mean,

Chance Campbell is overflowing. Jack Gibbons is overflowing lanes. Certain defensive linemen, I was kind of unimpressed by Naquan Jones out there. He kind of got moved around a little bit. Same thing. Hand had some good moments. Walker had some good moments. Murchison had some good moments. But at times, they just got moved out of the way on some of the delay handoffs by Tampa Bay. A lot of these guys aren't going to be playing a ton of real reps during the season. So no, the Titans run defense

will be fine. I'm not worried about that. But let's talk about Malik Willis. So everyone could tell you right now that one of the big things for Malik is he needs to step up in the pocket, climb the pocket. Okay. Well, what I want to talk about is not just doing the sliding up in the pocket and moving up in the pocket, but how it is accomplished. So if you go to my Twitter account at Tic Tac Titans and you look through some of the film clips that I put up, you can see that at the beginning of the game in the first quarter, Malik was consciously working on stepping up in the pocket. But what he was doing is he was sort of running up in the pocket. Okay. So I almost want to like stand back

right now and do it myself just to give you guys a visual, but think about your feet. When you're a quarterback, you want your feet one in front of the other. You know what I mean? With your hips turned, you're looking forward, left foot. If you're right-handed left foot in front of your right foot, as you're moving up, think about how you throw, throw a baseball. You need one foot in front of the other. You're not going to throw your best throws if your feet are parallel with each other, like you're standing straight, okay? You don't want to throw a baseball or throw a football like that. You want to have one foot in front of the other in an athletic stance moving forward with your momentum. That's how you're going to throw the best ball, okay? Well, one of the issues that I saw from Malik, especially you look at the Kyle

Phillips play is his feet are not in front of each other. Like they're supposed to be the left foot isn't in front of the right. His feet are next to each other and he's throwing the ball. Like he's like, you're just standing and trying to throw a ball. That's not going to produce the most accurate pass. And no wonder he was short on the throw to Kyle Phillips to the sideline because his feet were in line with each other instead of, well, in line sideways instead of in line forwards. You guys understand what I'm saying. Instead of his feet being north and south, they were east and west.

There we go. That's a great way to explain it. Thank you for allowing me to workshop my way through. But anyway, so what I was seeing is when he went to climb the pocket, yeah, I get that the offensive line wasn't great. I know, but there were opportunities within the pass protection to climb the pocket. And what Malik did was he did climb the pocket, but he did it in a way where instead of sliding forward with your feet north and south, he was running forward with his feet east and west. And what happens is even when you're climbing the pocket, if your feet are east and west while you're trying to throw, even if you've slid into the open spot, you slid forward

and you're in the open spot of the pocket. If your feet are east and west, you're not going to be able to throw an accurate ball. Now, maybe Malik Willis' talent allows him to get away with it sometimes, but consistently, that's not going to work. So here is how the correction was made. If you go back and you look at the touchdown pass to Chigaconkwo, Malik Willis climbs the pocket,

but what he does is instead of, oh, I need to climb the pocket. I'm going to run forward. Oh, now my feet are east and west and I can't deliver an accurate ball because my feet aren't tied to my eyes. Now what he did was he kept his feet north and south and slid forward in the pocket so that when the opportunity arose to throw the ball to Chigaconkwo, he didn't have to take extra time to fix his feet. His feet were already in a good position and it allowed him to instantly capitalize on the open man, fire an accurate strike in for a touchdown. Guys, that is in-game correction. And you know that the coaches had to go to Malik after the first quarter

because the two examples that I posted on Twitter are from the first quarter where he's climbing the pocket, but he's running forward. So his feet are east and west. When he gets to the open spot, he doesn't have time to readjust. He can't make an accurate throw from that position. So in-game correction. Yes, we talk about stepping up in the pocket, but it's more detailed than that. The footwork. Keeping your feet north and south in a proper throwing posture and sliding forward in the pocket

rather than running forward in the pocket. And everyone says on the coaching staff, Malik Willis is a quick learner. He takes what he makes mistakes. He turns them into positives. He tries to progress. He did that in- and it resulted in his best play yet as a Tennessee type. I mean, that is some micro level like issues that he's working on in game and then having

success after he corrects them. You can't run forward in the pocket and have your feet east and west. You must slide forward and have your feet north and south. For Jael, no. I was never a quarterback coach. I haven't coached. My dad was a coach though, so I picked up all those, but my dad was more of a defensive-minded coach, like a Rex Ryan type, if I'm honest with you guys, than he was an Andy Reid type. So, no, I'm not a quarterback coach or anything like that, but I have done interviews with Malik Willis' quarterback trainer,

Sean McAvoy, if you guys want to go back in the archives and check that out. Sean McAvoy broke down Malik Willis' development. He's trained guys like Deshaun Watson, Justin Fields. So that might be an interesting thing for you to check out if you don't believe it for me. So perfectly fine. But just go check out the film clips that I put up on Twitter.

I put out a lot of those on Sunday. I usually do a Tic Tac Titans film thread on Tuesdays or Wednesdays during the season. I do a rewatch Wednesday segment every week during the season, breaking down what I saw on in the NFL than I do. But the knowledge that I do have and that I can articulate to you guys, it just allows us to know what's going on a little bit deeper, even if we aren't in the locker room and in the film room. I'd like to say I have a high school diploma in film and stuff like that. And there are definitely people out there with bachelors and masters and doctorates in football. So I never try to oversell who I am,

but I just bring you guys what I'm seeing on tape and hope that that enhances your enjoyment of the team. I like to talk to X's and O's, baby. With that in mind, follow me at TicTacTitans on Twitter. Get it? The X's and O's. I know. I'm a cornball. I can't help it. I love football. But Kyle Phillips is the next Randy Moss. Good one, Miles.

We're going to get out of here on that. All right. I know Miles is kidding, but that's good stuff. All right, guys. I'll be back with you tomorrow. The Titans practice on Monday. So I'll be going live or just putting up a video on Monday night on YouTube. It'll be out for your Tuesday morning commute as well for the podcast crowd, breaking down everything that happened at practice and getting you guys ready for cuts on Tuesday. I'm going to be predicting cuts on tomorrow's show and previewing joint practices

against the Arizona Cardinals prior to the Titans' final preseason game of the year. Man, it feels good to be back. Football season is here. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.