Tennessee Titans 2024 Season Preview with Tyler Rowland | In-Depth Analysis

we're talking Tennessee Titans football on the ourlads football network here at arad's football YouTube channel I'm great dep thanks for tuning in and when we're talking Tennessee Titans football that means we're bringing him back again Tyler Roland Tyler how's it going I'm doing very good Greg thanks for having me on uh football is here it feels good I can't wait to see some more action this weekend and obviously as we make our way the regular season yeah you can check out Tyler he's got uh the locked on Titans podcast and I'm assuming you can get that streamed or on YouTube yeah it's everywhere basically yeah it's the way it is now real easy to make that convenient for everybody to check out audio video and all that kind of cool stuff so and you can check out our uh conversation that we had right around draft time uh that of course is still available on demand uh either here on the arlets channel or you could check out my Channel at primesports Network okay so uh let's tell you what let's talk about the preseason game I know a lot of starters didn't play but some did and there was some action so uh what was the good that came out of that first preseason game well I think the number one thing that stands out is the offense went two for two I mean it it wasn't beautiful they got a little bit of help from some special teams returns that put them in good position like the very first drive of the game they had a 63 yard kickoff return and then a 15 yard penalty immediately so the off defense was in in great position it was still a little ugly on that first drive even with the great field position but they did get that in for a touchdown with Will Levis quarterback sneaking and then the next Drive they did March it down the field and get another touchdown so I know it's preseason San Francisco didn't have all their starters out there on defense of course but for a new offensive system led by Brian Callahan will Levis going into year two all the new pieces on the offense that's what you wanted to see you wanted to see success and they scored two touchdowns on their two drives you can't really complain about that the offensive line really stood out the offensive line had you know if you go individually I just did a film breakdown on my film Channel at Tic Tac Titans on YouTube as well breaking down the performance of the offensive line in those two drives and there were individual moments of of of laps I guess you could say but overall the offensive line which is maybe the biggest question mark for the Titans going into the season they performed pretty well and and again it's early a lot of new faces a lot of young guys new offensive system but having success stacking performances I think that's going to be good for them as they go throughout the rest of the season and get ready for the regular season so pretty excited about what the first team offense was able to do for the Titans yeah let's go ahead and might as well use this time to uh pop up the arad's depth chart for Tennessee so this is what we have and you're talking about that offensive line leam of course being the first round draft pick uh scaroni from last year the big free agency Edition in cushion Berry at Center and Raiden uh is a kid that also is at the point in time and maybe even petite FR that these are guys on that right side that uh really need to step it up because it looks like from Center left they're going to be in pretty good shape so overall how has the line looked during camp at this at this point uh incl you know and definitely on that right side well I think there's been some struggles and I think most of those struggles have been on the right side now one thing that we have to take into account is the Titans do have a pretty talented uh front four on defense Jeffrey Simmons is one of the top three interior defensive linemen in the NFL in my opinion Harold Landry may not be an elite tier pass rusher like the miles Garretts and TJ watts and Nick boses of the world but he is a very good NFL rusher and then tandre sweat with having so much attention on those other two I just mentioned sweat has made some good plays in Camp as well so I think the Titans defensive line can be a little bit of a handful and when you're looking at a right side of the offensive line with Dylan Raiden and Nicholas P Farrer you know no matter how well they perform even if they perform well these aren't Elite starting offensive linemen on the right hand side like you're just hoping for League average play from the right side of the offensive line so there have been ups and downs but Nicholas P forer the Titans right tackle missed basically all of the summer workouts he just got back last week on Friday not even been a week and he's already been out there playing trying to get caught up to speed Bill Callahan the Titans offensive line coach even said like you know he's behind on everything he's trying to catch up he's trying to cram everything that they've been working on all summer because he was injured he wasn't able to participate so I think there's going to be a lot of growth from the Titans offensive line but obviously the big question mark on that offense just looking at the depth chart would tell you that is you know can those guys hold up their end of the bargain the Titans had sadique Charles set to be the starter at Right Guard and he's surprised ly retired last week just out of nowhere unexpected we even had an assistant coach on uh on Tuesday say yeah I called him and he just never called me back so he retired in the middle of training camp and ghosted all his coaches as to why and what was going on so that's obviously going to throw a wrench into things but I think Dylan Raiden is a capable player and he's going into a Mak Or Break season for him in his final year of his rookie contract so it's now or never so while the Titans offensive line I'm not expecting Elite play I think as this young group you know grows together throughout the next few weeks they can definitely be League average and if you've been watching the Tennessee Titans the last few years having a League average offensive line is like finding water in the desert so and you couldn't have asked for a better line coach as well and having Bill Callahan yep and so and matter of fact when we last spoke you talked about the trade for Leroy Watson of course he came over in the in a deal with Cleveland so Callahan was something he must like about this kid uh so is there any as far as the rest of the bench and some of the guys that of course are fighting for that final roster spot are there any guys that we should be keeping an eye on I mean Duncan is a draft pick even just from last year yeah I mean Leroy Watson is a little banged up right now he's expected to be back at practice this week but he missed the preseason game and I think he's fallen by the wayside and I think one of the realities here is the Titans went out and got garon Christian who is their backup left tackle as you can see on screen here with the depth chart and Christian was another guy who was in Cleveland last year with Bill Callahan and was actually ahead of Leroy Watson on the depth chart I think the Titans traded a seventh round pick for Leroy Watson because hey we're gonna take a chance and develop him it's a seventh round pick you know what are the odds we're gonna get somebody more intriguing with that seventh round pick in the draft we'll just go ahead and get Watson but I think the Titans bringing in Geron Christian kind of signals hey maybe Watson isn't holding up his end of the bargain on the other side Jon auku is a guy that was a starter at times until Nicholas PTI Ferrer came back I don't think he's going to be a starter but he's definitely had good moments in Camp and on the interior the name I really want to point out it's actually a project that I'm working on right now breaking down some of the tape from Saturday night is Andrew rupic Andrew rupic is uh was a free agent undrafted free agent in 2022 he was one of the most decorated D3 offensive lineman in college football history I mean the guy was incredible at lowlevel college football he gets picked up by the Titans as an undrafted guy works a little tackle gets moved into guard he played on Saturday night with the second string and he was absolutely phenomenal the highest graded offensive lineman in the game per Pro Football Focus On 30 snaps had an 87 grade so he was pretty good and will that translate to first string we don't know but I think that Andrew rupic is a guy who is pushing Dylan Raiden and you can see Andrew rupic as a guy who makes it in the starting lineup for the Titans some point during the season so again I'm not talking about them finding some gem some Elite player who's going to come in and be a pro bowl level player but if the Titans can just get League average play from the right side and then good play from the center to the left tackle spot they're going to be massively improved up front taking a look at you mentioned Levis so uh had his moments in the preseason game how has this off season been for him now that he's the man I I I think it's going great for him honestly I I don't have any reason to believe that anything negative has happened he's really kicked up his leadership role last year you come in you're the third string quarterback because Mike Vel is a caveman who doesn't believe in giving rookies a fair shot puts him behind Malik Willis which is just laughable to think about right now that Malik Willis was the second string quarterback for six weeks of the Season what a what a terrible job by Mike Vel to put his team in that position um playing the the best quarterback on the team is third string and the emergency quarterback just just absolutely silly old man caveman stuff from Mike Vel which is why I totally disagreed with the national reaction that it was a mistake to let him go it was a great move to let Mike Vel go but uh Levis has taken advantage knowing that he's the guy he's had a leadership role he took a lot of his wide receivers to Cabo for a week during the summer he's been in the building uh he's leading and that's a little bit different than being a rookie last year you know knowing that you're the guy knowing your first string just gives you a little more room to be yourself um he's really got to work on going through his progressions quickly getting the ball out quick not always looking to make that deep play down the field of course he has great arm strength absolutely great arm strength I think Dan Orosi from ESPN recently put Levis in the top six in the NFL in arm strength I think he might even be higher than that if I'm honest with you but he's got all the natural talent and he's got the intangibles that you want but you got to have the mental processing speed to get through what you're looking at out there get the ball to the right spot and in the preseason game on aturday night Levis showed that he has improved in that way he got through his progressions pretty quickly was hitting the check down for good gains you don't have to make the big play every time sometimes what's the saying you're never going broke taking profit so Levis needs to keep that in his mind and calibrating when to take the shot and when to just check it down and take your profit that's going to be an ongoing thing for him throughout his second year but I don't think you could be anything but impressed with Will Levis and if you saw that uh commercial on uh Tuesday for his new Mayo perfume from Helman you would see clearly clearly he's uh taking things up a notch this off season so excited to see that yeah and of course he's got a new coordinator too a new quarterback coach so uh it's never easy uh but that seems to be working out really well at this point and uh look this is really because right now the franchise with a second-year GM and a firste head coach it's a rebuilding job right now and uh but again it's the NFL and everybody wants these rebuilding projects to go a little bit faster if they can right um but overall and we're gonna get into it but just on this point uh it seems to me that Tennessee has the roster to be really either especially in this division either a last place team or a team that if Levis turns into a really qualified uh quarterback in this league in 2024 to a team that is uh battling for possibly first place so uh that's the kind of talent they seem to have uh do you kind of feel that way that it could either be a really long season or really fun season yeah if I'm honest with you I see their their kind of range is like seven to 10 wins I don't know that they're good enough to be better than 10 wins I think that would take a lot of things going like basically everything that they've done this off season going right is what that would take seven wins I think a lot of things would have to go wrong I don't see the Titans losing less or losing more than seven game or 10 games because last year they went six and 11 I just have a hard time believing they'll be as bad as they were last year with all the improvements they made but the problem is like you mentioned there are some big dominoes that will decide which way they go I think that will Levis is obviously the biggest one he's an X Factor if he does not take a step forward he makes some of the mistakes he makes L made last year then they'll probably be on the low end of that win total uh but if he does ascend and he becomes the version of the quarterback that Titans fans are hoping that he can be then they could hit that 10- win area I think JC leam who we talked about before at left tackle that's another big X Factor if leam comes out and really struggles as a rookie at left tackle it might be more the same for what the Titans have seen in the last few years with Dennis Dy in 2022 and then Andre Dillard in company and Jaylen Duncan and stuff that left tackle last season so if the Titans don't get better left tackle play and Levis doesn't take a step forward I don't think they're going to be able to be fighting for a playoff spot you know what I mean and then on the flip side on the defense you got a guy like tandre sweat who's a rookie who is already a starter on the depth chart he's already a guy who's expected to make impact plays and you know he's a rookie he didn't look absolutely great in that game on Saturday night it was his first action he didn't have Simmons next to him and Landry next to him like he normally does but the tandre sweat experience and what that looks like can the Titans stop the run and nickel can they get penetration with sweat on the field as a pass rusher I think those three players are going to have a major impact on what this Tennesse Titans football team will ultimately be able to accomplish all right let's uh take a look at those skill position players on offense and Hopkins uh even though he's out right now uh do you think he'll be back week one yeah uh I think when the injury happened the timeline was uh four to 6 weeks or something like that and it was about five weeks away from the regular season so unless DeAndre Hopkins has like a setback that leaves him on the long end of that timeline I think he'll be back uh and and ready to go even if he were to miss a game or two I think the Titans could withstand that I mean one of the big things for Titans fans this offseason that people have been excited about is how the wide receiver room is totally different you look last year before Hopkins was signed you got tayin Burks Nick Westbrook aen and Kyle Phillips as your starting wide receivers I mean that is right up there with the Giants as the worst wide receiver group in the NFL well now you have Hopkins you have Ridley you have Tyler Boyd and then you have Tayon Burks as a backup guy I think the Titans have the depth and the talent at wide receiver this year to withstand a Hopkins absence for a couple of weeks now they couldn't do it a whole season they need DeAndre Hopkins but a couple of weeks I think they could survive in that way tayin Burks definitely needs to step up though and this is his opportunity to do it but uh the depth at wide receiver and the talent at wide receiver is something that's one of the biggest bre breaths of fresh air for me as someone who not only covers the team but is a Titans fan and has been for a quarter of a century now like this is probably the most talented wide receiver room the Titans have ever had since I've been a fan so I think it's very exciting from that standpoint and they have the talent to withstand the absence of Hopkins but realistically I don't think he's going to miss much regular season time and and that's the expectation right now all right uh speaking of Burks uh we know this is a very important uh season for him so uh how's his off season been so far with the new staff and then they did draft someone as well in round six so uh how is that battle for the final spot at wide receiver G to look uh I would assume as long as Burks is healthy and showing some sort of uh uh strides that he's goingon to be fine uh but how has he been well I mean all indications out of Camp are that that TR is doing just fine now I wouldn't say that he's been spectacular like it we haven't heard a lot of oh Burks is making this play Burks is making all these plays you know he's doing the he's just kind of been out there but he looks to be in much better shape than he's been in the last two years I've been kind of critical of his commitment to football uh he doesn't really seem like a guy who loves football like other people do he hasn't you know it's funny because in previous years his first two seasons you know you'd argue hey he doesn't look like he's in great shape and the coaches will tell you he's in good shape and you know fans who are more on the Homer side of things will argue with you and tell you he's in shape and then year three they say oh he's totally changed his body he's in the best shape of his life so wait were you lying to us the last two years how does that work you know he can't last year you said that too so that can't be true um so you know you hear the classic allseason Trope of he's in the best shape of his life he does look like he is in great shape though as somebody who's covered him for the first two years of his career he looks like he's in Better shape but ultimately I think at wide receiver if you're going to be a player it doesn't take you until year three to show it so I'm not expecting a big year from tayin Burks I think he's solely he he reminds me a lot of like Corey Davis for the Titans Okay drafted in the first round overdrafted for sure but Corey Davis has never been a a game changer or a big playmaker he's kind of just your average wide receiver in the NFL you know and I I don't think Burks is special in any way but he could just be an average low-end starting wide receiver in the NFL make a career out of that but um in Camp they've said good things but we have not heard you know anything to make us think that tayin Burks is breaking out this year in any way I honestly think if the Titans have the opportunity once Hopkins is healthy and a team has injuries at the position I think they should trade tayin Burks if they can get a good deal for him but uh if they don't get a good deal like a third or a fourth round pick then just keep him for depth purpos is but I guess I'm just kind of man you got to prove it to me tayin Burks I'm not I have refused to get on the Trin Burks hype train I just don't think he has the the body control or the balance to be an elite receiver in the NFL he's kind of like a it's like a baby deer you know they're so long and they're so wide and they just kind of gallop around and almost look like they're about to fall down all the time that's how Burks looks out there he looks like he's about to fall down he doesn't have great body control doesn't look like he fits well with the speed of the NFL game and maybe all of that changes and I'll be wrong about it but I was already wrong once from believing in him when he was drafted I'm not going to I'm not going to fall for it again so he's going to have to prove it to me I'm sure uh I'm sure Burks and the team would really like it if he could become Corey Davis tell you the truth at this point in time right right right exactly yeah so um all right uh what about Jackson and uh who's gonna be fighting for that final spot uh in this unit well I think the top five is locked in I think Hopkins Ridley Boyd B and Nick Westbrook Aina who your average NFL fan who isn't a Titans fan may not know much about but he's just that classic utility wide receiver undrafted free agent out of Indiana been on the team for four years now he he blocks he always knows where to go he knows the Playbook like he is just your classic depth wide receiver now the problem is the Titans have had to use him as a starter in the last few years which is never where you want to be quite honestly but there's a joke in the Titans community that everyone calls him NWR Nick Westbrook a and the I stands for inevitable because you just can't get rid of him and he's always going to be out there on the field so I think those five guys are locked in the question does become and this is one of the big questions will the Titans keep six or seven wide receivers I personally would like to see them keep six and keep an extra tight end or keep a ninth offensive lineman or keep a fourth running back or keep Malik Willis as the third quarterback I I would prefer those because Kyle Phillips who was drafted in the fifth round in 2022 but has been a major disappointment in this first two years he's the best wide receiver of the guys fighting for that sixth spot but he can give you no value on special teams because he has The Yips with punt returns he started dropping punt returns in his rookie year he didn't get opportunities his second year and he dropped two punts and warm-ups on Saturday so he just he has The Yips as a punt returner which is something he did well in college and if you don't provide that value as a wide receiver sit it's going to be hard to keep you now on the flip side jaquin Jackson the rookie out of two lane brought back a a punt for 26 yards on Saturday night look fantastic has more speed than Kyle Phillips it's more of a deep threat out of the slot than Kyle Phillips and then kiaris Jackson who was an undrafted free agent out of Georgia from last year he brought back the opening kickoff 63 yards so whereas Kyle Phillips is the better wide receiver he does not provide the Special Teams value that a kiaris Jackson and a jaquin Jackson do so I think it's going to be hard for Kyle Phillips to hold on to that spot because again you're wide receiver six yeah you have to add value on special teams and Kyle Phillips just simply does not so if they keep seven I would say it's probably Phillips and jaquin Jackson but if they only keep six I don't think it's gonna be Kyle Phillips and I think it'll be between Karis Jackson and jaquin Jackson which I think jaquin Jackson the guy who was drafted this year ultimately would win out that battle yep makes a lot of sense and then uh tight end um okono and Wy so those are your two I know we talked around draft time that they could have used a blocking tight end I'm not sure Nick vanet is the guy but you tell me is that something they still need and how does that unit look well I think Nick vanet is that tight end three blocker type guy I don't think the Titans are gonna be you know the Titans are going to have a lot of three wide receiver looks I think they will mix in some two tight end stuff of course uh because they want to get you know some of their tight ends on the field as weapons and it gives you versatility in your formation but I think Nick vanet can fill that you know third tight end be out there be a blocker stuff like that I think he can do that really what I think is the conversation at tight end is I think Josh Wy actually becomes the starter and plays the most reps this year I think chika cono is the more talented pass catcher but Josh Wy is a more versatile guy so I just mentioned the Titans are going to play a lot more three wide receiver this year and when you play a three wide receiver for formation you need your tight end out there to be a guy that could put his hand in the dirt next to the offensive line and block and the reality is chika conqua is a small undersized tight end with good speed he's kind of a tweener between a wide receiver and a tight end and Josh Wy is a much bigger much stronger guy so I think Josh Wy the rookie out of Cincinnati from last year will actually jump over chicka cono in terms of reps and production because he just fits the offense better as more of a traditional why TI end where he could put his hand in the dirt and when you think of tight ends Josh Wy is more of your traditional tight end where chcka cono is more of that move tight end and I think the Titans will use them both but I think Wy will get the majority of the Reps all right that sounds good and then at running back paard is in and Spears uh H Haskins is the number three he talked about how well he's played on special teams so um not sure if to going four or three looks like that's definitely locked in there uh what do you think and this is also going to kind of wrap up the offense uh fantasy this is something I want to talk to you too about is uh first of all just for the Titans sake how do you think it's going to look Spears and power do you think it g be like a 50-50 type of split and then uh before we move on to the defense uh give us a little take on uh on some players that you think uh some fantasy fans out there that are watching you know who should they be zeroing in on well I personally play in some deeper leagues both of the leagues that I play in every year are 14 teams so to me Spears and Pard are both rb2s from that stance I think if you're in a smaller League like eight to 10 players I think they're bench options for you maybe Flex considerations but if you're in a 12 team to 14 Team league I think the Tony Pard and Taj Spears are startable players I think that they're going to rotate them and Brian Callahan actually talked about this recently he said he's got certain plays that he wants to use each guy in so it's like hey we're going to run this I got I want Taj in on that one hey we're going to run this I want Pard in on that one a lot of games they're just going to ride the hot hand too because their skill sets are so similar but I think from a fantasy perspective both of those guys are viable options and you could probably get good value on them because anyone who really believed in Taj Spears is probably a little you know sullied by the fact that they brought in Tony Pard probably like oh no they brought in Pard and people may overrate how much of an impact those things have I think both of them are viable players but when it comes to Fantasy I think the best fantasy player that you could draft from the Titans is Calvin Ridley I think that Calvin Ridley and will Levis are going to have a very special connection I think will Lev's arm strength with Calvin Ridley's speed is a perfect fit and I think even Levis hit hitting him on some underneath things and letting him do some run after catch stuff I think that'll be huge we saw it third and 10 for the Titans on Saturday night on their second touchdown Drive Calvin Ridley runs a short drag route stops in the middle of the field Levis hits him about eight yards Ridley makes a couple couple guys miss uses his speed to get to the sideline turns into an explosive 22 yard play so I think Ridley's skill set with Will Lev's skill set and what they paid Ridley and how they see him in this offense I think Calvin Ridley is is definitely the best fantasy option for Titans and if you are in a deep deep deep League or maybe even a dynasty League I think Josh Wy would be a good consideration as well yeah it sounds like you think Wy uh it's possible he could have a breakout season yeah in a in a sense I mean it's all about perspective last year he did little to nothing in his rookie year so a breakout season to me for Josh Wy could be 500 yards and three touchdowns with you know 40 catches but I definitely think he's capable of doing that he's going to be out on the field and the Titans are going to look to dump it off they don't want Levis holding that ball and taking sacks and I think dumping it off to the tight end dumping it off to the running backs that's going to make all of them fantasy viable again in deeper leagues they're going to be better for you but the running back specifically I think you got to draft them even if you're in a smaller League uh by the way if something were to happen to Spears or Pard for just even just a short period of time and uh one of them is on the field for you know a game or several games do they become the bcow or do you think based on the way the offense is they would just move say h Haskins in and now he has to maybe maybe do a 60 40 split or 7030 split um I I think that if one of the two running backs got hurt it would go more like 7030 okay uh I think that they would just feed whichever running back didn't get hurt more I think H Haskins we've talked about this H Haskins to me is more of a special teams player than a running back he doesn't have a lot of juice or wiggle as a runner so I think in the event that one of the T top two guys got hurt they would just bring Julius Chestnut in and be the guy like H Haskins would probably just stay on the depth chart as rb3 and then Chestnut would jump him to rb2 and be because Chestnut is a much better Runner of the ball but I think when you have Spears and Pard you would rather have a h Haskins as your rb3 for more versatility and variety than you would a chessnut who's a better Runner so I I but I'll be honest from from a fantasy perspective it wouldn't matter you know H Haskins and Chestnut aren't worth having on your roster period it would just be a situation where the running back that didn't get hurt now has much increased value and be somebody that you would probably want to go trade for or something if maybe the owner of them wasn't smart enough to realize what happened uh and I'm sure the fans you were just talking about Spears with po coming in I'm sure the fans you know they they like their own Spears is their guy uh and and the kid does have a lot of talent and you just do Wonder uh look this is gonna be great opportunity for him with Henry not here uh but whether he gets a 50-50 split or not he's basically gonna get his shot this is going to be his opportunity and it's not that bad that you get an opp you get a little bit of a break here and there because that could that supposed to keep you a little bit healthier not only for this year works but for the years to come yep yep that's the way it's done now and that's the way it should be done uh running back by committee you know what I mean and I one of the big things for me is I'm excited to see the Titans get away from that Bell cow back that you only get max value out if you give him 20 carries and you can't run everything in your playbook with him in the back field because he doesn't have the skill set like the Titans have two good running backs that can both do the same things so now every play in The Playbook is always available no matter who's out there at running back I I know that a lot of Titans fans don't like hearing it but I was ready to move on from Derrick Henry and move to this style of offense and this Approach at running back I do you know uh Christian yeah yeah how's it going Christian yeah absolutely that's what I I figured that oh it's Martin TX fan huh he must not have been very happy with what happened on Sunday night then okay hey I know my football but I I'll admit I don't know much about NASCAR so I do so uh he knows what I'm talking about all right anyway there you go it's it's been it's been a rough year for TRX okay so let's talk defense and you mentioned sweat and of course Simmons is is the man we know that right Joseph day was brought in uh how deep do they go into this uh three-man front uh do the top three guys play a lot uh and uh is there anybody that you know behind that you know the top three guys that uh we should be keeping an eye on well the Titans said that they generally only want to play their defensive lineman about five to six snaps Ms in a row before getting them a break because they want to keep them fresh but that I will tell you this is one of the big areas of concern for me with the Titans roster I am not um enthused by the backup defensive line uh I don't think that a lot of these names that you're seeing Marlon Davidson TK McLendon Quinton bohanna uh even Keandre Coburn I would have included in that before the game on Saturday I don't think that any of those dudes are absolutely NFL players I think a lot of them are practice squad level players and I think uh Titans defensive line coach Tracy rocker actually talked uh on Tuesday morning about he didn't say anything bad but he said hey we got what we got you'd like more depth of course but we got what we got and we're gonna make it working he didn't make it sound as bad as I made it sound but if you read between the lines he's telling you no he came over from Philly they had some of the best interior defensive line depth in the NFL coming over here and seeing the depth for the Titans it's just not there but the Titans could fix every spot on the roster in one offseason here so there has to be some holes and I think depth on the interior defensive line is poor but Keandre Coburn who was actually a teammate with dandre swat at Texas in college he had a very impressive game on Saturday night with the second string and the third string defensive line so I think Keandre Coburn has a good chance to stick throughout the season but teams are always going to churn the back end of their roster as Camp Cuts start happening and I could see the Titans bringing in some new blood on the interior defensive line once uh other teams start cutting players that they simply don't have the room to keep so that's one area that I'm not very excited about and I think that they should look to to add some players there as they start to churn the roster all right uh then we take a look at the pass rush and so a little bit of a hit with key suspended right that moves Rashad Weaver up and just overall which still hasn't been announced by the way the the key suspension has not become official yeah it was reported by Paul karski who's a local reporter for the Titans and Titans coach Brian Callahan said they expect him to miss time but that happened two or three weeks ago that that news broke and the NFL is still not confirmed that suspension so kind of waiting to see what's happening is he appealing behind the scenes to get a reduction you know obviously things are in flux with that but I'll come out and be honest with you I'm not very enamored by Ardon key anyways I don't think he's a starter in the NFL so you I can uh leave that there and and let you continue with uh how you want to pose this question but yeah I'm not a big fan of Ardon key yeah looks like and we talked about this the the pass rush as you mentioned you can't fix it all one off season and this is clearly one of those are is as well because Weaver I mean basically had one season where he had five and a half sacks he didn't do it his rookie season didn't have any last year and now his snap count looks like it may have to go up is there anybody else past Landry I should even say past Landry but again Weaver has some experience so I'll throw him in there is there anybody past Landry and Weaver that offers any hope yes Jaylen harrold so Jaylen herrold was the Titan seventh round pick out of Michigan uh he's had an impressive Camp Brian Callahan called his Camp excellent last week he's a guy who really needs to develop more pass rush moves but the Titans are going to want to be very versatile with their outside line linebackers which I think is a good move and Harold has the ability to drop into coverage he did some good things in coverage on his drops on Saturday night he's a guy who plays with great hustle and Jim Harbaugh called him the heartbeat of the Michigan defense last year and I don't mean to overrate some of this you know intangible stuff but Michigan's defense was one of the best college defenses we've ever seen and if this guy was the heartbeat of that at minimum he's somebody you know is going to work hard to get better he's going to know what his assignment is he's going to execute as best that he can and he's shown a little bit of pop in training camp so far so I think Jaylen Harold the seventh round rookie out of Michigan is a guy who honestly if I could rework the depth chart Harold should be directly behind Harold Landry is the backup Harold has already jumped over Caleb Murphy and jumped over Shane Ray as that fourth Edge rusher and I think that he will continue to jump and be ahead of Rashad Weaver he was ahead of Rashad Weaver on Saturday night Jaylen harrold was the starting Edge across from ardan key in the preseason game okay not Rashad Weaver so that's bad news for Rashad Weaver in his fourth year of his rookie contract it's disappointing but Jaylen herrold is a guy who he's got to refine his pass rush ability he doesn't have a lot of good pass rush moves to win in that way but he's goingon to be good against the Run he's gonna be able to drop into coverage he's gonna be a guy who factors on special teams for the Titans as well so Jaylen Herold gives me some hope but I'm not going to go farth enough to say oh this pass rush is good this pass rush the the opposite Edge rusher spot from Harold Landry is in disarray and the only thing that I will say is we talked about the interior dline we talked about the edge rushers well this next draft class coming out next year in 2025 loaded at pass rusher and on the interior defensive line and I think the Titans knew that so they spent other places and attacked other places knowing hey we can't fix it all this offseason let's wait for the dline and the edge for next year when the draft class is loaded with Talent at those spots all right so uh look at here that's not actually Ard and key but uh hilarious nonetheless what up uh okay so you think harell at this point should be on the depth chart a starter yeah if if if ardan key is not listed as the starter because of of the pending suspension I think that week one if if the key suspension holds week one Jaylen Herold will be starting out opposite of Harold Landry on the outside but I'll also say this I've been asking the Titans to make a signing there whether it be Carl Lawson whether I wanted Emanuel ogba before he went to the Dolphins I'm not as high on yanuk and gaway I think he's kind of a selfish pass rusher and that's why he has 10 sacks a year and can't find a spot on a team because people know he's just a selfish player but at this point he could replace ardan Key's skill set at minimum and help them pass rush on third down so I think the Titans could that's another spot like interior defensive line I could see the Titans adding some more pieces before the regular season uh inside uh you've got Kenneth Murray trying to find a new home and uh seems most of his better numbers appear to be as his only good numbers I should say appear to be that as a Blitzer uh other than that there's not much there as a first- round draft pick so maybe a new scene new scheme and all that gray was a fourth round draft pick and then of course Gibbons might be I'm not saying he's a star but Gibbons is probably one of the more underrated players I he's a solid player and solid player and not that many people know about him so uh eventually he'll be replaced uh at some point in time but Cedric gray I mean I'm a Cedric gray fan I really like Cedric gray in the draft I thought that he was going to be a really good player I'm not sure what kind of Camp he's had but uh what's it look like inside well he's a little bit of a slow burn for SED gray and he uh banged up his shoulder recently so he didn't get to play on Saturday night he was out of Camp uh practices at the end of last week but he's expected to come back soon it's nothing nothing major or anything like that but again I think this is a big weakness for the titans this is an area where they could stand to improve for certain now my football philosophy just as a roster Builder linebacker is like the running back of Defense to me I think that you can get away with maybe not spending a bunch of resources at inside linebacker you have a good pass rush and a good secondary I think that'll kind of carry carry the day for you but um Kenneth Murray's looked good so far here's what I will say about Kenneth Murray he's the coolest looking linebacker the Titans have had in a minute like he just looks cool he's ripped up got his got his jersey tucked up showing his six-pack abs got the arm sleeve on just has a a look to him he looks like an awesome linebacker but the question's going to be can he hold up and pass coverage will he have better awareness in his pass drops than he had now the Titans defensive scheme is going to be way different than what he ran when he was with the Chargers uh it was more of a read and react system with the Chargers where the Titans don't want you to read and react they just want you to get downhill right now you're gonna be blitzing up the middle you're GNA be going downhill as a hammerhead shark being a take- on guy so I think he's GNA fit better in the Titans defense but you know Jack Gibbons is just a borderline starter in the NFL I don't think that he's a confirmed starter I think gibbons's better role would be like a third linebacker on a team like your primary backup there so the Titans are hoping that when Cedric gray comes back maybe he can take steps Otis Reese as a second-year player with a ton of talent he's kind of a converted safety with good speed and ferociousness James Williams out of Miami as a seventh round pick very similar the out of the top five defensive grades for the Titans on Saturday night four of them were those linebackers Murray chance Campbell uh Otis Reese and James Williams so the linebacker spot is going to be something that takes advantage of the new defensive scheme but I don't think there's a ton of great talent there and I think the Titans are just kind of hoping that these pieces fit better in their defense than they fit in other places and then the secondary so aozi he comes over Diggs is uh is new of course and then need the big prize so this is a a lot of newness here including of course brownley as a draft pick how's it all looking uh with some of the you know pretty decent holdovers including mccre so uh this looks like a much more improved secondary it absolutely does now I would tell you this we don't we haven't got to see it a ton so lerus Sneed has basically the way I would point it is he has a degenerative knee and in Kansas City he barely practiced ever they they like he didn't participate in training camp he barely practiced through the week they just said sne play on game day that's all we need and he basically played like 100% of the snaps for Kansas City last year so he could play but the Titans have been using the same exact management plan that they use for him in Kansas City and that means he doesn't practice a lot in training camp so it's not and then aozi got hurt last week or two weeks ago and he was expected to be out for three to four weeks so we haven't got to see like the full secondary quandre Diggs hasn't practiced in anything like full speed yet really just kind of walk through stuff because he's so new so we haven't got to see this remade secondary in totality in any action that actually matters but I think we know what we're going to get from some of these veteran players who have been in the league for quite some time and it should be a lot better than what the Titans had in recent years so I don't have a lot to say on that because we haven't got to see it a ton but just the collection of names and what these players have accomplished before it should give the Titans a majorly improved secondary again compared to what they've had in recent years yeah I mean I didn't even mention Jamal Adams so uh right right and when he was signed my I wasn't super high on the signing because to me I'm like you're signing Jamal Adams and he's more of a linebacker he's more of a defensive end then he has a safety at this stage he cannot cover a traffic cone like this guy cannot cover anyone so what are we doing like the Titans need another safety but they need a safety not a linebacker well then they eventually bring in quandre digs who can be that other coverage safety and now you can use Jamal Adams as that dime package linebacker use him as an early down slot guy against the run against heavier formation so now that the Titans have brought in quandre Diggs I feel a lot better about the Jamal Adams signing and I think they've added the right depth at safety that they needed to looking at the the status of that group last time that we talked yeah and uh because those two guys play together so that is also going best friends too like very best friends and the Titans play the Seattle Seahawks in joint practices this week leading up to the preseason game so uh already I planned on one of my shows this week I'm gonna call it a Revenge game for those guys so they're expected to be back out at practice to where neither of those guys practice last week uh so excited to see what they can do now being back out on the field against their old team and speak you know speaking of injuries with the woozi of course uh speculation that that big ACL injury had a couple years uh Lo him down so any injury that he partakes in right now is definitely going to be questionable we got have to keep an eye on him uh for sure if something happens to one of those Corners who do you think is the first guy again because garer is that how you pronounce his name g yeah yeah yeah yeah he seemed to play a lot for an undrafted rookie last year uh and then you bring in brownley so I know Aver's numbers are pretty pretty weak fairly I just can't believe the whole story would fairly just his bio and the injuries I mean that kid has been through so much uh so talk about you know what kind of depth you have there at corner this is an easy answer to be honest with you Jarvis brownley Jr the fifth round rookie is going to be a steal he is going to be a starting level player for the Titans maybe right away he's been impressive in Camp he is like a lerus Sneed clone he he is physical feisty press you at the line of SC image he made a really good play on Saturday night where he kind of got beat deep behind him but he has great closing speed he has good like the game goes slow for him and it allows him to make plays on the ball um you know anybody who's played football or played in the defensive back field knows as a DB the idea is you punch through the catch triangle you got your hands here the triangle you got to punch through that to dislodge the ball that's the best way to do it and he was a little behind the receiver but he got in there punched his Red glove right through the catch triangle and knocked the pass away even though the guy technically had beat him and he's gotten rave reviews throughout Camp he was a guy who was super upset that he got drafted as late as he got drafted like he's talked about it he was extremely upset at first he wasn't even happy about being drafted because he was so upset he thought he would go in the third round he drops to the fifth and I think the Titans are going to benefit I think that Jarvis brownley Jr is a guy who could come in right away and be a starter for a woozi if the injury doesn't heal as quickly and if he just stays in his depth role as the CB4 I think the Titans are in a great spot at quarterback I really do think they got a player and Jarvis brownley Jr now I will say Caleb Farley three weeks with a hamstring right now he's hurt again I feel so poorly for the guy everything in his life mom dies from cancer house explodes killing his father like what a nightmare for that guy not to mention his career going down the toilet because of all the injuries he can't even get on the field improve it and get better because he's just always hurt unfortunately some people's bodies aren't made for professional football and it looks like that's the case with Farley I'm not rooting for anybody more than I'm rooting for Caleb Farley but it's just not it's just not gonna happen for him by the time that he comes back from his injury he'll probably be cut from the team so it's unfortunate but uh the other guy I would point out is Gabe Judy Loy the undrafted free agent out of Tennessee um I think he's kind of on that roster bubble but he's had some good moments in practice he got interception last week in practice I think he's somebody that the Titans may say hey rather than having Trey Avery back again who just consistently gets roasted every time he's on the field he got cooked again on Saturday night by San Francisco San San Francisco's backups why would we bring Trey Avery back when we know yeah what he is in a third year why wouldn't we just take a chance on Gabe Judy Loy a younger player and see what we can make him into so that that's what I would do but I'm really excited about Jarvis brownley Jr whether he has to start or not uh and then quickly on special teams so uh folk you know fathertime will eventually catch up with him but he just seems to just uh still you know be a steady presence there which is gonna be important on a young football team if all goes well for him again this season Stonehouse what's the latest there because he seemed to play well as a rookie had the injury last year do you think he's ready to kind of pick up where he left off as a rookie he been punting in practice they didn't put him out there on Saturday night they don't want him Tak Him Live reps yet but he's been punting in practice and simulated rushes and stuff like that so I think he will be ready for the season but you know at the end of the day he's a kicker you know he's a punter but he kicks the football he's not a guy who is used to getting hit and and it basically what I'm saying is it may be more of a mental hurdle for him than it would be other NFL players who are more you know regular football players I think you know for a guy like Stonehouse he's not small but he's just you wouldn't look at him and be like oh that guy's a professional football player you know he's a punter so I I think that he'll be back and ready for week one but they definitely got to test him out there in the preseason if they want to feel comfortable with it but so far so good after just a a brutal brutal injury last year because the Titans previous special teams coordinator truly was a [ __ ] like there's no other way around around it the Colts ran the same punt block play two times in a row and blocked the punt twice with the second one being the one that Stonehouse basically snapped his leg and tore his ACL on so um I think he'll be back I think he'll be fine he was a weapon for the Titans when he was good he's one of the best top three punters in the NFL when he's healthy so I think he'll be all right all right and overall special teams was it how was it last year cover terrible cover absolutely terrible the Titans have been a bad special teams unit for the entire basically the entire tenure of Mike rael's time there a few blips on the radar where they looked okay but Craig oerman was one of the worst coaches in the NFL it's it's really a travesty that Mike Vel was so blindly loyal to him for six seasons Seven Seasons It ultimately cost the Titans one of the best punters in the league and uh um last year and again another reason I'm so thankful that the Titans made the hard choice and got rid of Mike Vel he was bringing the team down wasn't developing the young players far too too loyal to his position coaches and his veteran players there are just so many whether it's statistical or anecdotal so many examples of Mike Vel hurting his football team and people who don't cover the Titans on a day-to-day basis don't realize it or know it or care quite honestly they're just Mike Rabel that's a good coach yeah he's a good coach but he's not the great coach that people backlight and he hurt the team over the last few seasons so very happy to see this new coaching staff and what they can do going forward with Brian Callahan at the helm yeah I I think he's one of those obviously he's like an old school guy and he's just one of those guys though that coaches that needs to be with the right foundation the right organization the general manager and the head coach they're together they have a philosophy that might work it's just the way the Titans organization is right now again the whole rebuilding like you were saying they need to they need to trust the young kids it's all about rebuilding and and developing yeah he did not want to do that no yeah Mike I I I compare it to you know Mike Vel is a guy who needs to take over like a readymade team that's ready to win I thought he would have been a good fit with the Chargers I thought he would have been a good fit with the Falcons this year you know he can take a veteran team who knows what to do and pilot the ship pilot the you know the ship to a place it needs to go but he's not going to take young players and make them grow you know what I mean so it's not I kept saying it's not that he's a bad coach Mike Vel is a good football coach but he wasn't the right coach for the Titans and I think they did hire the right coach in Brian Callahan Tyler great job I really appreciate this uh getting to uh hone in on my Tennessee Titans knowledge and which I have been so I appreciate that you've got the locked on Titans podcast which is how often can you check that out daily it's Monday through Friday uh every day but I mean last week I did Nine episodes not just five so I I I I'm the hardest working man in Show Business okay I every day double episodes with the film Channel at Tic Tac Titans over there I'm always putting out film videos too so uh you know I may not be the most talented guy in the world I don't have the college degree and blah blah blah BL but I won't be outworked okay mentality there you go Tyler great job thank you we'll talk to during the season hopefully yep thanks so much Greg look forward to it you got it we'll look out for you there on the podcast and also want to remind everybody to subscribe uh and uh check back with us uh when we talk college football tomorrow we've got some college football interviews couple of big 10 teams Ohio State and Oregon we're gonna be talking about Go Buck baby go buck on let's go oh I okay very nice you seen that yeah I see it I see it I got my puke back next to me ready to go that that tide might start to be this might be the year it kind of turns back again it's very possible yeah yeah because the cheater left that's why the guy who cheated for four years to win now he's gone because he can't get he can't get in trouble anymore so he's like yeah I cheated so what you know and he's out of there so yeah we hopefully it turns back because I'm I'm about sick of losing to Michigan personally well has Tennessee played the Chargers this year uh yes I do believe they they do play the Chargers so that'll be an interesting match up you'll be looking forward to that one then I'm sure right thanks Tyler thanks everybody for checking us out here and we'll see you next time on the ourlads football network