April 23, 2025 • 33 mins
Titans Radio's dynamic draft duo of Rhett Bryan and Dave McGinnis give Amie Wells their lists of top prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft on the OTP.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
This is the OTP. I'm Amy Wells and I am
joined by our Titans Draft Wizards coach Mac and Rhett Brian. Guys,
I am so happy you're here.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I thought you might like the Wizard Pharaoh.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
See see that was a good one. Good job, Brett.
I appreciate you leaning in there. Really, you guys are
our experts and we are in the final day of
our draft series. So today is a big day because
it's the final installment and it means we're wrapping things up,
and it also means that we are that much closer
(00:48):
to the draft, which is very exciting. And we're talking
about running backs and we're talking about quarterbacks. So there's
a lot of excitement, a lot of things to get to.
But before we start, I want to make sure to
let everybody know that if this is the first one
you're catching, it's okay. If this is the very first
time you are encountering this position preview series, no problem,
(01:13):
we got you. You can go back and listen to
all of them, and you want to, because there's a
lot of good information there, a lot of things that
will help you know, hey I've heard that name before,
or hey I like this person when you hear their
name called during the NFL Draft. So head on over
to Tennessee Titans dot com. You can find it there,
(01:34):
or you can go to YouTube, go to the Titans
YouTube page, or wherever you get your podcasts. That's also
an option download, like subscribe. All of that out of
the way. I'm really really excited about talking about these
position groups today, especially running backs. I think that there's
a lot of good stuff to talk about in the
running backs group, and I feel like the Titans specifically
(01:57):
always seemed to stumble upon some sort of a diamond
in the rough when it comes to running backs. So
there might be a special affinity for me because I've
been affiliated with the Titans organization for so long and
I feel like running backs are kind of what we do.
So I'm interested to hear your guys' list of people
to watch for top names associated with running backs, Mac,
(02:22):
do you want to get started?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Ashton genty from Boise State, Well, yeah, five eight and
a half two eleven nine in a quarter hands twenty
nine and a quarter arm length wingspan of seventy five.
First of all, just those numbers I gave you. He's
a very low built guy. He's got a low center gravity.
He's a very sturdy guy. His production in twenty twenty
four was historic. He's got tempo, he's got patience behind
(02:43):
the line of scrimmage, sets up blocks. Doesn't matter whether
you're running a gap scheme, whether you're running a zone scheme.
Vision for running backs is something that you always look for.
He's got elite vision. An elite vision is being able
to anticipate. You know a lot of the drills that
they do at the combine that relate to this. They're
moving dummies and they have to go over and get
distracted and move dummies as to where they're going to be.
(03:05):
That's really huge. You don't see many bad decisions are
missed reads with him with the way that they're blocking.
He's got a devastating stiff arm. I mean, he can
punch you in the face and put you down. Contact ballance.
You'll hear both Rat and I talk about contact ballance
for running backs. It's big because they're gonna get banged
around at the line of scrimmage and they're gonna have
(03:26):
to be able to bounce off of the bounce off
of the contact. He's got that. He's a good pass blocker,
which it's very seldom coming out of college that you've
got good pass blocking skills.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
He's a quick processor.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
He hasn't been used much in the passing game. You
just don't see that a whole lot. In twenty twenty
three he only had one drop. Now he's not thrown
to and over abundance of times, but I mean, he
can do that. So impressive it really is. Now he's
got nine fumbles over two seasons when you look at it.
So I talked about it. They don't use him much
in the past game. So his route tree, he's gonna
(03:59):
have to learn that when he comes into the league.
He's a guy that is going to be a workhorse
back for you, and he's a guy who's probably going
to play for.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
A long time for you.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Caleb Johnson from Iowa six one two twenty five, nine
to five eighths hands, he's got seventy eight inch wingspan
four five seven in the forty. He's not a burner,
but a one six two ten yard split. He's got
good size, you know, for a lead back. He's a decisive,
especially outside zone runner. His vision is really good. He's
really adept at cutting back off of the outside zone,
(04:31):
which is big. He's got efficient movement, he's got patience,
he's got good timing on a gap scheme. A gap
scheme is when you're going down, down, and around, you've
got to give your your blockers that are going in
front of you, that are pulling time. So his patients
timing out with those guys up in front of him,
good awareness. He's got good angles in pass Pro, zero
fumbles in twenty twenty four, no fumbles, great ball security.
(04:54):
His top speed is average. He's got a below average
burst through creases. His suddenness and his a loosiness to
shake in the open field is very average. And he's
not you know, we talked about oily hips. That's not
what he is. He's more of a power runner, straight
up runner. And the thing that happens with him sometimes
is with the pass protection.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
And all these guys in college are like this.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
They're they're a little bit unsure at times because they're
not involved in protection a lot because it's a lot
of five out scheme stuff and they're normally either one
of the five out. But Caleb Johnson from Iowa, he
will be drafted somewhere in the meat of this will
be a good back. Quinn Sean Jenkins from Ohio State.
Ohio State has two really good running backs. Htt is
(05:38):
going to take care of the other one since we're
a tag team here. But he's six foot two, twenty
one seventy six inch wingspan, four to four eight in
the forty a one to five to one split.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
What we talked about.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Anything in the fives for the ten yards split is
really good. Thirty eight and a half vertical jump, eleven
foot broad jump. This is an explosive dude. He's an
ideal build for a power back, powerful downhill run, stiff
arm again. I love his stiff arm, physical back. He's
got above average explosiveness to me. Uh, He's got good
patience at the line of scrimmage, which these guys have
(06:10):
to have. One fumble in two seasons. One fumble in
two seasons, which is really good. He's got above average
hands on open targets. His breakaway speed four four eight
that's not elite, but he can. He can get away
from some people, but I mean it's not it's not
in that upper tier. His wiggle in his footwork, he's
more of a straight line power guy. His jump cut ability,
(06:32):
I would I would put it on the average jump
cuts or those those one step cuts that you make sideways,
you know, on a dime. His jump cut ability is
about is about average. But to me, I mean, this
guy is going to be of quality back in this
league just because of his power, his balance and his
in his in his strength. I like what he does.
The other guy I want to throw in there. This
(06:53):
is this is kind of my kind of my wildcat
basial tooting okay from Virginia Tech. Now he didn't start
out at Virginia Tech. He was He started out at
North Carolina A and T five nine two oh six.
That's about the size of some of these guys. Nine
inch hands, arm lengths twenty nine and a half, seventy
five wingspan, forty yard dash four three two ten yards
(07:16):
split one four nine wow. Vertical jump forty and a
half inches, broad jump ten feet ten WHOA. This guy
is an explosive package. He really is. He is a
home run threat with elite speed. You see that on tape.
He can press the line of scrimmage and he's got
he's got a great burst contact balance, he can lower
(07:39):
his pads. He explodes into contact at five nine two
oh six. He's he's got a lot of punch, you know,
with his vertical jump and with this broad jump you
can see the lower body strength and explosion into contact.
He's got elusiveness, he can shake guys in space. He
improved his receiving skills. I think he'll be fine with that.
He needs to learn how to more identify his protection responsibilities,
(08:03):
but that will come. He's had nine fumbles over the
last two seasons, but he's got a compact build. His
overall size is well below average. He was mostly used
because of his speed on outside runs Amy and so
he's a little bit unproven working between the tackles. But
if you're looking for somebody later down in this draft
(08:23):
that you that you're going to bring into your camp
that may make an impact. And I say with this
about Basiltooton, whoever gets him and gets him into their camp,
it's gonna be hard to get him out.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
That's quite the recommendation right there. Just I mean saying
that this is a guy who can come in and
might make an impact right away.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Well, no, but he's gonna make it. I'm trying to
help you here.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I appreciate that. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He's gonna make it hard to pass on him to
get him out of the building early.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Yeah, he's first wave of cutting.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Now there's enough there that you're going to say, and
and the running back coach is gonna have to stand
up for him saying, I mean I've done it before
with smaller linebackers, saying if I got a vote.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Let's keep him a little longer. M Steven Tullick was
a guy like that here it worked.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, that turned out. Okay, Rhett, what is your list
looking like?
Speaker 4 (09:14):
So there's another name he missed, Ashton Genty from Boise State,
and that's usually the first back mentioned in this group
of backs in this class. There's another one that I
started to hear and read more about this guy as
some teams maybe having him as running back number one
on their boards, and that's Omaron Hampton from North Carolina.
(09:34):
O Marion Hampton just under six feet, two hundred twenty
one pounds, hands, nine and three eights, wing, seventy five, armed,
thirty and a half and o'marion ran four four six
and the forty one to five to four in his
first ten thirty eight inch vertical leap ten ten broad
eighteen reps at two twenty five four star recruit out
of Clayton, North Carolina and a dynamic runner, had a
(09:56):
great twenty twenty four. You're talking about a guy that
had two thousand and thirty three all purpose yards, sixteen
sixty on the ground with fifteen touchdowns on the ground,
three seventy three out of the backfield with two more
receiving touchdowns. And he had some special teams value if
you so decided, because he did return kicks as a
freshman when he was at North Carolina freshman year in
twenty twenty two. I'd lead off with him. Because people
(10:18):
talk about Ashton Genty being taken in the first round.
I think there's a very good chance at O'maron Hampton
as a first round pick at some point. Another guy
I'm real bullish on that I really like, and he
had the other of the two Ohio State running backs
in Quinshawn Judkins. This guy never changed his demeanor or
his approach or his work when Quinshawn Judkins transferred Portal
into Ohio State, and they were the yin and the
(10:39):
yang of that offense on the ground. And that's Traveon
Henderson Traveon Henderson five to ten and one a two
oh two hands, nine and a half thirty three quarter
inch arms, seventy six and one eighth inch wingspan. Trayveon
ran four to four to three in the forty one
to five to two in the first ten thirty eight
and a half inch vertical leap. And I'm bullish on
(10:59):
him because both these guys are gonna make good, good
players for somebody. But this guy at least one hundred
scrimmage yards and three of Ohio State's four college football
playoff games. Wow, big plays and big games. But he
is number one in this running back class and three
different things. Seven point six yards per touch in twenty
twenty four. There's not another back in this draft class
(11:21):
that did that. Fifteen percent of his runs gained fifteen
yards or more, explosive plays fifteen percent of the time,
number one in the running back class. And then the
other one that's really important, six hundred and sixty seven
touches in college football, zero fumbles.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
So I start with those two, and then I finish
with certainly somebody that everybody knows in the great State
of Tennessee, and that's Dylan Sampson from the University of
Tennessee five eight and a half two hundred pounds, eight
and three quarter inch hands, thirty and a half inch arms,
seventy three inch wing thirty five inch vert ten to
four broad thirteen reps at two twenty five and did well.
(11:57):
I think he ran into four fours at his pro
date University of Tennessee in Knoxville. But you're talking about
a guy that did it really well against the best.
You're talking about a guy that in twenty twenty four
and he's a north and south runner and man he
can hit a gear five point eight yards per carry
and twenty two rushing touchdowns in the Southeastern Conference that
(12:17):
ain't chopped liver Nope. So he's got a chance to
get to get drafted. And Dylan Samson is probably more
He's a night two maybe late night two guy. And
then the one that I think everybody fell in love
with in the college football playoffs is Cam Skataboo from
Arizona State five nine and a half two nineteen nine
and three eight inch hands twenty nine seven eighth inch
arms seventy three and seven eighth inch wingspan thirty nine
(12:41):
and a half inch vertical oh ten three broad and
what he did to college football playoffs against Texas. He
was a one man gang offensive MVP of that game,
one hundred and forty three yards on the ground, ninety
nine through the air through a forty two yard touchdown pass.
And he has the most forced miss tackles behind hind
Ashton genty See second in college football behind them with
(13:04):
one hundred and two forced miss tackles. What you're getting
with Cam Scattaboo is you're gonna get a football player.
You're gonna get a guy that cares, cares about his teammates,
and can produce when it's time to produce. I like
all these guys, but this is a rich position in
this draft with value throughout. It is.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
And it's also interesting because it feels like there's a
lot of kind of pick your flavor within that, a
lot of different players who can do a lot of
different things and can contribute to offenses in different ways.
So it's all about a team's preference at that point.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Right, it's a perfect observation. That's exactly what this group
of running backs is. It's it's not a one size
fits all, But to your point, that is exactly what
this crop of running backs is.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I think it's an exciting time to be watching this
draft class, especially in Day two, Day three, with these
running backs, I think it's gonna be I think it's
gonna be fun to watch. Any ret nuggets that I
passed up, anything that we.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Miss let me just say this about Samson before we
turned the page.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
He was the engine for Tennessee's offense this year. Wasn't
the quarterback, It wasn't the receivers.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
This dude.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
This dude was the dude week in and weekend.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
When he got sparked, he tough.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
He was the engine this year. This is what you
know for for big plays, for consistent play, and for touchdowns.
This was the guy this year for their offense.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
There were a couple of teams that had running backs
who were the real engine of their offense. Is that
trend we're starting to see? Are we getting away from
some of this flinging it all over the place business,
and maybe we're getting a little more running back centric.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
No, it's just the fact in a word, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I'm losing today.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
I'm losing the other part of it, though, is you
hear a lot of these backs. We're talking about our
receivers out of the backfield. So there's three down players
in a lot of cases. True, and listen, Ohio State
was loaded and they won the national championship. But I'm
not saying they wouldn't get there without these two. But
the two backs and Quinn Shawn Judkins and Traveon Henderson
(15:07):
a massive help. Yep.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah, well, well, running backs are still I mean, let's
just you know, the greatest example in this league to
show that they're still valuable is the Giants probably regret
let Sakwuon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Probably there's a chance there's a chance they wish they
hadn't done that.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Yeah, that was the difference in hosting the Lombardi than
from what and Philly has a really good team.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah, that made them a great team.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Yeah. Yeah, there's a chance the Giants would like that.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
One back won't get it back.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Nope, Sure we'll.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
This summer seat Geek has your ticket to the best
live concerts in Nashville at Nissan Stadium. See Geek has
the best seat Your seat for an unforgettable summer. From
Rock Royalty to Rap Superstars R and B to country
find it All on Seat Geek, the official ticketing partner
of Nissan State. Little Caesars is the official pizza partner
(16:02):
of your Tennessee Titans. Download the Little Caesars app and
get your favorites delivered today.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Delivery fees apply. Now back to the OTP. Let's turn
the page to quarterbacks, Max, I want to hear your list.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Sheder Sanders from Colorado six one and a half two
twelve nine three eights hands this guy when you put
the tape on. His short and intermediate passing is surgical.
The guy's really accurate with that. His deep misses are
usually underthrows where the wide receiver can work back, and
he's got a good release. It's concise, it's compact. He's
(16:41):
a touch passer. When you throw the fades and the
nine routes, he throws a bucket ball, which means he
can drop it down into the bucket with an arc
on it.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
He's comfortable attack in the middle of the field.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
You can tell that he was raised with somebody that
understands how defenses play. His dad, I mean, he he
gets it, he does it panic, He's got good instincts.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
He's creative outside of structure.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
He knows the limits of his arm strength, and you
can tell that he doesn't force throws he can't make.
He showed signs during the twenty twenty four season of
manipulating the pocket and working up into it. Okay, now
doesn't have just a killer arm. The thing that he
lacks sometimes is the elite athleticism to escape a collapsing pocket.
(17:27):
And let me just say this that Offensis line, with
all due respect to every human that played up there,
it collapsed a lot. And he had he was It
was a lot of self preservation. He holds the ball
sometimes a little too long. Their spread offense, it simplifies
the Reds to finds coverage pre snap pretty easy. But
this guy, Shdr Sanders is by no means an empty
(17:49):
chair at all. And here's the other thing you've got.
You got players that are raised in this league, this level,
in this league, they're raised there around it. He's been
in locker rooms since he could since he could walk.
It's not too big for him. You can tell that
he's not one of those deer in the headlight guys.
And you know, moving from Jackson State to Colorado, clearly
you're moving up in competition. None of this stuff owes him.
(18:12):
This is a very mature guy. As far as on
the football field.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I think that there's also the business side of it,
the attention side of it. I think that some of
those things that are harder to evaluate. How a guy's
gonna respond when he's the guy of a big program.
I think you already have the answer to some of
those questions, and a guy like Shudar Sanders, whereas with
other guys, you don't know how they're going to react
(18:36):
because they've never been in that situation before.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Tyler shuck sho U g H it's shuck.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well, sure it is.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Louisville six four seven eight two nineteen nine and a
quarter hands thirty two inch arm link the only quarterback
that ran at the combine four sixty three. He's an
older player. He's had some injuries. Let's talk Let's talk
about that. He was healthy in twenty twenty four. He's
got prototypical size, he's got good mobility, he's got a
massive arm. He could push the ball down the field
(19:04):
with accuracy. His tape when you start watching him, you
could see the impressive throws that he makes. And I
sat with some of the Louisville coaches in the Bowl
for a couple of days. They say he's nothing but
a really good leader. He's one of the guys. He's married,
he's got children, but he's still one of the guys.
Lowest pressure and sack rate in power for he handles.
He handles pressure. So got good mobility for a size.
(19:27):
That's why he wanted to run to show hey, look
here I am. He can make throws on the run
if he needs to. We saw him throwing from in
the pocket at the Senior Bowl, which which is good.
You can see that on tape. He can also process
because he's an holder, he's a more mature guy, can process.
He led the FBS with twenty four throwaways. You know,
it's gonna be hard to sack this dude. His precision
on quick inside breaking routes, you know, I mean, and
(19:49):
there's some mechanics there that I mean. I'm not a
quarterback guru, but but you can you can, you can
fix that a little bit. Sometimes he'll stown his first
read a little bit long. But he's an interesting, interesting aspect.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
And the medical checks on him. Mac talked about him
having injuries. He didn't have any catastrophic things that would prohibit,
you know, like to throw a arm or whatever. But
in three years at Texas Tech, had three consecutive seasons
of season ending problems collar bone and twenty one and
twenty two broken leg. In twenty three transfers plays with
Jeff Brohm at Louisville. Puts together a nice year and
(20:21):
here he is.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And to his point, those broken bones might be white. Well,
it might be a little bit. Why he's a little
bit sacked conscious down too.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Yeah, yeah, someone, but it's not like he had, you know,
a rotator cut for you know, anything with his throwing
and nothing major.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I don't want to get sacked if someone broke my
collar bones, like get out of here, don't touch me, please.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
You'd be too fast and a lucy.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I'm really fast.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
I've always thought about you, very lucy.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Kyle McCord from Syracuse.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
This is this is the next thing I'm gonna talk about.
Six three two, eighteen and nine and a half. He
led FBS with big time throws. I mean, this is
this guy. He's very accurate, he's a ball placement's good,
he's comfortable executing on the move. He can anticipate guys
coming open, which is critical. You can't wait for him
to be open to throw in this league. He goes
through his reads very, very quickly. He's got toughness, he's
(21:12):
got poised. He can make his body hit a lot
of different angles to throw, which is good. He's got instincts,
but those are the pluses. The minuses are. He led
the FBS with twenty four turnover worthy plays. Decision making
needs to be better. He'll tend to lock onto his target.
Sometimes he retreats out of the back of the pocket
too much, which a lot of these guys in colleges do.
(21:33):
That's not the way to go, especially in the National
Football League, because dudes chasing you are faster. Keep your
eye on Kyle McCord from Syracuse. It's going to be interesting, mac.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
How much harder is it to evaluate quarterbacks than maybe
any other position?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Really hard, and it's getting harder, just because we've talked
about this on previous OTPs with a transfer portal. When
I was evaluating Jake Plumber when I was the head
coach at the Cardinals, I could watch all four years
at Arizona State in the same offense. Now, when you're
watching them go to different places, and especially especially with
(22:08):
the twenty hour rule, there's not a lot of time
to be able to perfect a lot of you know,
a lot of techniques and stuff. And the quarterbacks are
transferring because they want to play, so you really have
to dig into the different places they were. We've talked
about this, the different environments that they're in. So it
makes it a real, real challenge.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, it's it's definitely a challenge. And when you're trying
to find the guy who's going to be leading your offense, think.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Of the top two right, top two quarterbacks right now
on this draft, cam Ward Saduur Sanders. How many places
that they both played in their career. Cam Ward played
in three, yeah, Sanders played in two.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah, that's a lot. Rhett, who's on your list?
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Let's talk about cam Ward because that leads into that
perfectly zero star recruit out of Texas. Incarnate word is
where he started. He went to Washington State in the
transfer portal, then a year in Miami. In twenty twenty four,
finalists for the Heisman Trophy forty three hundred and thirteen yards,
thirty nine touchdown, seven interceptions. The thing that he has
worked on cleaning up through his career is Turnovers at
(23:09):
fumbles is his thing. He's got over thirty of those
in his career, but he's gotten a little better at
that at each stop. His measurements of the combine six'
one and five eighths, two nineteen hands, nine arm, thirty
and five eighths, wings, seventy five and three quarters. And
the thing that is going to stand out about him
is he doesn't have a cannon arm. He's got a
(23:29):
good arm, but it's the delivery. He's got a side
arm delivery. Played a lot of baseball as a youth,
and so there's some of that in there. And he's
not like super quick, but he can evade, he can move,
he can get out of the harm's way and move
the chains. Probably the top quarterback prospect in this draft
if you're, you know, arguing about him or Shador Sanders.
(23:50):
His frame and his build is a lot like a
guy that the Titans then the Oilers drafted way back when,
and Steve McNair. He's built kind of like him. Seems like,
as of late on favorite to be the first overall pick,
whether the Titans do that or they trade it to
someone else. So we'll see film at eleven on that.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
The thing about him is, you know we talk about
Gumba be likability for Edge Rusherston. This guy's an elastic dude.
I mean, I went back and looked at my right
up and you know, I keep all these notebooks on
what I said about Mahomes coming out of Texas Tech. Yeah,
this guy's got a lot of that in him. Elastic,
off platform throws. Not a super twitch athlete.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
But he can evade.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I mean, he's just loose and he's got he's got
a major league shortstop arm. He's an interesting guy, especially
with the way offenses are played now. Very interesting dude,
he really is.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
And Max's not saying he is. Patrick ma Holmes is
one of those. But there's some traits there that are
like that. And certainly the it's not the wind up,
over the top delivery. It's the quick flip flick of
the wrists. Like he said, like he's a major league
baseball shortstop.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
He's off platform guy.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
I mean, And then I went back when I was
when I was doing Mahomes. This has nothing to do
with this year, but it does, because everything has something
to do with something. You know, when you're evaluating players
if you get a big enough roller decks. You can
recall when I was doing Mahomes, what I wrote was,
he reminded me a lot of the off schedule plays
and the off platform plays of a quarterback that we
(25:19):
all know, that we all know in love with the Packers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
That play at Southern Miss at FARV.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
He reminded me of him a lot off platform, a
little bit, a little bit unpredictable, a little bit non conventional,
but the ball got there and he just made plays.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, that's I mean, quite the comparison. Who else she
got RTT from.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
Old Miss Jackson dart at sixty two and a quarter
two twenty three hands, nine and a half, thirty arms,
seventy three wing over ten thousand yard, seventy two touchdowns
in his career with Old Miss really good twenty twenty
four season thirty eight seventy five twenty five touchdowns, ran
for four point fifty two and three more. Some mock
drafts that have him sneaking into the first round, which
(26:02):
is quite possible because the one thing that coach Max
taught us, there's the draft and there's the quarterback draft.
In it's just a different thing. We'll see what happens there,
but he's certainly someone you should be aware of, and
of course most Southeastern Conference fans and Titans fans know
who Jackson dart Is Will Howard, Ohio State Buckeyes, quarterback
of the National Championship Buckeye six two and a quarter
(26:23):
two twenty three hands, nine and a half ran a
four to three three shuttle seven to one three three cone,
thirty one and a half inch avert nine to four
broad really orchestrated that offense well throughout the year and
certainly in the big games where it mattered the most
in the playoffs, and did a very nice job there.
And then, lastly, Jalen Milroe, while we're talking about Southeastern
(26:43):
Conference players from Alabama six to one and seven eights
two seventeen nine and three eights inch, hands, seventy seven,
almost seventy seven wing. That's a guy that is an
interesting prospect with dual threat properties to him playing in
a big program like Alabama.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Well, it's interesting that you mentioned that there's the draft
and then there's the quarterback draft, because to this point
we haven't really mentioned that yet. How big of an
impact do these quarterbacks have the potential to have on
the main draft.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
This part of it is held true since a draft started.
If you need a quarterback, regardless of where you've got
anybody else ranked on that board, you're going to get in. Yeah,
that's why it is so true. And you know when
I first came in here, Ret and I started doing
the draft. You can't lump the quarterbacks in with the
other positions. So they're always going to be their own,
(27:40):
separate entities of impact. I mean they just are now.
Wherever they're taking clearly because it's a linear draft has
a effect on the other positions.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
But there are two distinct drafts.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Take your quarterbacks out and rate them in a different
category because they're separate from the other people.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Because it's a different thing. You cannot have a football
team if you don't.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Have a quarterback.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Well, you can have one, just not a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
No, that's true.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
An expensive rugby team is what you say.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
You got a highly paid rugby team.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
In terms of numbers in this year's draft, I think
the cam Ward, shudor Sanders, maybe Jackson Dark two to
three quarterbacks could affect this draft in Night one. The
rest of it will have to see.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Yeah, that's a fair point.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
It's gonna be so much fun to watch just does
everything unfolds. Hey, Titans fans, with a Kroger Boost membership,
You'll score big with double fuel points, free delivery, and
lots more. Go to Kroger dot com slash boost for details.
Kroger the official grocer of the Tennessee Titans. Tight nu
(28:46):
home is the forefront of all we do. It's why
we're so committed to caring for the places and spaces
in which we work and live. Ashley, the official furniture
provider of the Tennessee Titans. Now back to the OTP, Rhett,
did we blow by any Red Nuggets? This is your
last chance to dance, my friend. Our next stop is
(29:07):
the NFL Draft.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
I'll have more Nuggets for draft covers.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Last chance, last chance. Today, I'll have a dance.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
I will have more Nuggets for draft coverage on Titan's radio,
and I'm looking very much forward to that with the
two of you, for sure. I like what he said
about cam Ward though, just he doesn't have this traditional
cannon arm, but the way he delivers it, he can
sling it in his own way. That's an interesting thing
to watch because there are some Mahonian type traits there.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Mahonian, you realize.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
The discrepancy on evaluation of Mahomes when he came out.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I believe it was wild.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
It was really really wide stretched.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
But that's that's why Andy Reid and Mike Burganci who
was there, Yes, sir, they had a number one pick
that they had traded for and Alex Smith already there,
so they knew that they were were gonna sit this dude.
But I can firmly remember up in the up in
the press box, you were on the field at the
preseason game when Mahomes went in against the Titans in
(30:08):
the fourth quarter, and so you know, we're watching and
all of a sudden, you now it's time for you know,
for everybody else to start playing. That they put him
in the game and he made a couple of those
off schedule throws with.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
That, and we everybody looked at each other.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Went whoa, as in okay, we get it, Okay, we
get it. Because one of of course, Mac knows everybody,
but Mitch Holt is the longtime voice of the Kansas
City Chiefs, was you know, been telling us It's like, hey, listen,
no question with what they did in the draft. They
think this is their guy. But wait till you see
the show. We saw a little bit of the show,
and we're like, okay, understand it.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Now, we've all seen the show.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
And the rest is we've.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
All seen the show.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I've been around this stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Long enough with quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
When I was coaching with the Bears, we were in
an open date and we were getting ready to going
to play the Bengals. They were playing Green Bay in
Green Bay. So Mike dick as as kid, go up
and scout them because we don't know much about the Bengals.
You know what we knew about the Packers because we're
gonna play. Well, that's when Don Mkowski, the magic Man,
was the Packers quarterback. Well, their backup was Brett Farr.
(31:09):
He hadn't played anything. Well, Mkowski gets his clock cleaned
in this game. Farv goes in and he immediately starts
to throw about three picks, and everybody going, well, you
know this is the And all of a sudden, he
starts to do far stuff, starts throwing just I mean
just throwing piss missiles by everybody's ear. I mean, he start,
(31:31):
They come back and win, and you know how many
plays Mkowski.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Played after that? Zero?
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, that's when Brett Farr started.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Some dudes are just.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Gamers, yep.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
And this is after Farv Well, this was his second team.
He was traded. He was a Falcon.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, the Falcons got rid of him, right.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
They sure did. And the rest, as they say, is history.
And now we're going to start some new history. You
got players to pick. There is five to be had.
The first round of the NFL Draft, ladies and gentlemen,
is upon us.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Three days of the draft is a huge adrenaline pump.
It's really fun, it really is.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It's just the best. It's it's three days of just
opportunity and excitement. We will have, as rhet mentioned, we
will have all kinds of coverage on Titans Radio, so
sure to check that out, and of course we will
have podcasts. We're going to be coming to you here
on the OTP to break everything down for you and
make sure you know what's up, So look for all
(32:31):
of that. As we have said, make sure you are
subscribed to the OTP, make sure you're getting whatever notifications
you would like to get, I mean, be notified however
you want. We're not picky but just make sure that
you are getting the information that there's new stuff, because
there's a lot of news coming up. For the Tennessee Titans.
For Coach Mac, for Ret Brian, who have been lovely
(32:52):
and have gone along with all of my funny, funny
games through this whole position preview process. Thank you. Thank
you for sharing your wisdom and all of the work
that you've done with the ot people. That's what wizards do.
I'm sure that they appreciate it, but I appreciate it
even more so. For Rettbrian, For Coach Mac, I'm Amy
(33:15):
Wells saying thanks for listening to the OTP. We'll see
it at the draft.
This is the OTP. I'm Amy Wells and I am
joined by our Titans Draft Wizards coach Mac and Rhett Brian. Guys,
I am so happy you're here.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I thought you might like the Wizard Pharaoh.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
See see that was a good one. Good job, Brett.
I appreciate you leaning in there. Really, you guys are
our experts and we are in the final day of
our draft series. So today is a big day because
it's the final installment and it means we're wrapping things up,
and it also means that we are that much closer
(00:48):
to the draft, which is very exciting. And we're talking
about running backs and we're talking about quarterbacks. So there's
a lot of excitement, a lot of things to get to.
But before we start, I want to make sure to
let everybody know that if this is the first one
you're catching, it's okay. If this is the very first
time you are encountering this position preview series, no problem,
(01:13):
we got you. You can go back and listen to
all of them, and you want to, because there's a
lot of good information there, a lot of things that
will help you know, hey I've heard that name before,
or hey I like this person when you hear their
name called during the NFL Draft. So head on over
to Tennessee Titans dot com. You can find it there,
(01:34):
or you can go to YouTube, go to the Titans
YouTube page, or wherever you get your podcasts. That's also
an option download, like subscribe. All of that out of
the way. I'm really really excited about talking about these
position groups today, especially running backs. I think that there's
a lot of good stuff to talk about in the
running backs group, and I feel like the Titans specifically
(01:57):
always seemed to stumble upon some sort of a diamond
in the rough when it comes to running backs. So
there might be a special affinity for me because I've
been affiliated with the Titans organization for so long and
I feel like running backs are kind of what we do.
So I'm interested to hear your guys' list of people
to watch for top names associated with running backs, Mac,
(02:22):
do you want to get started?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Ashton genty from Boise State, Well, yeah, five eight and
a half two eleven nine in a quarter hands twenty
nine and a quarter arm length wingspan of seventy five.
First of all, just those numbers I gave you. He's
a very low built guy. He's got a low center gravity.
He's a very sturdy guy. His production in twenty twenty
four was historic. He's got tempo, he's got patience behind
(02:43):
the line of scrimmage, sets up blocks. Doesn't matter whether
you're running a gap scheme, whether you're running a zone scheme.
Vision for running backs is something that you always look for.
He's got elite vision. An elite vision is being able
to anticipate. You know a lot of the drills that
they do at the combine that relate to this. They're
moving dummies and they have to go over and get
distracted and move dummies as to where they're going to be.
(03:05):
That's really huge. You don't see many bad decisions are
missed reads with him with the way that they're blocking.
He's got a devastating stiff arm. I mean, he can
punch you in the face and put you down. Contact ballance.
You'll hear both Rat and I talk about contact ballance
for running backs. It's big because they're gonna get banged
around at the line of scrimmage and they're gonna have
(03:26):
to be able to bounce off of the bounce off
of the contact. He's got that. He's a good pass blocker,
which it's very seldom coming out of college that you've
got good pass blocking skills.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
He's a quick processor.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
He hasn't been used much in the passing game. You
just don't see that a whole lot. In twenty twenty
three he only had one drop. Now he's not thrown
to and over abundance of times, but I mean, he
can do that. So impressive it really is. Now he's
got nine fumbles over two seasons when you look at it.
So I talked about it. They don't use him much
in the past game. So his route tree, he's gonna
(03:59):
have to learn that when he comes into the league.
He's a guy that is going to be a workhorse
back for you, and he's a guy who's probably going
to play for.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
A long time for you.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Caleb Johnson from Iowa six one two twenty five, nine
to five eighths hands, he's got seventy eight inch wingspan
four five seven in the forty. He's not a burner,
but a one six two ten yard split. He's got
good size, you know, for a lead back. He's a decisive,
especially outside zone runner. His vision is really good. He's
really adept at cutting back off of the outside zone,
(04:31):
which is big. He's got efficient movement, he's got patience,
he's got good timing on a gap scheme. A gap
scheme is when you're going down, down, and around, you've
got to give your your blockers that are going in
front of you, that are pulling time. So his patients
timing out with those guys up in front of him,
good awareness. He's got good angles in pass Pro, zero
fumbles in twenty twenty four, no fumbles, great ball security.
(04:54):
His top speed is average. He's got a below average
burst through creases. His suddenness and his a loosiness to
shake in the open field is very average. And he's
not you know, we talked about oily hips. That's not
what he is. He's more of a power runner, straight
up runner. And the thing that happens with him sometimes
is with the pass protection.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
And all these guys in college are like this.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
They're they're a little bit unsure at times because they're
not involved in protection a lot because it's a lot
of five out scheme stuff and they're normally either one
of the five out. But Caleb Johnson from Iowa, he
will be drafted somewhere in the meat of this will
be a good back. Quinn Sean Jenkins from Ohio State.
Ohio State has two really good running backs. Htt is
(05:38):
going to take care of the other one since we're
a tag team here. But he's six foot two, twenty
one seventy six inch wingspan, four to four eight in
the forty a one to five to one split.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
What we talked about.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Anything in the fives for the ten yards split is
really good. Thirty eight and a half vertical jump, eleven
foot broad jump. This is an explosive dude. He's an
ideal build for a power back, powerful downhill run, stiff
arm again. I love his stiff arm, physical back. He's
got above average explosiveness to me. Uh, He's got good
patience at the line of scrimmage, which these guys have
(06:10):
to have. One fumble in two seasons. One fumble in
two seasons, which is really good. He's got above average
hands on open targets. His breakaway speed four four eight
that's not elite, but he can. He can get away
from some people, but I mean it's not it's not
in that upper tier. His wiggle in his footwork, he's
more of a straight line power guy. His jump cut ability,
(06:32):
I would I would put it on the average jump
cuts or those those one step cuts that you make sideways,
you know, on a dime. His jump cut ability is
about is about average. But to me, I mean, this
guy is going to be of quality back in this
league just because of his power, his balance and his
in his in his strength. I like what he does.
The other guy I want to throw in there. This
(06:53):
is this is kind of my kind of my wildcat
basial tooting okay from Virginia Tech. Now he didn't start
out at Virginia Tech. He was He started out at
North Carolina A and T five nine two oh six.
That's about the size of some of these guys. Nine
inch hands, arm lengths twenty nine and a half, seventy
five wingspan, forty yard dash four three two ten yards
(07:16):
split one four nine wow. Vertical jump forty and a
half inches, broad jump ten feet ten WHOA. This guy
is an explosive package. He really is. He is a
home run threat with elite speed. You see that on tape.
He can press the line of scrimmage and he's got
he's got a great burst contact balance, he can lower
(07:39):
his pads. He explodes into contact at five nine two
oh six. He's he's got a lot of punch, you know,
with his vertical jump and with this broad jump you
can see the lower body strength and explosion into contact.
He's got elusiveness, he can shake guys in space. He
improved his receiving skills. I think he'll be fine with that.
He needs to learn how to more identify his protection responsibilities,
(08:03):
but that will come. He's had nine fumbles over the
last two seasons, but he's got a compact build. His
overall size is well below average. He was mostly used
because of his speed on outside runs Amy and so
he's a little bit unproven working between the tackles. But
if you're looking for somebody later down in this draft
(08:23):
that you that you're going to bring into your camp
that may make an impact. And I say with this
about Basiltooton, whoever gets him and gets him into their camp,
it's gonna be hard to get him out.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
That's quite the recommendation right there. Just I mean saying
that this is a guy who can come in and
might make an impact right away.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Well, no, but he's gonna make it. I'm trying to
help you here.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I appreciate that. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He's gonna make it hard to pass on him to
get him out of the building early.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Yeah, he's first wave of cutting.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Now there's enough there that you're going to say, and
and the running back coach is gonna have to stand
up for him saying, I mean I've done it before
with smaller linebackers, saying if I got a vote.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Let's keep him a little longer. M Steven Tullick was
a guy like that here it worked.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yeah, that turned out. Okay, Rhett, what is your list
looking like?
Speaker 4 (09:14):
So there's another name he missed, Ashton Genty from Boise State,
and that's usually the first back mentioned in this group
of backs in this class. There's another one that I
started to hear and read more about this guy as
some teams maybe having him as running back number one
on their boards, and that's Omaron Hampton from North Carolina.
(09:34):
O Marion Hampton just under six feet, two hundred twenty
one pounds, hands, nine and three eights, wing, seventy five, armed,
thirty and a half and o'marion ran four four six
and the forty one to five to four in his
first ten thirty eight inch vertical leap ten ten broad
eighteen reps at two twenty five four star recruit out
of Clayton, North Carolina and a dynamic runner, had a
(09:56):
great twenty twenty four. You're talking about a guy that
had two thousand and thirty three all purpose yards, sixteen
sixty on the ground with fifteen touchdowns on the ground,
three seventy three out of the backfield with two more
receiving touchdowns. And he had some special teams value if
you so decided, because he did return kicks as a
freshman when he was at North Carolina freshman year in
twenty twenty two. I'd lead off with him. Because people
(10:18):
talk about Ashton Genty being taken in the first round.
I think there's a very good chance at O'maron Hampton
as a first round pick at some point. Another guy
I'm real bullish on that I really like, and he
had the other of the two Ohio State running backs
in Quinshawn Judkins. This guy never changed his demeanor or
his approach or his work when Quinshawn Judkins transferred Portal
into Ohio State, and they were the yin and the
(10:39):
yang of that offense on the ground. And that's Traveon
Henderson Traveon Henderson five to ten and one a two
oh two hands, nine and a half thirty three quarter
inch arms, seventy six and one eighth inch wingspan. Trayveon
ran four to four to three in the forty one
to five to two in the first ten thirty eight
and a half inch vertical leap. And I'm bullish on
(10:59):
him because both these guys are gonna make good, good
players for somebody. But this guy at least one hundred
scrimmage yards and three of Ohio State's four college football
playoff games. Wow, big plays and big games. But he
is number one in this running back class and three
different things. Seven point six yards per touch in twenty
twenty four. There's not another back in this draft class
(11:21):
that did that. Fifteen percent of his runs gained fifteen
yards or more, explosive plays fifteen percent of the time,
number one in the running back class. And then the
other one that's really important, six hundred and sixty seven
touches in college football, zero fumbles.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
So I start with those two, and then I finish
with certainly somebody that everybody knows in the great State
of Tennessee, and that's Dylan Sampson from the University of
Tennessee five eight and a half two hundred pounds, eight
and three quarter inch hands, thirty and a half inch arms,
seventy three inch wing thirty five inch vert ten to
four broad thirteen reps at two twenty five and did well.
(11:57):
I think he ran into four fours at his pro
date University of Tennessee in Knoxville. But you're talking about
a guy that did it really well against the best.
You're talking about a guy that in twenty twenty four
and he's a north and south runner and man he
can hit a gear five point eight yards per carry
and twenty two rushing touchdowns in the Southeastern Conference that
(12:17):
ain't chopped liver Nope. So he's got a chance to
get to get drafted. And Dylan Samson is probably more
He's a night two maybe late night two guy. And
then the one that I think everybody fell in love
with in the college football playoffs is Cam Skataboo from
Arizona State five nine and a half two nineteen nine
and three eight inch hands twenty nine seven eighth inch
arms seventy three and seven eighth inch wingspan thirty nine
(12:41):
and a half inch vertical oh ten three broad and
what he did to college football playoffs against Texas. He
was a one man gang offensive MVP of that game,
one hundred and forty three yards on the ground, ninety
nine through the air through a forty two yard touchdown pass.
And he has the most forced miss tackles behind hind
Ashton genty See second in college football behind them with
(13:04):
one hundred and two forced miss tackles. What you're getting
with Cam Scattaboo is you're gonna get a football player.
You're gonna get a guy that cares, cares about his teammates,
and can produce when it's time to produce. I like
all these guys, but this is a rich position in
this draft with value throughout. It is.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
And it's also interesting because it feels like there's a
lot of kind of pick your flavor within that, a
lot of different players who can do a lot of
different things and can contribute to offenses in different ways.
So it's all about a team's preference at that point.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Right, it's a perfect observation. That's exactly what this group
of running backs is. It's it's not a one size
fits all, But to your point, that is exactly what
this crop of running backs is.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I think it's an exciting time to be watching this
draft class, especially in Day two, Day three, with these
running backs, I think it's gonna be I think it's
gonna be fun to watch. Any ret nuggets that I
passed up, anything that we.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Miss let me just say this about Samson before we
turned the page.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
There we go.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
He was the engine for Tennessee's offense this year. Wasn't
the quarterback, It wasn't the receivers.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
This dude.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
This dude was the dude week in and weekend.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
When he got sparked, he tough.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
He was the engine this year. This is what you
know for for big plays, for consistent play, and for touchdowns.
This was the guy this year for their offense.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
There were a couple of teams that had running backs
who were the real engine of their offense. Is that
trend we're starting to see? Are we getting away from
some of this flinging it all over the place business,
and maybe we're getting a little more running back centric.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
No, it's just the fact in a word, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I'm losing today.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
I'm losing the other part of it, though, is you
hear a lot of these backs. We're talking about our
receivers out of the backfield. So there's three down players
in a lot of cases. True, and listen, Ohio State
was loaded and they won the national championship. But I'm
not saying they wouldn't get there without these two. But
the two backs and Quinn Shawn Judkins and Traveon Henderson
(15:07):
a massive help. Yep.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah, well, well, running backs are still I mean, let's
just you know, the greatest example in this league to
show that they're still valuable is the Giants probably regret
let Sakwuon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Probably there's a chance there's a chance they wish they
hadn't done that.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Yeah, that was the difference in hosting the Lombardi than
from what and Philly has a really good team.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah, that made them a great team.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Yeah. Yeah, there's a chance the Giants would like that.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
One back won't get it back.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Nope, Sure we'll.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
This summer seat Geek has your ticket to the best
live concerts in Nashville at Nissan Stadium. See Geek has
the best seat Your seat for an unforgettable summer. From
Rock Royalty to Rap Superstars R and B to country
find it All on Seat Geek, the official ticketing partner
of Nissan State. Little Caesars is the official pizza partner
(16:02):
of your Tennessee Titans. Download the Little Caesars app and
get your favorites delivered today.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Delivery fees apply. Now back to the OTP. Let's turn
the page to quarterbacks, Max, I want to hear your list.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Sheder Sanders from Colorado six one and a half two
twelve nine three eights hands this guy when you put
the tape on. His short and intermediate passing is surgical.
The guy's really accurate with that. His deep misses are
usually underthrows where the wide receiver can work back, and
he's got a good release. It's concise, it's compact. He's
(16:41):
a touch passer. When you throw the fades and the
nine routes, he throws a bucket ball, which means he
can drop it down into the bucket with an arc
on it.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
He's comfortable attack in the middle of the field.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
You can tell that he was raised with somebody that
understands how defenses play. His dad, I mean, he he
gets it, he does it panic, He's got good instincts.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
He's creative outside of structure.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
He knows the limits of his arm strength, and you
can tell that he doesn't force throws he can't make.
He showed signs during the twenty twenty four season of
manipulating the pocket and working up into it. Okay, now
doesn't have just a killer arm. The thing that he
lacks sometimes is the elite athleticism to escape a collapsing pocket.
(17:27):
And let me just say this that Offensis line, with
all due respect to every human that played up there,
it collapsed a lot. And he had he was It
was a lot of self preservation. He holds the ball
sometimes a little too long. Their spread offense, it simplifies
the Reds to finds coverage pre snap pretty easy. But
this guy, Shdr Sanders is by no means an empty
(17:49):
chair at all. And here's the other thing you've got.
You got players that are raised in this league, this level,
in this league, they're raised there around it. He's been
in locker rooms since he could since he could walk.
It's not too big for him. You can tell that
he's not one of those deer in the headlight guys.
And you know, moving from Jackson State to Colorado, clearly
you're moving up in competition. None of this stuff owes him.
(18:12):
This is a very mature guy. As far as on
the football field.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I think that there's also the business side of it,
the attention side of it. I think that some of
those things that are harder to evaluate. How a guy's
gonna respond when he's the guy of a big program.
I think you already have the answer to some of
those questions, and a guy like Shudar Sanders, whereas with
other guys, you don't know how they're going to react
(18:36):
because they've never been in that situation before.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Tyler shuck sho U g H it's shuck.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Well, sure it is.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Louisville six four seven eight two nineteen nine and a
quarter hands thirty two inch arm link the only quarterback
that ran at the combine four sixty three. He's an
older player. He's had some injuries. Let's talk Let's talk
about that. He was healthy in twenty twenty four. He's
got prototypical size, he's got good mobility, he's got a
massive arm. He could push the ball down the field
(19:04):
with accuracy. His tape when you start watching him, you
could see the impressive throws that he makes. And I
sat with some of the Louisville coaches in the Bowl
for a couple of days. They say he's nothing but
a really good leader. He's one of the guys. He's married,
he's got children, but he's still one of the guys.
Lowest pressure and sack rate in power for he handles.
He handles pressure. So got good mobility for a size.
(19:27):
That's why he wanted to run to show hey, look
here I am. He can make throws on the run
if he needs to. We saw him throwing from in
the pocket at the Senior Bowl, which which is good.
You can see that on tape. He can also process
because he's an holder, he's a more mature guy, can process.
He led the FBS with twenty four throwaways. You know,
it's gonna be hard to sack this dude. His precision
on quick inside breaking routes, you know, I mean, and
(19:49):
there's some mechanics there that I mean. I'm not a
quarterback guru, but but you can you can, you can
fix that a little bit. Sometimes he'll stown his first
read a little bit long. But he's an interesting, interesting aspect.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
And the medical checks on him. Mac talked about him
having injuries. He didn't have any catastrophic things that would prohibit,
you know, like to throw a arm or whatever. But
in three years at Texas Tech, had three consecutive seasons
of season ending problems collar bone and twenty one and
twenty two broken leg. In twenty three transfers plays with
Jeff Brohm at Louisville. Puts together a nice year and
(20:21):
here he is.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
And to his point, those broken bones might be white. Well,
it might be a little bit. Why he's a little
bit sacked conscious down too.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Yeah, yeah, someone, but it's not like he had, you know,
a rotator cut for you know, anything with his throwing
and nothing major.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I don't want to get sacked if someone broke my
collar bones, like get out of here, don't touch me, please.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
You'd be too fast and a lucy.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I'm really fast.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
I've always thought about you, very lucy.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Kyle McCord from Syracuse.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
This is this is the next thing I'm gonna talk about.
Six three two, eighteen and nine and a half. He
led FBS with big time throws. I mean, this is
this guy. He's very accurate, he's a ball placement's good,
he's comfortable executing on the move. He can anticipate guys
coming open, which is critical. You can't wait for him
to be open to throw in this league. He goes
through his reads very, very quickly. He's got toughness, he's
(21:12):
got poised. He can make his body hit a lot
of different angles to throw, which is good. He's got instincts,
but those are the pluses. The minuses are. He led
the FBS with twenty four turnover worthy plays. Decision making
needs to be better. He'll tend to lock onto his target.
Sometimes he retreats out of the back of the pocket
too much, which a lot of these guys in colleges do.
(21:33):
That's not the way to go, especially in the National
Football League, because dudes chasing you are faster. Keep your
eye on Kyle McCord from Syracuse. It's going to be interesting, mac.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
How much harder is it to evaluate quarterbacks than maybe
any other position?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Really hard, and it's getting harder, just because we've talked
about this on previous OTPs with a transfer portal. When
I was evaluating Jake Plumber when I was the head
coach at the Cardinals, I could watch all four years
at Arizona State in the same offense. Now, when you're
watching them go to different places, and especially especially with
(22:08):
the twenty hour rule, there's not a lot of time
to be able to perfect a lot of you know,
a lot of techniques and stuff. And the quarterbacks are
transferring because they want to play, so you really have
to dig into the different places they were. We've talked
about this, the different environments that they're in. So it
makes it a real, real challenge.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, it's it's definitely a challenge. And when you're trying
to find the guy who's going to be leading your offense, think.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Of the top two right, top two quarterbacks right now
on this draft, cam Ward Saduur Sanders. How many places
that they both played in their career. Cam Ward played
in three, yeah, Sanders played in two.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah, that's a lot. Rhett, who's on your list?
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Let's talk about cam Ward because that leads into that
perfectly zero star recruit out of Texas. Incarnate word is
where he started. He went to Washington State in the
transfer portal, then a year in Miami. In twenty twenty four,
finalists for the Heisman Trophy forty three hundred and thirteen yards,
thirty nine touchdown, seven interceptions. The thing that he has
worked on cleaning up through his career is Turnovers at
(23:09):
fumbles is his thing. He's got over thirty of those
in his career, but he's gotten a little better at
that at each stop. His measurements of the combine six'
one and five eighths, two nineteen hands, nine arm, thirty
and five eighths, wings, seventy five and three quarters. And
the thing that is going to stand out about him
is he doesn't have a cannon arm. He's got a
(23:29):
good arm, but it's the delivery. He's got a side
arm delivery. Played a lot of baseball as a youth,
and so there's some of that in there. And he's
not like super quick, but he can evade, he can move,
he can get out of the harm's way and move
the chains. Probably the top quarterback prospect in this draft
if you're, you know, arguing about him or Shador Sanders.
(23:50):
His frame and his build is a lot like a
guy that the Titans then the Oilers drafted way back when,
and Steve McNair. He's built kind of like him. Seems like,
as of late on favorite to be the first overall pick,
whether the Titans do that or they trade it to
someone else. So we'll see film at eleven on that.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
The thing about him is, you know we talk about
Gumba be likability for Edge Rusherston. This guy's an elastic dude.
I mean, I went back and looked at my right
up and you know, I keep all these notebooks on
what I said about Mahomes coming out of Texas Tech. Yeah,
this guy's got a lot of that in him. Elastic,
off platform throws. Not a super twitch athlete.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
But he can evade.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I mean, he's just loose and he's got he's got
a major league shortstop arm. He's an interesting guy, especially
with the way offenses are played now. Very interesting dude,
he really is.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
And Max's not saying he is. Patrick ma Holmes is
one of those. But there's some traits there that are
like that. And certainly the it's not the wind up,
over the top delivery. It's the quick flip flick of
the wrists. Like he said, like he's a major league
baseball shortstop.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
He's off platform guy.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
I mean, And then I went back when I was
when I was doing Mahomes. This has nothing to do
with this year, but it does, because everything has something
to do with something. You know, when you're evaluating players
if you get a big enough roller decks. You can
recall when I was doing Mahomes, what I wrote was,
he reminded me a lot of the off schedule plays
and the off platform plays of a quarterback that we
(25:19):
all know, that we all know in love with the Packers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
That play at Southern Miss at FARV.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
He reminded me of him a lot off platform, a
little bit, a little bit unpredictable, a little bit non conventional,
but the ball got there and he just made plays.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, that's I mean, quite the comparison. Who else she
got RTT from.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
Old Miss Jackson dart at sixty two and a quarter
two twenty three hands, nine and a half, thirty arms,
seventy three wing over ten thousand yard, seventy two touchdowns
in his career with Old Miss really good twenty twenty
four season thirty eight seventy five twenty five touchdowns, ran
for four point fifty two and three more. Some mock
drafts that have him sneaking into the first round, which
(26:02):
is quite possible because the one thing that coach Max
taught us, there's the draft and there's the quarterback draft.
In it's just a different thing. We'll see what happens there,
but he's certainly someone you should be aware of, and
of course most Southeastern Conference fans and Titans fans know
who Jackson dart Is Will Howard, Ohio State Buckeyes, quarterback
of the National Championship Buckeye six two and a quarter
(26:23):
two twenty three hands, nine and a half ran a
four to three three shuttle seven to one three three cone,
thirty one and a half inch avert nine to four
broad really orchestrated that offense well throughout the year and
certainly in the big games where it mattered the most
in the playoffs, and did a very nice job there.
And then, lastly, Jalen Milroe, while we're talking about Southeastern
(26:43):
Conference players from Alabama six to one and seven eights
two seventeen nine and three eights inch, hands, seventy seven,
almost seventy seven wing. That's a guy that is an
interesting prospect with dual threat properties to him playing in
a big program like Alabama.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Well, it's interesting that you mentioned that there's the draft
and then there's the quarterback draft, because to this point
we haven't really mentioned that yet. How big of an
impact do these quarterbacks have the potential to have on
the main draft.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
This part of it is held true since a draft started.
If you need a quarterback, regardless of where you've got
anybody else ranked on that board, you're going to get in. Yeah,
that's why it is so true. And you know when
I first came in here, Ret and I started doing
the draft. You can't lump the quarterbacks in with the
other positions. So they're always going to be their own,
(27:40):
separate entities of impact. I mean they just are now.
Wherever they're taking clearly because it's a linear draft has
a effect on the other positions.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
But there are two distinct drafts.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Take your quarterbacks out and rate them in a different
category because they're separate from the other people.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Because it's a different thing. You cannot have a football
team if you don't.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Have a quarterback.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Well, you can have one, just not a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
No, that's true.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
An expensive rugby team is what you say.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
You got a highly paid rugby team.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
In terms of numbers in this year's draft, I think
the cam Ward, shudor Sanders, maybe Jackson Dark two to
three quarterbacks could affect this draft in Night one. The
rest of it will have to see.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Yeah, that's a fair point.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
It's gonna be so much fun to watch just does
everything unfolds. Hey, Titans fans, with a Kroger Boost membership,
You'll score big with double fuel points, free delivery, and
lots more. Go to Kroger dot com slash boost for details.
Kroger the official grocer of the Tennessee Titans. Tight nu
(28:46):
home is the forefront of all we do. It's why
we're so committed to caring for the places and spaces
in which we work and live. Ashley, the official furniture
provider of the Tennessee Titans. Now back to the OTP, Rhett,
did we blow by any Red Nuggets? This is your
last chance to dance, my friend. Our next stop is
(29:07):
the NFL Draft.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
I'll have more Nuggets for draft covers.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Last chance, last chance. Today, I'll have a dance.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
I will have more Nuggets for draft coverage on Titan's radio,
and I'm looking very much forward to that with the
two of you, for sure. I like what he said
about cam Ward though, just he doesn't have this traditional
cannon arm, but the way he delivers it, he can
sling it in his own way. That's an interesting thing
to watch because there are some Mahonian type traits there.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Mahonian, you realize.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
The discrepancy on evaluation of Mahomes when he came out.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I believe it was wild.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
It was really really wide stretched.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
But that's that's why Andy Reid and Mike Burganci who
was there, Yes, sir, they had a number one pick
that they had traded for and Alex Smith already there,
so they knew that they were were gonna sit this dude.
But I can firmly remember up in the up in
the press box, you were on the field at the
preseason game when Mahomes went in against the Titans in
(30:08):
the fourth quarter, and so you know, we're watching and
all of a sudden, you now it's time for you know,
for everybody else to start playing. That they put him
in the game and he made a couple of those
off schedule throws with.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
That, and we everybody looked at each other.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
Went whoa, as in okay, we get it, Okay, we
get it. Because one of of course, Mac knows everybody,
but Mitch Holt is the longtime voice of the Kansas
City Chiefs, was you know, been telling us It's like, hey, listen,
no question with what they did in the draft. They
think this is their guy. But wait till you see
the show. We saw a little bit of the show,
and we're like, okay, understand it.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Now, we've all seen the show.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
And the rest is we've.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
All seen the show.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I've been around this stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Long enough with quarterbacks.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
When I was coaching with the Bears, we were in
an open date and we were getting ready to going
to play the Bengals. They were playing Green Bay in
Green Bay. So Mike dick as as kid, go up
and scout them because we don't know much about the Bengals.
You know what we knew about the Packers because we're
gonna play. Well, that's when Don Mkowski, the magic Man,
was the Packers quarterback. Well, their backup was Brett Farr.
(31:09):
He hadn't played anything. Well, Mkowski gets his clock cleaned
in this game. Farv goes in and he immediately starts
to throw about three picks, and everybody going, well, you
know this is the And all of a sudden, he
starts to do far stuff, starts throwing just I mean
just throwing piss missiles by everybody's ear. I mean, he start,
(31:31):
They come back and win, and you know how many
plays Mkowski.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
Played after that? Zero?
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, that's when Brett Farr started.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Some dudes are just.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Gamers, yep.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
And this is after Farv Well, this was his second team.
He was traded. He was a Falcon.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, the Falcons got rid of him, right.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
They sure did. And the rest, as they say, is history.
And now we're going to start some new history. You
got players to pick. There is five to be had.
The first round of the NFL Draft, ladies and gentlemen,
is upon us.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Three days of the draft is a huge adrenaline pump.
It's really fun, it really is.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It's just the best. It's it's three days of just
opportunity and excitement. We will have, as rhet mentioned, we
will have all kinds of coverage on Titans Radio, so
sure to check that out, and of course we will
have podcasts. We're going to be coming to you here
on the OTP to break everything down for you and
make sure you know what's up, So look for all
(32:31):
of that. As we have said, make sure you are
subscribed to the OTP, make sure you're getting whatever notifications
you would like to get, I mean, be notified however
you want. We're not picky but just make sure that
you are getting the information that there's new stuff, because
there's a lot of news coming up. For the Tennessee Titans.
For Coach Mac, for Ret Brian, who have been lovely
(32:52):
and have gone along with all of my funny, funny
games through this whole position preview process. Thank you. Thank
you for sharing your wisdom and all of the work
that you've done with the ot people. That's what wizards do.
I'm sure that they appreciate it, but I appreciate it
even more so. For Rettbrian, For Coach Mac, I'm Amy
(33:15):
Wells saying thanks for listening to the OTP. We'll see
it at the draft.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.