March 22, 2024 • 59 mins
Stoney Keeley catches up with Outspoken Owen Reed on the signings of Lloyd Cushenberry, Tony Pollard, and Calvin Ridley before looking ahead to the NFL Draft and the L'Jarius Sneed rumors. They talk offensive tackles, receivers, cornerbacks, defensive linemen, linebackers, safeties, and pretty much everything else under the sun.
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Thank you from Sobros HQ and Nashville, Tennessee to wherever you're cheering on your
Tennessee Titans. The Sobros Network presentsthe Unofficial Titans Podcast. Welcome back for
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another episode of the Unofficial Titans Podcastright here on Sobros Network. Mind's right
ass is tight. It's you boy, Big Natural Stony Keeley. You can
follow me on Twitter at Stony Keeley, collectively at sobros Network on all major
social media platforms, and all ofmy NFL Draft coverage and Tennessee Titans coverage
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at Stackingtheinbox dot com. Become amember today for just five dollars a month
and get a ton of crazy,crazy, in depth shit if you love
the Titans and if you love theDraft. Joined by my co host for
the Unofficial Titans Podcast, He isCinderella Man. One take Oh coming to
us from the dad Zone. OutspokenOwen read Owen. How you doing today,
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my man? It's good to catchup again. Hey everybody, Hey
Stony, It's Friday. I'm feelinggood, love it, love it well.
I want to kick off the showbecause it's Friday. Vibes. Here.
We're recording on a Friday on theUnofficial Titans Podcast. It's TGIF,
kind of loose, kind of laidback, don't have a hard set list
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of topics to go over. SoI want to talk a little bit about
your trip to the Smoky Mountains becauseyou just disappeared on us for a couple
of days. You know, sometimesyou just got to head into the wilderness
for a little bit. Hell yeah, I hear that. We got a
hotel room and we were definitely notin the woods. It is a good
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place to disappear into the woods though, And in my humble opinion, I
think Klingman's Dome out in the SmokyMountains is the best place in Tennessee to
watch the sunset. That's just mytake. But I don't know you guys.
I think you did more of theattraction stuff than you did the into
the mountains. Did you guys gointo the park at all? We drove
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through it on the way, Butyeah, we definitely hit up all the
tourists stuff this time. How wasthe Pirate show? Because you sent us
a picture of that, and thatlooked pretty. That looked pretty sick man,
it was just sensory overload at itsfinest, Like you know, it's
a little pricey, but you getthis big ass dinner. The there's animals,
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there's pyrotechniques, there's animatronics. It'scrazy. I loved it. Man.
I was talking to my wife earlierthis week because this, if I'm
not mistaken, this is the onlythis is the only weekend that we don't
have plans through the middle of June. So I'm like, we're not going
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to get to disappear until at leasthalfway through the summer. And like,
we got two days this weekend,we should try and hop in the car
and go somewhere. And for ourlisteners, I might not have said this
before on this show, anyway,I kind of feel like the Smoky Mountains
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Chattanooga two of the best places whenyou've only got a couple of days to
get away, adequate, adequate spotsto get away for a weekend because they're
nearby, but there's a ton ofstuff to do. What would you say,
are there any other areas around Nashvillethat you would put in that conversation.
Memphis is also really fun. There'sa lot of stuff always going on
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in Memphis. I think the thingthat we were just the most impressed with
with our Gatlinburg trip was just thateverything was fairly reasonably priced. Hey there,
as far as like admission goes,you know, I'm sure it spikes
and changes is they have events goingon, like Rod Run and all that.
But if you go during the offseason, we had perfect weather when
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we went to Dollywood. I thinkthe longest line we waited in was twenty
minutes, but that was for oneride. Most of everything we just walked
on. Damn. That's good.That's good shit, man, that's what
you love to hear right there.Well, I'm just, you know,
I'm kind of longing for it todaybecause I know the next month is about
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to get really crazy. It's alreadycrazy with draft stuff. But it's like
I put together my big board andthat thing's up to like forty thousand words
at this point. I'm just I'mwriting a novel basically for the draft,
and I still have like close toone hundred prospects to get through. So
I'm just I'm like, you knowwhat, man, I'm thinking, I'm
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jealous owens up in the Smokies.I'm just grinding a way. Maybe I
will, Maybe I will get upto Gatlinburg this weekend. Who knows,
but I'm happy that you were ableto do it, that you had a
nice relaxing time because it has beenquite the clusterfuck on Titans Twitter this week
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because the Titans haven't signed anybody exceptfor Sebastian Joseph, which to me,
I'm fine, Like, I likethe move whatever, good run stuffing,
defensive tackle. I still like seeingthe big old fat boys blowing up double
blocks to close on a running back. I'm cool with it whatever. But
I guess because the Titans haven't signedPatrick Mahomes, it's been a little tense
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on Titans Twitter this week. Soyou've you've gotten away from that, but
I just kind of want to gaugethe temperature here since it is like free
form Friday, given what the Titanshave done free agency, who they've let
go, who they've signed, whothey've re signed. Where where are you
at with the overall state of theteam right now? What are what are
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your vibes? How are you feelingabout how this this whole thing's going right
now? Yeah, I'm feeling prettygood about it. You know, honestly,
there's a lot of uh, glaring, gaping holes in our roster that
we saw throughout the season. Uh. And I understand that those holes are
going to be fixed in you know, one off season or in you know,
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one month of free agency. Sure, But for the moves that we've
made, I feel like they're allbeneficial and have addressed problems that we do
have. Yeah, I'm with you. The only the only spot that really
concerns me is linebacker. And theonly reason that concerns me so much is
because the Titans had the opportunity.And I've gone on about this for like
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a week straight now. People areprobably gonna probably tired of hearing me talk
about it, but I I feellike they had an opportunity to get a
top of the line inside linebacker,which I don't buy is a devalued position
in the NFL, and they didn'tdo it, and instead they gave money
to a guy that just hasn't hadthe best tape so far in his career
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in Kenneth Murray. And our buddyZach at Stacking the Inbox did a fantastic
profile of Kenneth Murray and his careerso far. And I think, you
know, if I were to guess, I would say the strategy is,
let's just get a really good athletein here and put him in a position
to succeed and not really worry aboutIt's like you said, like, maybe
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we just can't, Maybe we can'tcheck every box this offseason, and maybe
we'll make a play for Dre Greenlawor Nick Bolton next offseason and then the
linebacking corps will be secure. Butit does concern me that there were quality
options available in free agency. Theyhad to money, they had the money
to sign somebody, and they justchose not to for some reason. And
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to me, on the surface,that kind of looks like oversight. I
love the other signings. I'm nottrying to say Ran Carthon should be fired
for not getting a stud linebacker thisoffseason, but I just kind of feel
like there's a little bit of alittle bit of negligence there, Like what
is the plan if you guys arejust gonna let these guys slip through your
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fingertips like sand. So about thelinebacker position specifically, Owen, how do
you feel about this? Do youfeel like there's a potential lapse in judgment
here? Is there reason for concernfrom leadership or are you just generally chalking
this up to Hey, they're notgonna get everything this offseason. Yeah,
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I'm not gonna freak out over it. It is an issue, obviously,
but I just don't think you couldall get done at once fair enough,
fair enough, that's you are.You are not alone in that that line
of thinking. There quite a bitof people that kind of think, you
know, no big deal. Theygot the they got the wide receiver,
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they got the center, they gotthe cornerback. All all is gravy.
So I do want to talk abouta couple of the a couple of the
major free agent signings. These areguys that I would consider like top of
market, like the best available options. Lloyd Cushionberry the center, big dude,
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definitely an upgrade from Aaron Brewer.Now I give give Brewer credit,
like he made it further than heprobably ever should have as an undrafted free
agent, tougher than a two dollarsstake. He signs with the Miami Dolphins
with Mike McDaniel, who the widezone system that he runs out there requires
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a more athletic, speedy, shiftyoffensive line, and hey, maybe Aaron
Brewer fits in that mold. Andhe goes down there and has a great
career. Good for him, butI was kind of tired of seeing him
get just blown up at least onceor twice every game. So I like
that they went out there and theygot the best guy available. This is
not Cushion Barry is not a guythat is just good among the free agents,
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but across the entire NFL. Thisis a guy that's one of the
best at the positions. Owen.It reminds me a lot of the offseason
that the Titans decided, Hey,we're gonna go get Ben Jones, one
of the best, most underrated centersin the game. We're gonna go get
this guy, and he's gonna bea stalwart for our offensive line for years
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to come. Not to put thatkind of pressure or expectations on Lloyd Cushion
Berry, but that's how I seeit, is the team being aggressive and
going and bolstering the interior of thatoffensive line with one of the most established
best guys at the position in theNFL. What do you make of their
decision to pay this guy, Owen, Yeah, I think excuse me,
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I think there was a couple ofkey moments where pivotal bad snaps are just
absolutely getting beat at the line happenedat the center position, So I think
going out there and addressing it notjust with bringing in somebody new, but
bringing in somebody that's proven and consistentand you know, doesn't have a long
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history of missing games. I thinkhe played what did they say, sixteen
to fifteen games last season. Yeah, I mean that unless I've just completely
mistaken, got the wrong guy,gotten my shit mixed up or whatever.
But he's kind of an iron man, like, doesn't miss a whole lot
of time. And that was anotherhuge issue with that offensive line was just
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that it was a revolving door ofcharacters. So I like it. I
think that's exactly what you want todo, is when you're addressing issues,
is bring somebody in like that.So I think it's a great reality hit
pretty hard in the face when theTitans signed Tony Pollard that Derrick Henry was
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not going to be back for thisfranchise, But I personally people freaked out
over twenty four million dollars, butwhen we got the details it was closer.
I don't remember if it was fourpoint five or six million a cap
hit in twenty twenty four, butnowhere near worth freaking out. Over for
Tony Pollard had a broken leg thathe was recovering from the first half of
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twenty twenty three, but down thestretch last season, I think he was
one of the better running backs inthe entire league. I think people sleep
on him. I think he's beenkind of miscast in that Dallas Cowboys offense.
Like fantasy owners know how frustrating it'sbeen owning Tony Pollard in your fantasy
league because you just never know howor when the Cowboys are gonna use him.
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But I like him as a complimentfor ty J. Spears. And
to quote our buddies Zen from Stackingthe Inbox, who said, when we
went down to the Senior Bowl lastyear in twenty twenty three, he loved
ty J Spears. His comp forty J Spears was Tony Pollard. So
you have two guys that can kindof do it all and are really good
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in pass protection, so you don'thave to take them off the field on
third down. They can do alittle bit of everything. And I think
the benefit of that for me isthat defenses are no longer going to know
what the Titans are going to dobased on the personnel, based on the
running back that's in there. There'sno more tipping plays that, oh,
well, Henry's in, this isgoing to be a run, but Spears
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is in, this is going tobe a pass. If both guys are
in, or either guy is in, you still don't really know what the
offense is going to do. Ithink that's the biggest benefit of adding a
guy like Tony Pollard. I'm finewith the money, but what did you
think when the news broke that theTitans had signed Tony Pollard? Yeah,
I fully agree with you. Ithink the biggest sin of the whole thing
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was just that, uh, theycompliment each other in their style of play.
I think the Titans h C.Spears is maybe their back of the
future M and I and I thinkthat this just kind of goes to show
that they're really going with that idea. Yeah, I think it's I think
it's a more I think it's goingto be a more modern NFL offense where
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I don't think they're gonna have guysfor specific roles. I think they want
guys that can do a little bitof everything so that they can be a
little more multiple. And Tony Pollarddefinitely fits the bill and and I'm kind
of excited to see what the theworkload split is going to be between those
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two guys, because I don't Idon't know that you, I don't know
that you have to rely on eitherguy as the workhorse. And with reports
that they plan to bring in USCrunning back Marshaun Lloyd, who is another
one one of these guys, alittle bigger, thicker dude, but another
guy that is, you know,jukey in the open field, good pass
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catcher, Like they might not bedone at the position, so they might
have a guy that's like one hundredpercent fresh throughout the entire game come in
and close like you can do somany things with a revamped running back room
full of versatile guys like this,And I just I think it's an indication
of this regime, this staff justbeing a little more forward thinking instead of
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just saying, well, we gotto get a speed guy, we got
to get a power guy, andwe got to get a pass protector.
So I like the addition Calvin Ridleyninety two million dollar deal. That thing
is front loaded. If I'm notmistaken, it's like fifty mili of that
deal is gonna be paid the firsttwo seasons Calvin Ridley's a guy that I
know. There are some some questionsabout how he was used in Jacksonville.
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I kind of feel like the Titansare smart enough to not fall into that
same trap. It sounds like they'reaware that he's a guy that can be
moved around the formation and do alittle bit more. But I think the
name of his game is going tobe separation, and they got a guy
that can make plays on the outside. Another complimentary piece when you're talking about
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his position group that I think CalvinRidley and DeAndre Hopkins together make for a
pretty complete tandem of two wide receivers, and I think it alleviates the need
the necessity for the Titans to gowide receiver with one of the first two
picks in the draft. They couldjust as a luxury to just load up
and add more weapons for Will Levis, but I don't think they have to
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at this point. What do youmake of the addition of Calvin Ridley.
I'm with you once again. Ithink the immediate knee jerk reaction is that
he was overpaid. But we kindof saw this coming last season when Jacksonville
kind of set that market with ChristianKirk Yeah, good point. So there's
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there's not a whole lot. Youknow, Jerry Judy got paid very well
by Cleveland. That's just kind ofhow the market works. And I also
agree with the dynamic to it.DeAndre Hopkins was never meant to be a
separation guy. He's a tough fighterfor the ball. So it's good to
see Ridley come in. Levis lovesfinding that deep ball. So for a
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guy that bringing in a guy that'sgreat with separation, I think is really
a vote of confidence in his favor. Yeah, and it's a really deep
wide receiver class in the draft,so I just I feel like they're not
done adding guys there either. Andyou can get like a speed guy in
the draft if you want, likeyou can get a shifty move the chains
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guy or what I was also goingto say. I think this is going
to be beneficial to Burks. Hecan go back to the slot that's where
he played in Arkansas, Y.He can go back to the role where
he had the most success. SoI think overall this is you know,
I like it. I think it'sa good move if they don't end up
trading Burks. There were some rumorsout there that he was kind of like
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the Jets were maybe sniffing around,and so I don't know, I don't
know how this staff views Burks,but I kind of look at it as
well, he's here, he's undercontract. You might as well try to
make the most of it, likelet's not just let's not just cast the
guy out. And I know peoplehave already said, like, I can't
deal with another summer of trailing TraylonBurke's hype, But I think I think
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you're absolutely right. I think ifthey want to maximize his potential, they
could move him back into the slotand just just see what happens, Just
see what happens. What's what's theworst that could happen? They end up
cutting him or moving on from himbecause somebody is better in that role.
I don't really think that's a badbad thing either. So I like the
the moves that they're they're making atthe skill positions, and I think,
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No, there wasn't anymore I wantedto talk to you about. I yeah,
let's talk about the corners. Let'stalk about Chittaba Awouier Cheato bay Cheato
bay Awuzie. I got it.I'm trying to pronounce it right and be
respectful. But I don't know.He says, just call me Cheeto,
so we'll just call him Cheeto.But they signed Cheeto and immediately becomes one
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of the starting cornerbacks. I wouldbe highly surprised if they add two cornerbacks
that are better than him. Reallygood man corner He's a culture culture guy,
He's a tone setter. I thinkthis is one of those cases where
you're not only adding a guy thatyou can trust to execute your defense and
play in man coverage, but he'salso a guy that is going to be
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good for the locker room as well. I love that addition. Things have
been kind of quiet on the cornerbackfront for this team and free agency,
and it sounds like, if you'rekeeping up with the reports, they're still
sniffing around Lagerius sneed who I thinkafter the last couple of seasons that he's
had has established himself as one ofthe best cornerbacks in the in the NFL.
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The word is that his camp iswanting twenty two million a year,
and the number that has been floatedaround from a couple of different people is
that the Titans are are at twentymili a year, and it's the compensation
for the trade itself, Like dothe Titans give up a twenty twenty five
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to third rounder and a pick thisyear to get him or or what?
But if if we go into theseason, let's just play hypotheticals here,
just reckless speculation like we love todo on this show. If this team
goes into the year with Lagerious Needand Cheeto as the two starting cornerbacks,
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I mean, that's not just problemsolved, that's like, holy shit,
this this is gonna This is agood cornerback tandem. Much like DeAndre Hopkins
and Calvin Ridley at wide receiver.Those are two really good, starting caliber,
elite level NFL cornerbacks that just completelychanged the complexion of the defense.
What do you think about the theaddition of Cheeto Owen and the potential to
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add a guy like Lugerius Sneed tothe secondary. Yeah, I thought the
Cheeto signing was great. The newstoday was that Christian Fulton just went to
the Chargers. Yep, so you'veobviously you had some issues there last season,
and now you even had more tofill with that coming up. I
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think that's a big signing. Ithink he'll be great. And I've been
big on Sneed. I thought thatwas one of the big offseason moves that
we could have made, so I'dlove to see that happen as well.
I think we saw the secondary sufferthroughout the year last year, and I
think this is another step in theright directions. Are you cool with that
compensation for the trade? If itwere to be a third round pick next
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year? And I think it wastheir fourth this year? I can't remember,
I don't I didn't jot it downwhen I saw it, but two
draft picks. Basically you cool withthat? You said it was a third
for this year, a third fornext year because they don't have a they
don't have a they don't have athird this year. Okay, Uh yeah,
I think that's fair. Uh.I like it. I think it's
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a necessary move that need to bemade. Yep, I'm with you,
and I think you can. Youcan pretty much boil the decision down for
me anyway. You can boil itdown to would I spend a third round
pick on Lugerious Need? And theanswer is a pretty resounding yes. So
I'm I'm cool with it one hundredpercent. A couple of the Titans that
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are no longer with the team,at least at this point, Ryan Tannehill
still on the mark. Doesn't reallysound like a market has shaped up for
Ryan Tannehill, which is kind ofsurprising because he had several suitors last offseason
and after the Titans drafted Will Levis. You know, there were a couple
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of teams that were connected to RyanTannehill that through the media that were kind
of like, hey, we coulduse an established guy. The New York
Jets were one of them. Theynever pulled the trigger. They probably should
have pulled the trigger on Ryan Tannehillafter the Aaron Rodgers injury happened, and
then the Atlanta Falcons were linked tohim. Then Arthur Smith gets the offensive
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coordinator job for Pittsburgh, so naturallypeople start saying Tannehill to Pittsburgh, but
they go get Russell Wilson, theygo get Justin Fields. Don't think Tannehill's
going to Pittsburgh. Doesn't seem likethe Vikings are very interested in him.
The Raiders were mentioned, but Iknow that the injuries from from two and
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twenty three season are going to impacta player's evaluation. I also think there
were times that Ryan Tannehill just lookedkind of shell shocked, kind of shook
out there, Like there was apart of me that was kind of wondering,
like if if father time was finallycatching up with Ryan Tannehill and then
he gets hurt and now there's questionsabout that. Do you think it's as
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simple as that as the reason thatno market has really developed for Ryan Tannehill?
Or are are you surprised to seethat he is still to my knowledge,
I don't even know that he's metwith anybody. Yeah. I feel
like the Tannehill situation was another onewhere public opinion didn't really fit with the
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narrative. Yeah, and we kindof see that happen again. You know,
it would never mind, I'll stayfocused on Tannehill. You can go
wherever you want to, buddy.I'm good. I'm sure we'll bring it
up later anyways, all right,all right, Uh, yeah, Tannehill
struggled last year. We saw alot of times where, you know,
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even at his best when he washealthy, just held onto the ball too
long. Indeed, it did seemlike you said, shell shocked. You
know, Tannehill was never the permanentsolution. You wouldn't call him a franchise
quarterback. I could see him endedup somewhere, and I'm sure as we
get into the season, when injuriesstart popping up, he will be signed
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somewhere. I don't think he's notplaying football next season, but I could
see why other teams would want tomake other moves. Yeah, it's I
you know, I just I thoughtit was interesting and I would have put
Christian Fulton in that category as well. But like you brought up earlier,
like we just got word that heis intending to sign with the Chargers if
he hasn't already, Because I knowChristian Fulton got a bad rap, but
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at his best, he was stilla pretty good corner and it's hard to
find pretty good corners in the NFL, so I was kind of surprised that
he didn't have more of a marketeither. And then of course we got
to talk about Derrick Henry owen hsigning with the Baltimore Ravens in that purple
and black man, what are whatare you feeling about seeing Derrick Henry as
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a Baltimore Raven Yeah, man,we kind of saw the writing on the
wall with this one. We knewit was gonna hurt wherever he went.
And we did it again with thehistory of Steve McNair and Derek Mason.
We send another great guy to Baltimoreand and it stucks to watch yep,
yep, and uh, it's it'stough, man. Uh. I think
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you know, he's one of thoseguys that obviously I still think he's going
to retire a Titan, and I'mcurious to see what he's what he's going
to do in that offense. Butbrutal, brutal, brutal time for Titans
fans that had And I don't know, man, I like you said,
the writing's kind of been on thewall for quite some time. I think
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the people that still wanted Derrick Henryto re sign with the Titans were just
doing so out of nostalgia and hopemore so than reason, because I don't
think he was ever going to resign with the Titans. It sounded like
from his appearance on Busting with theBoys, it kind of sounded like he
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wanted to go somewhere that he couldget a ring and maybe didn't want to
stick around for what you would assumeis going to be a pretty pretty big
rebuild. Here with the Titans sopretty I don't know. I think I
think the decision was made a longtime ago and it was just a matter
of a matter of waiting for theink to dry. I do want to
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ask you, though, because Ido think this is interesting. There were
reports throughout the sea that Derrick Henrya trade deal had been worked out,
but it fell through. There's allkind of rumors about it. It's been
rumored that the team was Baltimore,and it's been rumored that Amy Adams Strunk
vetoed the trade because she didn't wantto see Derrick Henry as a Raven.
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It's been rumored that Mike Vrabel didn'twant the trade because he thought that the
Titans could turn it around and theyneeded Derrick Henry if they were going to
make a playoff push. It's beenrumored that ran Carthon didn't want the deal
because the compensation wasn't exactly right.I don't know, whatever the case may
be. I don't even know thatit's true that the Ravens were the team
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that were pursuing Derrick Henry. Butif that was the case, would you
have at least would you have beenokay with a trade mid season so that
you could at least get the draftcompensation for him, or does that moment
where he gets his chance to saygoodbye to Titans fans in Nissan Stadium,
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does that mean enough to you thatyou're you're cool with how things played out,
or would you have wanted the draftpick Essentially? Yeah, I think
at a sentimental level, it wasnice for him to be able to get
that sign off, you know,just after being that guy for the franchise
for that long. As far asjust thinking about it from a business since
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I don't know, you trade awayHenry in the middle of the season and
people kind of see it as you'regiving up on that year. Yeah,
because like it or not, youknow, that was the guy that was
If anything was gonna happen that year, it was gonna come through him.
Everything else was kind of an unprovencommodity at best. So I get why
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they didn't do it. It makesmore sense that it happened in the offseason
when you see this shift in theTitans and what they're focusing on. So
I think, yeah, it wouldhave been nice to get some compensation for
it, But I get why itdidn't happen. Yeah, I'm I'm team.
Give me the draft pick. I'llhelp you pack your bags. But
that's just me. I know I'mnot as sentimental when it comes to the
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Titans as some are, So Iget it. So draft strategy before we
get into our listener questions this week. Given what the Titans have done so
far in free agency, do youstill think that they are tied to a
particular position with the seventh overall pick, or do you feel like they are
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in a spot where they can justgo best player available in each round.
I don't know. It kind ofseems like the way that the draft boards
shake it up that there's potential thatthe first four picks will all be quarterbacks,
which leaving us at seven. Youknow, that leaves a lot of
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options. There is a ton ofpotential out there. I still feel like
offensive line is the way to go. That being said, you know,
the the class is deep, there'spotential to trade back. I don't know.
I don't think they're necessarily married toone idea or one position. Yeah,
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I'm kind of with you. Ithink it's a it's a good year
to need offensive tackle help. Ithink it's a really good deep class,
and I think that I'm gonna saysomething that's going to piss a lot of
people off because it's been the discoursethis week. But I think tackle,
I think wide receiver are both deepenough that you can wait. I think
(31:40):
cornerback is I think it's a reallyintriguing class, but I think it's kind
of top heavy, so once youget through the first couple of rounds,
I think there's a significant drop off. So I don't think you're going to
get a guy on Day three that'sgoing to come in and be a Day
one starter in the NFL. SoI think there's a little more urgency there.
But I think those are those arethree positions that the Titans need that
(32:04):
they could theoretically wait on and stillget a better a good player. But
the edge rushers. This is assumingthey stick at seven people are people are
gonna be pissed at me for this, But I would not be mad if
they went and got Dallas Turner atseventh overall. I think he's one of
(32:25):
I think he's one of the bluechip players in this draft class. I've
got him ranked fifth overall on myboard. I think he's a violent force
of speed and twitch. I thinkhe's he's a pure pass rusher, and
I think after Brian excuse me,I almost said after Brian Burns, that's
(32:47):
who he reminds me of. Hereminds me of like a stronger Brian Burns.
But after Dallas Turner, I'm notas sold on Latu Latu, not
as sold on Jared versus others.I like Darius Robson and I like Chris
braswell. But outside of that,those first few guys that are all going
to be first rounders, early secondrounders, I think the edge rusher class
(33:10):
class just falls off a cliff completely. So with the needs at offensive tackle,
wide receiver, cornerback, linebacker,all these needs, like edge rusher
is on down the list, butit's still a need. But if you
could get a blue chip player andthen not have to worry about trying to
(33:31):
find a diamond in the rough outof this mediocre class, man, I
kind of get the vision for it. I'm not gonna be mad about it.
Are What are your thoughts? Howare you going to feel if the
Titans were to go with an edgerusher at seven overall? Yeah, I'm
just I don't know if I feelas confident as you do. Obviously.
(33:53):
You know, I'm not a bigdraft guy. You are one hundred said
the guy when it comes to that. I've always been married to the idea
that Joe Alt seems like the obviouspick of that position. And I feel
like if we go and we lookat, you know, franchises that struggled
(34:14):
for a while and had high picks, that they really built a strong line
out of these high draft picks.When you go out, you know,
you get these proven commodities. AndI know nobody's proven in the draft,
but there's some people that you feelbetter about than others that you don't let
fall down the line. You kindof see that that success happens. So
(34:37):
I'm still I'm still on board withJoe Alt. I feel like that's the
that's the move that I would make. But I don't know, you crazier
things have happened. I yeah,and I still like Alt would still be
the choice for me too. Ithink I think Alt is one of the
best players in this class. He'sanother blue chipper. I think he's the
(34:59):
most complete offensive tackle and the mostpolished and NFL ready offensive tackle in the
class. If I were making thecalls, that's what I would do.
But I'm just saying, like,I don't think it's as crazy as people
think that they might look at thisand say, hey, we need an
edge rusher. Let's get the bestone in the class. And we know
we can get a starting caliber offensivetackle, wide receiver, cornerback in the
(35:22):
in the later rounds. That's that'sall. I'm just just playing a little
Devil's advocate here. Let's get tolet's get to our our listener questions here.
We'll start with Dave. When theTitans win the Super Bowl this season,
who will deserve the most credit?Ooh, that's a great question.
(35:45):
I'm going to say. Go ahead, I'm gonna say that's that Damn Will
Levis. Baby? Is that DamnWill Levis? Man? I'm with you.
You know it always starts with thequarterback. Yeah, you could say
it could be attributed to Ran Carson, you know, for making all these
(36:06):
big moves. If the Titans wereable to go all the way to the
Super Bowl, you know, itwouldn't be purely on Levice's shoulders. So
something like that were to happen inthat miraculous of a turnaround occurred, I
feel like you could not deny thatRand was the big player in that let
Ran Cook. There we go,There we go. Jay asks us tackle
(36:27):
in the first is off limits,So this is like just what we were
just talking about. No trades.Tackle in the first is off limits,
so you can't take a tackle.What is your ideal first, second,
and fourth round selections by position?What are you thinking? Owen? Oh?
Shoot, I feel like there wouldbe if offensive tackles off the table.
(36:53):
I feel like there's gonna be goodwide receiver talent. I don't see
Barvid hair Grison Junior making it pastnumber five, but in the off chances
that happens, there's no way youdon't you know, you can pass that
up that It's just sure he's oneof those guys, but you know of
Eleak Neighbors, I feel like wouldbe available there. Yeah, I feel
(37:16):
like that would be the route thatI would go with the first and then
second. You know, we stillhave that big cornerback gaping issue that we're
trying to address. I think there'sa lot of talent there in that linebacker
position at four, would just youknow, that would be my guesses I'm
(37:40):
going with. I like, whereyour head's at with the receiver if you
can't go tackle and quarterbacks take upthree or four of the first picks,
like you're going to get one ofthese guys that is a real game changer
at the position. My guy isRomadunza out of Washington. I like him
a lot, so that I'm gonnasay Roma Dunze in the first in the
(38:02):
second round, man, I ohman. There's something about Devandre Sweat,
the big defensive tackle out of Texasthat I'm like, I would love to
see him just blowing people up nextto Jeffrey Simmons. I think Devandre Sweat
has a kind of an underrated passrush toolkit, so I think you'd get
(38:23):
a little juice there as well.The edge rushers, I'm gonna revisit my
conversation. I think that's where I'mgonna land. I'm gonna land with the
edge rushers. I'm gonna go DariusRobinson out of Missouri. I think he
is probably the closest thing that yougot to Denico Autry in this draft.
I think it's a pretty good compfor Darius Robinson and the Titans happened to
(38:46):
have a Deniko Autry sized hole tofill. So I'm gonna say Darius Robinson
the edge rusher in the second round, and then I'm going I'm going cornerback
in the fourth. Now, Idon't know. It sounds like Max Melton
out of Rutgers, who is oneof my guys in this class. There's
some buzz that he's going to bea second round pick. At this point,
(39:06):
I don't think he's gonna be therein the fourth. I don't know
about Cam Hart out of Notre Dame. If he's there, that's who i'd
go with. But I'm pretty confidentthere's a guy out of Boston College by
the name of Elijah Jones that Ireally like that I think will be there
in the fourth. He's got goodlength, like the way he gets his
hand into the throwing windows to disruptpasses. Oh and also a guy that
(39:30):
the Titans have already scheduled a visitwith, Jarvis Brownlee Junior out of Louisville,
would make a lot of sense inthe fourth round as as well.
A guy that we watched at theSenior Bowl this year out there practically running
routes for the wide receivers and undercuttingthem and breaking up passes. So I
think I think that's where that's whereI'm leaning. I'm gonna go Roama Dunza
in the first, Darius Robinson inthe second, and then we're gonna say
(39:53):
We're gonna say Jarvis Brownlee Junior inthe fourth round, and then you've got
you got your receiver, you gotyour edge rusher, and you got your
corner back. I would be Iwould be pretty stoked with that. Jay
as long as the Titans do havea tackle at some point, because that
is that is still a massive needat the time of this recording. Glory
(40:15):
Holtz PBK asks us, what isyour favorite color? And why? Oh
did you say that user name wasGlory Holtz. Yeah, like Nick Holts,
the offensive coordinator, Glory Holtz littlelittle play. I like that.
That's pretty creative. Uh. Myfavorite color is yellow, and I like
(40:37):
it because it's bright and exuberant andit brings a good energy. Yeah.
My my favorite color is red becauseit's warm and juicy. All right,
Elden Elden hit us with a bunchof questions. Again. Elden's basically we
should just make Elden a producer ofthe show. At this point is the
(40:57):
he's basically writing our show for us. This is more of a recommendation than
a question. But if you twohave not seen Untold Crimes and Penalties documentary
on the Dan Barry Trashers on Netflix, you should definitely watch it. Okay,
note taking, we'll keep that inmind. He also asks should more
professional and college football teams invest inbeing named sharks or some variation I e.
(41:23):
Hammerheads. I don't know what theother one is, m Akos macOS
macOS. I've never heard of that, Knowing those are far more fearsome creatures
than most of these animals chosen itworked so well in any given Sunday,
I'll say, Owen, I amkind of surprised that there aren't more like
Great Whites. Well, you can'thave a team called the Great Whites in
(41:45):
twenty twenty four. Not bad,that's my bad, guys, But like
the Hammerheads and all that stuff,Like, I am kind of surprised that
that's not not as much of thatout there. I kind of do think
that there should be more sharks andprofessional and college football. Where do you
land on this one? I don'tknow. I kind of I'm gonna go
(42:06):
with the opposite of you. Ilike the silly names, you know,
I think one of my favorite teamnames is the Savannah Bananas. I don't
think that games are won and lostby the matscott you peak, So I
think I think find something that's dynamicto your team, to your city.
(42:28):
Go with something that you think ismarketable and fun. Sharks are cool,
though, Yeah, I we'll saysharks are cool. I uh, was
it Huntsville that has the trash pandasthe minor league baseball team? Yeah?
I think that's right. Yeah,We've been talking about going down there and
checking them out for a while.Eldon asked, what is your favorite semi
aquatic animal. I like otters becausethey're silly and they have big old mustaches.
(42:53):
That's a great answer. I haveno notes, no notes. I'm
with you. Which free agent safetyremaining outside of Simmons Justin Simmons do you
feel would be the best fit tosign if the Titans were to add one
at that spot? Eldon, Ido think Justin Simmons is the guy.
By the way. I think he'sgot some some pretty good football left in
(43:14):
him. I was like, I'mI'm so bummed at the way this safety
market has has kind of slipped throughthe Titans Fingertips as well. Apparently they
were in on cam Curl something happenedthere and he ends up signing elsewhere.
I really liked the way Kavon Wallaceplayed down the stretch for the Titans.
He was a guy that I reallyhoped that they would resign. He signs
(43:36):
with the Seahawks. So I thinkthe best available option is a guy that
they've reportedly met with, Marcus May, a guy that is getting a little
longer in the tooth right, mightbe in the twilight of his career.
But I think at at any ifyou can get a guy that at any
point in his career was like amongthe best at his position, you know,
(43:58):
you have that pedigree and you havethat guy that can kind of establish
the tone at the very least andcan be a stop gap while you develop
a guy, because like you said, there are more boxes to check earlier,
there are more boxes to check thanthey have resources to fulfill. So
I think a guy like Marcus May, for me, is uh would be
(44:22):
the choice there. But I'm stillholding out hope for Justin Simmons. Oh
In, any any thoughts on thefree agent safety market. Yeah, no,
I'm kind of with you. Ilike the Justin Simmons narrative that's been
going around. Yeah, I don'tknow a lot about outside of that,
what kind of potential there is.So I would have to say I'm unsure
(44:45):
should Stony watch Grimlins two the newbatch, especially being told it has a
completely different feel than the first one. Uh, you know what, I'm
gonna be honest with you. Hegave Grimlins a shot, and I think
it's fair if you miss out onGrilllins too. I don't think what this
uh, this narrative is about peoplethat are like, oh man, you're
(45:07):
gonna love this show. You haveto watch the first season of it to
really get into it. Like,you know, you have a finite amount
of time to dedicate to things youwant to watch. And I feel like
if you if you went through awhole film and didn't enjoy it, you're
you're allowed to miss the sequel.Fair enough. Fair enough. Now that
(45:30):
a major part of free agency iswinding down, what would be the preferred
route you'd like the Titans to goin rounds one and two based on the
current Titans team construction. I willsay for me, assuming they don't trade
for Lagarious Need, it is lefttackle. It is cornerback. What do
you say, Owen? Yeah,I was gonna say the exact same thing.
(45:52):
That's how I feel. Yeah,that's a That's a pretty easy one
for me. Heldon also asked TJTampa any good and I just got through
telling I told Zach this earlier inthe week. I told Easton this just
a few minutes ago. It's thethird time TJ Tampa has come up.
But there's two Mike Sainras still outof Michigan and TJ Tampa are the only
(46:15):
two guys ranked in the top fiftyright now on NFL mock Draft database that
I just haven't gotten around to yet. I hear good things from TJ Tampa,
some good data points for TJ Tampa, and I know he is as
Easton told me earlier today, heis one of James Foster's plant the flag
guys like this dude is good.So I'm hopeful for TJ. Tampa.
(46:38):
I think he will be an optionfor the Titans at thirty eight in the
second round if they want him.I just haven't gotten around to watching the
tape just yet. If the Titanshad to go into the season with one
of their remaining roster holes at insidelinebacker. Are there any free agents left
that you'd like to sign to atleast bolster depth? I think if you
(47:00):
talking about depth, I know IsaiahSimmons hasn't panned out in the NFL so
far the way that everybody thought thathe would like coming out of the draft.
That dude was supposed to like revolutionizedefensive football. He was truly a
hybrid safety linebacker type that Arizona wasjust gonna do everything with and it hasn't
(47:21):
really worked out that way, andnow he's primarily a linebacker, And I
think if you're asking that guy tojust do a little bit of work here
and there, I'm still okay withadding him on a cheap deal. But
otherwise, man, I don't know. I'd rather just get a cheap draft
pick one of these developmental Day threekind of guys and just see what you
(47:45):
have between him and Jack Gibbons andOtis Reese who was still on this roster
that apparently this front office must bereally high on Otis Reese if they're just
like, yeah, we're just gonnaadd Kenneth Murray and see what happens in
camp. If they feel that goodabout Otis Reese. I think I can
(48:06):
talk myself into feeling that good aboutOtis Reese. But what do you make
of Eldon's question about going into theseason with that that hole linebacker and maybe
adding a veteran free agent. Yeah, I don't know. It's it's tough
because, like we've said throughout thispodcast, it's hard to address every issue
(48:27):
with free agency. It's just it'snot plausible. So maybe that is just
one of the positions where we say, hey, Ducks, that would it's
like this for this year, butwe just can't address it. Yeah,
I hear you. Twenty twenty fivethird for Snead and twenty two million aav
(48:49):
a better decision for the Titans thansay, drafting a Max Melton or Cam
Hart in the fourth round and signinga one year vet like Stefan Gilmour.
That see, this is it's acomplicated question because on the surface, I
would say, you go get aguy that is one of the best at
his position, and you've got thatbox checked for the next four to five
(49:12):
years. You don't have to giveup too much. If it's just the
twenty twenty five to third, youdon't have to give up too much to
get him, And a point that'sbeen made recently is the Titans don't have
a whole lot of big contracts comingup because none of their first round picks
have panned out, so they don'thave to worry about paying they just they
got Jeffrey Simmons paid last offseason.They don't have to worry about paying Isaiah
(49:35):
Wilson, they don't have to worryabout paying Caleb Farley, and I don't
think they're gonna have to worry aboutpaying Traylon Burkes either. So I think
they're in a good spot with thecash to get something like that done.
But at the same time, itdoes kind of feel like you could preserve
some of those resources if you hiton a guy like Max Melton or Cam
(49:58):
Hart like we've talked about out earlierin the fourth round, and then finding
like a veteran stop gap like StefanGilmore who still has some good football left
in him. What do you makeof this decision? How do you weigh
each option here? Owen, Yeah, I kind of feel like over the
past couple of years, a bigissue with the Titans was that we didn't
(50:21):
have any commodities that we kept tryingto go through this trial by depths and
just getting who we can get andseeing what works. So I think that
the luxury that we do have nowis the ability to spend money, and
I think we should take advantage ofthat luxury. So I feel like,
out of those two choices, Ifeel like sneed would be the rep to
(50:42):
go with a proven commodity. Thereyou go, There you go. Grizzler
asks us, do you think wedraft more defense or offense this year?
Or more of an even split?I would say I would say the way
it's constructed now, they have moreholes on defense that I would expect to
be filled with guys they think theycan draft and develop into starters. I
(51:06):
think the priority is gonna be offense, and I think they're still working on
that. In free agency, Iwould expect them to add an offensive tackle,
but I think I think outside ofdrafting your left tackle of the future,
I think there are gonna be alot of draft picks on defense because
you start thinking like you need depthalong the defensive line. You got to
replace Denico Autry at this point,something they haven't done in free agency.
(51:29):
You need another cornerback, you needa safety, you need a linebacker,
as we've talked about, you neededge rush help. Like they've they've checked
some boxes. I think the interiorof the offensive line is okay. I
think the running back spot is probablyokay. Tight ends fine. I don't
think they're gonna spin a draft pickon a quarterback. And I think outside
(51:52):
of like offensive tackle, left andright and wide receiver, I think you've
checked a lot of boxes on offense, but there's still a ton of work
to be done on defense. Thatif free agency, like, if this
is it, then they don't addanybody else. I would say, you
gotta go defense heavy in the draft. But how do you see this one?
Owen? Yeah, I'm with youon that. I feel like free
(52:15):
agency was kind of addressing a lotof offensive issues, and I think,
like you said, there's a tonof depth issues at defense. Yeah,
I can see this being maybe notdefensive heavy, but you know, I
feel like most of the picks willgo that way. We got a we
got a good one from our guyGershan. If I'm not pronouncing your name
(52:39):
right, hit me up, bro, I just just let me know.
But this is a good one.Can you see a scenario where the Titans
trade back from seven and still endup with one of the top three receivers,
and that's Marvin Harrison Junior, Eliteneighbors Roma Dunze and starting tackle in
the first round on fashion new MemsFuaga, et cetera. Oh, that's
(53:05):
a that's a tight one, becauseI don't think you can get out of
the top ten if you want oneof those top three wide receivers. Now
what you would need to happen.Somebody's got a bite on JJ McCarthy,
but it can't be. It can'tbe the top four picks because then,
(53:27):
I mean, nobody's gonna trade up. I don't think anybody's gonna trade up
for Michael Pennock Junior or Bo Nixor Spencer Rattler. So you're looking at
maybe one of one or two ofthose top three receivers. You're thinking,
maybe the Talasi Fuaga hype is real. Maybe all of the tight end doesn't
(53:49):
matter. Chatter is just smoke screen. So you're thinking, maybe it ends
up something like Caleb Williams Drake May. Let's say the the Patriots go with
Marvin Harrison Junior, and then you'vegot maybe Arizona goes Let's let's throw a
curveball in there. Arizona goes withMalik Neighbors, the Chargers take Joe Ault,
(54:17):
and then you've got Jaden Daniels toso you get there where JJ.
I think JJ McCarthy's got to bethere at seven for somebody to want to
trade up, and then they tradeup and take JJ McCarthy. Maybe Dallas
Turner goes, and then like you'relooking at, maybe Roma Dunesey slips to
ten or eleven, maybe and thenyou pick up an extra pick in the
(54:43):
twenties. I think you're looking atlike Mems would probably still be there.
Maybe Latham slides. I don't thinkhe will after his draft process. Maybe
a guy like Troy fai Utanu.I think it is probably probably the only
way that that happened, But Ithink it's it's possible. But I would
set I would set pretty long oddson that. But oh, and how
(55:06):
would you how would you feel ifthey were able to trade back still get
one of these wide receivers and thenstill get one of these upper echelon tackles
both in the first round on nightone? How I mean I'd be doing
cartwheels? What about you? Imean, I agree, uh, that
would be a great scenario. ButI think the thing that people always forget
(55:28):
about when you're talking about trading upis that, like you gotta realistically go,
Okay, who four though, Like, yeah, who are people going
to be moving up to seven for? I don't know if seven's necessarily that
sexy of a pick. I think, yeah, there's a lot of talk
about, you know, the topfive picks being uh, you know,
(55:49):
four out of five quarterbacks. Yeah, so I feel like that's an area
where you have a lot of roomto work with. I just I don't
know if seven necessarily holds that weight. Yeah, that's That's what I'm saying,
Like, you can't. I don'tthink you can have the top four
quarterbacks go one through four because Idon't know who's gonna trade up. I
mean, maybe somebody trades up toget one of these wide receivers. If
(56:13):
Marvin Harrison Junior starts to slide.You know, there's been some chatter this
week that there are quite a fewNFL teams that have Molakue Neighbors ranked ahead
of Marvin Harrison Junior. So Idon't know what if it's one through four
quarterbacks and then at five, theChargers go with Joe Alt like they've been
linked to, and then the Giantstake don't Roma Dunsa or maybe they take
(56:39):
Dallas Turner. They're not gonna takeDallas Turner. They just traded for Brian
Burns. But I'm just spitballing here, like maybe there's a chance that Harrison
Junior slips to seven, but it'sa long shot, man. I think.
I think if if it's going toif it's going to happen, there's
got to be either Jaden Daniels orJJ McCarthy has to slide to seven and
(57:01):
somebody's got a trade up to getthem. I don't know that there's gonna
be any other player that people aregoing to be willing to move picks to
get in this draft class. Butit's fun to think about. It's fun
to think about, like Roma Dunesaand Tulasi Fuaga. Man, I'm gonna
be my shirt's gonna be off.My shirt's gonna be off in the club.
All right, Last question, lastquestion, and then we can get
(57:22):
on out of here today. FromLane, first time caller, longtime listener.
Why do we keep why do wekeep allowing this team to hurt us.
It's a great question, Owen,because that's what part of being a
fan is you stick through through thebad times and the hope that eventually it
(57:43):
won't suck forever. And sometimes thesuck just happens to last too long.
But yeah, we keep letting ithurt us because there's great moments that we've
had throughout and we live for those. I hear you, man, and
I would say I like the communityas well. I like talking ball with
you guys. I appreciate you askingus questions, Owen. I appreciate you
(58:06):
hopping on the microphones with me torecord this podcast. That's why we keep
letting this team hurt us, becausewe just we love. We love the
friendship, we love the camaraderie thatcomes along with it. So that's going
to do it for this week's episodeof the Unofficial Titans Podcast, Owen,
let our listeners know where they canfind you on social media. Yep.
(58:28):
So I'm not publicly on social media, but if you would like to hear
more from me for whatever reason,you can go to the Sobros Patreon.
You can listen to LMAO in fivebucks a month. We have five episodes
up. I believe five episodes atthis point. Yeah, and we're looking
to do more in twenty twenty four. So go check me out there.
(58:51):
There you have it, and Iam at Stony Keeley. You can check
out all of our work at Sobrosnetworkdot com. The merches up at sobroshop
dot com, rate reviews, subscribeto the Unofficial Titans Podcast. Wherever you
take in your shows. We ain'ttoo hard to find in these Internet streets.
Baby, we out here talking andtalking into these microphones. He is
(59:12):
Cinderella Man one take oh outspoken OwenReed, and I am big natural Stony
Keeley. Until next time, youstay classy Titans fans
Thank you from Sobros HQ and Nashville, Tennessee to wherever you're cheering on your
Tennessee Titans. The Sobros Network presentsthe Unofficial Titans Podcast. Welcome back for
(00:30):
another episode of the Unofficial Titans Podcastright here on Sobros Network. Mind's right
ass is tight. It's you boy, Big Natural Stony Keeley. You can
follow me on Twitter at Stony Keeley, collectively at sobros Network on all major
social media platforms, and all ofmy NFL Draft coverage and Tennessee Titans coverage
(00:52):
at Stackingtheinbox dot com. Become amember today for just five dollars a month
and get a ton of crazy,crazy, in depth shit if you love
the Titans and if you love theDraft. Joined by my co host for
the Unofficial Titans Podcast, He isCinderella Man. One take Oh coming to
us from the dad Zone. OutspokenOwen read Owen. How you doing today,
(01:18):
my man? It's good to catchup again. Hey everybody, Hey
Stony, It's Friday. I'm feelinggood, love it, love it well.
I want to kick off the showbecause it's Friday. Vibes. Here.
We're recording on a Friday on theUnofficial Titans Podcast. It's TGIF,
kind of loose, kind of laidback, don't have a hard set list
(01:41):
of topics to go over. SoI want to talk a little bit about
your trip to the Smoky Mountains becauseyou just disappeared on us for a couple
of days. You know, sometimesyou just got to head into the wilderness
for a little bit. Hell yeah, I hear that. We got a
hotel room and we were definitely notin the woods. It is a good
(02:05):
place to disappear into the woods though, And in my humble opinion, I
think Klingman's Dome out in the SmokyMountains is the best place in Tennessee to
watch the sunset. That's just mytake. But I don't know you guys.
I think you did more of theattraction stuff than you did the into
the mountains. Did you guys gointo the park at all? We drove
(02:28):
through it on the way, Butyeah, we definitely hit up all the
tourists stuff this time. How wasthe Pirate show? Because you sent us
a picture of that, and thatlooked pretty. That looked pretty sick man,
it was just sensory overload at itsfinest, Like you know, it's
a little pricey, but you getthis big ass dinner. The there's animals,
(02:53):
there's pyrotechniques, there's animatronics. It'scrazy. I loved it. Man.
I was talking to my wife earlierthis week because this, if I'm
not mistaken, this is the onlythis is the only weekend that we don't
have plans through the middle of June. So I'm like, we're not going
(03:15):
to get to disappear until at leasthalfway through the summer. And like,
we got two days this weekend,we should try and hop in the car
and go somewhere. And for ourlisteners, I might not have said this
before on this show, anyway,I kind of feel like the Smoky Mountains
(03:35):
Chattanooga two of the best places whenyou've only got a couple of days to
get away, adequate, adequate spotsto get away for a weekend because they're
nearby, but there's a ton ofstuff to do. What would you say,
are there any other areas around Nashvillethat you would put in that conversation.
Memphis is also really fun. There'sa lot of stuff always going on
(03:58):
in Memphis. I think the thingthat we were just the most impressed with
with our Gatlinburg trip was just thateverything was fairly reasonably priced. Hey there,
as far as like admission goes,you know, I'm sure it spikes
and changes is they have events goingon, like Rod Run and all that.
But if you go during the offseason, we had perfect weather when
(04:24):
we went to Dollywood. I thinkthe longest line we waited in was twenty
minutes, but that was for oneride. Most of everything we just walked
on. Damn. That's good.That's good shit, man, that's what
you love to hear right there.Well, I'm just, you know,
I'm kind of longing for it todaybecause I know the next month is about
(04:45):
to get really crazy. It's alreadycrazy with draft stuff. But it's like
I put together my big board andthat thing's up to like forty thousand words
at this point. I'm just I'mwriting a novel basically for the draft,
and I still have like close toone hundred prospects to get through. So
I'm just I'm like, you knowwhat, man, I'm thinking, I'm
(05:05):
jealous owens up in the Smokies.I'm just grinding a way. Maybe I
will, Maybe I will get upto Gatlinburg this weekend. Who knows,
but I'm happy that you were ableto do it, that you had a
nice relaxing time because it has beenquite the clusterfuck on Titans Twitter this week
(05:26):
because the Titans haven't signed anybody exceptfor Sebastian Joseph, which to me,
I'm fine, Like, I likethe move whatever, good run stuffing,
defensive tackle. I still like seeingthe big old fat boys blowing up double
blocks to close on a running back. I'm cool with it whatever. But
I guess because the Titans haven't signedPatrick Mahomes, it's been a little tense
(05:48):
on Titans Twitter this week. Soyou've you've gotten away from that, but
I just kind of want to gaugethe temperature here since it is like free
form Friday, given what the Titanshave done free agency, who they've let
go, who they've signed, whothey've re signed. Where where are you
at with the overall state of theteam right now? What are what are
(06:09):
your vibes? How are you feelingabout how this this whole thing's going right
now? Yeah, I'm feeling prettygood about it. You know, honestly,
there's a lot of uh, glaring, gaping holes in our roster that
we saw throughout the season. Uh. And I understand that those holes are
going to be fixed in you know, one off season or in you know,
(06:31):
one month of free agency. Sure, But for the moves that we've
made, I feel like they're allbeneficial and have addressed problems that we do
have. Yeah, I'm with you. The only the only spot that really
concerns me is linebacker. And theonly reason that concerns me so much is
because the Titans had the opportunity.And I've gone on about this for like
(06:54):
a week straight now. People areprobably gonna probably tired of hearing me talk
about it, but I I feellike they had an opportunity to get a
top of the line inside linebacker,which I don't buy is a devalued position
in the NFL, and they didn'tdo it, and instead they gave money
to a guy that just hasn't hadthe best tape so far in his career
(07:16):
in Kenneth Murray. And our buddyZach at Stacking the Inbox did a fantastic
profile of Kenneth Murray and his careerso far. And I think, you
know, if I were to guess, I would say the strategy is,
let's just get a really good athletein here and put him in a position
to succeed and not really worry aboutIt's like you said, like, maybe
(07:41):
we just can't, Maybe we can'tcheck every box this offseason, and maybe
we'll make a play for Dre Greenlawor Nick Bolton next offseason and then the
linebacking corps will be secure. Butit does concern me that there were quality
options available in free agency. Theyhad to money, they had the money
to sign somebody, and they justchose not to for some reason. And
(08:03):
to me, on the surface,that kind of looks like oversight. I
love the other signings. I'm nottrying to say Ran Carthon should be fired
for not getting a stud linebacker thisoffseason, but I just kind of feel
like there's a little bit of alittle bit of negligence there, Like what
is the plan if you guys arejust gonna let these guys slip through your
(08:26):
fingertips like sand. So about thelinebacker position specifically, Owen, how do
you feel about this? Do youfeel like there's a potential lapse in judgment
here? Is there reason for concernfrom leadership or are you just generally chalking
this up to Hey, they're notgonna get everything this offseason. Yeah,
(08:46):
I'm not gonna freak out over it. It is an issue, obviously,
but I just don't think you couldall get done at once fair enough,
fair enough, that's you are.You are not alone in that that line
of thinking. There quite a bitof people that kind of think, you
know, no big deal. Theygot the they got the wide receiver,
(09:07):
they got the center, they gotthe cornerback. All all is gravy.
So I do want to talk abouta couple of the a couple of the
major free agent signings. These areguys that I would consider like top of
market, like the best available options. Lloyd Cushionberry the center, big dude,
(09:30):
definitely an upgrade from Aaron Brewer.Now I give give Brewer credit,
like he made it further than heprobably ever should have as an undrafted free
agent, tougher than a two dollarsstake. He signs with the Miami Dolphins
with Mike McDaniel, who the widezone system that he runs out there requires
(09:52):
a more athletic, speedy, shiftyoffensive line, and hey, maybe Aaron
Brewer fits in that mold. Andhe goes down there and has a great
career. Good for him, butI was kind of tired of seeing him
get just blown up at least onceor twice every game. So I like
that they went out there and theygot the best guy available. This is
not Cushion Barry is not a guythat is just good among the free agents,
(10:16):
but across the entire NFL. Thisis a guy that's one of the
best at the positions. Owen.It reminds me a lot of the offseason
that the Titans decided, Hey,we're gonna go get Ben Jones, one
of the best, most underrated centersin the game. We're gonna go get
this guy, and he's gonna bea stalwart for our offensive line for years
(10:37):
to come. Not to put thatkind of pressure or expectations on Lloyd Cushion
Berry, but that's how I seeit, is the team being aggressive and
going and bolstering the interior of thatoffensive line with one of the most established
best guys at the position in theNFL. What do you make of their
decision to pay this guy, Owen, Yeah, I think excuse me,
(11:01):
I think there was a couple ofkey moments where pivotal bad snaps are just
absolutely getting beat at the line happenedat the center position, So I think
going out there and addressing it notjust with bringing in somebody new, but
bringing in somebody that's proven and consistentand you know, doesn't have a long
(11:22):
history of missing games. I thinkhe played what did they say, sixteen
to fifteen games last season. Yeah, I mean that unless I've just completely
mistaken, got the wrong guy,gotten my shit mixed up or whatever.
But he's kind of an iron man, like, doesn't miss a whole lot
of time. And that was anotherhuge issue with that offensive line was just
(11:46):
that it was a revolving door ofcharacters. So I like it. I
think that's exactly what you want todo, is when you're addressing issues,
is bring somebody in like that.So I think it's a great reality hit
pretty hard in the face when theTitans signed Tony Pollard that Derrick Henry was
(12:07):
not going to be back for thisfranchise, But I personally people freaked out
over twenty four million dollars, butwhen we got the details it was closer.
I don't remember if it was fourpoint five or six million a cap
hit in twenty twenty four, butnowhere near worth freaking out. Over for
Tony Pollard had a broken leg thathe was recovering from the first half of
(12:31):
twenty twenty three, but down thestretch last season, I think he was
one of the better running backs inthe entire league. I think people sleep
on him. I think he's beenkind of miscast in that Dallas Cowboys offense.
Like fantasy owners know how frustrating it'sbeen owning Tony Pollard in your fantasy
league because you just never know howor when the Cowboys are gonna use him.
(12:52):
But I like him as a complimentfor ty J. Spears. And
to quote our buddies Zen from Stackingthe Inbox, who said, when we
went down to the Senior Bowl lastyear in twenty twenty three, he loved
ty J Spears. His comp forty J Spears was Tony Pollard. So
you have two guys that can kindof do it all and are really good
(13:15):
in pass protection, so you don'thave to take them off the field on
third down. They can do alittle bit of everything. And I think
the benefit of that for me isthat defenses are no longer going to know
what the Titans are going to dobased on the personnel, based on the
running back that's in there. There'sno more tipping plays that, oh,
well, Henry's in, this isgoing to be a run, but Spears
(13:37):
is in, this is going tobe a pass. If both guys are
in, or either guy is in, you still don't really know what the
offense is going to do. Ithink that's the biggest benefit of adding a
guy like Tony Pollard. I'm finewith the money, but what did you
think when the news broke that theTitans had signed Tony Pollard? Yeah,
I fully agree with you. Ithink the biggest sin of the whole thing
(14:01):
was just that, uh, theycompliment each other in their style of play.
I think the Titans h C.Spears is maybe their back of the
future M and I and I thinkthat this just kind of goes to show
that they're really going with that idea. Yeah, I think it's I think
it's a more I think it's goingto be a more modern NFL offense where
(14:22):
I don't think they're gonna have guysfor specific roles. I think they want
guys that can do a little bitof everything so that they can be a
little more multiple. And Tony Pollarddefinitely fits the bill and and I'm kind
of excited to see what the theworkload split is going to be between those
(14:43):
two guys, because I don't Idon't know that you, I don't know
that you have to rely on eitherguy as the workhorse. And with reports
that they plan to bring in USCrunning back Marshaun Lloyd, who is another
one one of these guys, alittle bigger, thicker dude, but another
guy that is, you know,jukey in the open field, good pass
(15:07):
catcher, Like they might not bedone at the position, so they might
have a guy that's like one hundredpercent fresh throughout the entire game come in
and close like you can do somany things with a revamped running back room
full of versatile guys like this,And I just I think it's an indication
of this regime, this staff justbeing a little more forward thinking instead of
(15:31):
just saying, well, we gotto get a speed guy, we got
to get a power guy, andwe got to get a pass protector.
So I like the addition Calvin Ridleyninety two million dollar deal. That thing
is front loaded. If I'm notmistaken, it's like fifty mili of that
deal is gonna be paid the firsttwo seasons Calvin Ridley's a guy that I
know. There are some some questionsabout how he was used in Jacksonville.
(15:58):
I kind of feel like the Titansare smart enough to not fall into that
same trap. It sounds like they'reaware that he's a guy that can be
moved around the formation and do alittle bit more. But I think the
name of his game is going tobe separation, and they got a guy
that can make plays on the outside. Another complimentary piece when you're talking about
(16:18):
his position group that I think CalvinRidley and DeAndre Hopkins together make for a
pretty complete tandem of two wide receivers, and I think it alleviates the need
the necessity for the Titans to gowide receiver with one of the first two
picks in the draft. They couldjust as a luxury to just load up
and add more weapons for Will Levis, but I don't think they have to
(16:38):
at this point. What do youmake of the addition of Calvin Ridley.
I'm with you once again. Ithink the immediate knee jerk reaction is that
he was overpaid. But we kindof saw this coming last season when Jacksonville
kind of set that market with ChristianKirk Yeah, good point. So there's
(17:00):
there's not a whole lot. Youknow, Jerry Judy got paid very well
by Cleveland. That's just kind ofhow the market works. And I also
agree with the dynamic to it.DeAndre Hopkins was never meant to be a
separation guy. He's a tough fighterfor the ball. So it's good to
see Ridley come in. Levis lovesfinding that deep ball. So for a
(17:22):
guy that bringing in a guy that'sgreat with separation, I think is really
a vote of confidence in his favor. Yeah, and it's a really deep
wide receiver class in the draft,so I just I feel like they're not
done adding guys there either. Andyou can get like a speed guy in
the draft if you want, likeyou can get a shifty move the chains
(17:45):
guy or what I was also goingto say. I think this is going
to be beneficial to Burks. Hecan go back to the slot that's where
he played in Arkansas, Y.He can go back to the role where
he had the most success. SoI think overall this is you know,
I like it. I think it'sa good move if they don't end up
trading Burks. There were some rumorsout there that he was kind of like
(18:10):
the Jets were maybe sniffing around,and so I don't know, I don't
know how this staff views Burks,but I kind of look at it as
well, he's here, he's undercontract. You might as well try to
make the most of it, likelet's not just let's not just cast the
guy out. And I know peoplehave already said, like, I can't
deal with another summer of trailing TraylonBurke's hype, But I think I think
(18:33):
you're absolutely right. I think ifthey want to maximize his potential, they
could move him back into the slotand just just see what happens, Just
see what happens. What's what's theworst that could happen? They end up
cutting him or moving on from himbecause somebody is better in that role.
I don't really think that's a badbad thing either. So I like the
the moves that they're they're making atthe skill positions, and I think,
(18:59):
No, there wasn't anymore I wantedto talk to you about. I yeah,
let's talk about the corners. Let'stalk about Chittaba Awouier Cheato bay Cheato
bay Awuzie. I got it.I'm trying to pronounce it right and be
respectful. But I don't know.He says, just call me Cheeto,
so we'll just call him Cheeto.But they signed Cheeto and immediately becomes one
(19:25):
of the starting cornerbacks. I wouldbe highly surprised if they add two cornerbacks
that are better than him. Reallygood man corner He's a culture culture guy,
He's a tone setter. I thinkthis is one of those cases where
you're not only adding a guy thatyou can trust to execute your defense and
play in man coverage, but he'salso a guy that is going to be
(19:48):
good for the locker room as well. I love that addition. Things have
been kind of quiet on the cornerbackfront for this team and free agency,
and it sounds like, if you'rekeeping up with the reports, they're still
sniffing around Lagerius sneed who I thinkafter the last couple of seasons that he's
had has established himself as one ofthe best cornerbacks in the in the NFL.
(20:12):
The word is that his camp iswanting twenty two million a year,
and the number that has been floatedaround from a couple of different people is
that the Titans are are at twentymili a year, and it's the compensation
for the trade itself, Like dothe Titans give up a twenty twenty five
(20:34):
to third rounder and a pick thisyear to get him or or what?
But if if we go into theseason, let's just play hypotheticals here,
just reckless speculation like we love todo on this show. If this team
goes into the year with Lagerious Needand Cheeto as the two starting cornerbacks,
(20:55):
I mean, that's not just problemsolved, that's like, holy shit,
this this is gonna This is agood cornerback tandem. Much like DeAndre Hopkins
and Calvin Ridley at wide receiver.Those are two really good, starting caliber,
elite level NFL cornerbacks that just completelychanged the complexion of the defense.
What do you think about the theaddition of Cheeto Owen and the potential to
(21:21):
add a guy like Lugerius Sneed tothe secondary. Yeah, I thought the
Cheeto signing was great. The newstoday was that Christian Fulton just went to
the Chargers. Yep, so you'veobviously you had some issues there last season,
and now you even had more tofill with that coming up. I
(21:44):
think that's a big signing. Ithink he'll be great. And I've been
big on Sneed. I thought thatwas one of the big offseason moves that
we could have made, so I'dlove to see that happen as well.
I think we saw the secondary sufferthroughout the year last year, and I
think this is another step in theright directions. Are you cool with that
compensation for the trade? If itwere to be a third round pick next
(22:06):
year? And I think it wastheir fourth this year? I can't remember,
I don't I didn't jot it downwhen I saw it, but two
draft picks. Basically you cool withthat? You said it was a third
for this year, a third fornext year because they don't have a they
don't have a they don't have athird this year. Okay, Uh yeah,
I think that's fair. Uh.I like it. I think it's
(22:32):
a necessary move that need to bemade. Yep, I'm with you,
and I think you can. Youcan pretty much boil the decision down for
me anyway. You can boil itdown to would I spend a third round
pick on Lugerious Need? And theanswer is a pretty resounding yes. So
I'm I'm cool with it one hundredpercent. A couple of the Titans that
(22:52):
are no longer with the team,at least at this point, Ryan Tannehill
still on the mark. Doesn't reallysound like a market has shaped up for
Ryan Tannehill, which is kind ofsurprising because he had several suitors last offseason
and after the Titans drafted Will Levis. You know, there were a couple
(23:15):
of teams that were connected to RyanTannehill that through the media that were kind
of like, hey, we coulduse an established guy. The New York
Jets were one of them. Theynever pulled the trigger. They probably should
have pulled the trigger on Ryan Tannehillafter the Aaron Rodgers injury happened, and
then the Atlanta Falcons were linked tohim. Then Arthur Smith gets the offensive
(23:36):
coordinator job for Pittsburgh, so naturallypeople start saying Tannehill to Pittsburgh, but
they go get Russell Wilson, theygo get Justin Fields. Don't think Tannehill's
going to Pittsburgh. Doesn't seem likethe Vikings are very interested in him.
The Raiders were mentioned, but Iknow that the injuries from from two and
(24:00):
twenty three season are going to impacta player's evaluation. I also think there
were times that Ryan Tannehill just lookedkind of shell shocked, kind of shook
out there, Like there was apart of me that was kind of wondering,
like if if father time was finallycatching up with Ryan Tannehill and then
he gets hurt and now there's questionsabout that. Do you think it's as
(24:22):
simple as that as the reason thatno market has really developed for Ryan Tannehill?
Or are are you surprised to seethat he is still to my knowledge,
I don't even know that he's metwith anybody. Yeah. I feel
like the Tannehill situation was another onewhere public opinion didn't really fit with the
(24:47):
narrative. Yeah, and we kindof see that happen again. You know,
it would never mind, I'll stayfocused on Tannehill. You can go
wherever you want to, buddy.I'm good. I'm sure we'll bring it
up later anyways, all right,all right, Uh, yeah, Tannehill
struggled last year. We saw alot of times where, you know,
(25:10):
even at his best when he washealthy, just held onto the ball too
long. Indeed, it did seemlike you said, shell shocked. You
know, Tannehill was never the permanentsolution. You wouldn't call him a franchise
quarterback. I could see him endedup somewhere, and I'm sure as we
get into the season, when injuriesstart popping up, he will be signed
(25:33):
somewhere. I don't think he's notplaying football next season, but I could
see why other teams would want tomake other moves. Yeah, it's I
you know, I just I thoughtit was interesting and I would have put
Christian Fulton in that category as well. But like you brought up earlier,
like we just got word that heis intending to sign with the Chargers if
he hasn't already, Because I knowChristian Fulton got a bad rap, but
(26:00):
at his best, he was stilla pretty good corner and it's hard to
find pretty good corners in the NFL, so I was kind of surprised that
he didn't have more of a marketeither. And then of course we got
to talk about Derrick Henry owen hsigning with the Baltimore Ravens in that purple
and black man, what are whatare you feeling about seeing Derrick Henry as
(26:22):
a Baltimore Raven Yeah, man,we kind of saw the writing on the
wall with this one. We knewit was gonna hurt wherever he went.
And we did it again with thehistory of Steve McNair and Derek Mason.
We send another great guy to Baltimoreand and it stucks to watch yep,
yep, and uh, it's it'stough, man. Uh. I think
(26:48):
you know, he's one of thoseguys that obviously I still think he's going
to retire a Titan, and I'mcurious to see what he's what he's going
to do in that offense. Butbrutal, brutal, brutal time for Titans
fans that had And I don't know, man, I like you said,
the writing's kind of been on thewall for quite some time. I think
(27:10):
the people that still wanted Derrick Henryto re sign with the Titans were just
doing so out of nostalgia and hopemore so than reason, because I don't
think he was ever going to resign with the Titans. It sounded like
from his appearance on Busting with theBoys, it kind of sounded like he
(27:32):
wanted to go somewhere that he couldget a ring and maybe didn't want to
stick around for what you would assumeis going to be a pretty pretty big
rebuild. Here with the Titans sopretty I don't know. I think I
think the decision was made a longtime ago and it was just a matter
of a matter of waiting for theink to dry. I do want to
(27:56):
ask you, though, because Ido think this is interesting. There were
reports throughout the sea that Derrick Henrya trade deal had been worked out,
but it fell through. There's allkind of rumors about it. It's been
rumored that the team was Baltimore,and it's been rumored that Amy Adams Strunk
vetoed the trade because she didn't wantto see Derrick Henry as a Raven.
(28:19):
It's been rumored that Mike Vrabel didn'twant the trade because he thought that the
Titans could turn it around and theyneeded Derrick Henry if they were going to
make a playoff push. It's beenrumored that ran Carthon didn't want the deal
because the compensation wasn't exactly right.I don't know, whatever the case may
be. I don't even know thatit's true that the Ravens were the team
(28:42):
that were pursuing Derrick Henry. Butif that was the case, would you
have at least would you have beenokay with a trade mid season so that
you could at least get the draftcompensation for him, or does that moment
where he gets his chance to saygoodbye to Titans fans in Nissan Stadium,
(29:03):
does that mean enough to you thatyou're you're cool with how things played out,
or would you have wanted the draftpick Essentially? Yeah, I think
at a sentimental level, it wasnice for him to be able to get
that sign off, you know,just after being that guy for the franchise
for that long. As far asjust thinking about it from a business since
(29:26):
I don't know, you trade awayHenry in the middle of the season and
people kind of see it as you'regiving up on that year. Yeah,
because like it or not, youknow, that was the guy that was
If anything was gonna happen that year, it was gonna come through him.
Everything else was kind of an unprovencommodity at best. So I get why
(29:47):
they didn't do it. It makesmore sense that it happened in the offseason
when you see this shift in theTitans and what they're focusing on. So
I think, yeah, it wouldhave been nice to get some compensation for
it, But I get why itdidn't happen. Yeah, I'm I'm team.
Give me the draft pick. I'llhelp you pack your bags. But
that's just me. I know I'mnot as sentimental when it comes to the
(30:11):
Titans as some are, So Iget it. So draft strategy before we
get into our listener questions this week. Given what the Titans have done so
far in free agency, do youstill think that they are tied to a
particular position with the seventh overall pick, or do you feel like they are
(30:33):
in a spot where they can justgo best player available in each round.
I don't know. It kind ofseems like the way that the draft boards
shake it up that there's potential thatthe first four picks will all be quarterbacks,
which leaving us at seven. Youknow, that leaves a lot of
(30:53):
options. There is a ton ofpotential out there. I still feel like
offensive line is the way to go. That being said, you know,
the the class is deep, there'spotential to trade back. I don't know.
I don't think they're necessarily married toone idea or one position. Yeah,
(31:15):
I'm kind of with you. Ithink it's a it's a good year
to need offensive tackle help. Ithink it's a really good deep class,
and I think that I'm gonna saysomething that's going to piss a lot of
people off because it's been the discoursethis week. But I think tackle,
I think wide receiver are both deepenough that you can wait. I think
(31:40):
cornerback is I think it's a reallyintriguing class, but I think it's kind
of top heavy, so once youget through the first couple of rounds,
I think there's a significant drop off. So I don't think you're going to
get a guy on Day three that'sgoing to come in and be a Day
one starter in the NFL. SoI think there's a little more urgency there.
But I think those are those arethree positions that the Titans need that
(32:04):
they could theoretically wait on and stillget a better a good player. But
the edge rushers. This is assumingthey stick at seven people are people are
gonna be pissed at me for this, But I would not be mad if
they went and got Dallas Turner atseventh overall. I think he's one of
(32:25):
I think he's one of the bluechip players in this draft class. I've
got him ranked fifth overall on myboard. I think he's a violent force
of speed and twitch. I thinkhe's he's a pure pass rusher, and
I think after Brian excuse me,I almost said after Brian Burns, that's
(32:47):
who he reminds me of. Hereminds me of like a stronger Brian Burns.
But after Dallas Turner, I'm notas sold on Latu Latu, not
as sold on Jared versus others.I like Darius Robson and I like Chris
braswell. But outside of that,those first few guys that are all going
to be first rounders, early secondrounders, I think the edge rusher class
(33:10):
class just falls off a cliff completely. So with the needs at offensive tackle,
wide receiver, cornerback, linebacker,all these needs, like edge rusher
is on down the list, butit's still a need. But if you
could get a blue chip player andthen not have to worry about trying to
(33:31):
find a diamond in the rough outof this mediocre class, man, I
kind of get the vision for it. I'm not gonna be mad about it.
Are What are your thoughts? Howare you going to feel if the
Titans were to go with an edgerusher at seven overall? Yeah, I'm
just I don't know if I feelas confident as you do. Obviously.
(33:53):
You know, I'm not a bigdraft guy. You are one hundred said
the guy when it comes to that. I've always been married to the idea
that Joe Alt seems like the obviouspick of that position. And I feel
like if we go and we lookat, you know, franchises that struggled
(34:14):
for a while and had high picks, that they really built a strong line
out of these high draft picks.When you go out, you know,
you get these proven commodities. AndI know nobody's proven in the draft,
but there's some people that you feelbetter about than others that you don't let
fall down the line. You kindof see that that success happens. So
(34:37):
I'm still I'm still on board withJoe Alt. I feel like that's the
that's the move that I would make. But I don't know, you crazier
things have happened. I yeah,and I still like Alt would still be
the choice for me too. Ithink I think Alt is one of the
best players in this class. He'sanother blue chipper. I think he's the
(34:59):
most complete offensive tackle and the mostpolished and NFL ready offensive tackle in the
class. If I were making thecalls, that's what I would do.
But I'm just saying, like,I don't think it's as crazy as people
think that they might look at thisand say, hey, we need an
edge rusher. Let's get the bestone in the class. And we know
we can get a starting caliber offensivetackle, wide receiver, cornerback in the
(35:22):
in the later rounds. That's that'sall. I'm just just playing a little
Devil's advocate here. Let's get tolet's get to our our listener questions here.
We'll start with Dave. When theTitans win the Super Bowl this season,
who will deserve the most credit?Ooh, that's a great question.
(35:45):
I'm going to say. Go ahead, I'm gonna say that's that Damn Will
Levis. Baby? Is that DamnWill Levis? Man? I'm with you.
You know it always starts with thequarterback. Yeah, you could say
it could be attributed to Ran Carson, you know, for making all these
(36:06):
big moves. If the Titans wereable to go all the way to the
Super Bowl, you know, itwouldn't be purely on Levice's shoulders. So
something like that were to happen inthat miraculous of a turnaround occurred, I
feel like you could not deny thatRand was the big player in that let
Ran Cook. There we go,There we go. Jay asks us tackle
(36:27):
in the first is off limits,So this is like just what we were
just talking about. No trades.Tackle in the first is off limits,
so you can't take a tackle.What is your ideal first, second,
and fourth round selections by position?What are you thinking? Owen? Oh?
Shoot, I feel like there wouldbe if offensive tackles off the table.
(36:53):
I feel like there's gonna be goodwide receiver talent. I don't see
Barvid hair Grison Junior making it pastnumber five, but in the off chances
that happens, there's no way youdon't you know, you can pass that
up that It's just sure he's oneof those guys, but you know of
Eleak Neighbors, I feel like wouldbe available there. Yeah, I feel
(37:16):
like that would be the route thatI would go with the first and then
second. You know, we stillhave that big cornerback gaping issue that we're
trying to address. I think there'sa lot of talent there in that linebacker
position at four, would just youknow, that would be my guesses I'm
(37:40):
going with. I like, whereyour head's at with the receiver if you
can't go tackle and quarterbacks take upthree or four of the first picks,
like you're going to get one ofthese guys that is a real game changer
at the position. My guy isRomadunza out of Washington. I like him
a lot, so that I'm gonnasay Roma Dunze in the first in the
(38:02):
second round, man, I ohman. There's something about Devandre Sweat,
the big defensive tackle out of Texasthat I'm like, I would love to
see him just blowing people up nextto Jeffrey Simmons. I think Devandre Sweat
has a kind of an underrated passrush toolkit, so I think you'd get
(38:23):
a little juice there as well.The edge rushers, I'm gonna revisit my
conversation. I think that's where I'mgonna land. I'm gonna land with the
edge rushers. I'm gonna go DariusRobinson out of Missouri. I think he
is probably the closest thing that yougot to Denico Autry in this draft.
I think it's a pretty good compfor Darius Robinson and the Titans happened to
(38:46):
have a Deniko Autry sized hole tofill. So I'm gonna say Darius Robinson
the edge rusher in the second round, and then I'm going I'm going cornerback
in the fourth. Now, Idon't know. It sounds like Max Melton
out of Rutgers, who is oneof my guys in this class. There's
some buzz that he's going to bea second round pick. At this point,
(39:06):
I don't think he's gonna be therein the fourth. I don't know
about Cam Hart out of Notre Dame. If he's there, that's who i'd
go with. But I'm pretty confidentthere's a guy out of Boston College by
the name of Elijah Jones that Ireally like that I think will be there
in the fourth. He's got goodlength, like the way he gets his
hand into the throwing windows to disruptpasses. Oh and also a guy that
(39:30):
the Titans have already scheduled a visitwith, Jarvis Brownlee Junior out of Louisville,
would make a lot of sense inthe fourth round as as well.
A guy that we watched at theSenior Bowl this year out there practically running
routes for the wide receivers and undercuttingthem and breaking up passes. So I
think I think that's where that's whereI'm leaning. I'm gonna go Roama Dunza
in the first, Darius Robinson inthe second, and then we're gonna say
(39:53):
We're gonna say Jarvis Brownlee Junior inthe fourth round, and then you've got
you got your receiver, you gotyour edge rusher, and you got your
corner back. I would be Iwould be pretty stoked with that. Jay
as long as the Titans do havea tackle at some point, because that
is that is still a massive needat the time of this recording. Glory
(40:15):
Holtz PBK asks us, what isyour favorite color? And why? Oh
did you say that user name wasGlory Holtz. Yeah, like Nick Holts,
the offensive coordinator, Glory Holtz littlelittle play. I like that.
That's pretty creative. Uh. Myfavorite color is yellow, and I like
(40:37):
it because it's bright and exuberant andit brings a good energy. Yeah.
My my favorite color is red becauseit's warm and juicy. All right,
Elden Elden hit us with a bunchof questions. Again. Elden's basically we
should just make Elden a producer ofthe show. At this point is the
(40:57):
he's basically writing our show for us. This is more of a recommendation than
a question. But if you twohave not seen Untold Crimes and Penalties documentary
on the Dan Barry Trashers on Netflix, you should definitely watch it. Okay,
note taking, we'll keep that inmind. He also asks should more
professional and college football teams invest inbeing named sharks or some variation I e.
(41:23):
Hammerheads. I don't know what theother one is, m Akos macOS
macOS. I've never heard of that, Knowing those are far more fearsome creatures
than most of these animals chosen itworked so well in any given Sunday,
I'll say, Owen, I amkind of surprised that there aren't more like
Great Whites. Well, you can'thave a team called the Great Whites in
(41:45):
twenty twenty four. Not bad,that's my bad, guys, But like
the Hammerheads and all that stuff,Like, I am kind of surprised that
that's not not as much of thatout there. I kind of do think
that there should be more sharks andprofessional and college football. Where do you
land on this one? I don'tknow. I kind of I'm gonna go
(42:06):
with the opposite of you. Ilike the silly names, you know,
I think one of my favorite teamnames is the Savannah Bananas. I don't
think that games are won and lostby the matscott you peak, So I
think I think find something that's dynamicto your team, to your city.
(42:28):
Go with something that you think ismarketable and fun. Sharks are cool,
though, Yeah, I we'll saysharks are cool. I uh, was
it Huntsville that has the trash pandasthe minor league baseball team? Yeah?
I think that's right. Yeah,We've been talking about going down there and
checking them out for a while.Eldon asked, what is your favorite semi
aquatic animal. I like otters becausethey're silly and they have big old mustaches.
(42:53):
That's a great answer. I haveno notes, no notes. I'm
with you. Which free agent safetyremaining outside of Simmons Justin Simmons do you
feel would be the best fit tosign if the Titans were to add one
at that spot? Eldon, Ido think Justin Simmons is the guy.
By the way. I think he'sgot some some pretty good football left in
(43:14):
him. I was like, I'mI'm so bummed at the way this safety
market has has kind of slipped throughthe Titans Fingertips as well. Apparently they
were in on cam Curl something happenedthere and he ends up signing elsewhere.
I really liked the way Kavon Wallaceplayed down the stretch for the Titans.
He was a guy that I reallyhoped that they would resign. He signs
(43:36):
with the Seahawks. So I thinkthe best available option is a guy that
they've reportedly met with, Marcus May, a guy that is getting a little
longer in the tooth right, mightbe in the twilight of his career.
But I think at at any ifyou can get a guy that at any
point in his career was like amongthe best at his position, you know,
(43:58):
you have that pedigree and you havethat guy that can kind of establish
the tone at the very least andcan be a stop gap while you develop
a guy, because like you said, there are more boxes to check earlier,
there are more boxes to check thanthey have resources to fulfill. So
I think a guy like Marcus May, for me, is uh would be
(44:22):
the choice there. But I'm stillholding out hope for Justin Simmons. Oh
In, any any thoughts on thefree agent safety market. Yeah, no,
I'm kind of with you. Ilike the Justin Simmons narrative that's been
going around. Yeah, I don'tknow a lot about outside of that,
what kind of potential there is.So I would have to say I'm unsure
(44:45):
should Stony watch Grimlins two the newbatch, especially being told it has a
completely different feel than the first one. Uh, you know what, I'm
gonna be honest with you. Hegave Grimlins a shot, and I think
it's fair if you miss out onGrilllins too. I don't think what this
uh, this narrative is about peoplethat are like, oh man, you're
(45:07):
gonna love this show. You haveto watch the first season of it to
really get into it. Like,you know, you have a finite amount
of time to dedicate to things youwant to watch. And I feel like
if you if you went through awhole film and didn't enjoy it, you're
you're allowed to miss the sequel.Fair enough. Fair enough. Now that
(45:30):
a major part of free agency iswinding down, what would be the preferred
route you'd like the Titans to goin rounds one and two based on the
current Titans team construction. I willsay for me, assuming they don't trade
for Lagarious Need, it is lefttackle. It is cornerback. What do
you say, Owen? Yeah,I was gonna say the exact same thing.
(45:52):
That's how I feel. Yeah,that's a That's a pretty easy one
for me. Heldon also asked TJTampa any good and I just got through
telling I told Zach this earlier inthe week. I told Easton this just
a few minutes ago. It's thethird time TJ Tampa has come up.
But there's two Mike Sainras still outof Michigan and TJ Tampa are the only
(46:15):
two guys ranked in the top fiftyright now on NFL mock Draft database that
I just haven't gotten around to yet. I hear good things from TJ Tampa,
some good data points for TJ Tampa, and I know he is as
Easton told me earlier today, heis one of James Foster's plant the flag
guys like this dude is good.So I'm hopeful for TJ. Tampa.
(46:38):
I think he will be an optionfor the Titans at thirty eight in the
second round if they want him.I just haven't gotten around to watching the
tape just yet. If the Titanshad to go into the season with one
of their remaining roster holes at insidelinebacker. Are there any free agents left
that you'd like to sign to atleast bolster depth? I think if you
(47:00):
talking about depth, I know IsaiahSimmons hasn't panned out in the NFL so
far the way that everybody thought thathe would like coming out of the draft.
That dude was supposed to like revolutionizedefensive football. He was truly a
hybrid safety linebacker type that Arizona wasjust gonna do everything with and it hasn't
(47:21):
really worked out that way, andnow he's primarily a linebacker, And I
think if you're asking that guy tojust do a little bit of work here
and there, I'm still okay withadding him on a cheap deal. But
otherwise, man, I don't know. I'd rather just get a cheap draft
pick one of these developmental Day threekind of guys and just see what you
(47:45):
have between him and Jack Gibbons andOtis Reese who was still on this roster
that apparently this front office must bereally high on Otis Reese if they're just
like, yeah, we're just gonnaadd Kenneth Murray and see what happens in
camp. If they feel that goodabout Otis Reese. I think I can
(48:06):
talk myself into feeling that good aboutOtis Reese. But what do you make
of Eldon's question about going into theseason with that that hole linebacker and maybe
adding a veteran free agent. Yeah, I don't know. It's it's tough
because, like we've said throughout thispodcast, it's hard to address every issue
(48:27):
with free agency. It's just it'snot plausible. So maybe that is just
one of the positions where we say, hey, Ducks, that would it's
like this for this year, butwe just can't address it. Yeah,
I hear you. Twenty twenty fivethird for Snead and twenty two million aav
(48:49):
a better decision for the Titans thansay, drafting a Max Melton or Cam
Hart in the fourth round and signinga one year vet like Stefan Gilmour.
That see, this is it's acomplicated question because on the surface, I
would say, you go get aguy that is one of the best at
his position, and you've got thatbox checked for the next four to five
(49:12):
years. You don't have to giveup too much. If it's just the
twenty twenty five to third, youdon't have to give up too much to
get him, And a point that'sbeen made recently is the Titans don't have
a whole lot of big contracts comingup because none of their first round picks
have panned out, so they don'thave to worry about paying they just they
got Jeffrey Simmons paid last offseason.They don't have to worry about paying Isaiah
(49:35):
Wilson, they don't have to worryabout paying Caleb Farley, and I don't
think they're gonna have to worry aboutpaying Traylon Burkes either. So I think
they're in a good spot with thecash to get something like that done.
But at the same time, itdoes kind of feel like you could preserve
some of those resources if you hiton a guy like Max Melton or Cam
(49:58):
Hart like we've talked about out earlierin the fourth round, and then finding
like a veteran stop gap like StefanGilmore who still has some good football left
in him. What do you makeof this decision? How do you weigh
each option here? Owen, Yeah, I kind of feel like over the
past couple of years, a bigissue with the Titans was that we didn't
(50:21):
have any commodities that we kept tryingto go through this trial by depths and
just getting who we can get andseeing what works. So I think that
the luxury that we do have nowis the ability to spend money, and
I think we should take advantage ofthat luxury. So I feel like,
out of those two choices, Ifeel like sneed would be the rep to
(50:42):
go with a proven commodity. Thereyou go, There you go. Grizzler
asks us, do you think wedraft more defense or offense this year?
Or more of an even split?I would say I would say the way
it's constructed now, they have moreholes on defense that I would expect to
be filled with guys they think theycan draft and develop into starters. I
(51:06):
think the priority is gonna be offense, and I think they're still working on
that. In free agency, Iwould expect them to add an offensive tackle,
but I think I think outside ofdrafting your left tackle of the future,
I think there are gonna be alot of draft picks on defense because
you start thinking like you need depthalong the defensive line. You got to
replace Denico Autry at this point,something they haven't done in free agency.
(51:29):
You need another cornerback, you needa safety, you need a linebacker,
as we've talked about, you neededge rush help. Like they've they've checked
some boxes. I think the interiorof the offensive line is okay. I
think the running back spot is probablyokay. Tight ends fine. I don't
think they're gonna spin a draft pickon a quarterback. And I think outside
(51:52):
of like offensive tackle, left andright and wide receiver, I think you've
checked a lot of boxes on offense, but there's still a ton of work
to be done on defense. Thatif free agency, like, if this
is it, then they don't addanybody else. I would say, you
gotta go defense heavy in the draft. But how do you see this one?
Owen? Yeah, I'm with youon that. I feel like free
(52:15):
agency was kind of addressing a lotof offensive issues, and I think,
like you said, there's a tonof depth issues at defense. Yeah,
I can see this being maybe notdefensive heavy, but you know, I
feel like most of the picks willgo that way. We got a we
got a good one from our guyGershan. If I'm not pronouncing your name
(52:39):
right, hit me up, bro, I just just let me know.
But this is a good one.Can you see a scenario where the Titans
trade back from seven and still endup with one of the top three receivers,
and that's Marvin Harrison Junior, Eliteneighbors Roma Dunze and starting tackle in
the first round on fashion new MemsFuaga, et cetera. Oh, that's
(53:05):
a that's a tight one, becauseI don't think you can get out of
the top ten if you want oneof those top three wide receivers. Now
what you would need to happen.Somebody's got a bite on JJ McCarthy,
but it can't be. It can'tbe the top four picks because then,
(53:27):
I mean, nobody's gonna trade up. I don't think anybody's gonna trade up
for Michael Pennock Junior or Bo Nixor Spencer Rattler. So you're looking at
maybe one of one or two ofthose top three receivers. You're thinking,
maybe the Talasi Fuaga hype is real. Maybe all of the tight end doesn't
(53:49):
matter. Chatter is just smoke screen. So you're thinking, maybe it ends
up something like Caleb Williams Drake May. Let's say the the Patriots go with
Marvin Harrison Junior, and then you'vegot maybe Arizona goes Let's let's throw a
curveball in there. Arizona goes withMalik Neighbors, the Chargers take Joe Ault,
(54:17):
and then you've got Jaden Daniels toso you get there where JJ.
I think JJ McCarthy's got to bethere at seven for somebody to want to
trade up, and then they tradeup and take JJ McCarthy. Maybe Dallas
Turner goes, and then like you'relooking at, maybe Roma Dunesey slips to
ten or eleven, maybe and thenyou pick up an extra pick in the
(54:43):
twenties. I think you're looking atlike Mems would probably still be there.
Maybe Latham slides. I don't thinkhe will after his draft process. Maybe
a guy like Troy fai Utanu.I think it is probably probably the only
way that that happened, But Ithink it's it's possible. But I would
set I would set pretty long oddson that. But oh, and how
(55:06):
would you how would you feel ifthey were able to trade back still get
one of these wide receivers and thenstill get one of these upper echelon tackles
both in the first round on nightone? How I mean I'd be doing
cartwheels? What about you? Imean, I agree, uh, that
would be a great scenario. ButI think the thing that people always forget
(55:28):
about when you're talking about trading upis that, like you gotta realistically go,
Okay, who four though, Like, yeah, who are people going
to be moving up to seven for? I don't know if seven's necessarily that
sexy of a pick. I think, yeah, there's a lot of talk
about, you know, the topfive picks being uh, you know,
(55:49):
four out of five quarterbacks. Yeah, so I feel like that's an area
where you have a lot of roomto work with. I just I don't
know if seven necessarily holds that weight. Yeah, that's That's what I'm saying,
Like, you can't. I don'tthink you can have the top four
quarterbacks go one through four because Idon't know who's gonna trade up. I
mean, maybe somebody trades up toget one of these wide receivers. If
(56:13):
Marvin Harrison Junior starts to slide.You know, there's been some chatter this
week that there are quite a fewNFL teams that have Molakue Neighbors ranked ahead
of Marvin Harrison Junior. So Idon't know what if it's one through four
quarterbacks and then at five, theChargers go with Joe Alt like they've been
linked to, and then the Giantstake don't Roma Dunsa or maybe they take
(56:39):
Dallas Turner. They're not gonna takeDallas Turner. They just traded for Brian
Burns. But I'm just spitballing here, like maybe there's a chance that Harrison
Junior slips to seven, but it'sa long shot, man. I think.
I think if if it's going toif it's going to happen, there's
got to be either Jaden Daniels orJJ McCarthy has to slide to seven and
(57:01):
somebody's got a trade up to getthem. I don't know that there's gonna
be any other player that people aregoing to be willing to move picks to
get in this draft class. Butit's fun to think about. It's fun
to think about, like Roma Dunesaand Tulasi Fuaga. Man, I'm gonna
be my shirt's gonna be off.My shirt's gonna be off in the club.
All right, Last question, lastquestion, and then we can get
(57:22):
on out of here today. FromLane, first time caller, longtime listener.
Why do we keep why do wekeep allowing this team to hurt us.
It's a great question, Owen,because that's what part of being a
fan is you stick through through thebad times and the hope that eventually it
(57:43):
won't suck forever. And sometimes thesuck just happens to last too long.
But yeah, we keep letting ithurt us because there's great moments that we've
had throughout and we live for those. I hear you, man, and
I would say I like the communityas well. I like talking ball with
you guys. I appreciate you askingus questions, Owen. I appreciate you
(58:06):
hopping on the microphones with me torecord this podcast. That's why we keep
letting this team hurt us, becausewe just we love. We love the
friendship, we love the camaraderie thatcomes along with it. So that's going
to do it for this week's episodeof the Unofficial Titans Podcast, Owen,
let our listeners know where they canfind you on social media. Yep.
(58:28):
So I'm not publicly on social media, but if you would like to hear
more from me for whatever reason,you can go to the Sobros Patreon.
You can listen to LMAO in fivebucks a month. We have five episodes
up. I believe five episodes atthis point. Yeah, and we're looking
to do more in twenty twenty four. So go check me out there.
(58:51):
There you have it, and Iam at Stony Keeley. You can check
out all of our work at Sobrosnetworkdot com. The merches up at sobroshop
dot com, rate reviews, subscribeto the Unofficial Titans Podcast. Wherever you
take in your shows. We ain'ttoo hard to find in these Internet streets.
Baby, we out here talking andtalking into these microphones. He is
(59:12):
Cinderella Man one take oh outspoken OwenReed, and I am big natural Stony
Keeley. Until next time, youstay classy Titans fans
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