What We Learned from Titans Mandatory Minicamp | MCA Titans Podcast

What We Learned from Titans Mandatory Minicamp | MCA Titans Podcast

what did we learn from Titans mandatory mini camp where is Will Levis how does the offense look who’s running with the ones we’re going to get into all of that now this is the Music City audible let’s get to it oh welcome everyone to another episode of the Music City audible podcast presented by broadway sports media in partnership with 440 Sports I’m Justin Graver and today I am doing a solo pod recapping what we learned from Titans mandatory mini camp which wrapped up on Thursday the Titans do have a few more otaa sessions those are not mandatory uh this next week here in June and then they will be on a break for a long time so let’s talk about what we learned from this mandatory mini camp where different guys are in the pecking order and how the offense and particularly will Levis looks at this point in the off season this episode is brought to you by sinkers beverages in East Nashville and Bluegrass beverages in Hendersonville stay tuned because I will be going more into Sinker beverages in a bit so stay tuned to hear more about that but first let’s talk about what the Titans are looking like right now at this phase of the offseason mandatory mini camp and I think we have to start with the most important player on the team and that is Will Levis so where does will Levis look right about now is he way ahead of schedule is he struggling he’s sort of in the middle and Paul koharski I think put it best he said will Levis looks like we would expect a second-year quarterback in a new offense in his first full season as the starter to look he isn’t Blowing by expectations he’s not struggling in aend amount if you’ve been following the reports out of mini camp from this past week Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday you probably have an idea of how the offense performed Tuesday was an okay day sort of so so Wednesday the defense dominated Brian Callahan said the defense kicked their teeth in will Lis did struggle a bit more on Wednesday including an interception to Jack Gibbons in the end zone to end a seven on seven period but they bounced back strong on Thursday the offense looked a lot better working mostly just situational stuff third Downs Red Zone middle of the field it’s hard to say really what this offense is going to look like um but I think from from the will Levis standpoint we can say he’s on schedule he’s not ahead of schedule he’s not blowing out expectations he’s not surpassing where we thought he would be but he’s also not struggling in an awful amount to the point where you would be concerned so I think these are growing pains this is you know learning a new offense but one of the most interesting things that came out of last week and Brian Callahan said this in a press conference a good question from sorry I don’t know who asked it but about you know trying different things in these seven on seven periods versus always taking what you would call the best opportunity maybe in a game is do more experimenting Brian Callahan said he very much is a is a fan of these quarterbacks and particularly Levis trying to fit the ball into Tight Windows trying to hit plays that he he’s not 100% sure he can hit but learn how tight these windows are learn where you can trust your arm and learn where maybe that ball is a little too dangerous so it’s hard to take any anything away from what was quote unquote a bad day on Wednesday and not wonder how much will Levis was just trying to experiment and see if he can fit these balls into Tight Windows and apparently the interception by Jack Gibbons was one of those plays where the the window was just a little too tight leves tries to squeeze it in there and Gibbons jumps the jumps the route and gets the interception we will talk a little bit more about Jack Gibbons because I think he’s very interesting but so from a broad standpoint talking about the offense here like we know where will Levis is at now that I’ve said all that but what about the offense in general what have we learned about what this Titans offense might look like because a lot of people are expecting it to be a very different offense a lot more pass heavy a lot more explosive plays and hopefully a lot more scoring I think that is what we’ll see but one of the big emphases from Brian Callahan and that will Levis has talked about a bit that I don’t think is getting enough attention from Titans media here is that this offense is going to take the layups will Levis had a very high I think he led the NFL with his average depth of Target per throw last season over 10 yards po per Target down the field I think that is a thing of the past with this Titans offense they are really emphasizing taking what the defense gives you and if that means it’s a check down to one of these two explosive running backs then it’s going to be a lot of check Downs if that means it’s a tight end early in the progression because it’s open and it’s just a layup it’s only you know a five yard completion or whatever the Titans want to take those as much as they can I we’ve heard a lot about Brian Callahan just sort of talking about where will Levis can be better and will Levis himself talking about how he can get to these checkdowns faster he had a pretty interesting comment about you know what it’s like working with these two pass catching running backs and Tony Pard and Taj Spears and he said I just got to know that if I get them the ball earlier in my progression while they still have space before the defense closes down on those checkdown options they’re going to be able to make plays so that he said for me that’s just getting to those reads a little bit quicker coming back down to the checkdown knowing that that is an option and knowing that these two backs can pick up first downs are the Titans going to be a dink and dunk offense where they try to like manufacture these 15pl drives where they’re only gaining five to eight yards a play and then try to go mistake free all the way down the field we saw a lot under Mike Vel that the Titans defensive philosophy was sort of to force the offense to complete those big long drives I don’t think that’s necessarily what the Titans offense is going to be but I think you will see a lot of moments where it does look like that one of the Titans skill players uh forgive me I can’t remember who it was now said something about describing this offense a lot of nickel and he said it’s a lot of nickel and diming which is sort of that mentality of just taking what the defense gives you so I think we’re going to see a plenty of explosive plays I don’t think they’ve really been working on the explosive play elements in these open portions yet they’ve more just been trying to get these situations wrapped up Brian Khan said that they were just finishing the install of the entire offense last week and that the last phase of that install is working on these situational things he said it’s a situation that may come up once or twice a year or once every 5 years but they just want to be prepared for any situation that can come at them so we saw them dealing with a lot of those things um and I think the offense is in a fine place right now the defense probably a little bit ahead but that’s typical for this time of year especially when you’re learning a new offense and I know they’re learning a new defense too but most of the time the new offense takes a little bit longer to get a g grasp on more on the offense here as we talk about what who’s working where we mentioned this a little bit when Justin and I did our Right Guard right tackle battle episode a couple weeks ago but the leader in the clubhouse at Right Guard right now is still pretty securely sadique Charles and our buddy Mike hearnen had a nice piece up on Paul karsky dcom talking about why Charles is the best fit to win this job and why he sort of is projecting Charles will be the starting Right Guard there’s a lot of reasons for it we’ve talked about some of them on this podcast he’s a bigger guy fits that Bill Callahan offensive lineman especially interior offensive lineman mold and if you go I encourage everyone to go check out Mike’s piece on this cuz he want through a bunch of comparisons to right guards and left guards that Bill Callahan has coached in the past sadique Charles at 64 320 something pounds fits that mold of these guys that Bill Callahan has coached in the past the Zach Martins the Brandon Sher these guys that Bill Callahan has had Wyatt teller at all of his previous you know at least the last three stops these guards compare a lot better to sadique Charles’s size and power Daniel brunskill a little bit smaller just over 300 lb Dylan Raiden same deal a little smaller just over 300 lb those guys are working in the with the second team right now but it looks like it’s sadique Charles’s job to lose at this point there’s still a lot of time to sort this stuff out but a couple other reasons for it I mean sadique Charles’s power strength athleticism was cited by the coaches as exciting elements that they have to work with with him but another element that Mike mentioned in his article is that he was teammates with Titans new free agent acquisition Center Lloyd k cushenberry at LSU and they call like they’ve said that these two guys are best friends with each other like I think Lloyd kushberry said Sadi Charles was one of his best friends or maybe it was the other way around but these guys have a great relationship and we know we we’ve covered football long enough to know and you guys out there have followed football long enough to know I’m sure that a huge part of success on the offensive line is having chemistry with the guy next to you especially when it comes to executing those combo blocks climbing to the second level when it comes to communication and picking up stunts and twists by the defensive front you got to have a good relationship and good chemistry with the guy next to you and being best friends off the field isn’t everything for that but it certainly doesn’t hurt especially when Charles already has you know check is already checking some of those boxes in other areas like the size and strength and the athleticism I think that this is probably your your starting Right Guard when it comes to the right tackle side of things there’s still a lot more to be determined there still a lot more unknowns there because Nicholas ptif frare Who You’d think would be the leader there to you know the favorite to win that job is still not on the field practicing I think one good note that came out of these these mini camp this mandatory mini camp no remember not no longer voluntary OTAs this is a mandatory thing if you’re not there you will be find a good thing that came out of this last week is that Brian cian said their attendance across the board was 100% everyone was there in the building in the meeting rooms not everyone was on the field because there are still guys working back from injuries and that includes big names like Jeffrey Simmons rookie tandre SWAT but also Nicholas Pati rare so he’s not out there to work at right tackle so we we don’t know what the pecking order really is right now Jaylen Duncan returned during this mandatory mini camp period actually got back out on the field after he was working through some sort of injury that they haven’t disclosed so Jaylen Duncan gets back on the field but even he’s not working with the first team right now it’s John auku the former undrafted free agent now going into his second year who worked a lot with the first team this time last year because of injuries and other off field concerns Remember Nicholas PTI FR was suspended and during training camp especially a auku was getting a lot of hype as a potential diamond in the rough guy to win the right tackle job he I don’t know if he was ever really in the running because again he was working up there because of other guys being out and then he himself got injured and missed most of the Season came back late in the year to play a little bit but didn’t play great when he was on the field he’s working with the first team right now I don’t know how long that’s going to last I don’t know if you know when npf comes back from this injury presumably during trading camp will he right away be working with the first team will they give him a shot to win that job or is he going to have to work his way up the pecking order that’s all TBD but still I mean we’re learning a little bit about what this offensive line is going to look like I think we learned that sadik Charles is in the lead for the Right Guard job but we haven’t learned a lot about right tackle yet um Elsewhere on the offense trayon Burks sort of made headlines had some eyebrow raising comments by Brian Callahan and uh special teams coordinator Colt Anderson because Burks was spotted on the field working as a gunner now to me this is not surprising at all Brian Callahan said Trum Burks is going to have to contribute on special teams if he wants to be active on game days and you know fantasy football heads and people who cover the NFL across the league eyebrows raised at this comment like wow how low is trayon Burks in the pecking order if he has to be you know earning a role on special teams to even be active on game day well look that is the life of a non-starting skill player in the NFL if you want to be active on game days and you’re not a starter and you play a wide receiver cornerback safety position you have got to contribute on special teams so tayum Burks that’s got to be his role he’s got to go contribute on special teams if he wants a spot on game day and they seem to like what he’s able to bring to that spot he said he has a great attitude he has one of the best work ethics of anyone in the room he has surpassed all their expectations so far apparently he’s done a great job of backing up all three wide receiver spots and learning you know the X spot The Z Spot the the slot position and the different route combinations and what’s expected of him all the reports right now are glowing about trayon Burks of course you’d expect them to be glowing this time of year because barring injury everybody looks great in shorts right so it’s hard to really learn too much from that but I do think everything we talked about with the maker break players episode late last week with trayon burk’s status as a maker break player and how he’s got to be able to play all three spots and pro that he can be relied upon to play all three spots on at the receiver room in addition to contributing on special teams they even mentioned him as a potential option to be the kickoff returner given the new kickoff format we don’t know what that’s going to look like I’d be a little surprised if they relied on Burks for that he was a great after the catch guy in college making people Miss turning short catches into explosive plays but he hasn’t really been that in the NFL we haven’t seen the same sort of tackle breaking ability and elusiveness that we saw in college I’m not sure if that necessarily translated for him to the NFL so I don’t know if he’s really going to wind up being the kick returner that would be a little surprising to me but it’s not surprising to hear that he’s got to carve out a role on special teams to make this roster or to be active on game days excuse me he will make the roster excuse me sorry he will make the roster regardless but to be active on game days he’s got to have a role on special teams and I don’t think that that is very surprising so that’s where we’re at with the offense one last thing on the offense here and that’s the tight end spot been a lot of speculation you’ve heard us talk about it on this podcast you’ve heard you know Mike hearnen talk about it with Zack Lions on football and other ewards if you listen to that show this Josh Wy as potentially tight end one thing is picking up steam I think Mike was the first person I saw who said that this could be you know the the outcome here but Josh Wy is apparently making a lot of plays he poses a mismatch as a Red Zone Target at 6’6 he’s a big bodied guy and Nick Holtz talked a lot about what Josh Wy brings and not just the the size element but the fact that he’s a smooth route Runner with great ball skills he made sure to point out that he has really good ball skills for a guy his size I think Josh Wy is potentially in the running to be the tight end one of this offense we’re not really going to know that until we hit the field for training camp and maybe not even until week one when we see really what these formations look like how much are they running two tight ends on the field versus running the majority of the offense out of 11 personnel which is what we expect 11 personnel being three wide receivers one running back one tight end you know 12 Personnel is two tight ends or 22 Personnel two tight ends I’m not sure what this offense is going to look like yet I just know that Brian Callahan has traditionally not relied heavily upon one tight end to be the the producer at that position Nick colz said obviously it’d be great to have a Travis Kelce you know to have one tight end that you can depend on but it’s not always how it goes and we got to see who fits best in what role and these coaches are all about putting players in the best position to make plays and to succeed so I definitely think it’s interesting to hear that Josh Wy is so highly thought of you know there is potential for that from that rookie year to seconde jump here with him we didn’t see a rookie year to seconde jump with chiga cono if anything we saw a sort of a backslide sort of a sophomore slump for cono if you will um with Josh rley he has the chance to sort of jump up and uh claim this job he could potentially win it during training camp um and at the worst case I think he’s going to be you know someone that they use a lot on offense with a tight end rotation which is sort of what we saw from Brian Callahan last year in Cincinnati is rotating through a bunch of tight ends so is that how the Titans are going to run the position TBD but it wouldn’t surprise me all right let’s talk about the defense but before we do a little bit more about sinkers beverages again this episode is brought to you by sinkers beverages in East Nashville and Bluegrass beverages in Hendersonville sinkers beverages is the Premier wine spirits and beer store in East Nashville serving the community since 1985 their knowledgeable staff is proud to help you with large parties themed events or finding something unique for a special occasion from birthday parties to Milestone celebrations to Everyday moments sinkers can help with the right drink for every occasion if you head to sinkers beverages.com or check the link in this podcast description you can join the incrowd incrowd members get access to allocated wines and spirits exclusive events Early Access to Barrel releases and more so check out sinkers beverages.com or if you don’t have time to head over to the store but you need a lot of booze sinkers is on Uber Eats just open up your Uber Eats app search sinkers Beverages and have all the Boos you need delivered right to your door all right let’s continue with the defense but before we do I’d love to shout out our YouTube listeners and viewers right now if you’re listening to this on an audio podcast platform really appreciate it really appreciate the support but you could really support the show even more by heading over to the YouTube channel the Music City audible podcast make sure you subscribe to the channel give this video a thumbs up like and turn on channel alert so you get a notification every time we drop a new video and the best way you can help our show grow is to comment comment comment on every video we really see you guys out there we love the boosting the algorithm posts we love the tighten up comments that just help you know feed the comment chain and get this video in other people’s feeds so if you want to join the conversation I’m asking you what did you learn or what did you see or what did you hear out of Titans mandatory mini camp that has you the most excited for this Titans team this upcoming season um or if you just want to leave a comment that says tighten up we really appreciate those too but if you ask us questions if you have suggestions for topics drop those in the comments Justin and I are very active in responding to you guys we really appreciate the support and we want to Foster that Music City audible community so keep leaving comments all right let’s talk about what we learned on the defensive side of the ball I think the number one thing we learned here and we knew this sort of I mean we’ve heard a little bit about this but we really learned it concretely this past week is that denard’s Wilson dinard Wilson’s defense is going to be very very aggressive and he’s talked about that before we already knew that they were going to be an aggressive defense but what does that actually mean what does that actually look like being an aggressive defense well for dinard Wilson it means press coverage this is a huge development that I think Titans fans will be very excited about look when you add a guy like lerus Sneed when you add chidobe azier two very physical aggressive feisty cornerbacks you already have Roger mccre in the fold who who is another guy who fits into that same profile as being very aggressive you want to take advantage of that and the best way to do that is to let them use their physicality at the line of scrimmage Jam these receivers press them up on the line of scrimmage and dard Wilson talked about how it can throw off the timing for the offense that they want to do everything they can early in the route to disrupt these routes and disrupt the timing and not give guys clean and free releases and somebody one of the reporters there asked you know when teams don’t press why is it is it because of a fear of getting beat deep and dard said that that could be part of it but a lot of times there are coverage Concepts Zone coverage Concepts and other things that where you want your defensive backs to be able to keep your their eyes on the quarterback so they don’t always come up and press at the line of scrimmage we know Shane Bowen when he was the defensive coordinator of the Titans and Paul KY wrote about this on his website too that he gave these quarterbacks the choice like you can defend these guys however you want just don’t allow the catch if you want to you know start eight yards off the ball or if you want to start up in press like that’s up to you and we saw a lot of times Titans defensive backs lining up way off the line of skirmish giving their receivers big clean free releases and it not usually paying off like it didn’t usually work out where the cornerback was able to recover or make a play on the ball because they just got beat and it’s so much easier for an offense to function when the receivers get clean releases like that so dard Wilson says that is a thing of the past the this new Titans era team is not going to just allow free releases it’s press every time so we’ve seen a lot of that aggressive press coverage in these seven on seven periods even though lerus Sneed hasn’t really been out there working with the team he was sort of out doing stretches and then working on his own on a side field um it’s still going to be a very aggressive defense no matter what personnel is on the field so talking about the cornerbacks I wanted to mention that there is an undrafted rookie free agent who has been creating a lot of Buzz over the course of mini camp he’s a former Tennessee volunteer Gabe Judy Loi he’s the guy that’s been running in place of lerus Sneed so far not always working with the first team but a little bit of reps against the first team offense and some reps against the second team offense and he has been making plays breaking up passes challenging receivers doing a great job with that physicality and aggressiveness we talked about how Gabe Julie Loi had a chance to crack this 53-man roster back when we did our udfa Deep dive episode um and I think that that is holding true I mean most of these udfas the Titans brought in they all have at least a little bit of a chance to crack the roster they don’t all have a chance but you know one of these running backs one of these cornerbacks one of these defensive linemen offensive lineman like there’s a chance that one person from each position group that they brought in as udfas can emerge and crack the 53 because the Titans don’t have super deep team they don’t have a ton of depth behind their starters so can Gabe Judy Loi you know get in the mix with Trey Avery and Eric gerar and Caleb Farley to be you know a backup cornerback on this team I absolutely absolutely think he can and he’s showing that so far you know in this mandatory mini camp he’s going to have to continue that momentum through trading Camp he’s going to have to make plays in the preseason and just like tayin Burks and anyone else who isn’t a starter he’s going to have to show that he can contribute on special teams but so far the early Returns on gab Julie ly are pretty good elsewhere in the cornerback room Caleb Farley has been out there competing he seems to be in a pretty good mental place he says he’s grateful for the opportunity to still be with the Titans to be out there on the field competing so he’s sort of in a happy to be there mood right now can Caleb Farley continue his NFL career with the titans this season I think that’s to be determined but I wouldn’t put a lot of stock into anything we’re seeing from Caleb Farley right now like I’m rooting for the kid but I just don’t know if he’s ever going to be able to re regain the athleticism he had before the injuries um that really sapped a lot out of him so KB Farley is he going to make the roster I mean he’s got to beat out one of these Corners Trey Avery Eric gerar or or the udfa Gabe Judy Loi and I just don’t know that he’s going to be able to beat them out I don’t know if he still has the physical attributes to play at a high level so we’ll see how he looks during training camp but he’s out there he’s competing he’s he’s having fun so that’s something that you love to see um on the defensive line talking about the defense here Harold Landry has been is back with the Titans he’s been away from the team throughout most of voluntary OTAs he said he wanted to just go work with his trainers and focus on his game and getting explosives and you know being in the best athletic shape that he can possibly be and I don’t have a problem with this I think that there are some there’s some thought that if you’re not out there with the team during these voluntary periods that you’re not working to build team chemistry you’re not showing that you’re all in with this unit that you want to be on the field with your teammates and I don’t really buy that I think if you’re a veteran guy you you know how the NFL works at this point if you want to spend those voluntary periods training on your own I have no problem with that at all think about it if you’re out there with the team running drills with the teams there’s not a ton in these voluntary sessions there’s not a ton of like True Team periods where you’re going against the the offense with the full 11 on defense even if they are doing a team period scrimmage most of the time it’s seven on seven which means it’s the quarterback and the pass catchers against the secondary and the linebackers it’s not the defensive defensive line against the offensive line right so how much is Harold Landry even really getting out of being at OTAs he if he’s doing drills he’s got to run through one rep and then five or six or seven other guys have to go before he can go again right during the team periods the defensive pass the pass rush is non-existent because they don’t want to hurt the quarterback and they’re just working on Concepts and everything like that so how much is he really getting out of that versus working with a personal trainer who is honed in on developing his skills specifically tailored to him and what he needs to improve he gets to take every rep he gets he’s there’s no restriction on how long he can spend on the field I have no problem with Harold Landry training on his own so he apparently looks very explosive being back with the team for this mandatory mini camp period excited to see where he’s at now two years removed from the ACL injury that ended his 20122 season so we’ll see uh before before the season even got underway remember that was during training camp of 2022 so we’ll see how he looks in trading camp this year um but I’m excited for the potential that he’s showing and that you know apparently he’s very explosive I said he’s not even thinking about the ACL anymore doesn’t even cross his mind anymore um he’s fully P that injury Elsewhere on the defensive line Jeffrey Simmons not really participating right now apparently working back from some minor injury Brian Callahan said it’s very minor and he expects all these guys back for training camp and that all these guys also include tandre SWAT Titan second round pick he was the last rookie of this class to sign his rookie contract that has happened he signed all good there so there won’t be any rookie holdouts for the titans this year all draft picks have signed however sweat has not been taking the field Brian Callan said that there’s a chance he’s back out there this week for these last few OTA sessions but at the very least he expects him back for training camp Paul Kahari kind of pressed him on it in the press conference saying like but it’s still a minor you called it a minor injury last week is it still a minor injury and and Brian Callahan said yeah still minor whether that’s one two three weeks like we we classify all of that as minor so no real concerns there with sweat um at least in terms of his ability to get back on the field for training camp are there concerns with him missing this much time as a rookie sure it’s not ideal to have your second round pick not out there during these formative sessions where they’re installing the defense where they’re really getting a chance to work on technique because remember once you get into training camp it’s a lot less time for individual drills and a individual technique that’s what this spring period is really for is working on your you personally from a technique standpoint and uh he hasn’t been he hasn’t been out there hasn’t had a chance to do that so obviously there is some concern there like it’s not ideal but it doesn’t mean that his rookie year is over it doesn’t mean that he’s a bust it doesn’t mean that he’s not going to contribute this season when he does get back on the field it’s again it’s not ideal it’s not the place you want this second round pick to be especially a guy who comes in with you know some concerns about his his conditioning his ability to stay on the field and play all three Downs like ideally he would be out there you know proving that proving the doubter is wrong but there’s nothing he can do about a minor injury until that’s healed so I’m not going to ring my hands over it I know some Titans fans are get definitely concerned about tandre sweat status I’m going to wait and see if he really is back out there maybe as soon as this week with the last OTA sessions if he’s not back till training camp then we’ll just have to reserve judgment until then so again I’m not super worried about where tandre sweat is all right let’s talk about the linebacker competition because Justin and I did a in-depth look at the inside linebacker position last week I think that was last Monday or last Tuesday go back in the feeds and find it if you missed that one but we talked a lot about Jack Gibbons Otis Reese and the rookie Cedric gray and their chances of winning the uh the starting inside linebacker job next to Kenneth Murray one guy we did not mention is Chance Campbell the linebacker who was picked in the sixth round of 2022 now entering his third season hasn’t really had a chance to play a whole lot during the regular season if if at all actually I’m not sure if he’s really made it on the field as a linebacker yet um but he’s apparently working high in the the rotation there Jack Gibbons is starting right now next to Kenneth Murray and then who who’s after that right now apparently it’s chance Campbell Paul karski said Chance Campbell’s been flying around making plays at these mini camps that Otis Reese has not been as high in the pecking order although if you pay close attention to Jim Wyatt’s practice reports Otis Reese broke up a pass against the first team offense so he’s clearly playing some reps against first teamers I don’t know if that was with the first team defense or how they’re you know dividing up these seven on seven reps if it’s first team against first team second team against second team I don’t I’m not sure obviously um but apparently chance Campbell is working high in the rotation he’s somebody that me and Justin did not mention last week in that episode that we probably should have he there is a fourth guy in contention to win this starting linebacker job um Cedric gray is a rookie so he’s going to have to earn his way Otis Reese apparently has not been as nearly as you know impressive I guess as he was with this last staff you know in training camp last year and preseason last year and those last three games of the season last year when he finally got a chance to get on the field apparently he is behind Jack Gibbons and chance Campbell and obviously Cedric gray is highly in the mix here as a fourth round pick this year that theyd love to get on the field sooner rather than later but Jack Gibbons I mentioned the interception he had at the end of that seven on seven period on Wednesday apparently he’s been looking pretty good out there he spoke after practice one of these days you know to the media and talked about the Green Dot and the whole conversation around the how everyone’s obsessing around the Green Dot and it’s not nearly as big of a thought or concern for them as it is for like fans and media right now that’s all going to sort itself out but I think the the big picture what we learned here is that Jack Gibbons is currently the leader to win that starting linebacker job whether that means he’s a three down player whether that means he continues to be the starter you know after the Titans week five by or whatever if he even wins the job coming out of training camp but I think going into training camp if we’re talking about what we learned from mini camp we learned that Jack gibons is currently at the top of the order when it comes to starting at inside linebacker all right all right that is pretty much what we learned from mini camp I got a few other notes I want to hit here that are just interesting to me number one JC leam JC leam is Apparently one of the hardest working guys on this team uh they told a story about how they had to go out and pull him off the practice field because there were thunderstorms incoming and he can’t be out there working you know hitting the sleds by himself last guy on the field 4:30 in the afternoon practice has been over for hours the coaches have been you know working in the office they’re walking through the halls of the facility and they look out the window and see JC leam still out on the field hitting the sled by him himself and they had to go pull him off the field but uh they talked Brian Callan or somebody talked about how JC’s energy is the most infectious energy of anybody in the building on the team that he brings such a interesting and dynamic personality and the like I said the the work ethic he spoke after after Thursday’s mini camp session and they asked him about you know being this guy that’s always the last one on the field and everything and he talked about how when he was changing positions from defensive end to left tackle in high school at IMG Academy coming in as one of the top defensive recruits um in high school and now switching positions because they had like injuries and suspensions and things they to deal with on the offensive line a bunch of guys got hurt at the same time or something like that that when he was making that switch he happened to be you know doing just interested in Kobe Bryant and watching a Kobe Bryant documentary and Kobe talked about how you know if you’re not working somebody is always out there outworking you if you’re not practicing right now somebody else that you’re going to be competing against one day is practicing right now you got to be the hardest working guy to to be successful and if you put in two practices a day while everybody else is putting in one practice a day you can grow you know what would take a normal player two years worth of development you can develop in one year because you’re putting in twice the amount of practice and twice the amount of effort and JC said he really took that to heart and he used it you know when he was making the switch from defensive end to left tackle he did it the same thing in college and that’s just that’s just always been sort of who he is is the guy that wants to not never be outworked so he’s out there on the practice field doing these this sled work by himself at 4:30 in the afternoon I think the ceiling is Limitless for what JC leam could be I know my expectations for a rookie first for even for a seventh overall pick but a rookie player playing on the offensive line my expectations probably shouldn’t be that high but I don’t know everything you see and hear from and about JC laam just makes you think that this guy could be really special um and there was a really funny moment with Brian callan’s press conference on Thursday where JC sort of walked into the media scrum and asked a question he said coach have you thought about using your first round pick speed and skill on the outside with a tackle screen um saying that he wants you know he wants the ball on a tackle screen play where he comes in as an eligible six offensive lineman and sort of catch is a little leakout pass on a sort of trick play look and Brian callan’s response instead of sort of being like giving a coach speak answer or playing it off or whatever he makes a a joke with JC or he says wellit you want to give away everything right now and then he says thanks JC and um they asked leam about this a little bit later when he was on the podium uh because obviously they had to comment on that joke in that moment and he said that like of course that was 100% a joke we have no intention of running any play like that and he says it in this dead pan way that almost is like a wink wink I don’t want to give it away but maybe this is in the Playbook obviously this feels like a joke I don’t know if it if any of it can really be taken seriously but went on to say that they had a play like that in high school where he was you know him and another tackle both had play they had plays for each other and uh JC was supposed to make a big block on the play where it wasn’t it wasn’t him getting the ball and he was like talking about how he’s still mad that he missed that block and then when it was his turn to get the ball he said he only made it like four or five yards before he got Ted tackled and it always pissed him off and he has been waiting for another chance to run a tackle screen like that um and then they made a joke that tandre SWAT caught a touchdown on a tackle screen and JC was like yeah but wasn’t it like from the goal line like one yard out like a fake handoff at the goal line like I could have scored on that play any of us could have scored on that play just sort of having some fun with his rookie teammate there so interesting to see I mean we saw Jeffrey Simmons catch a touchdown pass in that sort of look last season we saw Taylor lean scor a touchdown on one of those tackle screens many years back against the Oakland I think at the time Oakland Raiders is it possible that they do something like this with JC maybe I think it’d be really fun if they do but I think what’s more fun is just seeing his personality seeing him come out of his shell and I mentioned this you know in the JC leam Deep dive episode we did right after he was drafted but the more he speaks the more Titans fans get a chance to see his personality I think the more people are going to fall in love with who he is not just as a player but just as a person in general so wanted to get that note in there the last thing that I’m going to talk about here is back to will Levis um just talking about his leadership role and what he’s sort of taking on this year knowing that he is that the guy the qb1 he’s not competing for the job he doesn’t have to prove it he just has to be himself and he’s going to you know go out and be the the quarterback that starts the season whether or not he is the guy and has a great year and finishes the year at TBD but knowing that he is the guy he’s taking a little bit of a different approach with his leadership and one of the ways that that’s happening is he mentioned this in his press conference I think it was on Tuesday day he said that over the summer you know when they’re on this big break he’s going to get all of the skill guys together they’re going to go on a little bonding Retreat spend a bunch of time together off the field and while they’re out there they’re going to go work on routes during the day they’re going to do workouts together and continue to understand the offense together and I think that’s just great obviously most quarterbacks get together with their receivers around the league during this offseason period and get some work in so it’s not like he’s doing anything special that other teams aren’t doing but it’s nice to see that he’s doing and that he’s sort of taking on the leadership role of organizing this Retreat this little bonding session with the skill players and I just think that that you know it can’t hurt right like is it going to help maybe maybe not but it’s great to see that he’s taking those strides and being that leader in the clubhouse so love to see that um that’s all I’ve got from what we learned from OTAs the big takeaways are will Lis is on schedule not ahead of schedule not behind schedule he’s on schedule the offense is going to be a lot of Dink and dunk passes mixed in with these explosive plays on the defensive side they’re going to be very aggressive they’re going to press basically everything and then I mentioned some of the injuries the one udfa was getting a lot of Buzz Gabe Judy LLY mentioned that as well so that’s what I’ve got from mandatory mini camp would love to know what you guys have learned what you guys are most excited about coming out of mandatory mini camp so let me know in the comments below really appreciate everyone for tuning in but again like I said before appreciate it even more if you’re watching us on YouTube again make sure you are subscribed to the Music City audible Channel give this video a like thumbs up and turn on alert so you get a Channel notification every time we drop a new video and thanks also to our sponsors sinkers beverages in East Nashville Bluegrass beverages in Hendersonville like I said head over to sinkers beverages.com or check the link in this podcast description to join the incrowd incrowd members get access to allocated wines and spirits exclusive events Early Access to Barrel releases and more so check out sinkers beverages.com today or search for them on Uber Eats all right that’ll do it Justin and I will be back later this week I think we’re finally going to dive into into that topic about how what the ceiling is basically how good can this cornerback Trio and this secondary overall for the Titans be if something happens in the meantime like if they sign a safety like Justin Simmons or somebody we’ll hop on quickly to react to that um but until then that’s all I’ve got y all stay safe out there and tighten [Music] up a broadway sports media production

Justin Graver is back for a solo pod to recap everything we learned about the Titans during mandatory minicamp.

0:00 Intro
1:06 Will Levis
3:29 Titans offense
6:19 Pecking order at RG/RT
10:48 Treylon Burks’ role
13:16 Josh Whyle TE1?
17:37 Titans defensive philosophy
20:13 UDFA Buzz
21:46 Caleb Farley’s status
22:44 How does Harold Landry look?
25:03 Players who are still rehabbing
27:18 Inside linebacker competition
30:01 Other notes – JC Latham & Will Levis’ leadership
36:38 Outro

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