What Actually Matters from Titans “Unofficial” Depth Chart | MCA Titans Podcast

What Actually Matters from Titans “Unofficial” Depth Chart | MCA Titans Podcast

If you’ve been following football for a while, you know the unofficial depth chart that comes out in August doesn’t really mean a whole lot, if anything. However, the Titans unofficial depth chart that was just released does tell us some things about how the coaches view certain position battles. So, we’re going to go through this first Titans depth chart and see what we can take away, what lessons we can learn, discuss what really matters, and discard the things that don’t. This is the Music City Audible. Let’s get to it. Uh, welcome everyone to another episode of the Music City Audible podcast presented by Sinker Beverages, the premier wine, spirits, and beer store in East Nashville in partnership with 440 Sports. I’m Justin Graver. With me as always, Justin Melo. Justin, we’re here today to sort of react to the first unofficial depth chart that the Titans put out on Monday evening. But as you have brought up and just full disclosure to the audience, like we were going back and forth if we should even do this podcast because as I said just now in the intro, the unofficial depth chart like does it really matter? Does it really mean much of anything as we sit here on August 5th? No. But I still think there’s a lot of stuff we can learn about how these guys have been ordered um that just inform where the team is at right now in terms of the roster battle. So we are going to go through it. We decided it is worth doing. But if you’re tuning into this podcast, we appreciate you. Let us know in the comments if you think it’s worth doing. Go ahead, Justin. How’s it going? Well, you made a liar of me because I told our audience on Monday that we’d be back on Wednesday to recap practice and then again on Thursday to recap joint practice. But here we are on Tuesday talking about the unofficial depth chart. Full disclosure, ladies and gentlemen, I did not have a lot of interest in doing this episode. what I thought it’s a depth chart, whatever. But a lot of you do care about it. A lot of you are interested in it. And yes, uh if you are watching, Graver and I do have some good points to make uh about it. So, here we are. Let’s talk about the unofficial depth chart. Yeah, I just wanted to get that disclaimer out of the way so that the audience tuning in here. We appreciate all of you. Make sure you like the video, subscribe to the channel, but so you guys know that we’re not sitting here being like, “Oh my gosh, Cam Ward is the starting quarterback on the first depth chart. What does it mean? does is he going to be named the starter or or anything else really about who’s starting and who’s not. But I do think just certain elements of how the order is listed are very important and um some of them mean nothing and some of them mean a lot. So that’s what we’re going to do today is figure out what means something. And I am going to start with Cam Ward even though I just teased about it. Like it’s it’s not nothing that he’s listed as the starting quarterback. It’s obvious. It’s expected, but it’s still noteworthy simply because Brian Callahan has not made an official starting quarterback announcement. Will Levvice having surgery on his shoulder obviously took the facade, the charade of a quarterback competition away and Cam Ward’s getting all the first team reps. Like, there’s no illusion about who the starting quarterback is going to be, but noteworthy because no one has been named the starting quarterback. And the fact that Cam Ward is sitting here first on the depth chart uh that has come out is going here’s what it’s going to do, Justin. It’s gonna get us that announcement because now somebody in on the Titans beat at Wednesday’s practice when Brian Callahan speaks before practice. Somebody’s going to bring up, oh, you put out I can I can picture exactly how this is going to go. Justin, you guys put out your first unofficial depth chart. You have Cam Ward listed as a starting quarterback. Does that mean he’s your starter? And Brian Callan’s going to say, “Oh, you know, those things, uh, we got to put those out. They don’t mean a whole lot, but um I can tell you guys that yes, Cam is going to be our starter. Um and then someone’s going to say, “Is he going to play this Saturday? How much are the starters going to play Saturday?” And Brian Callan’s going to say, “Uh, you know, they’ll probably go out there for a couple of series. We’ll see how things are at and make a decision in the game.” But, um, yeah, they’ll definitely play, but probably not going to play a whole lot. That’s exactly how the press conference is going to start tomorrow. Just want to put that out there. So, we acknowledge it. Cam Ward, Titans starting quarterback unofficially and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes official. Yeah, I just all I have to say is I’m kind of glad that they’re not playing not kind of I’m very glad they’re not playing a stupid game here and putting Brandon Allen there or putting Cam Ward slash Brandon Allen. Like I do wonder if they would have had a slash if Will Evans was healthy at training camp for this first unofficial one. I mean probably not, but there’s a better chance than than Brandon Allen, right? So, I’m just glad they’re not treating us as fools and and pretending that Cam Ward’s not the starter or treating us not like fools, but I don’t know how the Colts are treating their fans, but however the Colts are treating their fans where they put Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones. Well, I think that’s an actual legitimate competition, right? Like I don’t I don’t think they’ve made a decision there in India. It is a legitimate competition. So, I kind of get that when teams do it when it’s real. Yes. But also the old adage, if you have more than one quarterback, you don’t have any. So, Browns have five. Cleveland Browns just signed another one. They got five. Yeah. All right. So, moving on from that first thing that that matters a little tiny bit. I’m going to go on to something else that matters a little tiny bit. Um, and this is only notable because it’s different from last year. I’m talking about the running back position. On last year’s first unofficial depth chart, the running backs, the starting running back was listed as Tony Pard/ Taj Spears. They were the 1A and the 1B. And that’s why, you know, when I did my stat projections last year, I had their carries about even. And then even without Taj Spears injury last year, it was pretty clear early in the season that Tony Pard was the one and Taj Spears was the two, not a 1A, not a 1B. Well, that’s how they’ve listed them this year is Tony Pard is the starting RB1. Taj Spears is the RB2. And then another note that’s just a little bit interesting at this position is, and they do this a lot with rookies, Kell Mullings is listed as the RB4 behind Julius Chestnut. Even though most of us creating 53man roster projections, you have one out today, a new fresh one that’s out today. Um, most of us are putting Kell Mullings on the roster and not Julius Chestnut if we’re keeping three running backs. So, it’s notable that he’s still not technically RB3, but um, it’s not that notable. Yeah, I I agree. That one just kind of feels like like putting the rookie behind the vet. But yeah, I like what you said at the top. I think there’s no doubt that Tony Pard is this team’s 1A at running back. I mean, number one, period. Actually, I shouldn’t say 1A, is their number one option at running back. I mean, he earned that last year going over a,000 yards. Taj Spear was hurt averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Like, there’s no denying who the effective ball carrier was for this backfield last season. And by all accounts, Taj Spears looks really good at training camp right now. He’s healthy. He looks fast. He looks explosive. They want to get him involved in the offense. They want him to stay healthy and do that. But Tony Pard earned that right last year. And I think that’s a change that makes a lot of sense. I could see Taj Spears getting more carries next season than he had last season. And like you could make that a carries per game thing and not say, oh, because he’s going to stay healthy, he’s going to get more carries, but like a higher share of the carries, but still being in a situation that it’s Tony Pard’s backfield and Spears is your change of pace. And there was a great clip that came out. I think the Titans put it on Instagram of Taj Spears catching a deep pass from Cam Ward, like a basically it looked like maybe a wheel route out of the backfield that took him deep down the sideline. And that’s how he’s going to be used a little bit. He’s going to be a passing down guy. He’s going to get the ball out in space where he can be more explosive, but he’s still not the starting running back and I think they’re going to treat it that way. I mean, you got a linebacker backpedaling on Taj Spears in a wheel route. I mean, huge advantage to Taj and that in terms of with his foot speed and whatnot. So, uh, but again, I think this is the right decision to have Pard listed as the clear-cut starter at running. Yeah. And this is this registers on the from one to five, how much does it matter? Five being it matters a lot. This registers as like a two and a half. like it’s not that notable, but um we are going to have in a second a few that register higher on the scale. Uh something that registers as a one is the receiver starting receiver positions. Like look, we knew they were going to default to the veterans here. So your starting receivers are Calvin Ridley, Tyler Lockett in the slot, and Van Jefferson. Also noteworthy that for the second straight year, the Titans put out their offensive depth chart in 11 personnel. So they have three starting wide receivers, one running back, one tight end as opposed to under the Vel era, it was always two receivers and two tight ends in the starting lineup. But um this is what Brian Callahan did last year and so we expected that again this year. But anyway, the veteran receivers get the starting nod. That’s how I expect it will it will appear on September 7th when they line up for the first snap of the season if assuming they’re in 11 personnel that it will be those three receivers on the field. And the question here and the intrigue with this position isn’t is Alec Ayamora going to win a starting job out of training camp or is Shimmer DK going to win a starting job out of training camp. It’s when will these guys get starter level snaps in a game? At what point in the season does the transition really start to become apparent from the veteran guys to the rookies? Because I think the Titans are going to play the rookies. I don’t think this is going to be a Mike Vrabel regime thing where the rookies are buried on the depth chart for, you know, three quarters of the season and then finally get a chance at the end of the year when it’s clear that the team’s going nowhere. I think the rookies are going to play a lot. Brian Callahan played a lot of rookies, a lot of snaps last year. Jarvis Brownley Jr. was getting a lot of snaps in week one last year as a fifth round rookie when Legarius Sneed was still healthy. So, I don’t think there’s going to be any hesitation to play these young guys, especially given the expectations for this team this year. It’s not a Super Bowl roster, right? Let’s get the young guys some experience so that next year we can compete, but they’re still not starters. So, um, no surprise with the wide receivers and that’s why it registers as a one on the this matters or doesn’t matter scale. Yeah, I’m with you that I think the first snap of 11 personnel in week one has Tyler Lockett, Calvin Ridley, and Van Jefferson. That’s exactly how the depth chart is listed. What’s more interesting to me is what what goes on directly behind them. So, they’ve got Bryce Oliver as the backup Z receiver to Calvin Ridley and and you know, sources of Bri Bryce Oliver has played a lot of Z there at training camp. So, that makes a lot of sense to me. Shimmer DK, we’ve talked about him potentially being a big slot option. Well, he is the slot receiver on the depth chart behind Tyler Lockett. And then last but not least, as I mentioned, of course, Alec Manor, we know he’s a bigbodied X-T type receiver. So, makes some sense that that’s the spot he’s in. So I to me that was the more notable part of the wide receiver depth chart. And then one other wide receiver we got to talk about just because I think it’s becoming clearer and clearer where he currently sits um in the pecking order and it’s a fan favorite guy undrafted free agent and former Cam Ward teammate at Miami. Xavier Restrepo is the last receiver listed on the depth chart. He’s listed in the slot position and you know he’s listed on the same quote unquote same level as TJ Sheffield and Matt Landers. though those three, Matt Landers, TJ Sheffield, and Xavier Restrepo, like if you are writing off Matt Landers, and TJ Sheffield as having basically no chance to make the roster right now. Whoever put this unofficial depth chart together, which very well could be a PR communications department person and certainly was not Brian Callahan, but whoever put this depth chart together was told that Xavier Restreo is in the same company as Matt Landers and TJ Sheffield. So, he’s behind Mason Kinsey for that slot role. And I think that that is an accurate snapshot of where he currently sits. We heard last week he started to get some run with the twos finally, but he’s been mostly running with the third team. There are only three teams and he’s been running with the third team. And he’s really going to have to make a mark on special teams specifically during the preeason before he’s given a chance to show that he deserves to make this team. And we’ve talked about this a little bit, how if he was to get cut at the end of training camp and tried to bring bring him back on the practice squad, that that’s probably gonna happen. That there’s probably not a risk of another team scooping him up. But I just think Titans fans should have their expectations set now so that in a couple weeks when the cuts are made, we don’t have a mass revolt online about why Xavier Restrepo didn’t make the roster. Like the signs are leading us to that eventual outcome already. Yeah, I fully agree. You know, we’ve talked about Xavier Restrepo at length. I I think, you know, despite where he is on that depth chart, he’s probably battling for that seventh and final receiver spot with James Proche. You know, I don’t think he’s at the same level of a TJ Sheffield or a Matt Landers or even a Jaquan Jackson, who I guess is technically ahead of him on this depth chart at receiver, but uh as we continue to say, Xavier Strepo was no lock to make this roster, and I think that’s pretty evident on this dep chart release. James Procha is listed ahead of him. Um, technically, although he’s at a different position, he’s listed as as the third string X. But at the end of the day, the breakdown of what role these guys are playing on the depth chart when they’re going to move around on the field a lot anyway doesn’t really matter. Like James Proche could be your backup Z or your third string Z or your third string X or he could be learning all three positions, but he’s ultimately he’s here as a special teamer, not as a receiver. So, um, doesn’t really matter that much where he’s listed. Let’s get to a position that is very interesting, maybe the most interesting position on the Titans roster as we run through this, and that’s tight end, where Chigga Conquo is expectedly listed as your tight end one. We expect him to continue to have that role all season, but your tight end two is not Josh Wy. And this is the only position on the Titans roster where they are not giving preferential treatment to the vet guy, the guy that’s been in the room is where Gunner Helm is listed as tight end two and Josh Wy as tight end three. David Martin Robinson is listed as the tight end four and Thomas Odoya tight end five. And a reminder to anyone looking at this depth chart who might be confused because it is confusing. You read the depth chart all the way from left to right, one, two, three, and then if there are more position, more players at one position, then you go down to the next level and get to four or five. Um, but it is interesting that number one, Josh Wy is listed tight end three. He’s not behind David Martin Robinson right now, although we’ve heard rumblings that he is in fact behind David Martin Robinson, even if he’s not listed that way here. But most notably is WY is behind Gunnar Helm, a fourthround rookie who, you know, by by all accounts is having a good training camp. But typically, you know, I just as we just talked about with Kell Mulling, so we expect to be ahead of Julius Chestnut. Like typically you just put the veteran in front even if they’re not in front because it motivates the rookie and lets them know you’re still in a competition. You still have to earn it every day. And it’s just like a respect, a show of respect to a veteran. So, this is far and away to me the most notable and maybe the only real notable thing about this depth chart is where Gunner Helm is. Yeah, I agree. I I I do think it speaks volumes of how impressed they’ve been with Gunner Helm and uh you know, we’ve talked about it. We expect him to be the tight end too this season, but for them to make this proclamation, if you will, this quickly and put him ahead of Josh Wy, I I do think means something. Uh, and also, you know, I just dropped my updated 53man roster projection, as you mentioned, over at titansize.com. I do have David Martin Robinson making it over Josh Wy. And later this week, I’m dropping an exclusive interview that I did with David Martin Robinson that I think is really good. It’s going to drop, I think, Thursday or Friday before the preseason game. Shamelessly plugging that because um I I agree. I think that’s the one like I’ve got a not I’ve got a notable takeaway. I got a mellowism there. The shameless plug. Uh, I got a notable takeaway with the Gunner Helm thing. I think means something. I’m choosing, I guess, what to buy into and what to believe here. And I’m choosing that I don’t really buy Josh Wy over David Martin Robinson. But I guess we’ll see. We have some sourcing on that that that yeah, you know, some some people in the organization feel that David Martin Robinson is ahead of Josh Wy even if he’s not listed that way here. Correct. Um, last thing on the offense before we flip sides of the ball is offensive line, which I think there’s no surprises here. And this to me might be the least interesting like listed the way the players are listed. Obviously the starters are from left to right. Dan Moore, Peter Scaranssky. Well, I guess it is interesting because Lloyd Cushenberry is not listed as a starter because he’s on the he’s he’s listed he’s on physically unable to perform list. So he’s in parentheses at the end of the depth start, but we know when he’s healthy he’s your starter starting center. Uh Kevin Zitler and finally JC Laam. the backups. Like I don’t really think the order really matters because this doesn’t tell us like there’s a backup left tackle and a backup right tackle. There’s a backup left guard, a a separate backup center, a separate backup right guard. Whereas in reality, there is a swing tackle who comes in no matter if if somebody has to miss a snap, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the right side or the left side. The same guy is the first guy off the bench. And it’s it almost goes the same for the interior. I would say it’s not always true that one player backs up all three interior spots, but you probably have a guard who backs up the left and the right guard. And maybe that guy could could also be your backup center or you have a separate backup center. I think we know that Cory Leven is the backup center when Lloyd Kushenberry is healthy. Um Johnu is listed as the backup left tackle. Jaylen Duncan is listed as the backup right tackle. Blake H, who’s missed a handful of practices, um is listed as the backup right guard. That doesn’t mean anything. Like that doesn’t mean that Blake H isn’t the swing tackle. It doesn’t mean that John Ajuku is coming in if Dan Moore gets hurt and Jaylen Duncan’s coming in if JC Leam gets hurt. Like it none of that actually matters. I don’t think this tells us a lot about the offensive line competition because you have Ajuklu, Rupsich, Sam Mustapher, Blake H, Jaylen Duncan all listed as the like the same team, second team O line. But that doesn’t mean that that’s who they’re going to keep. And so this one to me gets a zero. A one to five scale. This is a zero of how much it matters. Yeah, I I agree and I get where you’re coming from. I guess what I’ll add is like I’m interested in the Jaylen Duncan John Ajoku thing because when I when I do my 53, I don’t necessarily think they have room for both of those guys. I think they’ve probably I mean I’m not saying it’s impossible because there’s a chance um that they keep both but in that scenario I’ve got them cutting Blake Hance which might become a bit more realistic because he’s not practicing right now and that’s certainly hurting his chances. I just think the combination of Blake Hance and one of those guys makes more sense because Hance can play both guard and tackle. I mean, based on his history in the NFL, even though he’s only listed as a guard here, whereas Ajoku and Duncan are tackle only players. So, for me, the combination of Blake Hance and one of Duncan or Ajoku makes more sense for the team. Um, but they’ve got Hance as a guard only. I mean, they could have technically listed him at both spots. They did that with one other player on the roster. We’ll get to that later. They didn’t do it with Hance. Uh, so there’s a little intrigue to me there, but everything else is pretty cut and dry. Yeah. Yeah, and I’m still definitely interested to see who the swing tackle will end up being. And my money is still on Blake Hance, but as you said, that could change quickly if he doesn’t start if he doesn’t get healthy and get back on the practice field soon. Last thing on the offensive line, Jackson Slater, a rookie that many of us are excited about, is listed as the third string right guard behind guys like Andrew Rupsich, Sam Mustaper, and Blake Hance. And that doesn’t, again, this doesn’t mean anything. Is is Andrew Rupsich going to make the team over Jackson Slater? Let’s be real. Of course not. He might make the team, but it’s not going to be over in at the expense of Jackson Slater. He’s in that mix. He’s in that mix. He’s in the mix, but but you know, this would tell you that he’s ahead of Slater. And it’s like Slater is I would make him the first lock after the five starters and Cory 11. It’s like Jackson Slater is a lock. So like because of his draft status this this year, but still. Um all right, that’s the offense. As we flip over to the defense, I’ll just remind everyone quickly that coming up on Saturday, not only do the Titans play a football game, but the Sinker 40th birthday jamberee is taking place at 5:30 p.m. at the Basement East. Tickets to get in are only $10. Your ticket comes with two free drinks. You can get uh tickets at the link in this video or podcast description. All proceeds go to benefit the Martha K. O’Brien Center in East Nashville. You got live music, tons of free giveaways. Going to be a great time. You can go out there, hang out, watch the Titans game on your phone as it’s happening or, you know, stay for an hour and then go catch the Titans game. It’s going to be a great time. I hope everyone comes out to Sinker’s 40th birthday jamberee. What’s up? Before we get to the defense, do we want to make an exciting announcement? You know what, Justin? I was actually thinking about how I want to do this. I want to announce that we’re going to be making an announcement. I want to build the runway. We’re going to have a long runway to this t to this uh Is it going to be a long runway or is it tomorrow? Well, tomorrow will be the announcement and that’s the next step on the runway to the eventual launch of what the announcement is about. So, I’ll just leave it at that for all of our our viewers and listeners. Just know that we will be making a very exciting announcement about the Music City Audible channel on tomorrow’s show where we recap Wednesday’s practice. So, that’s your tease. That’s your little tease. A while we’re here in the middle of the show, I should remind everyone to like the video if you haven’t done it yet. Subscribe to the channel. We’re trying to hit 4,500 by the end of training camp. That’s a goal that we’ve, you know, talked about amongst ourselves. Haven’t told you guys yet, but that is our goal and we can’t reach that goal without you clicking the subscribe button. So, go ahead and click the subscribe button and remember to comment, comment, comment, comment, comment, comment, comment, comment. What do you think about the offensive line? Nothing. Okay, comment it. Tell us what you think. All right, to the defense, Justin, starting in the interior. But a quick note about the defense overall, there are 12 players listed as starters or 12 positions listed as like starters. So, the Titans didn’t break this up into base defense and nickel defense. They combined it. So, obviously, not all 12 of these guys are starters, but there are 12. I love it, too. That’s one way to give them an advantage this year. If they can get 12 on the field with consistency, I mean, I’m worried about this defense. I feel a lot better about it if they play with 12. That would be that would really be something if they get away with it. Yeah. Um, but so anyway, that automatically takes down the like this matters side of this of the ball. like this side of the ball, this matters scale is lowered by the fact that there are 12 guys listed as starters. But um looking at the starting starting interior, assuming that they had like a threeman defensive tackle front up, it would be according to this depth chart, Sebastian Joseph Day, Tvandre Sweat, and Jeffrey Simmons. Now I think the likely starters, actual starters are just Sweat and Simmons, and that SJD comes in for the package that requires three down linemen. But um yeah, that’s where we’re that’s where we’re at on the interior. And no surprise there and honestly no surprise at the backup spots either where you have Carlos Watkins, Timmy Horn, James Lynch listed on the second team and then you know mostly undrafted free agents and Josiah Bronson listed on the third team. Yeah, I think you know Timmy Horn taking that premier nose tackle backup spot after cutting Keandre Coburn maybe does a little something for me. I I’ll mention Sebastian Joseph Day like you talked about, but I do think he probably uh probably gets to play what 40% of snaps I would say. So, I do think that’s uh fair and somewhat notable. And I do think that James Lynch is pretty close to a roster lock. And and and and Carlos Watkins I actually have on my 53man roster that published today as the fifth D lineman. I mean, that was a bit of a coin flip for me, but nice to see that he does make it there behind Sebastian Joseph Day. So, not a whole lot here, but they had to put someone behind Sweat after cutting Cobborn, and it’s Timmy Horn. Yeah. And it’s it’s again, I think rookie treatment that all the UDFAs are in the third column and that could mean that Carlos Watkins is ahead of them, or it could just be the way they’re listing the rookies and the UDFAS here. Um, there is a little bit of intrigue at outside linebacker, a tiny modicum of intrigue at outside linebacker where your starters right now listed are Ardan Key and uh Draymond Jones. Now, we expect Draymond Jones to be a starter obviously and we expected, you know, he told me this two weeks ago. I’d be like, well, duh. But then the last two weeks happened and we’ve got all these reports about Femoljo running with the ones and looking like a starter. And Feed Dejo is not listed as a starter. Now, that doesn’t mean that he won’t take the first snap of the season on defense, especially if it’s, you know, expected to be first and 10 potentially run situation, and we think Femjo might might already be a better run defender than Ardan Key. I don’t know if that’s true. Ardan Key made a lot of good plays in the run game last year, but body typewise, is this the type of guy that the Titans want on the field on first and second down is Fejo. Well, maybe not. Maybe so. But Femi is listed as the second team outside linebacker right now. Again, this could be sort of a rookie treatment where it’s like maybe he is ahead of Ardent Key, but he’s a rookie, so we’re putting him behind Arden Key. Or maybe Ardan Key still is a starter and they’re just getting Fei those reps with the ones because they know they’re going to need him to play a lot of snaps this year and they want him to be ready to play those snaps similar to what they’re doing with their first round pick and Cam Ward. Yeah, I I’ll say I I think this situation is is pretty fluid in the sense that um I think all three of them are going to play a lot. So I I think we all when it comes to the outside linebacker position, we’re almost reading too much, not just on this departure, but when we have the discussion in general on who’s going to start at outside linebacker, who’s going to start Ardan Key, Fiola Dejou, and Draymond Jones are all going to play a lot. Like I think when you if they’re all healthy, when you look at the final snap counts, it’s going to be pretty close together in my opinion. A lot of rotation there between the three of them. What’s more interesting to me on this, call me boring, but uh one thing that I do think makes a lot of sense is I see Jiad Ward as the backup uh to Draymond Jones. And I think that makes a lot of sense when you look at when they brought Draymond Jones in, they talked about how he was bigger and stouter, right? Well, who did they also bring in? Lorenzo Carter to play a similar role, who was similar body type, bigger and stouter. Lorenzo Carter retires. They signed Jiad Ward, who’s also big, stout, and a pretty good run defender. So, I think uh he fits that profile and probably will be the backup to Draymond Jones. Whereas, the spots that I keep talking about rotating, I expect that to happen a bit more between Ardan Key and Femiola Dejo. So, I think there are some some things to take away from the outside linebacker spot here. And I think that they see Femiola Dejo as more or less, and you know, you can call me crazy if you want to, a Harold Landry replacement. You going to call me crazy for saying that? Now look, Harold bigger than him though. But I get what you’re saying because he’s a bit bigger. They probably feel a bit better about some of the early down stuff. But but then again, I thought Harold Landry was a pretty good run defender. Like I never had any qualms with Harold Landry’s run defense. So But so yeah, I could I could kind of get what you mean. I mean, not the workload early, right? Remember, there were seasons Harold Landry was playing 95% of defensive snaps. I don’t see that for Fiola Deja, but yeah, I get where you’re going. Harold Landry had nine sacks last season. I finally went and watched all of them. I watched every sack, Justin. I counted one of nine sacks where he actually beat the tackle, lined up across from him cleanly with a pass rush move and got to the quarterback and wasn’t, you know, stunting off of Jeffrey Simmons absorption of a double team or just running around against the quarterback who was trying to find an open receiver for four or five seconds before Harold Landry finally chases him down. Like there is no way you can convince me that Fejo can’t go out and get the exact same sacks that Harold Landry had last year. He’s a aggressive, powerful, athletic, bigger guy that can probably do exactly what Harold Landry did for them last season as a rookie who is changing positions just because of the of the athleticism and the body composition. I get it. You’ve watched them. We’ve seen it. But I think you’re selling Landry a little short. I’m not putting the overunder on Fiola Dejo Sachs at eight and a half, right? Like I’m not, you know, so I mean I get where you’re going and and was an elite one verse one man beater last season, but pump the brakes. I think uh most of Harold Landry sacks the like eight out of nine were either schemed up or they were effort hustle plays. You know, great coverage on the back end and somebody’s got to keep hustling to get after the quarterback and usually it was Harold Landry. Um, so if if FEMA can play like that, I would take the under eight and a half sacks. But, um, I’d be I’d be confident in what he can do. Uh, replacing Landre’s role in the the schemed up pass rush role. Um, moving on to another very interesting position here, the inside linebacker position, where I don’t think this is a surprise, but it is nice to see it reaffirmed on paper. Your starting inside linebackers are Cody Barton and James Williams senior. Cedric Gray is listed as James Williams backup. Otis Reese is listed as Cody Barton’s backup. Um, and then you have the rest of those linebackers that are in a scrum for the, you know, trying to make just make the roster at the back end, including my guy UDFA, David and Benda. But, um, yeah, so James Williams listed as a starter. Now, this doesn’t mean that much. It means that he’s ahead, which we knew he was ahead. Frank Bush literally talked after practice last week and they asked him like, “Is James Williams a starting linebacker?” And he said, “We’re not ready to make that call yet. We need to see more in pads. James is doing great, but you know what? Cedric Gray is really coming along and doing great, too. And it’s like, okay, that doesn’t mean anything. I think this depth chart doesn’t mean anything because they are not going to decide this linebacker competition until closer to the start of the season. James Williams pretty much taken all the first team reps at training camp at linebacker and he’s done well with them. I mean, they’re going to say what they’re going to say, but I I’m at the point where I’d be stunned, to be honest with you, if it wasn’t James Williams uh next to Cody Barton in week one. Like, I’m confident using the word stunned. I just don’t see this changing between now and then. I see that Cedric Grace coming along, as they say, probably makes the roster, right, as maybe the three backer. everything else up for grabs. Like even to be honest like Otis Reese as the backup to Cody Baron. I think it’s likely you can put him on the line next to Curtis Jacobs and Anthony Orgy. Like I think that’s a full-on battle for that fourth and maybe fifth linebacker spot assuming they keep a fifth. But uh for me, not a whole lot of surprise here. Again, I think Otis Ree is probably getting the benefit of the doubt as a veteran. But again, I think you put him on that line next to all the others in reality. And I I do think James Williams is a starter. I I agree and actually I’m glad you said that because I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I’m with you. I would be stunned if James Williams wasn’t the week one starting inside linebacker next to Cody Barton. So, that’s that’s a very good point and a very true point. Moving on to the secondary, we’re we’re going to close out with special teams. But first, we got to hit the secondary where, no surprise, Jarvis Brownley Jr. listed as a starting corner, Roger McCreary listed as a starting nickel, and Daryl Baker Jr. currently listed as the other starting outside corner because Legarius Sneed is still on the PUP list. and or the pup list. I don’t know. I got made fun of for calling it PUP, but whatever. Pup list. Um, and he’s in parenthesis just like Lloyd Cushenberry at the end of the quarterback depth chart. But Dinard Wilson was at the podium last week. Literally said Larger Sneed is our starter. So, um, we know that he when he’s healthy, he’s going to be a starter if he’s ever healthy. I mean, TBD on Sneeed. But, uh, Daryl Baker Jr. we knew would be the first guy off the bench and he’s listed as the starter now while Sneed’s out. The interesting thing to me, Justin, about the quarterbacks, and you teased this a little while ago. Nice job with the tease, Justin. Is uh there is a player in the cornerback room. The only player on offense or defense, this does not apply to special teams. On offense or defense to be listed twice on the depth chart, is cornerback Gabe Judy Loi, who is listed as the backup to currently Derell Baker. He would slide to third string backup outside corner. We know that when Legarius Sneed is healthy, but listed as the backup to Dell Daryl Baker Jr. right now and listed as the backup nickel behind Roger McCreary right now. Marcus Harris, who we were curious where he would end up. Was he a nickel? Is he an outside guy, is not listed in the nickel position, he’s listed as the backup to Jarvis Brownley Jr. So, according to this unofficial depth chart, again put together probably by someone in the communications department. The six the top six corners are Brownley Jr., Roger McCreary, Legerius Sneed, Daryl Baker Jr., Gabe, Judy, Loi, and Marcus Harris. Well, that’s the six that I’ve got them keeping on my 53. And I don’t again I’d be unless they make a veteran edition, which Jeremy Fowler from ESPN has said is possible. Unless they do that, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t this group of six that make the 53. Uh, I don’t have a lot. I mean, you took the words out of my mouth. I think it’s very interesting that Gabe Judy Lolli’s listed at both spots. I wanted to see how they’d list Marcus Harris. I know a lot of people thought he was probably a nickel corner when he was in the draft. Thought there was a chance he’d be the one listed behind Roger McCreary, but instead, as you said, it’s Gabe Judy Loi. And I think that does say a little something about his 53man roster chances. Now, again, they go out and get a veteran corner. He’s probably the first one bumped off this this roster in my opinion out of this room if they don’t keep seven. So, uh it’s a fluid situation. You got to keep your head on a swivel. But, uh I do think it gives us a hint on how high they are on him right now. And that’s like one of the reasons that we’re doing this episode is that like we could have just guessed that maybe Gabe Judy Loi is the next guy in the mix, but now I feel like this tells us a little something. They view him as a versatile backup guy who can come in and fill multiple spots if needed. And that’s an important role. And I do think it’s worth pointing out that he’s ahead of Ammani Ouarier who is a veteran who has, you know, started games in the league and has had a decent camp. I mean, he has at least one interception, right? or was that in OTAAS? I don’t remember. But it’s not like he hasn’t been doing well. Like he’s been out there making a handful of plays every now and then. And then you have the UDFAS, Jamari Harris, Clarence Lewis are listed behind Marcus Harris. So it’s not that like Marcus Harris isn’t getting any bump. Like you know, we talked about the rookies being listed at the end. There’s just too many rookies to list him also at the end. Like the two players behind him are also rookies and they’re UDFAS and he’s, you know, a sixth round pick. So he gets that bump to the second spot there. Um, safety. No surprises at safety. Ammani Hooker and Xavier Woods are listed as your starters. Mike Brown, Kevin Winston Jr. listed as your backups. That’s exactly what we expected. But there is some safety news. Justin, if you want to take this one. Yeah, they added Joshua Bledsoe to the the 90man roster um earlier on Tuesday morning. We’re not quite sure who they cut yet. We’re waiting for that move. Jim Wide will probably announce it when this episode drops. If it’s a a straight swap at safety, I mean, I think Mark Perry would probably be the final safety on the roster as of now. I don’t want to speculate anything because they could decide to cut someone else, a different position altogether, but if it was a swap, it would probably be Mike Mark Perry, but uh but they signed Joshua Bledsoe, who’s you know, former sixth round pick. I remember him pre-draft process coming out of resurre hasn’t played a lot in the NFL. Had a recent stint in one of the developmental leagues. This is literally churning like the 90th spot on your roster. Like that’s how low level of a move this is. But he’s not on the official depth chart yet, I don’t think, or the unofficial one, I should say. You’ll have to update that at some point. But, uh, you know, not a whole lot there. Yeah, Mark Perry is the last safety listed here. But, um, Kendall Brooks is listed at the other safety spot as the last guy. So, if they churn safety, one of those two guys is out. Is somebody hurt that we don’t know about? Did Carlos Watkins suffer a more serious injury than we realize yet? Like there’s a couple of ways that this could go, but um it’s TBD until Callahan gets to the podium tomorrow or until the waiver wire hits whatever the league waiver hits at uh the league wire hits at 400 p.m. Eastern today. So that’s still 4 hours from now as of this current recording. Let’s do special teams really quickly because there’s not a lot of surprises here and there’s like something that’s maybe a two on the this matter scale. Joey Sly, your kicker. Joey Sler, kick offer. Kicker off. Kickoffer. Um kickoff guy. How about your kickoff guy? I like that. Um, Johnny Hecker is your punter. Johnny Hecker is your holder. So, we’re not doing backup quarterback as the holder. We’re doing punter as the holder, which is the other common way to do it. Brandon Allen is your backup holder. So, there’s your backup quarterback also in the mix there. Punt return. James Proche is listed as the starting punt returner. Shimray DK is listed as his primary backup. and Xavier Restrepo, welcome to a potential role for you, sir, is listed as the third string punt returner, kickoff return. Jaquan Jackson is listed as the starter. Shimmer DK is the backup here as well. And TJ Sheffield is your third string kickoff returner. No, Taj Spears in the kickoff return game. No, Julius Chestnut. It’s TJ Sheffield is the third string kickoff returner. Do you think that this is anything? Like we know Jaquan Jackson is not gonna kick return kicks this year because he’s not going to be on the team, but he’s listed as your starting kickoff returner right now. James Proche would only be your starting punt returner if he makes the roster as the seventh wide receiver. So, um, what do you how do you read into this particular part? Like, this is the only part of special teams that is interesting. How do you read into it? Well, people keep talking about James Proche being a return guy. I want to add some context to this conversation. He’s got 68 career punt returns and only four career kickoff returns. So, he’s a punt returner, not necessarily a kick returner. If he makes the roster, I feel very comfortable saying he will be their punt returner. I think there’s very little doubt about that. Whereas at kickoffs, to me, this feels like the rookie conversation we’ve had. It kind of it kind of signals, you know, almost like a challenge to Shimray DK. Hey, go earn that job. go beat out Jaquan Jackson for that role um at kickoff return. And again, we’re not projecting Jaquan Jackson to make the roster. So, this very much feels like a challenge to the rookie. If I had to predict right now, if James Procha makes this roster, he is your starting punt returner and Shimmer DK will be your starting kick returner. If Proche doesn’t make the roster, I think DK does both of them. But, uh that that’s how I’m reading into this right now. I think there’s a world where Proce could make the roster as like almost insurance for this position and DK still wins both return jobs. I think the coaching staff wants DK to be able to win both jobs. They see him as being a potential valuable player in that role and that’s the what they hope happens over the next two or three weeks is that he wins. I’m not ready to go there yet. I’ll disagree with you for for not just for fun because I think DK makes the roster regardless. Well, yeah. So, and you think that too, but that’s a challenge for him to win the the kickoff job, but I think if Procha makes the roster, like 68 career punt returns, I think that if he makes it, that played a large role in that decision and it’ll prevent them from putting too much on a rookie’s plate because they’ll want him to play a little bit at receiver. They’ll want him to do kick return, too, I think. But hey, we’ve got a guy that’s got 68 career punt returns and he made the roster. I think Procha is your punt returner if he makes the team. And that’s a big if, though. That’s still a big if. Like, yeah. Oh, for sure. I would say it’s probably like 40% that he makes the roster, 40% that they keep six, and 20% that Xavier Restrepo is the seventh receiver. Like, that’s how I would weigh that out at this moment. Um, Morgan Cox is your long snapper. Interestingly, Josh Wy is your backup long snapper. So, who’s going to back up long snap when Josh Wy gets cut in a couple weeks? That’s a big question this team’s going to have to answer if they want to win a Super Bowl anytime soon. Just kidding. Um, all right, Justin, we went through the entire depth chart. We took 20 minutes longer to do this than I thought we would, and here we are. But we had a nice fun conversation about the Titans, which is what like that’s like one of our biggest hobbies and why we have a podcast. So, there you go. kind of the only point of this podcast is to have conversations about the Titans. So, we appreciate you guys for tuning in. We will be back tomorrow, that’s Wednesday, after practice to recap everything that happened at the latest Titans training camp practice. We’ll also have that big announcement coming uh on tomorrow’s show, Wednesday’s show. And then we’ll be back Thursday again uh to talk about the joint practice with the Bucks. I mean, that’s one of the biggest events of the preseason, of the training camp, if you will. So really excited to see how the Titans kind of measure up against another a playoff team, a team that’s won the division multiple years in a row. Uh they might not have their quarterback. I think Baker Mayfield’s been, you know, in and out of practice a little bit. But in all honesty, I mean there’s I I’m more curious on how this Titans O line does, how their Dline does, how their wide receivers do, how their quarterbacks do, even if it is a backup quarterback. Tampa is uber talented at wide receiver. So, uh, really good measuring stick for the Titans coming on Thursday. And we’ll be back both days, Wednesday and Thursday, to recap what’s going on at Titans practice. That’s right. So, make sure you’re subscribed to the channel so you don’t miss any of the upcoming videos that we’re going to have, including the live stream on Saturday after the preseason game. Do not miss that. Do not miss Sinker’s 40th birthday jamberee also on Saturday. Check out the link in the video description. And, uh, go read Justin’s article, the latest 53man projection on Titan sized. I’ll drop a link to that in the description as well. Why not? We’re just going to load up the description with all these links. Sinkers, Titan Size, the book, Titans of the South, right behind me, titans of the south.com. So, that’ll do it for this one. Thanks again to everyone. Until tomorrow, y’all stay safe out there and tighten up. A Broadway Sports Media production.

Justin Melo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Justin Graver⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are back to talk through the Tennessee Titans first “unofficial” depth chart released on Monday evening! While most of this depth chart is ultimately meaningless, there are a few takeaways we can learn about ongoing position battles and roster competition, so we cover for what matters and what doesn’t as we go through the depth chart position by position.

0:00 Intro
0:26 Depth Chart Takeaways
2:29 Quarterback
5:04 Running Back
8:05 Wide Receiver
13:18 Tight End
16:01 Offensive Line
21:33 Defensive Line
23:51 EDGE
28:49 Inside Linebacker
30:53 Cornerback
34:29 Safety
36:10 Special Teams
40:04 Wrap Up

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The Music City Audible is presented by Sinker’s Beverages in East Nashville and Bluegrass Beverages in Hendersonville. Get tickets to the Sinkers 40th Birthday Jamboree here: https://sinkersbeverages.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9307cd697cc2ce067701dea8e&id=86dc13c89b&e=98efe03fc3

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Check out Justin’s latest 53-man roster projection: https://titansized.com/titans-say-goodbye-to-fan-favorite-in-latest-53-man-roster-prediction-01jz7xxcwyp9

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