The OTP | Draft Recap

the studio while you were handling. They're at Nissan Stadium with a lot of fans. That was great. Draft fest was outstanding. So yes, we're ready to go recharged. Let's do this. Let's do this all right. So we want to go through the story of the twenty twenty two draft for the Titans, and that story for us is on the air on Titans Radio at the Grand Hoigh watching the draft come down and everything unfolded. And so

the Titans are scheduled to pick twenty sixth. After the sixteenth pick is made John Dotson, the LA Chargers are going on the clock, and then I have to gather Rhett Bryant, Dave McGinnis, and our broadcast partner Ramon fostered together along with Philip Noel and Brad Willis, who are running the show for us at the Grand Hyatt, and I have to give you some news, and that news is the Titans are trading AJ Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for the eighteenth pick and the one

hundred first pick. Coach Mack, what was your reaction when you heard this news? This is the draft. I mean, we were prepared, as anybody that even puts on a draft show. So we were prepared. But you have to be prepared for the unknown, and that was one of the unknowns. And so when you got us together, I knew you weren't just gathering us up that early in the draft to say, hey, fellas, you're really doing a good job. Halfway through, boys, we're rolling halfway. You guys

are really doing a nice job. I'm really glad you're here. I knew something big was up, and clearly it was what you have to do when something like that happens in draft rooms. And then, just like we had to do, then you have to recalibrate. You have to recalibrate you have to reset. And so it's much like coaching in a game. You can have all the game plans that you want, Mike, but when you have to adjust. When once the game started, and we were adjusting right in

the middle of the game. So the Chargers are on the clock, the Titans are now one pick away. Reett Brian, your thoughts when you hear the news that A. J. Brown is no longer a tight little shocked, But when you look at it in hindsight like we are right now. When you think about the craziest offseason in NFL history in free agency and how wide receiver value in dollars and guarantee money went up exponentially, even crazier than we

ever thought, it kind of puts everything into contacts. It's like, Okay, this makes sense because clearly the Titans are in a place financially because they've had six straight winning seasons they can't afford to pay everyone. But that's with time to think about it. While sitting there in the hey, I was like, okay. And at that point too, we're dealing

with two things. We're on Titans radio, We're on one oh four or five zone in Nashville and We're on a lot of our Titans radio stations throughout the mid South, and thanks to them for carrying our Thursday night wall to wall coverage in our Friday night wall to wall coverage. So you've you've got that. But we also have several hundred people in the room with us at the Grand Hyatt. Yes, from the twenty second element. So I'm debating do I read the Adam Schefter tweet at this point, which is

that AJ Brown has been traded. So it's like, well, if you're doing your job, you got to read the tweet. The crowd did not really like the tweet very and to your point, let me just say this. You always do your job, and that's being professional. And when we do this job, we have to take our personal feelings completely out of it and be professional and do it just like you do anything else in this business. It is a business. But when you said they didn't like it,

that's fair. And then we were delivered a pair of socks. First of all, never been at a draft party and received a negative reaction ever, ever, and so we got that, and then we're delivered the pair of socks. Explain that red. Okay, let me back up just a second, just prior to the pick and you making the announcement. I went back and listened to the archives, and there was you could hear because people are on their phones, a gasp, a grunt, a growl, mur there was a murmur in the room.

And then when you said it, then boom. Okay, So there's a gentleman that is sitting in a table almost directly in front of us. Now he spaced out plenty far. He's probably twenty yards away, and he is in all of his AJ Brown gear and a flame head that was a giveaway when you walked into a game from two three seasons ago, whatever it was. And he is

very upset, very upset. And so he had proceeded to take off his AJ Brown's socks that he had purchased, probably at the pro shop at the stadium, because they have him in Derrick Henry and you know they're we're assuming he had them on. I think this question has been asked to me. I don't know the answer. Can I just say this, okay, why would you just bring a pair of socke I don't know and put him in your pocket? Totally fair question, but I don't know

the specific answer. So I'm leaving open the possibility that he had them in his pocket. My guess is he had them on He is so disappointed with the news that he basically slams them down on the broadcast table right by Dave McGinnis's position. And it's at this point the Titans have made the pick of Traylan Burks from Arkansas, the first round wide receiver number eighteen. Rhett is talking about this while this is happening. He's talking about Traylan Burks,

who you love. He's my favorite pick of the draft. He's your favorite. I was able to tell Traylan Burks that on Friday when I met him. I'm like, you were my favorite pick of the draft. But you're describing this while the socks are being placed on the table at the Grand Hide, and the gentleman does not seem

happy with you personally. Let me just say this. He stayed at the party at the Grand Hyatt until it was announced that John Robinson had traded out of pick twenty six, which he immediately gathered his things and left. But in that another what hour, whatever that was, If looks could kill, I would not be here right now. He didn't. He stared me. As the young folks say,

he mean mugged me for over an hour. I think Rhet's exact words were, while this man was put in his socks on our table, Traylan Burr is my crush in this draft. Yep, he is my draft crush. That's what triggered him. And I did not realize this, but at some point during the hour of mean mugging, he had removed his AJ brown jersey and threw it on the table he was sitting at. Okay, So so this is this is quite a moment for all of us.

And if you are listening, if you are one of the ot people, you have your own story about this moment because it was shocking. But the other part of it, too, was the football key in all of this, which was John Robinson finding a way to make this stay quiet with help from the Eagles. And I would have, I would guess, with help from the agent and with everybody involved, absolutely,

because that had to be part of the deal. They knew if they were going to make the trade for eighteen that they wanted Treylan Burkes, and if this had gotten out three hours earlier, somebody would have jumped him. No doubt, no doubt, And Mike, this happens quite a bit. I can go back to all the experiences I've had in draft rooms when you make deals like this, especially you know, a major deals. It happened with the deal that the Titans and the Rams made when they flipped

the number one. If you remember that, John Robinson and Jeff Fisher both agreed to keep it quiet. Well, it had to on our end here. Absolutely, we were called into a meeting in John's office. I had been called back from this very studio where we are at Cumulus Media right now to come back to the office because the announcement was going to be made. And then there was the realization on the Rams part, we don't want to announce this tonight because it's Kobe Bryant's last game

in LA. That's absolutely why. And the Rams have just gotten to La. And so John told eight people in his office. And John really didn't know any of us. He told us, he goes, this has to stay quiet. It's going to be released at eight o'clock in the morning. And I'll ever forget. I didn't sleep a wink that night because if this gets out, I'm thinking John Robinson's gonna blame me and I'm gonna lose my job. So you're one of the eight in the room, right, I'm

one of the eight in the room. But they're gonna assume it's the broadcaster who's blabbed, who's blabbed, because broadcasters are famous for not being able to keep their mouth shut. Well, I've learned over the years to keep my mouth shut, but as a section of workers, broadcasters are the biggest gossips that you will meet anywhere. Well, and to me, I was on the other end of that, and that immediately when all of this was going on in La Jeff Fisher brought it up and said, look, and what

you said, Mike, The Rads had just gotten there. It was a massive move, and we don't want to we don't want to supersede anything going on with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers at this time. Sure, the same thing was said on our end. Look, there was a real small circle of people that knew that, and it happens a lot in this league. But you're right now, basically these days with you know, with all the social media, I mean, you've just got to learn. And as I say,

I've done this a long time. You know that I get a lot of intel that I never talk about except when it's time. You got to learn to keep your powder dry. And it's about trust. And once you engender that trust over a period of years, then you're going to be able to get information that you can use at the appropriate time. And this was one of them. Mike.

This had an effect on the draft in the bottom half of it because think about this, of all of the Aaron Rodgers talk in the off season, if they still haven't drafted a first round wide receiver in twenty years, right, And this was one of the reasons why they didn't do it this past weekend. And if the reports are

true Aaron Rodgers wanted trailing Burke. Well, if it had come out at two o'clock in the afternoon or four o'clock in the afternoon, the Packers with two ones and two twos would have had the draft capital to jump the Titan Goodacust would have jumped them in a hurry, and it wouldn't have cost him much in terms of what he had they ended up moving around anyway. So this is typical John Robinson saying, Hey, if we're gonna do this deal, this deal is not final, Mom's the

word until we get in that situation. And then you know, we get advised from the team as the Chargers are putting in their card because things are happening faster than what you see on TV. Absolutely, so the Chargers have already put in their card while it's still being shown on TV that they're on the clock. And so this this all goes down and the Titans end up with Traylan Burks. And what is lost in that immediate moment that has now become apparent now is I think the

Titans may have gotten a future superstar in Traylan Burks. Well. Absolutely, And of course we do a very extensive vetting of a lot of players, you know, for the reason that we want to put out a great product, but also we want to know who these people are. And when you started, I mean, Traylan Burks was talked about just

among our group for quite a while. And as I said, I mean, rhet said that was his crush in the draft, and so he's got one guy that doesn't like him forever, but that's he's kind of creepy, and well that's neither here, and that's neither here nor there. And the end of that story is Rhett did not leave the building when it was over with the Socks. I will say that Rhet left the socks. That what happened to the socks not really sure. Yeah, I didn't want him. I mean

I appreciated the effort. But you know, the Packers took Christian Watson from North Dakota State in rounds three and Romeo Dubs in round five. But had that gotten out to your point, might have been a whole different deal. And everything starts changing too, because you've made the trade for not only eighteen and you've gotten Treylan Burkes, but suddenly you have one oh one in your pocket, so you have another second day pick, which you didn't have

at that point. Remember the Titans, we're going to go from twenty six to ninety. You've still got twenty six. And there was a lot of speculation. The majority of the mocks, I think correctly had the Titans picking an offensive linemanute twenty six. But what has happened Kenyan Greene's coming off the board at fifteen, Zion Johnson's coming off the board at seventeen, Tyler Smith has come off the board at twenty four, and then Tyler Lindenbaum has come

off the board at twenty five. So those offensive linemen that fit that first group that sort of fits you, they're out the window. There's a whole group of other ones yet to come, and you're like, okay. So the

Jets are hot and heavy for Jermaine Johnson. They want him badly, and they're willing to trade thirty five, the third pick of Day two, sixty nine, which is an early third round pick, and a five to you for twenty six and one oh one, And if you do the math on the chart, it's a pretty good deal for both teams. But it's certainly solid compensation at that moment and you're done on day one. You've laid that

out so well. But here's the reality of it. When we went into this draft, we all sat there and looked at it, and we've been in enough drafts that we were looking the gap from twenty six to ninety. There are a lot of players. There are a lot of players. When we vetted over two hundred and fifty players for this draft for you know, for Titans Radio, you knew that there were quality players in that gap.

And so to close that gap, I think we all felt, now we had no idea about the blockbuster trade, but we've felt like at some point that John Robinson, because he knows how to work a draft, and I say work a draft, work the dynamics of what it takes to be able to fill those gaps and still be able to come out. And when you make trades, nobody is trying to get over the top on somebody else in a trade that's not going to happen, but trades that are beneficial for both parties, then you can start

to work with some things. That's what he did, and the Jets end up with three number one picks. Their call. At this point, the Jets greatest first round ever. They're all excited. Good for them, Good for them. We moved to day two, and one of the areas that we had been targeting on our sheets as those offensive lineman came off the board for twenty six is corner. You're gonna draft a receiver in a corner every year in

today's market, you're gonna do it every year. If you want a top level corner who's left on the board, Ratte, you're probably gonna have to go early in the second round. Guess what the Titans have an early second round pick now and they take a player Roger mcquerry from Auburn, who they might have taken at twenty six, but instead they got to take it thirty five, which is huge value. And you're talking about a young man. I enjoyed your interview with him and that through the first two nights

of this whole thing. But he played against SEC wide receivers and tight ends every week almost and so and listen, there's a reason why it's sixteen straight drafts. The SEC has had the most drafted players sixteen straight years. So with that in mind, and not to mention, he seems like a wonderful young man. Yes, you have to do this here. Well, Roger McCreary was kind of in the same I've seen it year after year after year. You put the tape on and you go, this is a

very in phase, sticky, aggressive player that I want. And then you start going and we start going through the draft process, which is dissected in minutia now, and all of a sudden, his arms are an inch and a half too short for the model. All right, Well, you watch and he's sticking his hand in the basket, knocking it away, knocking it away. Knocking it away, doesn't matter how long your arms are if you're not in phase

with the receiver. And so once we thought that the defensive back and especially a corner was going to be probably in that realm Mike, that was the part that was so big was being able to have the third pick the second day. Used to be you'd pick one first rounds one, two, and three on the first day, and the huge reset of everybody's boards well into the night was the top of the fourth round. And you will agree that Roger McCreary being a tight is a

direct result of the AJ Brown trade. That's one hundred percent right. That's one hundred percent right. If the AJ Brown trade is not made, we're not even in position to do any of that stuff. And so once you get your board reset and you start to look, then the top of that second round becomes again just like the first day, the top of the first round with the players that are available. I really liked the way unfolded.

And so McCrary is famous. He's from Mobile, and he's famous for eating two plates of beans with sugar, with sugar on Fridays before Auburn's games. On Saturdays. He says he will continue to do it in the NFL. When I visited with him at the Senior Bowl, he really wants an endorsement from Bushes Beans. Of course, Bushes is out of Knoxville. Yeah, Jay Bush, you and Duke, Yeah, Duke the Dog make it happen. You and Duke have got to make it happen. That's right with Roger McCrary.

I've never had the pleasure of meeting Jay Bush. I've driven by their corporate offices five times, and I've corporate I showed you, Yeah, I showed you where it was. But you've got Roger McCrary has to become a spokesperson or at least has to get several free cases of Bush's baked bee. That's so great. Chris Parnell, who we all know very well that for years has been in charge of food services there at the Tennessee Titans. Get

some bushes ready, get them, get them ready? All right, So the Titans, if they don't make the A. J. Brown trade, they probably take a We're guessing now, and this is revisionist history. If they only have twenty six and ninety, they probably take McCrary at twenty six. So instead, because they make the deal, they have trailing Burkes and Roger McCrary together. But then they're gonna pick again at six nine. Now let's flash back. You need an offensive lineman.

The first group that was kind of there is gone by the time you pick at twenty six, so you trade out. Well, there's another group of talented guys. This was a deep offensive line group, Raett, would you agree? Yes, it was, and not just at tackle, I mean positions all along the line. And you knew going into round three, four, five, on and forward you'd be able to find somebody. Nicholas petit Frere and that's how you say it from Ohio State. The tackle was there at sixty nine. The Titans had

had him in on a pre draft visit. He was one of the first. He's a guy that they targeted, that they spent a lot of time with, and they grabbed him with the sixty ninth pick that they got from the Jets. Another perfect fit. It's exactly a perfect fit, you know, for what they needed. I'll tell you, Mike, the sixth city tour that the OTP did prior to

the draft. You know, an ort. People listened, They heard his name when it came time because we did two positions day, two positions to stop is what we did, and we talked extensively about this player being one of those top echelon after that first group came through. So when he was sitting there, we're all sitting there looking and we're not making any picks, but we're making some pretty good guesses as if they go with this, this

guy is right at the top of the list. So the Titans get Nicholas petit Frere offensive tackle Ohio State at sixty nine. They're gonna go again at ninety. So we're on Titans Radio. We're broadcasting Night to Live at Nissan Stadium. The night is sort of winding down and we're kind of waiting for the Titans to get there. And then we get the word that the Titans have traded up from ninety to eighty six with the Las

Vegas Raiders. With the Las Vegas Raiders the Raiders first pick, and they used the ninetieth pick to take Dylan Peram from Memphis, an offensive lineman, really good player, good pick for the Raiders. Yes, Raiders also took Matthew Butler from Tennessee. Later defensively, I'm good pick for the Raiders, good for them, But we're sitting here saying, okay, now what do they wanted eighty six? Is this one of the tight ends?

Is this another of the receivers? And then Rhett it gets out with the people who tip picks that it's Malik Willis from Liberty. So we see this. Everybody in the crowd who's on their phone is seeing this. We're live on the radio, and we really aren't sure what to do at this moment. Like the night before, to the point that I said, golly well, that's all I can say was it had not been confirmed by the the The aj Brown trade had been confirmed to us

through the teams before the Schefter tweet went out. Yes, so we had the two things there. We felt like we could say that in a way, but this was not confirmed at this moment. So it's out there all over the place that the Titans have selected Malik Willis. If you were listening to us on Titans Raid, we're saying something big is about to happen, and I know what you're doing. You're looking at the radio saying, Mike,

you jerk. Tell us It's like I don't want to be wrong about this because that's gonna be a big deal. Oh yes, And if it sounded like we were in bewilderment, we were. We're in shock, yeah, because nobody thinks he's still there. The Titans had never really been mentioned with him. I mean, there'd been speculation he was gonna go second in the draft at one point. Desmond Ritter had been picked forty picks before that. So coach, when they hate

Malik Willis, now describe the reaction, let me describe. Let me describe your narrative when you that it speaks to your professionalism because you went through so many things, and the look on your face when you said, the first thing you came out of your mouth was something big is about to happen. And then you said, I really don't quite know what to say yet about this, but believe me, this is going to be very, very impactful

for everybody. So I'm sitting there looking at you, going, I don't know how he can be that professional and continue to keep his powder dry on something this big. Because what you say is true, it had not been confirmed yet, and so you can never put something out like that. Now a lot of people would because you know, anybody that wants to hot tweet anybody that anybody that wants to but you're not that, And so just want Titans fans to be able to count on Titans Radio

for the truth, to give him the stuff. Yeah, the truth. And if you're driving, I mean, I know why you're listening to us on Friday nights. You're at somebody's baseball or softball game, you're at a soccer game, an graduation party, you're driving home from the mall, you're an over the road trucker, and you're listening to us, and you know this is what people are doing at that point. We gotta be right about this one because it's as shocking as what had happened to night before in my opinion,

absolutely absolutely, like yeah, because it's a quarterback. It's a quarterback, and it's this guy who the Good Lord has given a lot of gifts, Brad Hopkins when we saw him on Saturday, and he says McNair too, McNair too. That's how he says. I mean, that's how he describes him. Physically, coach. I mean, I don't know what he does. I don't know if he ever takes a snap, but there are

certainly some traits there that are awfully special. Well he was, he was had the best physical traits of any quarterback in this draft. When you talk about mobility, you talk about arm strength, you talk about escapability, all of those things are there. So now what you have is you have a really, really good athlete that I don't know the young man yet, we will get to know him.

But anything that you see in those interviews and anything that you hear, this is a quality, quality person that is Look, everybody that comes into the draft that is taken low more than what the experts. And I'm making air quotes with my fingers because there's so many hot take experts surrounding this event. Today, They're gonna have a chip on their shoulder. And I'm not talking about a chip that is something that's bad. I'm talking about a

beneficial chip. This guy, this is I cannot wait to be there at practice every day to watch him develop. And this is gonna be This is gonna be fun. Everybody in that room. You talk about the first night reaction in the room, everybody in that room, it was elevated to attend immediately. I'm gonna step back one step and go back to when we were waiting for the announcement to be made. You even said, if what is being reported as the pick here is the case, John

Robinson is about to shock the world. And I'm like, yep, yeah, I could say that I would agree with that. The young man obviously deeply cemented in his faith seeing the reaction when he got the phone call, and look, you know, guy, you set it up when we talked about it the other night when he was selected. A lot of talent left in twenty twenty, which he had a really good year, and a lot of people thought he didn't have as good a year in twenty twenty one. And it's like, well,

you know, where's the measuring stick there? Because he had some pieces around him that were gone. He's got a million dollars smile, just like Steve McNair. Sure hope he isn't Steve McNair two point though, that'd be fantastic. So we walk out of Nissan Stadium Friday night, and no socks were thrown at us, No socks were thrown at us,

nothing was thrown at us. I still contend, even three days later, that the point from which all of the stuff hit about a J. Brown being traded to the point at which Malik Willis was drafted is the wildest twenty four hours I've spent in twenty four years with the club. And it was cemented by my wife the next morning, I'm getting up to leave for draft Fest and she she's got this look under faces. She reads

all the social media stuff. She said, it's funny. She goes, on Thursday night, everybody was ready to jump off a bridge, and now everybody's more excited than they ever have been. She goes, what is it with football fans? And that's she's not a football person whatever, but somebody from the outside, so to speak. Looking at it in that way gives you an idea of the roller coaster that you ride when you're a fan. That is so true, and that's

a hud. It is a roller coaster because you're invested emotionally, you're invested emostly. And again, all of this stuff will play itself out over the course of both of these players career. All of these players are drafted over the course of their career. But in the moment, I agree with you, Mike. We rode some highs and lows, and you can be as prepared as you want to be.

But for those two instances, just to run through that and hopefully the thing that I really like about it is the fact that people that we're listening to us, which I know a lot of them were, they at least got the true essence of the magnitude of both moments.

The only thing that would come as a second to this was in a much shorter span of time, when you and Pat Ryan had just called the Music City Miracle, Phil Luckett announces to the crowd that it's under review and they hush over, the crowd goes and then it's the play stands. That would be twenty four minutes were yeah, and you're talking twenty four hours about twenty four hours, and so yeah, the music it doesn't compare with the day of the Music City Miracle in terms of the

end of that ball. But the roller coaster, Oh that's it. It was just I mean, you know when you could feel the emotion too, Mike, and you and I were both at Draft Fast Saturday, which was an amazing event, amazing events, so many fans there, and then you know, had had the alumni players were up on the stage. It's great. The energy of that whole group when you start walking looking in and everybody's lined up to go in the locker room, and then there the field is

covered with people. Everybody is excited. They were so excited about the draft well, and what had happened at that point. Obviously the Willis thing drafting a quarterback, drafting a high profile guy. He had been the most talked about because he was the biggest story of the draft picks. Kenny Pickett was probably gonna be the first guy picked because he's the safe guy. He's this but the story is Malik Willis. So people are caught up in that moment.

But what became obvious at draft Fest is the realization of who Trailing Burks issue had started to catch fire, and the common fan the draft Nick knew what a prospect Trailing Burks was. Yes, a common fan saw him come into the facility on Friday, They're like, who is this big dude who handles himself so well? And then they'd seen the highlight and they'd read the articles. By the time he came on stage with me at draft Fest and was introduced to the crowd, it was phenomenal.

It was rock starish at that moment. And so you've gotten McCrary, who's an SEC guy at Auburn. You've got Petit Frere who gave an impressive interview. You've you've got the quarterback. But then the first round pick. People are starting to get amped about that, and so the initial disappointment about the trade had certainly been muted for multiple reasons at that point. Well, and that, to me is

so great. And that's that's what I sensed. You could sense, you could sense the movement and the energy in the crowd on Saturday being a complete flip and being like, hey, wait a minute, right, this is really something good. This is really something good. And then, as you say, when he's on stage with you that reaction, there'll be more

of those. And then while this is going on, the Titans literally, as I'm walking to the stage and I want to pole adjusted to anybody at Draft Fest who saw him beyond my phone, you know I was not I was not reading Facebook or look at can I apologize too, because I was reading your phone too. So we're watching So htt's here at the studio, we're at Nissan Stadium and coach mc and are looking at the picks. The Titans select Hassan Haskins running back Michigan at one

thirty one. I immediately asked, Rhett does coach mac like Hassan Haskins, And I said yes, because we both read a description of him, and guy's a workhorse. He's a hammer. Yeah, he's a tough dude. Go ahead, he's a hammer. He's a hammer. And here's the other thing is he's so dependable, and he's extremely extremely talented. And here's the other thing. Carrying the ball as many times as he did. You close your eyes and tell me what you see. That's

how many fumbles he's had in his career. This guy's the legitimate deal. This is a nice, nice piece to

this off. He did not miss a game in college, had a high ankle sprain at the end of the year that prohibited him from participating in the Senior Bowl in the combine, so there was no measurables in terms of that or I'm convinced he would have been taken a little higher than what he was thirteen hundred and twenty seven yards rushing in twenty twenty one and broke a fifty three year old Michigan football record with twenty rushing touchdowns. He was voted by his teammates as the

toughest dude on the team, so they get him. Haskins, the running back from Michigan at one thirty one, Titans picking twelve later, I think the final pick of the fourth round. It was a compensa tour. That's correct. Correct tight ends have come off the board down where bunches of them he started on on tight ends. Chig, a con quot tight end from Maryland is the pick at one forty three. Not the biggest tight end, but the Titans like him because he will block, He shows a

willingness and he has something else which is speed. The fastest tight end at the combine four or five two legit. You put the tape on at Maryland and you see it runs away from people, can separate, can get away. Look I'm not I don't want to put anything on this play, but this player is like what's coming into the league as a tight end. He's going to be

a mismatch problem. And the other thing that he can do in the open spaces, especially if people want to play a lot of his own defense against this team, which people are starting to play a lot of toshell a lot of two high against it. He can run away from people. I liked this pick and especially at this point, this to me was the guy that was standing out on our board. So two a Tonkavaloa's younger brother as the quarterback in Maryland. He had a twelve

catch game last year against Penn State. And when you look at his measurables, I see and I hear Delaney Walker, I see and I hear John hu Smith. He's that kind of rocked up physical ask and got that kind of speed bingo. Well, we thought that Isaiah likely from Coastal Carolina might be a target. There were other guys that were in there. Isaiah likely ended up coming off

the board just before the Titans made the selection. But when you think about the group of tight end that Tennessee has, now Jeff Swain, who's kind of that just good solid tight end, and then you got Austin Hooper, who's another physical guy, better pass catcher than Swain, and so you've got him. Well, now you take a guy Tommy Hudson's on the team too, and he appears to

be a blocker. This is a different guy. It's a different guy, and that's really what you want in your tight end where you want that mix because you know if you're going to play some multiple tight end sets twelve personnel, which is two tights you know in there, and you want guys to be able to be multiple. This guy can be a multiple piece for you. He can also be on the move. He can be on the move. You talk about its blocking, he can be on the move and do plenty of good blocking, especially

on the edge. He's also a guy that you can move and into the backfield to do a lot of things with. This guy's a mismatch for linebackers, so you're gonna be able to do a lot of creative things with him. Off of the play action, Titans go wide receiver in the fifth round at one sixty three. Coach Mac they take Kyle Phillips, wide receiver UCLA. There were other options there. Why do you think Phillips was the right option for the Titans as the second wide out

they took in this draft. He's a get open, quick catch everything that you throw him, and he's also a returner. This is it. When you read his stats, you read what you did at UCLA and also also in the Pac twelve. This is a slot player. This is a slot player, this is a movement player, and this is a tremendous move the chains guy. He's an instant accelerator. Doesn't have elite long speed, but you've got to be able to get away from people you know in close areas.

He's got tremendous feet and his hands are very, very sure, Mike. He's the only receiver in the PAC twelve and twenty twenty one with double digit touchdowns, seventy plus catches, ten touchdowns, has a eighty two and a sixty nine yard punt return for a touchdown in his college career. Two picks in the sixth round. I want to start with the

second one at two nineteen. Okay, Chance Campbell, who played at Maryland and then finished at Old Miss. What do we know about this two two hundred thirty two pound linebacker. He's a tackling machine, Mike. I'll tell you what I know about it. Of course, I do this coach to coach show that covers the Southeastern Conference for twenty weeks with Doug Matthews. When Kentucky was getting ready to play the balls, I put the tape on of Kentucky. He is a Maryland transfer he came in. This guy is

all over the place as a tackler. This is what he is. I coach linebackers in this league for a long time. The one thing I always looked at on film. I really wasn't so concerned about the straight line speed, and what I wanted to see was what type of GPS does he have to the ball when the ball is snapped? What type of GPS? How can he get ahead of blocks? And then how sure a tackler is he on all different types of angle bases? This guy

is a tackler to me. This guy is an immediate special team's contributor that will work into a role behind the line. All right, then I want to take the first sixth round pick is a backtrack at two oh four THEO Jackson John Overton High School in Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessee volunteer listed as a safety. He played the star position at Tennessee. And for anybody to understand how amazing it is that THEO Jackson is a draft pick today compared to where he was a year ago. What a

job by THEO Jackson. What a job by Willie Martinez the secondary coach. What a job by Tim Banks, the defensive coordinator. They figured out how to use this guy right, how to give him confidence, and he played outstanding football for Tennessee last year as a versatile guy in the secondary. I studied every Valls game this year in my role with coach to coach with Doug Matthews. Week after week after week, we would both say on the air, THEO.

Jackson's the best player on the field right now. Defensively, THEO Jackson is the guy is stirring the pot right now. THEO Jackson did this, and then you said the star position. Let me say something for our OTP listeners. The star position, which is Nick Saban's defense. Everybody in the SEC's playing it. Now. You have to be so versatile, and you have to be so mentally dialed in to so many things because there are so many adjustments pre and post snap that

come with that position. Because that position is a safety, it's a slot cover guy, it's a blitzer, it's somebody that has to be able to read the center guard triangle from a slot position. Because you're involved in the run front. This has to be not only your most versatile player, but your most mentally dialed in player. THEO Jackson was all of this. I love this pick. There were two players on that team, and there were valls that were drafted this year five that made me extremely happy.

But two guys that jumped out if you really studied them this year offensively, it was Vallis Jones Chicago Bear now in the third round and THEO Jackson on defense. I am so happy. It's a great story too. It's a great story that he's a local guy, but it's also even a better story that he's a really good player. He's been to the san Stadium many many times. He's a Titans fans that his uncle had a swede or something and would go and would watch since he was

a little guy. And now he's gonna have a chance to walk out of that tunnel with the pads at a two tone blue on. It's awesome. Well, and there's a lot of speculation that he was specifically drafted to have a chance to take Dame Crookshank's role in the Big Nickel. The three safety package. Titans were in three safeties thirteen percent of the defensive snaps a year ago. And sometimes you read the A plus B equals see and you say, no, it's not exactly like that, but

I think this is. I think THEO Jackson has a chance special teams where he has a chance to really make his living from the start. But he's got an opportunity to work himself into a package because of his physicality. Not saying it's gonna happen. The Titans signed a free agent and Aj Moore who might be that guy. But all you can ask for, and all Theo jack And has ever really asked for, is a chance to compete. And he's got some size to be able to do

those things. He's six nine guy and can tackle. And I think you're right. I think this is. They brought over the more guy from the Houston Texans who is a core special teamer to do those things. But I think he has a chance to replace Dan Crookshank, Mike. I'll say it. That's what he was drafted for. This

is going to be a big nickel guy. And this is what you're looking for when you're making sub packages against various offensive sets and is this and it also helps you so much, just like Dan Crookshank did at times with game specific game plans versus opponents, this is what he'll get a chance today. And that's why you draft Roger McCurry too, because week a week in the NFL, now you're using so many sub packages, you need various

chess pieces in the secondary. Alon Te Taylor goes in the second round to the New Orleans Saints because he is going to be another guy to Tennessee who's gonna have a chance to be that sort of chess piece that you can use in different ways. Absolutely, you're talking about Lante Taylor. Now, they'll use him at corner, they'll use him at safety, and he'll be an immediate gunner on special teams. That's a three pronged player that you can use. THEO Jackson, I'm I'm really really looking forward

to watching him develop. Here so deep breath after drafting. I was taking a deep breath when he huddled us all up on the first night. You know, again, as I said, I knew it wasn't just to say, hey guys, I really am glad I'm here with you. Anytime you huddle us up, there's something going on. I didn't know Rhet was going to get a pair of socks out of the deal, but I'm gonna get my THEO Jackson socks now they have those at the pro shop yet not yet, but yeah, but I'm sure they'll be coming.

Chack a conquo, man, I like to check a conquo. I know that check a con quo socks. You know Rhet will have Taylor Burke socks. I promise you. I think John he already does. They walked in here with a hoghead on. I was very surprised he's calling the hog Hey, you're good in it. I think this is

a nice draft for John Robinson. I really do what a weekend and to turn this thing from being seven picks and a sixty four pick gap between one and three into six offensive players and three defensive players, because I mean, let's face it, you've got a roster that's tight on salary cap room. You need as many of these guys to make your ball club as possible. And you're not just you don't just need to make the ball club. They need to be able to help the

twenty twenty two Titans. It really looks like they've got several guys that can do that. Let me say something

else too. From being a lifetime coach in this league at a lot of different levels and just doing it all to be able to put together something like this when you've also won twelve games a year before, and I've had six winning seasons, when the draft process is stacked against you because of where you're picking, to be able to maneuver and manipulate a draft like this, this just shows you again that John Robinson knows exactly what he's doing. Look, it's it's hard to go from winning

four games to winning twelve games. It's much harder than to navigate a twelve game win a six straight winning seasons and continue to navigate the draft process that is stacked for giving bad teams the best players on the three days stretch. Rhett Brian, Dave McGinnis, thank you so much. World history of this draft weekends of interesting stories. Can I can I say this? I'm going to for our our esteemed partner, Amy Well. I talked to Amy and she is, of course lovely. Livy Lane has got a

beautiful daughter and she will be a wonderful mother. But when I started telling her everything that went on after that first night because I called her, she said, Mac, you don't know how bad I wouldn't want to be sitting at that table when that guy put those socks down on the table and everything. So shout out to Amy Wells. When we were doing the thing at the Draft Fest, they put she and Josh Corey and Livy Lane on the big board. I thought it was a

great moment. It was great, beautiful picture, beautiful family were happy for them. So for Amy Wells, for Rett Bryant, for coach Dave McGinnis. I'm Mike Keith, thanking you all for being with us, for the O team. People. Welcome to the big show. Weather Matins called. Everybody knows it's our house, fighting though Tennessee. Making us three greatness is