What the Titans are telling us with their pre-draft 30 visits

Welcome to A to Z Sports Prime Time on this Monday night, April the 7th, here from the

Zen Sports Studio. We're happy to have you. For once, we're not going to talk about what you're going to do with the first overall pick

We're going to talk about what you might do in day two of the draft and how the Titans

are what they are telling us based on the pre-draft 30 visits that they are currently conducting

They'll call them top 30 visits because that indicates that there's some kind of ranking

in the coaches and the executives and the scouts and the personnel people

And I like it when you call them top 30 visits. So instead, we'll talk about the 30 visits that the Titans have currently had or schedule

or are scheduled to have as we continue on, as we soldier on with just a little over two

weeks to go before the NFL draft actually takes place. You also have a new voice of the Titans

If you've been paying attention here, we've told you that Taylor Zarzer is going to be the favorite

or was the favorite to land the job, and they did announce him today, so we'll get your feeling on

that. We'll get Burt in before the national championship game tonight for a little in case

you missed it and work our way through the process, and then we'll have a great college basketball game

tonight to talk about on the radio show tomorrow. Before we get started, I need you guys to share

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friend, tell a friend to do the same, share the show around because it's going to be an exciting

draft process. We're looking forward to breaking down all the things that happen in the post-draft

with you. We'll have rookie minicamp upon us in the not too distant future. Hell, if I'm not

mistaken, there are a couple of teams with new head coaches that have already started

their voluntary or preparing to start this week, their voluntary workouts even. So football season

really never left us, but it feels right around the corner. And the draft, of course, is between us and, you know, a lot of good football discourse

So we'll look forward to that together. Welcome into A to Z Sports Prime Time from the Zen Sports Studios

I'm your host, Buck Rising. Hello, lovely to have you. And I'm proud, as always, to be presented to you by the wonderful people at TrueMath Fitness in the Gulch

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automobile, or personal injury. BartDurham.com for more information today. So there's no need to talk about the..

I mean, we can still, you know, touch base. Just checking in. One week to go before the draft

Two weeks to go before the draft. They still draft and get more? Yes. The answer is yes. As we move forward through this process

So with the thing that we know, or are almost certain that we know

is happening at the top of the draft, at the very start of the draft

Well, there's seven more picks that the Tennessee Titans have at their disposal that need to be talked about

and are critically important to supporting Cam Ward as the number one overall pick in the NFL draft

likely made by the Tennessee Titans. Cole Claxton brings up an interesting question

What's more important, a wide receiver or an edge in the second

And here's a couple of things that I think that we need to, oh, Dylan Hardaway says, let's go

Finally made a live video. Been too long, Buck. Hello, Dylan. Welcome back. It's always good to see people

You know, I know you guys got real life stuff going on. I know you guys bounce around all over the place

I know schedules change. But if you've been gone for a while, welcome back

It's always good to see you. If you're new, we always enjoy having more people in this silly little circus tent that we do

month, Sunday through Thursday night at about seven o'clock. I was close to 730 today, but I

had yoga, so you'll forgive me. Either way, good to see you guys. I'm happy to have you, whether

you're returning, whether you're new, whatever the case may be. It's going to be a fun draft process

for all involved. So with all that to say, the question that Cole posed earlier, what's more

important, a wide receiver or edge in the second? Here's a couple of things that I need you guys to

remember about this, all right? Because I know that we condition ourselves. Nobody from the

football world would condition you this way, but it's an easy assumption to make. Drafting based

off need. The best organizations, yes, you obviously have needs that you must address

You cannot wait until the sixth or seventh round to draft a wide receiver this year. That was

Rand Carthon's situation in the two years that he was the general manager

They never drafted a wide receiver before the sixth round. Now they went out and got DeAndre Hopkins and they went out and got Calvin Ridley

And those were two obvious needs, but it feels to me that you are, address your roster organically

with the best player available on your board, almost, almost regardless of position

You can't completely discount position because you know, you can't have like seven tight

ends running around on your active roster or something like that but you get my point the idea of what's more important to address in the second well i i hate to answer your question

with a question but this is the way that teams will do it cole who's there and where did the runs

at those various positions start what wide receivers are left to be drafted in the second

is the best wide receiver available in the second so much better than the best edge rusher in the

second and how does that player or that pod of players that group of players that may be available

how does that fit what the titans want to do they're building a roster for cam war and so

there are a couple of different things that are going to be taken into account there but i think

that they're messaging something and maybe you know there's we're still in the smokescreen time

of year so maybe this is a smokescreen but it does seem to me that they are messaging something

about what they plan to do in the second round or what they might be planning to do in the second

round that I think you can take from their 30 visits that they're making. 30 visits are the

visits that teams get to host these players at their facility. It's probably the most expansive

time that they get to spend with these players, getting to know these guys, understanding how they

work, how they operate, how they are conversationally, personality types, their routine, all these

different things and you learn a great deal from the 30 visits. Again, don't call them top 30

visits because they are not ranked that way. And I'll explain more what I'm here in just a second

But the question that I want to start with on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch is this

what are the Titans telling us with their 30 visits, their pre-draft 30 visits that they're

going on right now Now A to Z Sports has done a great job of cataloging these things keeping a running tracker for lack of a better term on the website about the pre meeting the 30 visits pro days NFL combine virtual visits

local visits, and more that the Tennessee Titans are currently orchestrating. And yes

the names at the top of the board, you will very well recognize. There has also been some others

that have been reported to that effect that are different than what you might have thought or

what you may expect or what you think the Titans needs are. So we'll dive into this together on

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch. What are the Titans telling us with the 30 visits that they

are currently orchestrating? We'll get into that right after I remind you that your Two Rivers

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Ford is taking some of the financial uncertainty out of the equation for you. tweriversford.com

where the employee pricing is available for you, for me, for Bert, for everybody in between

So what are the Titans telling us with their 30 visits that they've got thus far? So thus far

You've got Cam Ward, obvious. Abdel Carter, due diligence. Travis Hunter, Shadour Sanders, due diligence

Then you start to get into the later and different kind of positions group, which are less consensus, top of players

Donovan Jackson, the guard slash tackle from Ohio State. Caleb Johnson, the running back out of Iowa

These are prospects that, depending on where you look, they may be in the top 30

They may be in the top 40. Caleb Johnson in the top 60 at this point in time

Isaiah Bond, the wide receiver out of Texas, an interesting figure in all of this for the pre-draft process

given the things that he was saying, you know, how fast he was going to run the 40 at the combine

and then ultimately wasn't able to deliver on it. And, you know, he's just trying to manifest these things on top of being a talented player

But, you know, he kind of got caught up in his own air, and that's fine. Femi Oladejo, the edge player out of UCLA, is somebody who has also taken a 30 visit

Charles Grant, an offensive tackle from William & Mary. Terrence Ferguson, tight end from Oregon

Washington State wide receiver Kyle Williams. Cameron Jackson, the defensive lineman out of Florida

And Dante Thornton, the wide receiver out of Tennessee, who is an interesting prospect

Certainly a toolsy, traitsy prospect as a former transfer player himself, who was injured during some of his time at Tennessee, but does bring a lot to the table

and certainly wowed people with his workout that he did at the combine

They've also had pre-draft visits with Tyler Warren, Shamar Stewart, who's the, I wouldn't, can I call Shamar Stewart embattled as a prospect

because he's so physically impressive and so athletically skilled, but the production for them is just, it's not

it was not nearly what you want it to be. It was non-existent

It was not very similar to, if you guys remember Jason Awe, his name's Adafi Awe now

Zero sacks in his final year at Penn State, but was an athletic specimen

Went to the combine, looked like he was chiseled out of granite. Shamar Stewart is very much like that

Maybe not chiseled out of granite, but for his size, the agility he possesses, the strength he possesses

it's a very moldable piece of clay. He just never realized that talent at Texas A&M

And somebody will take a chance on that player, right? And so rare are just completely clean draft evaluations

Like there are so few players who come out of the draft process with a completely clean grade in the evaluation

Coaches will tell you that all the time. And that's something that we know, right

None of these players are ready when they arrive in the NFL, coming out of the college process

But can you work with them? Are there things that can be molded? It is for Shamar Stewart, for example. Is it something

simply as or as simple as, hey, man, I just need you to finish. I just need you to finish on some

of these plays. You're right there. You're so talented. You can be an incredible difference

maker for our defense, but I just need you to finish. And whomever, whichever coaching staff

can get that out of him, then they will reap the benefits of an athletically gifted player who may

not have had that college production that you talk about. So those are a couple of the other pre-draft visits

Michael Williams out of Georgia, Matthew Golden, the wide receiver from Texas, Emeka Abuka

has not made a 30 visit, but he has had a pre-draft visit with them, Luca Burden

Also Josh Connerly, the Oregon tackle, Cameron Williams, the Texas tackle. You can go on down the list

There are several other pre-draft visits that they've had. They also, Brian Callahan was telling us at the owners meetings last week, at the early

part of last week, I guess, a week ago from today, as a matter of fact, when we were in Palm Beach

said that they still had some Zoom hours at their disposal to be able to use in these pre-draft

visits because, of course, the 30 visits are in person, but some of the pre-draft visits could be

conducted virtually as well. So what are the Titans telling us with their 30 visits specifically

not the pre-draft, not all of the pre-draft visits that they have had, but the 30 visits

specifically because we know the top players and the top prospects for the team that has the number

one overall pick. There's some interesting players in the mix there that would make you stop and just

kind of stare and consider their strategy potentially, which I think that we might be

able to determine. We will get into this together. Let's see some of your comments here

DeZito, buck nasty, like it or love it, we need a wide receiver. We can get a plug and play at

defensive end and just hope he surprises us. So, you know, I'm not nearly as high and nobody is

So this is not a controversial opinion or a different opinion from anything else that anybody

who's watched even a second of these college players would tell you, even at the top of the

list. And, you know, I don't pretend to do deep dives in the draft ysis, but I have Cosell

and I keep tabs on these things, obviously, and I watch college football to make sure that I'm at

least aware of a lot of these guys coming into the pre-draft process, so I'm not just playing

catch-up for the entire month of February after the NFL season ends. But I will tell you that the

wide receiver depth is clearly and obviously not what the edge player depth is, and that you have

to take these things into consideration. It also does not mean that the depth at edge will last as

long as you want it to, depending on when the positional runs in the draft start

Now, something that I would also remind you, in fact, it's relative to the 30 visits, and

we can get into this specifically here in just a second, right after I remind you that

the primetime program is made possible by TrueMap Fitness in the Gulch. Go to TrueMapFitness for your first workout free as a Middle Tennessee resident no workout ever recycled or repeated at trumaffitness What I will tell you is there is subterfuge with the 30 visits

Just because a player is making a 30 visit does not mean that the Titans are necessarily

interested in drafting him because Nolan Sanders asks earlier before we got the show up and

running tonight. He says, are we just not interested in either Luther Burden or Emeka Abuka because they

have had pre-draft visits with the Titans, but they have not had an on-campus at Ascension St

Thomas Sports Park visit. No, it does not mean that at all. Now, would you be more interested

in one than the other? Yes, that's a question that your coaching staff or your front office

could probably only answer at this point in time. They're trying to keep their cards as close to the

vest as humanly possible, even with the camboard thing, saying that they're still open for business

but don't look at a 30 visit as a guarantee that the Titans are interested in

And vice versa, don't think that the Titans are out on a player

just because they did not make that 30 visit specifically. Hold up, Buck

How did we not get compensatory picks? We lost Derrick Henry. We should have gotten something. Yeah, but you signed Tony Pollard

So that offset the Derrick Henry compensatory pick situation. the Titans have really been really bad as far as the compensatory pick situation because they keep

going out in free agency and offsetting what they might gain back in compensatory picks with the

free agents that they lose so yeah they don't play the compensatory pick game well and perhaps

Mike Borgonzi will change that vibe but when you sign a player of an equal value to the player that

you let walk i.e. Tony Pollard got a similar very similar contract to Derrick Henry at that point in

time, it offsets you. You then take yourself out of the compensatory pick formula. So, you know

not something to fret over, though it is something that you want to improve on. And that only improves

once you start to get to a place where you're drafting better as a football team at this point

in time, as a front office at this point in time, because it keeps you from having to go out and

spend a lot of money on the free agent market that would offset the compensatory formula

So, all these things to say. What are the Titans telling us about their 30 visits right now

So, again, some of the players that you are talking about in this mix outside of the top of the list, right

Donovan Jackson. Consensus has him somewhere in the mid to low 30s as a prospect

Caleb Johnson, somewhere in the mid to low 50s, the running back out of Iowa

Isaiah Bond, somewhere in the mid to low 60s, depending on where you look

What does that tell you about the Titans strategy? You get further down the list, Kyle Williams, who's probably outside of the top 100 as an overall prospect

whether he ends up being a top 100 selection or not remains to be seen

What does that tell you about the Titans strategy? Well, to me, it at least signals that for all the time that we've spent wringing our hands on

will they trade the number one overall pick or not? That's fine. Many of you have thought about the idea of, well, why don't they just trade back out of 35 overall at this point in time

Because they have two fourths, but they have no third. And they would like to have a third round pick at this point in time to continue to keep themselves spread

as much as humanly possible across the talent that is left in this particular draft

So instead of just picking at 35, would they not consider moving out of 35

Because that is essentially a low first round pick when you're picking at the top of the second round that way

So I think it is an indication that they're at least open for business in that direction

Whether or not a trade out of the second round pick comes to fruition remains to be seen

Could you potentially just stick and pick and take the best available player

Yes, of course you could. But you have to give yourself wiggle room

You can't just fall in love with one player, and it's that player or bust

unless you're talking about the number one overall pick than it is Cam Ward, or bust at this point in time

For a team like the Titans, in a specific situation, having no answer at quarterback right now, like the Titans currently do not

So as you go through all of these things, to me, it's an indication that they are very much open for business in the second round

even if the first round pick is currently off the table. Williams so the one guy that I have in the top 10 that you don't have is Emeka Abuka

I had Abuka at five the one guy that you have in your top 10 that I don't is this guy Kyle Williams

from Washington State who is on the ascent Sam is he going to be high if we did this three weeks

from now would he be even higher on your list Kyle Williams Washington State yeah I mean again

I kind of wanted to push him higher in my top 10 but couldn't couldn't figure out which guy to drop

him or drop for that to happen we had Mike Renner on the show a couple of shows ago he has Kyle

Williams extremely high um Chris Sims since dropped his wide receiver rankings he had him at wide

receiver two and I'm not going to call it crazy because of last time we're we thought he was crazy

to have Brian Thomas ranked ahead of Marvin Harrison and that looked pretty good now um but

like Kyle Williams has got he's the best separator I think in this class I would say that's that's

the one you know line summation of what he brings to the table instant separation instant quickness

and in all ways right the routes at the break the releases they're all sick watch him at the

senior bowl he's operating at like a different speed to anybody trying to cover him like every

step he makes it's like a literally like a completely different speed to these guys um

i i thought he's got a vertical threat to him as well he's again he's not just a

like you would comp him to somebody like Tez Johnson from Oregon

who's got that similar quickness instant. Looks like he's operating at a different pace than these other guys

but I think he's got a much more clean vertical profile to his game as well

He ran like a pretty fast 40. I don't have it at the hand. I think he was 4-4, 4-4-1

So it's like, again, it's in the Matthew Golden true range, I think, which is fast enough to run a vertical route

not fast enough to like terrify everybody. tracks the ball well you know doesn't fight it very good after the catch not as shifty as burden

but so direct and quick and fast like can avoid a lot of tackles the thing that kind of kept me

from putting him much higher than that is you know 5'11", 190 and you can see that relative

lack of size on his tape quite a bit like he does get bodied a bit both at the catch point you know

if there's a decent sized D of B against him at the catch point, he's going to struggle a bit and the separate

So, and during the route, so like the separation he gets is important because if he doesn't get it

it's going to, it's like an anchor dragging him down. It's like, he goes through quicksand on those plays

Can't hear you. Thank you. I muted myself because I, turn the national championship game on. Anyway, that's courtesy of the 33rd team. And no prospect

is perfect. We understand this, right? So anytime, really, once you get out of the, I mean, how many

blue chip players are there in this draft? Three, maybe four? Once you get outside of the blue chip

players, you're talking about prospects that have flaws and how you're going to have to adapt

to those flaws to work through it at this point in time All the different things that you have at your disposal would at least give you the opportunity though if you the Tennessee Titans to consider all right this makes a lot of sense

for us at 35. What also makes sense for us, based on what might be available, is moving out of that

35th overall pick, trying to drum up interest in that 35th overall pick to get a third-round pick

out of it, to recoup some of that lost value from LeJaria Sneed and Will Levis that you've been

chasing where two deals went down and they haven't paid off the dividends yet. Will Levis doesn't

look like it will. Legereous need still might at this point in time, but it does tell me that the

Titans are at least willing to consider a tradeback option. Now, for the purposes of brevity, maybe we

save the new voice of the Titans thing for later and we get to Burt right off the top because

Houston and Florida have tipped off and I don't want to keep you guys from watching the national

championship game right after I remind you that the primetime program is made possible by Zen Sports

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Burt, what do you got? You know, it really pisses me off when all these billionaire owners

oh, they want us to come to their games. They want us to pay these high prices. They want us

to help them build their stadiums. They want us to pay exorbitant costs at the concession stand

But one thing they should let us do in open air stadiums, I'm not about smoking out babies

But in open-air stadiums, we should be allowed to smoke. If your team is shitty, even if your team is good, it's stressful

You want me to take myself out of this game mentally, but also be here for your chance and to holler on third down

Then let me smoke a daggum cigarette. Let me puff on my girlfriend's vape

God, give me a disposable cart. I'm a man. I'm a grown-ass man

I could serve this country. I could go buy a beer at an establishment. I can vote, but I can't enjoy a succulent cigarette at an NFL game. This is democracy manifest. When you look at A&E's new series, Stadium Lockup, I saw this video today, and the fact that we're pouring this many resources into catching people smoking, it pissed me the hell off

smoking in section 129 row narks seat nine and we need an injection

code of conduct you're not allowed to drink it or smoke in the stadium you're a child

that allied escorting out someone for vaping inside the stadium i was just there for the

assist to help make sure nothing escalated they're smoking what's going to escalate no

tolerance policy if you get caught smoking or vaping you're automatically ejected no tolerance

I don't even get a freedom puff. Is this at Nissan? I believe this was at the Brown Stadium in Cleveland

Look at all these people. Look at all these people looking for people smoking

I'm going to play the beginning of this over again. Yeah, hell yeah

They paid 555 tickets. So with that. This dude's a big weenie, by the way

I need you to fix this ASAP. They weren't up there sacrificing goats doing a damn dance to make sure their team won

He took a puff. It's a puff. You know we used to let people smoke in restaurants

You know you used to be able to smoke in libraries and airports? What are we doing

Y'all are so hot about, and listen to the beginning of this clip just one more time

She is on, she has a camera. of people panning and she's like listen to where she says smoking in section 129 row nine seat nine

shut the hell up shut up and that's in cleveland you want me to watch this shitty team

let me smoke a cigarette by god what are we doing uh people are people are very much against your

position on this in the chat uh people are saying no thanks don't want to smell your down draft uh

Jaren says smoking is absolutely annoying. Oh, Jaren. I agree with you on this one

Stevie Simplicks is past that Dutch. I don't think that's what we're doing. Ojo says drugs are bad, okay

A succulent Chinese meal. I'm glad somebody picked up on that reference

I don't want your funky cigarette smoke blown in my face. Do y'all go to bars

Do y'all go to, do y'all tell me? So much weirder things and are around so much more problematic stuff

I wouldn't, Bert, I'm telling you, other than Indiana basketball, I don't go to live sporting events as a fan anymore

Because fans around me piss me off for a variety of different reasons. But like of all the things that are offensive to me about what fans do in the stands at games, whether it's cheering or jeering or fighting or spilling drinks or whatever

Like smoking is so low on that list to me. Now, that's because I'm a smoker

You're a smoker. so we can agree on this particular situation. But I don't know

The level of narcdom that is being perpetrated by the Cleveland Browns

and anybody else who is ejecting people for vaping in an NFL stadium is stupid

It's a waste of resources. Do something better with the time. It makes no sense to me

I mean, people smoke at tailgates. People puff those big cigars. And by the way, cigar smoke smells 800 times worse than a cigarette

Oh, God. All right, you're done. There's mine. All right, good night

Get out of here. It's time to watch the national championship game. Disappear into a puff of smoke

Oh, I can do that. I'll talk to you. All right, that's Robert Walsh in case you missed it

Until he took it a bridge too far with his passion for smoking in stadiums

That's going to do it for us tonight. We appreciate you guys hanging out

It's currently 8-all with just over 15 minutes to play in the National Championship game

We'll be talking about it tomorrow morning from 10 to 1 on 104.5 The Zone

We'll also talk about your new play-by-play guy. The replacement for Mike Keith has officially been named

We're going to get through it tonight, but we ran out of time. See you guys tomorrow at 10 a.m. on 104.5 The Zone

And make sure you get your install tickets today. Of course. which defensive player stands to benefit most from the coaching chain uh poiple noiple

bert i know you're laughing as hard at that as i am

i could not i think that