Why it's important for Titans brass to be at Shedeur Sanders pro day

Welcome to the 615 Sessions podcast on this Friday, April the 4th

Been a while since I've gotten to see you guys or hang out with you guys here on the A to Z Sports Network

but that's because we've been at NFL owners meetings and it required a little bit of change of pace with the schedule

but there was a lot of valuable information that I was able to learn a lot of

really good conversations that I was able to have both with people with the

Titans and people who have been around the Titans, people around the league in respect to the Titans

There's a lot of great stuff that I was able to get out of the owners meetings

And I'm happy to be back here with you guys to talk all about it. It's draft month, by the way, congratulations to us all

We have made it officially to the month of April, and in 20 days from now, theoretically, Cam Ward, hypothetically, theoretically, more likely than not, Cam Ward should be your quarterback for the 2025 Tennessee Titans, or one of your quarterbacks for the 2025 Tennessee Titans, given what the group currently looks like

So we're going to get into why it is still important for them to be at Shador Sanders Pro Day because that has currently or has earlier concluded with Shador Sanders and Travis Hunter being the highlight of that particular event

I got to stop calling it a pro day because as Deion Sanders aptly titled it, it's a showcase

not a pro day as Colorado finds ways to differentiate themselves from the way that

everybody else does business in the world of collegiate athletics. We've got that to go over

We've got the most important thing I learned about the Titans from pro day. And then Bert will ask me

some questions about some of the rule changes. It sounds like lucky for you, his camera is an

operable at this point in time, but we have still found ways to incorporate Sweet Robert into the

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at Zen Sports. So the Titans are largely at the Colorado Pro Day. Brian Callahan is not there

And that is one of the things that people have pointed to, understandably so, to say, well

the Titans aren't even bothering to send the full contingent. They sent everybody and their brother

down to Coral Gables to cover the Miami Pro Day and by extension Cam Ward. The fact that even one

Titans dignitary would not be at the Colorado Pro Day means that they are still taking Cam Ward

And again, I'm telling you, I am convinced that they are taking Cam Ward. Nobody should have

any real differentiation of opinion at this point. There's no reason to think that. The only thing

that is keeping the door just slightly cracked is the idea that we're three weeks away and that

there's still time for Cleveland or New York in particular to pry that door open a little further

They got a toe in it just barely. They got a pinky toe keeping the Cam Ward scenario cracked for

in case they can talk the Titans into a deal that they think makes sense for both sides

Doesn't feel like Cleveland is really the team that's going to make that press there

New York has kind of fallen out of that direction as well. But three weeks to go, you still make appearances at these pro days

You still have conversations. For example, Chad Brinker and Andrew Barry catching up on the sidelines

Chad Brinker, the Titans president of football operations. Andrew Barry, the general manager of the Cleveland Browns

Them having a conversation. Could be a conversation about nothing to do with trading up for the number one overall pick

Could be a conversation specifically about, eh, just wanted to bend your ear again

And while we're here, while I have you here, and while we're going through the motions of what we think they are going to do

maybe let me just throw this in your direction and see how it lands on you

Just Smash on YouTube says, nah, they have a toenail in the door, not even a toe

And I probably agree with that at this point in time. I think that there's almost no scenario where we are not talking about Cam Ward as the Tennessee Titans quarterback

in 2025. But it is still important for them to go through the motions of this, even if it is just

going through the motions. And that's what we believe it to be at this point in time. In fact

that's what we really know it to be at this point in time. But what I want from Mike Borganzi

if I'm a Titans fan or somebody who's covering the Titans like I do and trying to learn

All right. They have gone through several different iterations of front office head coach configurations

Why is this going to why is this going to work better than the last three have where each of the three previous off seasons or at the end of each of the last three seasons

A general manager or a coach has been fired And how can Brian Callahan and Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi avoid being the next heads on the chopping block there They are going to have to be as thorough in this process as humanly

possible. Leave no stone unturned if you're Mike Borgonzie. Make sure that you continue to be open

to everything. And Brian Callahan talked about that at the owners meetings this week down in

Palm Beach. There are so many different ways to see a scenario where Cam Ward is the most likely

but that doesn't mean that they should close their minds off to anything that might be dropped into

their lap in the later stages of the game that's so good, or the later stages of the pre-draft

process, that is so good that they have no choice but to say yes. And yes, a package does exist to

that effect. Now, if you ask Brian Callahan about it, he'll tell you that, you know, from his

perspective, a franchise quarterback, quote unquote franchise quarterback is priceless. And from a coach's perspective, that absolutely makes sense. In fact, one of the things that he

talked about was his current quarterback room and the opportunity that they've had to watch Cam Ward

at this point in time. And this was from Palm Beach at owners meetings on, I think it was Monday

when we did the AFC breakfast? How well you feel like? Yeah, I feel really good about that

I mean, we spent a lot of time with them between the 30 visit

the combine, the pro day, and then the private. So we've had all of our possible touch points

We have a couple more hours of Zoom left to us per league rules

and we'll use all of those touch points that we get and feel really good about what we've learned and how we've learned it

He's an impressive young man and excited to kind of get through the rest of the process

And talking about specifically Cam Ward. Stop it

Are you down? Stop it. Oh, that awful laugh in the background

Just the worst. But I think that when you talk about Brian Callahan

and the way that they're approaching this, that's specifically his answer on Cam Ward

He went through, you know, the quarterback room at length, said that there were plenty of reasons that Tim Boyle and Brandon Allen made sense for them in

competition with Will Levis. Chet Brinker talked at the owners meetings about Will Levis still being

you know, theoretically having the opportunity to compete for a starting role, which

I'm sure Titans fans took like rat poison because that's the last possible scenario that

you would want. I think Titans fans would almost prefer a scenario where Tim Boyle or Brandon

and Allen started over Will Levis, if Will Levis even remotely had a chance to compete for the starting job

He also said that nobody has called them, or have they actively made calls about Will Levis

which I'm willing to take on at surface value or at face value and say, all right, fair enough

That could potentially be so, and there's been no reason to indicate otherwise other than two names

that made sense to talk about his potential trade options were Kirk Cousins and Will Levis

The most likely time for Will Levis to be traded is after teams have a better idea post-draft what

their quarterback room is going to look like. And could they benefit from, say, you know

a seventh round flyer for Will Levis, who previously cost a team a second rounder and

a future third round pick? Those are the kinds of things that have to be factored in

to that. And there's musical chair stuff with the teams and the quarterback position all year long

as teams try to get the best possible version of it. Now, would you like ideally better than a

seventh round pick for Will Levis? Of course you would. You would take, I mean, you would do back

flips if you were able to get a fifth out of that deal, given that he's a pretty sunk cost at this

point in time. But from Brian Callahan's perspective, the Cam Ward thing makes sense and keeps in line

with what he told us at the combine when he did the radio show for those of you who caught that

interview that we did up with Callahan and Indy that he is not a coach who has a lifelong

who has a lifelong philosophy or he is a coach who has a lifelong philosophy

of making sure that you do not prioritize scheme over talent and that it is your job as the

coaching staff to find the best ways to assist your talent within the scheme that you were able

to create around him. You have certain rules. You have certain systems that you run. You have

certain things that you can implement, but some stuff works for some players and some stuff doesn't

work for other players. And we've seen evidence of that in the league. We've seen coaches who are

stubborn to that effect. And if I'm a Titans fan, again, I would be reassured to hear that Callahan

feels that way, how he goes about implementing it remains to be seen. I do think that's something

that makes Brian Callahan a huge asset for the Titans drafting a quarterback, number one overall

because he's a football lifer and he understands at the core of this that everything that they're

going to do, and it's important that the head coach understand this, everything that they're

going to do, the entire building from top to bottom, from janitorial staff to team owner

has to be done to make sure that the franchise quarterback succeeds when you spend the number

one overall pick on him. Callahan has done it before. Maybe Joe Burrow is successful with or

without Brian Callahan, but there's no question that the experience of Burrow, Carr, Manning

Stafford, and even Levis can help formulate a situation for Brian Callahan where he can pull

from all of those different experiences and figure out the best application for this individual player Because Kea Moore is not like any of those other players nor is Will Levis like any of the other four that I mentioned nor is Peyton Manning like Joe Burrow

There are a bunch of different people and types of players that that covers

other than there are four highly successful quarterbacks, and I would include Carr in that mix

versus the one crash out who went spectacularly badly. but I don't think that's because outright of Brian Callahan's coaching

I think that that's a specific to Will Levis' problem that they are still willing to work on

and to address up to a certain point. So that's kind of where I'm at with Shadur

Also, it is being pointed out that Burt spelled Shadur's first name wrong in the title

even though I specifically texted him how to spell Shadur's name. So that's something that hopefully will be corrected in post

But in the meantime, apparently Bert has some questions for me that I forced him to ask me

That's your cue. Nope. Editing the titles currently. Sorry. Sorry. I'm still at work trying to do my secondary work

You know what I mean? No big deal. No big deal. What? And titles are updated

Questions for Buck. If you guys didn't like my thumbnail, check that out. That was a day at Titans training camp where you're attacked by a wasp

Buck, Kirby all shot up the pole like a little scared cat

And then there was me and the wasp face to face. I had to battle him with just my bare hands and my Crocs

As you can see, I came out victorious. That wasp was no longer

Took them wings off of him. Now he's crawling around the ground. I had to put my big toe on top of him

I let him sting me just because. I won. I bet you have to

You're exposing the truth. FYI, you spelled his name wrong. I'm going to block him just for doing that

You ain't never going to watch the show again just because you're a tattletale. What a narc. Nobody likes a narc

I think that ultimately, if I remember correctly, one, you seem like somebody whose feet have sufficient enough calluses

that you would not feel the wasp sting. And two, I think that you were not the person who killed the wasp

Who killed that wasp? I don't know, but I don't think it was you. It was definitely me

I think I even told y'all I'd eat it. But anyway, I'm more interested in how you feel about coming out of owners meetings

A lot of big nuggets, a lot of rule changes, a lot of effects on the Titans in the 2025 season

But what was the biggest thing, the biggest nugget, most important thing you learned about the Titans down there in, where the hell was it, West Palm Beach

Palm Beach at the Breakers. The most important thing that I learned, and maybe we knew this going in, but I do think it's important to kind of emphasize

And I know that Easton has done a really good job covering this and has done some great

reporting on that. But there's just no doubt in my mind that they're going to draft Cam Ward

Like there's not a shred of doubt in my mind that they would not stick and pick with Cam

Ward because they haven't gotten sufficient enough offers. The other thing that stood out to me, Bird, in particular, is that while Brian Callahan

does have say in the draft process, he does have input in the draft process

I don't want to call him an outright ancillary figure because of course he is a quarterback

coach through and through he played the position at college he has been a quality control coach he

has been a quarterback coach he's been an OC and now he's a head coach specific specifically because

of his quarterback expertise but I just think he's very deferential in this in this current

configuration like I think he's trying to keep as low a profile as humanly possible while still

trying to do the best job that he can, but I think they would have taken Ward whether they were intent

on keeping Brian Callahan or not, and I think that's something that may, I don't know how Titans

fans would feel about that. You try and draft the players for the coach that you have, but

I don't know. This coach has a lot to prove that he should continue to be the person to do this job

And my next part was, which of these rule changes do you think affects the Titans most in 2025? I had

one answer when we started having this conversation and I have since changed my answer. So I'm

interested to see where you stand and then we can discuss afterwards. Well, the thing that makes the

most sense to me is, and this is the thing that you pointed out earlier. So I'm curious to see

what you've changed your position to. The new kickoff is something that they were pretty pleased

with. The experimental kickoff that was put in place last year that led to the rate of kickoff

returns increasing. It was a record low, 21.8%, up to 32.8%. And it also, according to their data

reduced the rate of injuries based on what had been the most dangerous play in football for you

running full speed at another body with, you know, bodies flying all over the place around you

trying to bring the returner to the ground. So the rule change makes kickoffs more like scrimmage

plays and it puts coverage players and blockers closer together to eliminate those high speed

collisions and what I think the the impact on the Titans is the Titans are changing kickers

because you move the touch back to the 35 the league then projects that the return rate will

rise to somewhere between 60 and 70 percent but that's not something that coaches are necessarily

thrilled about because then you as opposed to driving up return just driving up returns you're

also then driving up how the degree of difficulty and just going down the field at that point from

the 35 and getting a field goal titans have a new kicker in joey sly who's going to be replacing

nick folk i'm sure they'll bring some level of competition in and nick folk was an exceptionally

accurate kicker even though he did not have the greatest degree of leg strength his touchback

percentage last year 63 and they have gone with Joey Sly who is 65 Now that his second worst touchback percentage of his career since he came into the league in his first couple of years in 2021 back with I mean he was with three

different teams in 2021 as he bounced around trying to improve that. And he's a less accurate

kicker than Nick Folk is, which obviously plays a role in their scoring and in their field goal

field goal approach for lack of a better term. But I do think he has a stronger leg. So

how this plays into the Titans advantage is going to be interesting to see, but it's definitely

something that we're starting to see what new special teams coordinator John Fossil's preferences

are, in my opinion. So I changed my answer to how replay assists can now help with even more

penalties. The Titans were penalized 132 total times, 57 of those times were on the defense

So now if a flag is thrown, the replay assistant would be able to come in and say, hey

that wasn't actually a penalty. And the differential is from the previous rule change

I believe it was the 2022 season where they could assess whether a pass interference

was needed to be thrown off the field. They would be able to come in and say

that was a pass interference, you should throw the flag. This is not that. If a flag is not thrown

they have zero implication to come in and say, oh, that was a penalty, you need to change that

So a lot of people were like, oh, this happened because of the Sam Darnold play in the end zone. No, that play would have stayed the same

because they didn't throw a flag. Why I think this would help the Titans defense is the Titans defense couldn't get off the field

If you could help them just by lowering these penalties by a chance of, oh, maybe the referee that threw the flag on the field saw it incorrectly

You also had, I believe, let me check the numbers again. You had 44, the most by far by position on the Titans team, 44 on the offensive line

So if they called a hold, if they called a face mask incorrectly, they would be able to assess that, come back out and say, oh, no, that wasn't actually a flag

I think that would help the Titans a lot. Well, and, you know, you have the obvious situations in which calls were made

Calls that have room for interpretation become that much more consistently called

Like, for example, the incomplete pass versus fumble discussion that we've been having with the Titans year after year after year, basically since Josh Dobbs in Jacksonville

Has that become a thing? Because it impacted them again in Los Angeles this year

Justin Herbert, who clearly fumbled, it was later ruled an incomplete pass

But only after Jeff Simmons forced that fumble, Roger McCreary scooped and scored it

Maybe the Titans still don't win that game, but it's a game that they had to have on the road in Los Angeles that could have helped them make progress to build on momentum beyond just hoping that Will Levis got his mind right, for lack of a better term

Titans have been on the wrong side of a couple of those calls, and I'm sure many other teams could say that, right

I would agree with that. Just any help the Titans can get in getting off the field or not penalizing the offense

where they're fighting a first and 20 or a second and 15. Anything that lowers those penalties is going to be a good thing

And I think also a second year underneath coaches like Bill Callahan, even John Fossil

in his first year will be able to get some of these guys who have been in the system to potentially commit less of these penalties

That would be a massive jump forward if you could avoid these self-inflicted wounds

And next would be turnovers. keeping turnovers off the field, and then also forcing more turnovers on the defensive side of the ball

I think if you can limit the turnovers on offense, this is so stupid. It's kind of like saying if the Titans score

if the Titans score more points than everyone's. What is the most direct correlation to why they suck ass

They were the worst special teams unit in football. Their offensive line was terrible

Their defense didn't get a rush. And they were as penalized across the board as any team

almost as any team in football. certainly did not have the talent to overcome it the way that, for example

the Ravens did who had that many penalties. So, yes, sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct answer

It's the first time I think you've ever been on my side about something. Don't know how to feel about that

It's probably going to be the last. All right, get out of here. I'm done with you. Bye. I'm still at work. All right, that's going to do it for the 615 Sessions podcast

We appreciate you guys stopping by. Primetime back through its normal schedule now that I'm back from Palm Beach

not going anywhere anytime soon. We're full speed ahead here from home base until the NFL draft, and then we will accommodate those situations accordingly

You're drafting a quarterback. All right, here's the exciting thing. I'm not quite done with Bert yet because I need him to drop this link into the live stream chat

You are drafting Cam Ward out of Miami. We are flying Greg Cosell in from NFL Films to specifically break down your 2025 draft class and free agents, which will include Cam Ward

We're going to have a great time at the og room in the Hutton Hotel. 1045thezone.com is where you can go to get your tickets

There are still $30 tickets available. There are still VIP options as well

Apparently, A to Z bought like 18 of the VIP tickets. They're having a corporate retreat, and we're going to have a party at the install

But we are over the 100 tickets sold mark, and they are going to go quickly

because now that you know who you're going to draft and who you're going to hear about, The excitement is only going to build from there

So go and get your tickets. Hang out with us on Friday, May the 2nd in the og room at the Hutton Hotel as Greg

breaks down your football team, your new acquisitions, and takes your questions

We may even have some special surprises along the way. Last year's special surprise was Rand Carthon, Titans GM, six days after the NFL draft

Who will we pull off this year? I have no idea, but stick around and we'll tell you

and get your tickets in the meantime before they sell out. Have a great weekend, primetime Sunday night

We'll get back into the swing of things and look forward to spending that time with you guys then