The New Pantheon.

[djp73]

soapy when there's a Miami player on the board

[Soapy]

solid draft dude, especially love the round 3 picks!

At least two of the four picks gotta hit, right?

soapy when there's a Miami player on the board

AND I'D DO IT AGAIN!

[Soapy]

Tennessee Titans finalize roster with eighteen signings ahead of OTAs
The Tennessee Titans have finalized their offseason roster by signing nineteen free agents, including eight undrafted free agents as camp will begin next week.

The signings were running back Xavier Scott, wide receiver Collin Johnson, tight end Chris Manhertz, offensive tackle Olisaemeke Udoh, center Trey Hill, UDFA offensive guard Joey Childs (Toledo), UDFA nose tackle Nick Gonzalez, UDFA defensive tackle Bashaud Ware (Oklahoma), UDFA defensive tackle Matt Mitchell (Louisville), linebacker Shaq Quarterman, linebacker Tanner Muse, UDFA cornerback Alan Kendricks (Missouri), UDFA cornerback Max Swinton (Boise State), UDFA cornerback Frank Day (Central Michigan), safety Dee Delaney, safety D'Anthony Bell, UDFA safety Javier Skinner (USF), safety Lewis Cine and long snapper Demeterius Barnett.

Among the notables are Udoh, who started several games at left tackle last season when Dan Moore Jr. went on IR. The trio of young defensive tackles are also intriguing as they had draftable grades coming out of college, including Ware who some mock drafts had him going in the third to fourth round.

Cine is a former first round pick by the Minnesota Vikings whose injury history saw him get cut by Minnesota just two years later. He's spent the last three seasons with the Buffalo Bills and most recently the Philadelphia Eagles.

Tennessee swaps out backup quarterback options
Will Levis' time as a Tennessee Titan has come to an end as the quarterback was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a fourth round pick. The Titans then shipped receiver Eli Pancol and two seventh round picks to the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Jalen Milroe.

The Titans signed Jake Browning in free agency earlier this spring and then brought back Brandon Allen, last year's backup to Cam Ward.

Milroe did not appear in a game for Seattle last year after being drafted in the third round to be Sam Darnold's backup. The Seahawks then drafted LaNorris Sellers with the ninth overall pick in this year's draft, effectively punting on the Milroe experiment.

Chimere Dike switches to No. 13
Second-year receiver Chimere Dike will be wearing the No. 13 this year after sporting No. 17 during his rookie season.

Dike, who wore the number during his time at Wisconsin prior to transferring to Florida, freed up the No. 17 jersey for free agent linebacker Nakobe Dean. Isaiah Simmons has also switched numbers, going from No. 28 that he wore last season after being signed as a free agent to No. 11, the number he wore at Clemson

[Captain Canada]

That was one hell of an off-season. I loved your draft. Lots of high-upside pickups. Sneaky Milroe acquisition even though you got your boy Cam

[Google[Bot]]

def needed that edge rusher, cant blame u taking that pick there. downs woulda been interesting tho. and proctor actually woulda been another interesting pick tbh

[Soapy]

That was one hell of an off-season. I loved your draft. Lots of high-upside pickups. Sneaky Milroe acquisition even though you got your boy Cam

I think we snagged at least 4 potential starters which is promising. After Cam got hurt last year, definitely wanted a better backup situation so between him and Browning, we should be better there

def needed that edge rusher, cant blame u taking that pick there. downs woulda been interesting tho. and proctor actually woulda been another interesting pick tbh

I feel good about our tackles with Dan Moore (a high price FA few years ago) and Latham who was a top ten pick. I just think a dominant EDGE rusher, with Simmons inside, has more of an impact than a safety

[Soapy]

Cam Ward primed to take proverbial next step as leader of the Titans
Ahead of his rookie season, Cam Ward was named a team captain for the Tennessee Titans, a mere formality for the No. 1 overall draft pick and the franchise's starting quarterback. It would have been a story if Ward was not named a captain. That's not to say that Ward, even as a rookie, hadn't earned his stripes. He battled in training camp with veterans, most notably the team's best player in Jeffery Simmons, and certainly established himself as one of the leaders on the team.

Entering his season second, Ward is no longer a de-facto leader or one of the leaders of the Titans, he is the man that steers the right.

"We go as [Ward] goes," Simmons told the media on Wednesday following the end of the team's first padded practice and their fourth practice since the beginning of camp, "You sometimes worry about putting those lofty expectations on players but with a guy like [Ward], you're not worried about that. He's built for it, he embraces it, he wants it so I'm just excited to have a front row seat."

Ward, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year despite missing four games last year due to a rib injury, looks even more comfortable in his second season which is quite a statement for the laid-back Ward who never looked fazed, even as a rookie. Some of that is his personal development where head coach Brian Callahan says he expects to see a big jump, similar to the one he saw first hand from Joe Burrow's rookie year to his sophomore campaign in Cincinnati where Callahan was the offensive coordinator. Another factor is by design with the Titans front office, led by general manager Malcolm Francois Jr. who took over this time last year, who prioritized keeping the structure of the offense, where Ward found success, in tact while finding areas to improve on.

"We've got a great base," Francois Jr. says of the team's offense despite the 4-13 record, "We've just got to beef up the engine a little bit, add some spinners or something."

Ward has the same receivers he finished last season with some additional firepower in the six-foot-four Ja'Kobi Lane and the speedy Kavontae Turpin and Deion Burks. In the backfield, Tony Pollard returns as the feature back with Tyjae Spears back from injury to spell him along with a familiar face in Mark Fletcher Jr, Ward's college teammate at Miami. It's the same starting offensive line with one replacement at right guard with Daniel Faalele and D.J. Campbell competing to replace Kevin Ziegler, who went down halfway through Ward's rookie year anyway.

"I definitely feel comfortable with the guys around me," Ward says of his supporting cast, "I met with [Francois Jr.] and the coaching staff during the offseason and I felt really good about the guys that we had so the idea of bringing the same group back, adding some guys that can play a specific role for us was something I was definitely receptive to."

Ward will begin his sophomore season at home this Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams and Carson Beck, the quarterback that replaced Beck at Miami.

Callahan expects to limit starters reps ahead of trip to Frisco next week
The Titans will be traveling to Texas after this week to participate in joint practices next week with the Dallas Cowboys. With this in mind, head coach Brian Callahan said that starters will play on Saturday in the Titans only home game of the preseason but that they might see a lighter workload with next week's slate of practices.

"You want to manage guys, especially some of our more veteran guys," Callahan said, confirming that Ward will start and play against the Rams, "Ideally, everyone plays a little bit but we really want to get our young guys into the game, get them acclimated because we're going to approach next week not only as a way to get better but to also compete so we want to bring everyone up to speed, keep everyone healthy and roll into [Frisco] ready to play."

Daniel Faalele and D.J. Campbell continue to rotate snaps at right guard
One of the top positional battles that emerged in OTAs and is now continuing throughout the first week of camp has been the right guard situation between Faalele and Campbell, the team's third round pick out of Texas.

When the first team offense is out there, Faalele has almost always taken the first snaps but no later than by the third or fourth rep, Campbell will come in and finish the session. During the next session, Campbell normally will get the first snaps and Faalele will then come in.

Other positions we've seen such rotation has been at defensive end where the trio of veteran Azeez Ojulari, second-year player Oluwafemi Oladejo and first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. have rotated as 'starters' on defense with Charles Omenihu rounding the unit out as the fourth defensive end to come in.

The same can't be said for nickel where rookie Jermaine Matthews Jr. has seemingly ran away with the position since OTAs, splitting reps with Jarvis Brownlee Jr. during the initial practices in the spring but at the turn of the summer and when camp started, it's been sole Matthews out there in the slot when the first team defense is out there.

[Soapy]

Marcus Mariota throws game winning touchdown to complete comeback against former team
Eleven years after he was drafted with the second overall pick by the Tennessee Titans, Marcus Mariota of the Los Angeles Rams led a game-winning drive against the team that drafted him, connecting with Konata Mumpfield for the go-ahead touchdown with five seconds left after leading the Titans down the field with no timeouts in the closing moments of the game for the 28-27 win in the preseason opener.

The game started off perfectly for the Titans as Cam Ward completed all four of his passes for 50 yards and a touchdown to Calvin Ridley before calling it a day. Ward's successor at the University of Miami, Carson Beck, also led a touchdown drive in his first half after overcoming a sack on his very first NFL play.

Beck finished 12 of 14 for 129 yards and a touchdown and was replaced by Mariota who played the rest of the game, completing 19 of 25 passes for 180 yards with a touchdown and an interception to Marcus Harris.

The Titans featured four quarterbacks with Jake Browning attempting just one pass in the one drive he was out there with most of the first team offense followed by Brandon Allen (11 of 12, 82 yards) and the game ended with the recently acquired Jalen Milroe who went 3 of 7 for 23 yards with an interception.

Shaky debut for the defense
Zaire Franklin had a sack on his very first place for Tennessee but then was targeted in coverage on the next two plays, which resulted in a first down. Once Beck settled into the game, he was able to attack the middle of the field, whether it be Franklin, Nakobe Dean or one of Beck's receiver on an in-breaking route against Tennessee's corners.

As a whole, it wasn't a strong showing from the defense as even when they hunkered down in the second half with the second team defense on the field against the Rams backups', Los Angeles was able to soften the defense up with some inside runs and then found some success late going over the middle again.

Rookie Showcase
While it was a quiet day for fourth overall pick Rueben Bain Jr. with just a tackle for loss in the second half, the rookies as a whole had a pretty good showing. D.J. Campbell was pretty dominant in the run game at guard, albeit against the second team defense with Daniel Faafele playing all of the first team snaps.

Linebackers Whit Weeks and Taurean York were active in the second half with five and three tackles respectively. Running back Jam Miller had 45 yards on the ground while Mark Fletcher ripped off a 58-yard touchdown run in his only carry of the game. He also caught five passes for 29 yards.

Another rookie got in the endzone in Deion Burks with three catches for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Roster Bubble Watch
Some might have wondered where Kalel Mullings stood after the Titans drafted two running backs but Mullings certainly made a statement with 93 yards rushing and a 42-yard touchdown run that showed some explosiveness at 226 pounds.

Another name to watch is Brandon Allen who was the second best quarterback of the night, going 11 of 12 for 82 yards with a touchdown. Milroe might have the upside and Browning might be the highest paid of the backups but Allen continues to show promises.

Undrafted defensive tackles Bashaud Ware and Nick Gonzales each got a sack as well.

Injury News
Second round pick corner Jermaine Matthews Jr. was held out after sustaining a shoulder injury in practice in what Callahan described as a "week to week" injury.

Veterans Jeffery Simmons and running back Tony Pollard did not dress but Callahan said that the decision to not play them was not injury related. Rookie receiver Ja'Kobi Lane went down with a shoulder injury and came back in a few drives later but didn't get a target and didn't play in the second half after having two catches. Callahan said after the game that Lane should be fine going forward and was "just nicked up".

[Agent]

Milroe bout to rot sitting behind Cam Ward

[redsox907]

#FREEMILROE

Somebody might soon

solid draft tho - excited to see how the defense looks with the threat of Bain on the edge and Simmons stuffing the middle