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00:00We're breaking down the AFC South here on Sports Grid in-game live game day and we move to the
00:25Tennessee Titans, a team that obviously is coming off a woeful 3-14 year, 2-14-1 against
00:32the spread, that wasn't any better, enters this season with a 5.5 over-under but heavily
00:37juiced to the over at minus 160 on FanDuel, the under plus 135, 6-1 to win the South,
00:4475-1 to win the conference, 160-1 if you've got a bonus bet that you're looking to set
00:50on fire to win the Super Bowl, plus 3-40 to make the playoffs, minus 4-70 to miss.
00:56There's a reason that the juice is what it is.
00:59That being said, there is something that is very interesting about this team and it is
01:02of course that they had the number one overall pick and took Cam Ward and a guy that a lot
01:08of people are wondering, are we going to get a Jaden Daniels-like performance out of as
01:13a rookie coming into this year after what he did last year for Miami, putting up over
01:194,300 passing yards, had 39 passing touchdowns, there's no Will Levis distraction, he opted
01:25for a surgery, he is done effectively in Tennessee, certainly not playing this year.
01:30So among the things that we will get into here and how does a team, boy, just improve is the
01:36bottom line for this one.
01:37Let's get into it.
01:38Chase McCabe joins us here.
01:40He is on Twitter, Chase on Game, Director of Operations and Sports Programming Director
01:44at 102.5 The Game, host of Chase and Big Joe out there in Nashville.
01:50Chase, welcome to the show.
01:51Thanks so much for having me.
01:53Looking forward to talking to some Titans with you all.
01:55Well, it has to begin with Cam Ward, right?
01:58So what are the expectations for Ward as a rookie?
02:01You know, most important player, you know, most important position on the field is obviously
02:06this guy who is not going to have Will Levis breathing down his neck.
02:10There's no QB controversy.
02:12There's no QB competition even.
02:14So we know out of the gate.
02:16Ward, it's your gig.
02:17How's he going to do?
02:19Oh, you mean Brandon Allen doesn't have a shot to be the starting quarterback?
02:23No.
02:25Yes, it is.
02:26It is his gig.
02:26It's been his gig since the moment Roger Goodell called his name.
02:30Whether they wanted to say that or not, you know how teams are.
02:33They're never going to tell you what you already know, but this has been Cam Ward or Cameron
02:38Ward's team since the moment he put the uniform on and Warren Moon said he could wear number
02:43one.
02:44With that said, what does he do with that?
02:46You know, as they said in Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility.
02:49So we'll see what he can do.
02:51But I will tell you this, being around him a short amount of time, I like what he says.
02:57I like how he carries himself.
02:58I like how he carries himself on the field.
03:00I talked to some of his teammates that came on our show after the first few training camp
03:05practices where really can't tell anything.
03:07They're in shorts and t-shirts and all of that.
03:10But he commands the huddle.
03:12They're listening to him.
03:13The way he walks up to the line, the way he breaks the huddle, all of that fits.
03:17It looks like he fits the part.
03:20Now, what can he do in the National Football League?
03:22Taking the coaching from Brian Callahan.
03:25Can the offensive line keep him upright?
03:27Those are the big what ifs.
03:28And, you know, if you're looking to bet anything on this team, I think you have to hope that
03:33the offensive line is going to be decent compared to how terrible they were last year.
03:39Yeah.
03:40I mean, I think that's one of the questions.
03:42Did they improve the offensive line at all, Chase?
03:45I wonder, and you're obviously there in Nashville.
03:49What are the strengths of this team?
03:50Because I'm not so sure what they are.
03:53I know Cam Ward, you know, a Heisman candidate.
03:56I hope he's brilliant.
03:57But other than that and the rookie, where are the strengths of this team?
04:03Are they decent in the defensive secondary?
04:05Because I don't know.
04:07Look, it's a great question.
04:09I would say their strongest area would be interior defensive line with Jeffrey Simmons obviously leading the way.
04:15And Tavondre Sweat, who's going to be the second-year player,
04:17that I saw some good things out of last year, still some things to improve on.
04:23The thing with Jeffrey Simmons is I don't always agree with what he says on Twitter
04:27or if he, you know, he's mad about trash talking or what have you.
04:31He's a dang good player.
04:33And I think he's going to have an even bigger step this year.
04:38He walked into training camp.
04:40He had lost, I think, close to 20 pounds.
04:42He's lean.
04:43He looks very beefy, looks a little quicker.
04:46So I think that's going to be a problem for quarterbacks.
04:49So that's probably where I would put the strength of this team.
04:52You mentioned the secondary.
04:54There's still some questions there because who knows, you know,
04:57what's going to happen at the corner position, who the starters are.
05:02That's still kind of being figured out.
05:03They're young in that area.
05:04I would definitely think the defensive side of the ball is probably stronger
05:08than the offensive side of the ball.
05:09But I would go interior defensive line.
05:12That's a frightening statement for a team that gave up 27 points per game last year
05:17and just had just a miserable, miserable defense.
05:21And I'm not sure they have the talent to take much of a step forward.
05:23But I want to bring it back to the offense because, again,
05:25we don't know what Cameron Ward is going to give us.
05:28But you look at what's around him, and that is obviously littered with question marks.
05:32And I'll even remove Tony Pollard from the equation because I think we all know
05:36who and what Tony Pollard is at this point in time.
05:38But, you know, Calvin Ridley has not lived up to expectation really in a few years
05:44at this point in time as being a bona fide number one receiver in this league.
05:49Tyler Lockett's there, but he's well past his prime.
05:51He's a veteran.
05:52He's a nice, you know, secondary option.
05:53But he's not going to emerge as, you know, anyone that has anything more than,
05:59what, 700 yards at best probably if he stays healthy.
06:02Trayvon Burks is cursed.
06:04Or Trayvon Burks, pardon me.
06:06Like, this dude is, forget it, just fractured his collarbone.
06:09You know, people are tired of waiting for him to live up to any sort of
06:12first-round expectations.
06:14Chigakonkwu was fun to watch last year.
06:17I thought there was some promise there.
06:18But, you know, where does Ward turn for help?
06:22Well, I think he's got to hope it's Calvin Ridley because you're paying Calvin Ridley
06:25a ton of money to be here and play receiver for the Tennessee Titans.
06:29He did get better as the year went on.
06:32And he ended up over 1,000 yards, which that was one of the lone bright spots for this team
06:37last year because it was looking like, oh, no, they just paid this guy a lot of money.
06:42He's coming here.
06:43He's not into it.
06:45He's off, you know, not on the same page with the offense.
06:47And then DeAndre Hopkins leaves and it felt like that he really started clicking and things
06:53started going.
06:54So if he can play like he did in the second half of the season, post DeAndre Hopkins,
06:58then I would think Ridley would be the number one guy.
07:00You mentioned Tyler Lockett.
07:02I agree.
07:03I think 700 yards would be considered pretty good for him at this stage in his career.
07:08They drafted two guys in the fourth round, Alec Io Manor and then Shamir Dike from Florida.
07:17And you got to hope that at least one of those two fourth round picks does something when
07:22it comes to the receiver, because you need them.
07:25If even if it's not this year, you got to show signs that you can do something in the
07:29future.
07:30They did sign Xavier Restrepo, who, of course, was Cam Ward's teammate at Miami as an undrafted
07:35free agent, not a ton of expectations because, you know, that we all know it's 40 time.
07:41He looked OK in the early days of practice.
07:43But, you know, an undrafted guy, you're just kind of putting a pizza money bet on anyway.
07:49So whether he makes the team or not, we will see.
07:52But you mentioned Akanko.
07:54Akanko's got to take a step up.
07:56To me, he's not the tight end that a rookie quarterback truly needs.
08:00And I was really surprised that they didn't address that position more.
08:04I know they drafted Gunnar Helm out of Texas in this year's draft, which I think he's,
08:09you know, got some promise.
08:10But you're playing a lot of what ifs with a lot of second and rookie players on this
08:15second year and rookie players on this team and on this offense.
08:18And that's why a lot of people think the Titans will be dead last in the AFC South.
08:23Chase, talk to me about your feelings about this coaching staff.
08:27Do you think they have a lot of promise?
08:29I have a little bit of a connection here with these guys.
08:32I went to De La Salle High School in Concord, and I think there's about three or four of
08:35them that went to that same high school, including Brian Callahan.
08:39We know how successful their football program has been over the years.
08:43Is this coaching staff good enough to be a part of this rebuild and be successful with
08:48this rebuild of this team?
08:49I think it all depends on how Cameron Ward plays at quarterback.
08:54If Cam Ward shows he's developing and advancing as a quarterback, as the starter of this team,
09:01I think that this coaching staff gets a third year.
09:04If not, I think that the new general manager, Mike Borgonzi, is going to be looking for his
09:09head coach and bringing in his guy.
09:12We know how these guys want to bring in their guy.
09:14So I think it all depends on the development of Cam Ward.
09:17I like Brian Callahan.
09:19He's obviously worlds different than Mike Vrabel, but I like him as a head coach.
09:24I think he's smart.
09:25Obviously brought his dad to be the O-line coach, so we will see.
09:28But it's all about Cam Ward.
09:31Chase McCabe is with us again.
09:33Radio Talk host, 102.5 The Game in Nashville.
09:36More to Chase when we come back.
09:37We continue to preview the 2025 Tennessee Titans.
09:41We've got Chase McCabe with us, 102.5 The Game in Nashville.
09:46He is a talk show host down there, obviously.
09:48And we're looking ahead to the Tennessee Titans 2025 season.
09:51Let's bring it back once again to Cameron Ward.
09:53You know, we're talking about all the ins and outs, Chase, of this team.
09:56The offense, the defense, expectations.
09:59You know, where does anything prevent them from finishing last in the division?
10:03That type of thing.
10:04Let's get into the prop market a little bit.
10:05Ward here on FanDuel.
10:07And again, shop this stuff around because it can vary yardage, book-to-book, touchdowns
10:11as well.
10:12But Ward, 3,200.5 passing yards is the number we're looking at as a rookie.
10:18Touchdowns are low, 18.5.
10:21But again, first year in the league, we don't have a sample size.
10:24We know the gaudy numbers he put up at Miami.
10:26But we've dissected this supporting cast.
10:28And it's not terribly impressive, especially when you're saying there are higher expectations
10:32for the defense than there are the offense.
10:35So what should we expect here in terms of, you know, a total in that vicinity from Ward?
10:40Well, it's funny.
10:41Vegas always seems to know because if I was going to put the, you know, book those odds,
10:45I would say that's right around there, you know, somewhere in that vicinity.
10:50I think they're going to throw the ball a lot because, again, going back to our previous
10:54conversation with the coaching staff, they know what's at stake for them.
10:58And so they want to show that, hey, what we're teaching him is working.
11:02So I don't see it.
11:04I mean, yeah, Tony Pollard's on the team.
11:05Tony Pollard had a nice year last year.
11:07Obviously, he's not Derrick Henry, but the run game to me has been fine.
11:11I think this team's going to throw the ball a lot, whether it's, you know, to the tight
11:14end, to the running backs, or obviously these wide receivers that the Titans fans are all
11:20hoping do something outside of Calvin Ridley.
11:23So I mean, I would lean to the over.
11:26I mean, because, again, I think that they're going to say, hey, kid, let's see what you
11:30got, because, you know, I know nobody wants to admit this.
11:34In fact, my co-host was the one that asked the question, this team you put on the field,
11:38can they win the Super Bowl that kind of got a little run there nationally?
11:42I mean, it's a fair question, but everybody knows that the answer is no, that they're not
11:47there yet.
11:47And so I think that they're looking to build the quarterback.
11:51And so the best way to do that is putting it, put him in those situations and let him
11:55throw the ball.
11:57What about week one?
11:58It's going to be very difficult in week one, you know, right out of the gate, this guy
12:02gets to face arguably the best defense in the NFL.
12:05And whatever you think about the Denver Broncos, they will be in the Mile High City in week
12:10one.
12:11They are catching seven and a half points, which is interesting, a little hook on top there.
12:15But whatever you think about the Denver Broncos, I don't think there's any denying that defense
12:20should be very good once again.
12:22And that's going to be a pretty tough test for this rookie right out of the gate.
12:26Yeah.
12:27And you got the elevation that comes into play going into Mile High.
12:31I would, I mean, I would lean Denver in that first game.
12:34I know that there have been, you know, some, some instances in history, especially with the
12:39Titans that a quarterback making his debut.
12:41We all remember Will Levis a few years ago, having a four touchdown game in, in beating
12:46Atlanta, Marcus Mariota beat Jameis Winston in both their debuts a few, several years back.
12:53So I know that that history is there.
12:55It obviously means nothing when it comes to this game, but I mean, if I'm, if I'm betting
12:59this one, I'm going to lean Denver, I'm going to lean the home team.
13:02They got a lot to build off of from last year.
13:05They got a damn good head coach.
13:06Uh, I think, I think the quarterback obviously has shown that he's grown.
13:11Um, so I, I think that the Titans are going to struggle out of the gates, but again, to
13:16me, it's all about what is, what does Ward do?
13:19How, how many mistakes does he make?
13:20Does he learn from those mistakes?
13:22That's more what I'm looking at, but betting the game, I'm going Denver.
13:24Let's pull that schedule up again, because the more I look at this thing, the more I
13:30can't help, but think about under five and a half wins at plus money guys, plus one 35.
13:35You know, if you look at just, just that section there before the buy that left side, the first
13:40nine weeks, I mean, I think one, maybe two wins.
13:46I mean, I'm, I'm coming up with possibly four spots that I legitimately like for Tennessee
13:52on this schedule.
13:53And that gives me a little bit of cushion for an under five and a half.
13:56I mean, how should we assume this plays itself out?
14:01Well, I just think for me, and I know this is a little bit, you know, of a cop-out answer.
14:06It just depends on what happens with other teams.
14:09Like is Arizona better?
14:10I don't know.
14:11I think they've been a pretty bad team or an average team, new England.
14:15What is Vrabel to, and look, we all know that game Vrabel coming back to Nashville.
14:21He may not say it publicly because he's a lot like Bill Belichick, but he's telling his
14:25guys, you know, we're going to come in and beat the, you know, what out of the Titans.
14:28Like I, I, I, that one for sure, but are they going to be better?
14:33I would assume they're going to be better, but you know, I, I think there's just a lot
14:37of question marks with the, you know, with the teams that they're playing, especially
14:40in the division.
14:41I don't know about Jacksonville.
14:43I think Houston's the team to beat.
14:45I don't think Indy's very good.
14:46So if you can be better than Indy and better than Jacksonville, but not that obviously
14:51is going to help the wind totals when it comes to the Titans and getting over that five and
14:55a half mark.
14:56Could they split with those two teams and then maybe get swept by Houston?
15:00I don't know, but I certainly see your point of trying to find six wins on that schedule.
15:06It's difficult to do today on July 27th.
15:11Chase, do you think this team can, you know, would it be a victory if they finish somewhere
15:16better than last place in this division?
15:18And can they accomplish that?
15:21I think, yeah, it would.
15:22I mean, again, if they're all these young players are showing that they're progressing and listening
15:28to what the coaches have to say, then I would say that's a victory.
15:31You know, they had three wins last year.
15:33I have them around six, maybe seven, if they're lucky.
15:39If they get to that, then what is that's improvement.
15:41And so to me, that's where you keep it.
15:43You don't make a coaching change.
15:45You keep building on what you have and then see if you can get, you know, above that to
15:50the nine or the 10 mark the following year.
15:52I think it's possible.
15:54I do.
15:55I think they can do it.
15:56But all of this has to come together.
15:59And I know you've kind of talked about that with your previous guests that, hey, there's
16:04a lot of what if, and if this happens and that happens, then they'll be fine.
16:09We all know how that can go in the NFL.
16:12It won't be in Tennessee, but is Will Levis going to be a starting quarterback in this league
16:17again?
16:18And I don't mean a spot start kind of thing.
16:19I mean, an actual, you know, you're, you're starting at least 10, 12 games in a season
16:25situation elsewhere.
16:27I don't think so.
16:28I think he's a backup.
16:29I like Will.
16:31I think he's got the arm talent.
16:33The problem for him is decision-making that he just, when he's faced with, you know, pressure,
16:39he, he can't make the right decision.
16:40And I just think that's going to plague him.
16:42I hope I wish him the best.
16:44I hope he can be a backup in this league, but I don't think he's a starter.
16:48Chase McCabe is on Twitter.
16:49Chase on game is the handle.
16:51He is again, a radio talk show host in Nashville.
16:54Check him out on one Oh two, five, the game chase really appreciate the insights.
16:58We'll talk to you again soon.
16:59Thanks guys.
17:01We'll come on back for on the Titans.
17:03If you can handle it.
17:04We'll see you then.
17:08We'll see you then.
17:09We'll see you then.
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