 This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Farm Bureau Health Plans is celebrating 76 years of providing Tennesseans with high quality coverage at an affordable rate. Visit FBHP.com to learn about their history in Tennessee. I am Mike Keith, so pleased to be joined by Titans Radio's Draft Duo. Although they're not really known as that in September, Rhett Bryant and Coach Dave McKinnis, welcome to the OTP. Anytime you call us Draft Duo, I'm proud. Anything I can be linked up with Rhett Bryant, I'm proud. We have a lot going on in the Bed MGM studio today as we record this edition of the OTP. Not only is Coach Mack in the Snickers hot seat. And feel free to have a Snickers if you want one. But Duncan has come out with their new Titans donuts. Oh boy. And they are delicious glazed donuts with the white icing and then the light blue or Titan blue sprinkles. And so they have been kind enough to get us some of those. And everyone on staff here at Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park is very thankful. I guess unless you're on a diet. And that would be me and that's okay. Everyone else celebrate. And what a better way to celebrate week one of the regular season with an official Titans donut from Duncan. It's fantastic. We've got a whole box of them here. And Max played the part of Vanna White by displaying. He's displaying all this and I'm having a little Duncan ice. There it is. There's a whole box of Duncan donuts right here. We're set. We are set and ready to go. It reminds us that we should mention our great sponsor Duncan. It's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off the action whether that's drinking a cup of coffee and you're way to the game or grabbing a to go cup before watching the game at home or as we say listening to the game at home. Duncan is always there to help you to help you get your game on just like the pros. We need to be at our best come game time which is why Duncan is the most important part of your game day ritual because it's always the best call for football. America runs on Duncan. So we so Duncan has been properly recognized as a sponsor of the OTP and the OTP people know that we recommend them. You can't talk about Duncan enough. I don't think we can. They certainly don't think so. I want to say something about our TV show on Sunday mornings and I want to share this with you Coach Mac. So last year WSMV for Channel 4 Nashville started carrying Titans game day. Coach Mac and I were pleased to join Chris Harris and we do the show at 10 30 central 90 minutes before a noon kickoff. And the Titans have 13 noon kickoffs this year. So that's going to work out. Well we give you the latest information and stuff from the field. We will be there on the field in the Caesar Superdome on Sunday 90 minutes before the action with our first edition of Titans game day on WSMV4. Rancarthon will join us as a special guest. So the Titan general manager will join us on the field. It's kind of an exciting thing. Here's the other exciting part. The show will also air live not just on WSMV4 in Nashville but on WBKO TV in Bowling Green Kentucky. It will air live at 10 30 and it will air live in Knoxville on WVLT Volunteer TV. That's channel eight and that's 11 30 Eastern time. So we will be live in three different markets now with Titans game day coach. And that's a big deal. And let's face it. Red it's largely due to coach. Well it's not largely due to coach. It's due to the Titans and it's due to Mike Keith. But look we love doing that show last year. It was a lot of fun. I think everybody that watched it really enjoyed it. When we're at home game we do it with our fans. And we're gonna do that again. And I'm really looking forward to it. I'm really happy Rand's gonna join us for that first one. I can't wait to do it. I mean I really like that. It's been great. And the other two new places welcome in. Welcome in and the great Jim White joins us normally for that show and he will start in week two. Rand Carthon has sort of kicked him out of the spot this week. Well Jim's used to getting kicked around. So that's fine. Wow. It's no surprise that is growing in other markets though. Because if you have not had a chance to see it it's a good show. Well the immediacy of it is what is so cool. And that's why when we had never had anything like that and it's gonna continue to grow at Nissan Stadium as people get a chance to come in and be part of it. And our crowds grew last year thanks to the OT people who largely heard us talk about it and came and they were a part of it and we're gonna do more and more of that. There are actually some thoughts towards that going into the new stadium what that may look like. It's a thing now. And in year two it's gonna become more of a thing and we're hoping it's gonna happen even more going forward. So thanks to WBKO 13 in Bowling Green and Channel 8 in Knoxville WVLT who will be carrying the show live. 1130 Eastern, 1030 Central starting this Sunday as the Titans go to New Orleans. Can't wait. Can't wait. All right. So Draft Duo, let's have a little fun here before we start talking Titans Saints. Always like fun. You love fun. Drake May, North Carolina quarterback. Caleb Williams, USC quarterback. At this moment in time as we record this show week one of the NFL season. Who's your number one quarterback? Caleb Williams. 100%. Why? Just seems like he's ready for the game. He, I think when we have this conversation in one year he will be ready for the game. He had command of all of that offense at Southern Cow last year. Obviously won the Heisman Trophy. But I just, I think he's clear cut now. Over Drake May. Yep. Yep. I think they'll both be really good dealers in this league. To be a quarterback in this league you gotta be a dealer. You've gotta be even more than your physical attributes. I think both of them really get it. And that's huge. I think Caleb Williams is just a tick above him right now. Of course nobody's picking right now, right? We've got a whole season to go. But I say Caleb Williams. All right. Marvin Harris in junior. Let's throw him into the conversation. The wide receiver at Ohio State. There's some saying one of the best wide receiver prospects ever to come out of college football. Largely because he's Marvin Harrison's son and he plays at a great program and he's a great route runner. Could somebody potentially take him over one of the two quarterbacks? If they don't need a quarterback. Well that's true. If they don't need a quarterback you absolutely could. And Marvin Harrison Jr. Just a little bit that I've seen of him so far. He's not getting all this recognition because he's Marvin Harrison's son. Dude's a player. The dude is legit. Now you can tell he's had his dad who was probably with Peyton Manning. One of the best quarterback friendly. One of the most nuanced route runners in the history of what's happened and going on. So you can see that Marvin Harrison Jr. has had all of that upbringing from the backyard on. But this guy's legit. Could be top 10. Could be top five pick. He could be that high. All right well let's say this. I mean they are the three most highly regarded prospects. Caleb Williams quarterback USC. Drake May quarterback North Carolina. Marvin Harrison Jr. Wide receiver Ohio State. Right now everybody has them in the top three. We're in the bed MGM studio recording the OTP. So if you had to put money on it right now. And again it's early September. The draft won't happen until late April in Detroit for 2024. We're a long way away. How much money would you put that those three players are the top three picks? I've got money. Yes you do. I've got money on you. You always do. I've got money. And I would not be afraid to put it that those are the top three. Okay. I don't have money and I put $100 on it. Okay that's good. That was the kind of answer I wanted. That's exactly what we needed from you Rhett. Well played by you. All right. So I did want to ask you those questions. I also want to ask you about a couple of the players who were drafted by the Saints. Brian Brise. The defensive tackle from Clemson. Sure. They have been going on and on about him. He was taken 29th overall. What do you think about him and what he's going to add to this defense come Sunday for the Saints? The best thing that happened to him and he was a major, major recruit coming out of high school. Major recruit. The best thing that happened to him is he is surrounded by a lot of veteran players on that defensive front. He has got a time. He has got a chance with that front to work himself into what he can be. He was not a finished product coming out. No defensive linemen really are unless they're just super, super special. But the fact that he is learning from those guys how to play defensive front and they're a four man front. And so he's going to be able to work into that rotation very, very quickly. I really liked him as a player. His last year at Clemson, they were always looking for just a tad bit more from him. But I think at 29, it was an excellent, excellent pick. And he went to a place that will develop him very, very quickly. But he doesn't have to play immediately. He doesn't have to play immediately. He'll play a lot, but he can learn from that group. And Mike, that front has a bunch of oak trees there in size. Most all of them are over six, five. He's one of them, six, five, 300 plus pounds. 295, something like that. So here's the one thing that stands out to me about what could be, I mean, look, the Saints defense is really good. But the one place that they needed work was allowing rushing yards. They're rushing defense. I think it's 130 and a half yards a game. 31 per game, that's right. So he is brought in to help cure some of that and eat some space in the middle of this thing. But I think Max, right, all the vets around him, I mean, you don't think he won't learn from Cam Jordan? Even though that's a different position, there's some veteran leadership there to help him along the way. Their two best defensive players are 34 years old. DeMario Davis at Leibacker, who went to his first Pro Bowl last year. Cam Jordan, who went to his eighth Pro Bowl last year and has 115 and a half career sacks. They got veterans on that team. What do they have? Seven or eight players, will be 30 years old. Yeah, another one is Tyron Matthew, the honey badger. I mean, they're up at the top of the league as far as age and experience. And a lot of it is in that defensive front. But you know, the funny thing about their front seven is like some of their better players left. And so they have, and that was in talking with Jeff Duncan the other day from the Times-Pickey and he mentioned that some of their concern is the fact that they are having to replace three or four really solid guys from that front seven. And much like the Titans in the offensive line, you say, okay, we think this is gonna be fine, but how long will it take? Yeah, well, and the thing about that defense is, you know, Dennis Allen is a Greg Williams protege. And Greg always built his defenses on being able to rush with four and cover with seven. And so the defensive line is a huge part of what that defense is built on. I mean, I worked with Greg for several years and I know the premises of that defense. And so they did lose some guys, but the guys they've replaced them with, I mean, are not empty chairs. They got some legitimate dudes. Yeah, they're top five defense last year. The only thing they didn't do well is they had only 14 takeaways. So that's an area they certainly want to be a lot better. They got after the quarterback, they gave up only 184 pass yards per game, but you ask yourself, well, is that because teams just said we can run the ball efficiently? And their offense, the Saints offense, much like the Titans offense, didn't score a lot of points last year. So did teams not throw it because they said we're gonna run it, much like did teams not run it against the Titans because they said we're gonna throw it. And the Titans, of course, they were number one in the league in run defense, but last in the league in pass defense. It seems like those statistics are often a bit skewed. Well, yeah, there's a ying and a yang to everything that goes on in the national football league and during the course of a game and as it accumulates during the course of a season. I hope they start out the season with no takeaways. That's what we want. And so we'll start them off on a nice track. But I think you've made some legitimate points, Mike, just because of the way that the game and the balance of their team played out one against the other. So Alvin Camero is not playing. He's suspended. Where will the Saints miss Alvin Camero the most? I'll let you go first, coach. Everywhere. Everywhere. I mean, with the 40% of that offense ran through that dude and you can see why. I mean, he's a tremendous threat with the ball in his hands running the football. He can run it inside. He can run it outside. He's got a lot of bounce. He's got a lot of make and miss to him, but he's also a really good receiver. I mean, this guy is a complete football player. They will miss him everywhere on that offense. Rush for 897 yards, caught 57 passes. There you go. Maybe in the passing game, they miss him the most. Third down? Certainly in that area. We're talking about this is just like if the 49ers didn't have Christian McCaffrey or when he was with the Panthers for sure, because a lot of 50% of the offense ran through his hands. Use the same way. Yeah. Good point. Yeah, that's a really good point. All right, so let's talk Titans for just a moment. And as we take a look around, I want to ask this question. Who is the Titans player that you are looking most forward to seeing Sunday at noon central time against the New Orleans Saints? Well, you know the answer. And so does Coach Mac. OK. Third round pick. Tajais Pierce. All right. Why? Because of the element that he can bring that is he's not Alvin Camara, but Camara asked in terms of what he can do out of the backfield as a receiver, the looks that they can get with both he and Derek Henry. I just I'm excited to see that layer added to this offense because Derek is the man. He's going to be the man. And it runs through him. But I'm just super excited to see that addition and layer to this Tim Kelly offense to go with all the other things that they have. Oh, Ziz Alshar. Oh, yeah. That's the good that's the dude because our defense in the front is I think is going to be really solid. And Aziz has already established himself as a solid person in this building. And clearly with his teammates in the locker room being voted a captain, you know, before he's ever taken a real snap for the Tennessee Titans. That's right. I want to watch this dude play. For me, it's Arden Key. Because Arden Key is one of those guys like Danika Watry, who always played so well against us. And what does he and Harold Landry, hopefully they're healthy enough to play. But what does he add to the defense and going back to Louisiana? He played at LSU. He's not from there. He's from Georgia. But he played at LSU. And the Titans have a lot of Louisiana connections that I think they're going to be very excited about. Christian Fulton is another one that I want to see. But I just think Arden Key can be such a disrupter for this defense. The thing that really jumps out to me is, I mean, Harold's Harold. And I've been a Harold Landry fan since the minute he got here because he's motor, motor, motor. He plays the run. He can drop in the pass. But he's 6-2-2-52. And so he's not the biggest guy. Arden Key is really long. I mean, he's 6-5 and change with these long arms. And he does all. They list him at 240. They've always listed him at 240 since he came in the league. I think he weighs more than that. I don't know. I've never put him on a scale. But I mean, he's a big guy who can really move fast. Well, the thing about him is, and I think, and this is by his own admission, Mike, he's matured since he's been in this league. Because he was always a very interesting study when he came out of LSU because you could see the athleticism. And you could see, but there was some consistency that was not there all the time. And that comes with maturity. In here, he's been nothing but consistent. He's been nothing but consistent with his effort. And I'm kind of like you. I think his production is going to jump from anything he's ever had in this league when he's with this defense. It's funny because when he came out of LSU, there were concerns about whether he was serious enough about football. There you go. And because he's got a little goofiness about him. He's a lot of fun. And he told me when he first got here in an interview, he said, I went out of my way to prove that I was serious enough. And I wasn't having enough fun. And he said, my game really took off when I said, I've proven I'll put the work in. Now I'm going to be myself. And those two combinations? Right. Play with the joy. But also be a pro. Be a pro. There it is. And he's done it. Oh, the energy level he's going to bring. Now, that is exciting to think about. To pepper in with all the other things this defense already has with Jeffrey Simmons and Amani Hooker and Kevin Byrd. That's going to be fun to watch. There's no doubt. Seat Geek is now the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. That's right. The deal is finalized. And Seat Geek is the newest member of the Titans family. If you haven't heard the name yet, get used to it because you'll be hearing it a lot more this season. Whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans games or to any other live event in Nashville, Seat Geek is the place to do it. Seat Geek, the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. So Titans fans can fan. All right. So as we get to Sunday, the Titans have 53 players on their roster right now. They have 17 players on the practice squad. The reason they have one more than the normal 16-man allotment is because Thomas Hodecoya is an international player and they have an exemption for him as an extra player. So they have 70 players on the roster. On game day, each team can carry 47 players, active players. That number goes up one to 48. If you carry eight offensive linemen, which the Titans will do, most every team does that, unless they just don't have eight healthy offensive linemen. Two players can be elevated from the practice squad to be part of the active roster. Each practice squad player may be elevated a maximum of three times and return to the practice squad without having to clear waivers. So we start to get into the idea of looking at who the 48 is going to be on Sunday. Who's going to be there? You set this roster for a lot of different reasons. You set it because you want the best players. You set it because you want to give yourself some salary cap flexibility. We know that contracts are not guaranteed for vested veterans until three o'clock on Saturday. At that moment, their contract's guaranteed for the year. That's why in weeks two, three, and four, you'll see NFL teams go back and add veterans because then they're only on the hook for the week-to-week salary. So we know all of that's there. The Titans have 24 players on offense right now, 26 on defense, three specialists. That's how the roster shakes out. Coach Mack, how much do you set what you're doing through the course of this week into Saturday just simply to figure out a way to beat the Saints? And then how do you weigh that with knowing that it's an 18-week season and there are different moves that you have to make? Well, I mean, a lot of it depends on the salary cap you have because now the whole 53 thing, the top 51 thing. It's gone. It's gone. That's out of the way. So it's where you are salary cap-wise and where those numbers have been crunched. That takes some, but winning this first ball game takes a big preference to going on if you have any kind of decisions in your mind and it's even win the ball game. Right. That's where it is. Yeah, so we get to this week. Anything surprise you about the roster numbers, Rhett? You and I talked about it on the Mike Vrables show Monday night. You've had a few days to consider it and nothing's changed since then as we speak right now. No, and I would continue to say I'm so used to seeing the Titans carry four tight ends but knowing what you just outlined there that they can call up Thomas Odecoia and they can call up Kevin Rader on three different occasions and have a fourth in there. But I've also been used to the Titans having three running backs and a full back or four running backs in this. Those are the numbers that are different to me. Just looking at this, I think everything else looks pretty much like I thought it might be but those two position groups typically are bigger numbers. Yeah, that truly historically, I should say. The Titans have are one of less than half of the NFL teams that have kept three quarterbacks. Yes. And so they will fall under the emergency quarterback rule. So they will be able to keep a third quarterback dressed and ready to go outside of the 48 that they will have active. So you technically get a 49th man if you have a third quarterback on your active roster. Can't bring one up from the practice squad and say, oh, he's our third quarterback that doesn't apply. It's only if you have three quarterbacks on the active roster. So when game day arrives, each team names the number one quarterback and the number two quarterback. And then the third quarterback is available to play if the number one and number two guys are unavailable. The rules were different back in the day with the third quarterback rule from what, 10, 15 years ago? Yes, but I think it's 12 years ago. Okay, 12 years ago. Very, very specific there. Well done. Yeah. Probably wrong, but that's good. No, probably wrong. Probably not. It sounds good. It does sound good. I'm convinced. They're gonna believe what I say. I believe everything Coach Mack says. But the point being, if the third quarterback entered under the previous rule, then the other two quarterbacks couldn't go back in the game unless it was the fourth quarter. Correct. So now, if the third quarterback has to enter due to the other two being unavailable and that would be injury or being thrown out of the game, but if say the number one quarterback goes in the tent, they determine he's okay, he can now go back in the game. Correct. So that is a change in all of this. Well, and the other thing that's important, and I've been on several radio shows just like you guys have, people are wanting to say, well, can't you hide a guy to say, we're playing a guy this week, you know, in Taysum Hill, a guy that can play quarterback, has played quarterback. You've got to designate a guy as the third quarterback. If you don't, you don't get the extra guy. Well, and you can't play another position. Correct. That's part of it. And they changed Taysum Hill's position on the Saints roster at the start of this week from tight end to quarterback. He's officially listed as a quarterback. And with Jake Hainer. That's the reason. The rookie from Fresno State being declared ineligible, suspended for six games due to a violation of the PED rule. You know, Hainer would have been the third quarterback and now that's not the case. So correct. We shall see it. I mean, Taysum Hill does a lot of different things. The Saints do a lot of different things with Taysum Hill. So we'll see how it all works out. But it's exciting. It's been a good camp. I like this football team. Yeah, the thing I like about this football team is, and I think Mike Vrabel and Rand Carthon would agree. Neither one of them told me this, but I think they like the makeup of the people. Because this is a different type of a team. It really is. It's got a lot of young players on it. We've had some undrafted that have made this team and we have some undrafted that's gonna play in this game. And it's just, we knew it was gonna be a different team and a different makeup. But just, I think the makeup of the players themselves in the locker room, even apart from their football ability, I think both the head coach and the general manager, like their people. The overall hunger of this roster jumps out to me, Rhett. The workers, they're workers. They're not afraid to get their hands dirty and do whatever it takes to get this thing done. They, by definition, are what Mike Vrabel always talks about and what he's looking for as a titan. I think most everybody you can think of when you go through this roster is an emulation of that. They're just out there working. And a very blue collar type effort. Well, if you look at the 70, I mean, you're talking about undrafted. You're talking about, you know, draft picks. You're talking about young players getting a chance to take steps forward. You're talking about guys on one-year contracts. There you go. You're talking about guys who were brought in from the outside on Provit contracts. 24 new players on the 53-man roster. I mean, the job security thing is part of it. They're playing for more money. They're playing for job security. They're playing to win. I mean, it's all there. But there's a hunger that's built into this thing. I don't think you're ever gonna see a lack of hustle. Well, Mike Vrabel won't live with that at all. If you're not gonna fit into this culture as what Rhett said of being a titan player, you're not gonna be here very long anyway. But, and Mike Vrabel changed the way he operated training camp a little bit this year. He did some things different, which all really good coaches do. You go back to your view, you look, and you see, but when he's asked these guys to work, they've worked. And then he's done his part as far as bringing their legs back to them. And I go back to, I think a little bit of a flip in this team that I just saw was the whole trip we made to Minnesota. That was beneficial in a lot of ways because there was two really good days of work, but it was work against different people. And you saw some guys really start to step up. And that not only helps the individual that steps up, it helps his teammates too, looking at, okay, this is a dude, this is a real dude. And I kinda like what I saw. Well, they won. I mean, they won the individual reps, they won the team periods. And Minnesota has a fine team. And I'm not saying they didn't do things well too. But I'm saying the Matthew Jackson's of the world, the Anthony Kendall's of the world, the Otis Reese's, the Undrafted's, the Peter Skoranskis who were drafted on and on and on, all the way to Jeffrey Simmons. The Titans mission was to win whatever they were in. And certainly it's been like that in the past. I just think some of that has come to the forefront. You know, you lose seven games to end the season and injury was a huge part of it, we get that. But they lost seven games. There's no asterisk at anything in the NFL. They finished out of the playoffs. How are you gonna change this this year? And I think the hunger they have built in, the desire to win, we've seen that from May forward to now. And now we see how it carries over to Sunday. And that's what you work for. And that's what we're excited about when I was coaching. Because this is why you do it. I mean, we do it now because we enjoy bringing it to our listeners, we enjoy bringing it to the fans, you know, to see what's coming. But as a coach and a player, this is why you do it. You live for this moment that you're getting ready to run out there on Sunday afternoon in New Orleans. This is what you're here for. Where do you like to eat in New Orleans? Do you have a spot? Yeah, Commander's Palace. Okay, yeah, that's pretty good. Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you're gonna go, go. It's gonna go there. Yeah, if you're gonna go, go. Well, you love fish. So do you get some sort of fish when you go to New Orleans? Or do you do oysters or? Here's the thing about oysters in New Orleans. There's certain places that you wanna go. Some places they may have taken them out of the gutters. Because there's a lot of oysters down there. I basically lived in New Orleans for eight or nine years when I was recruiting in college. In a place called the Chart House, right off. Love the Chart House. Yeah, and Beinville Street. Right across from that other street that we're not going to. We're not? No, if you're going there to eat, I'm not going with you. Okay. Yeah, because I just, I'm not going there. Because it gets a little crazy. Well, not crazy, it's just. Too much? Too much. It's way too much. It's way too much. Anyway, I've had enough of that in my life. But you can get good food at a lot of places. But if you're gonna go one time, go to Commander's Palace. Go to Commander's Palace. There it is. I knew he would have a place. Of course, he's got a place everywhere. He's got a place everywhere. All right, so Sunday, 11 a.m. Central. The ever-reliable Rhett Bryan and Titans Countdown. It is award-winning at 11 a.m. Central. And then shortly after noon, we will have kickoff Titans in the Saints. We're gonna play ball. Mike? My Oilers throwback watch says it's time. Time. It is time. That's very on point right there. It really is. You've got Oilers Watch with the blue face. We've got blue donuts, blue sprinkles. It's game week. Let's go. We've got Dunkin' Box donuts here. We're in the Bet MGM Studio. We're getting ready to eat every one of them as soon as the chaos are off. Brought to you by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Yes. In the Bet MGM Studio. Ticket it by seat. Ticket by seat geek. That's exactly right. Let's get in all the sponsors now. What you want when you listen to the OTP, if you were one of the OTP people, you want more commercials because we deliver them in such an entertaining manner. How many are in here? 12. 12. There's 12. So Rhett's not eating any. So that's out. So that's one, two. There's three, four of us. And the studio too. Well, I just counted them. No, but I'm talking about in the other room, in the control room. How many we got in there? I think two. Two. So six. 12 divided by six is four for me. And, 1.6 for the rest of us. And this segment has been called Mac Math. Well, thank you to Dave McGinnis and Rhett Bryant from Titans Radio for joining me. Mike Keith, we are so glad to have you. And we are so ready to play. Let's do it, OTP people. And thank you for listening to the OTP.