 This is the official Titan's podcast presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. With Amy Wells, I'm Mike Keith and we're joined by Titan's General Manager, John Robinson. John, thanks for being with us this morning. Good to be back on again, Mike, hope you guys are doing well. It's good to be back on the OTP and we always welcome Amy Wells and we also welcome season ticket members. We have Amy, another live audience for this John Robinson edition of the OTP. I'm really enjoying having live audiences for these shows. I think we thrive with an audience. Or you do, Mike. I don't know. I don't know if we thrive, but we love having and we love having the season ticket members as a part of it. And Amy, we want to take their questions again for the GM. Tell them how they can send those in. All right, everybody, head to Twitter and use hashtag OTPQ. We'll be able to see your questions and I will ask them of the General Manager right here. General Manager, how have you recovered from the draft being over with? No, it's been good. It was a long three days there. It went off without a hitch. We had no issues. Technically, we came away with some really good football players. Attacked the post-draft process after the draft wound down there and then we're just kind of going through the roster now and teams are starting to release some veteran players, looking at those guys, seeing if they might fit our football team. Again, like I said the other night at the press conference when we kind of finished everything up, the roster building process never ends. We're continuing to look at players and bolster this team. John, what have you been doing in the last couple of days since the draft ended? Yeah, updating our depth chart, getting a little bit of rest, trying not to stare at too many computer screens. But staying on top of catching up on emails, talked to Coach Vrable a couple times, just kind of checking in on how our virtual off-season program is going, circling up with our scouts. And we'll start to turn the page and work on 2021 as crazy as that sounds. The 2021 draft will be here before we know it. A lot of stars have emerged from the 2020 draft, none more so than your daughters, Taylor and Bailey. Their role in what we got a chance to see from the Robinson household was fantastic. Give us your final review of how they did and what the response has been. No, I think that they had a blast doing it, especially the first two days, to be able to pop in there and kind of see what dad does on draft day, to be involved in it and to kind of chronicle it through video. Had some cute little spooks with Bailey answering the trade phone there. And I think by day three, though, they kind of had enough of it. They were like, okay, so you stay up to 11.30 and you pick these guys. How many more picks do you got, dad? Can we just kind of get across the finish line so we can kind of wrap this thing up? The whole part, and Amy, you could chime in on this too, but the whole part of seeing the families of the coaches and the general managers and seeing sons and daughters getting to be there with dad while they make the pick and while they do their job, that was incredibly special. And I think it was much more heartwarming than anybody thought it would be. Didn't you feel the same way, Amy? It seemed very personal. I mean, we always talk about football and family and how they're all interconnected. This really felt like it. It wasn't as kind of sterile is the right word, but it didn't seem as businessy. It felt more like you're welcoming these people into your family and here are these kids being a part of that moment. And for you too, John, I mean, you touched on it with your daughters, but I know you have a lot of friends around the league who were in the same position. And to watch that really was something else. Yeah, I mean, it was cool to see when, you know, when each team was on the clock and you see, you know, the families and the kids and you see how much they've grown from year to year, you know, we usually get to kind of catch up and our families get to come in and go at the owners meetings. That didn't happen this year, obviously, because of the quarantine and the virus. But it was cool to see us all kind of come together as the decision makers around the league, attacking the draft, but including our families in the process as well. And I really like seeing everyone's houses just in the side. I really enjoyed that. Maybe an HGTV show coming up and they can be a spinoff from the draft. This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. We have a live audience for this edition with John Robinson Titan season ticket members. Amy Wells, one more time before we jump into some OTP queues we got at TennesseeTitans.com. Tell people how they can send in their questions right now. Head on over to the Twitter machine use hashtag OTP queue. Send me those questions and I'll get them asked. But I'm going to start with an OTP queue that was submitted at TennesseeTitans.com. This is from Jason in Chattanooga. He wants to know what was it like drafting from your office space rather than in person in the war room? It was different. I would say probably two weeks out I was a little apprehensive just with all of the technology that was going to be involved or these conference calls are they going to work? But the more we got closer to the draft and with all of the mock drafts scenarios that kind of we ran through I felt really comfortable with it. There were still some nervous times as there are in the draft room, but it was relaxing. It flowed well. The communication was great. We were able to communicate with teams if there were any potential trade opportunities there. I thought the NFL did an outstanding job of pulling it all together. We had no glitches from a technology standpoint. Shout out to our IT staff, our ops staff, and our video staff for all that they did to make sure we were set up and ready to roll. Jason, another Jason in Knoxville has the next question. When you're on the clock, what percentage of the time do you actually have a trade offer on the table? Even if it isn't something you would really consider, is it 50% of the time, is it 100% of the time, how much? It kind of depends on where you're picking. I would say in this past draft for the picks that we had, we had something at least kind of pinned down to potentially consider. Nothing was really agreed on trade-wise, but you've always got lines in the water just in case that team ahead of you, if they pick somebody, if they pick the guy that you got kind of circled in your notebook, you got to have an out. We generally try to have a team or two that we would touch base with or have touch base with on a potential trade. Brandon from Nashville asks, what stood out to you about Christian Fulton? Yeah, I mean, Christian was a player. He obviously had an outstanding season last year, had a really, really good career down there at LSU. Everybody spoke highly of Christian off the field, on the field. He was a player who is versatile. I think he can play a couple different spots. His role on our football team will be determined about how he attacks the opportunity when he gets here, but I know he's excited to join our football team. I like his competitive nature. I think he's got good ball skills. I think he moves well. I think he's got good transition quickness, which is important for a defensive back to be able to get out of a break and get in to knock the ball away from the receiver. So I really liked what his skill set and what he'll be able to add to the team. Lucas and Franklin wants to know how much salary cap space do you like to have available during the regular season? Well, I like to have available as much as possible because you never know, you're able to roll over whatever you don't use into the next year. And as you start to kind of plan for, you know, we've kind of planned for 2020, you have to budget, you have to budget for replacement players. You know, if somebody goes down with injury, you've got to make sure you have enough, you know, money to go acquire somebody. If they're going to be, you know, more expensive than, say, a rookie or somebody that hasn't played a lot, you know, if there's a veteran player that's out there that's just kind of waiting on the right opportunity, i.e. Kenny Baccaro a couple years ago, you've got to have enough money in there allocated for those kind of, for those, you know, for those instances, and you got to have some insurance policy there. So we try to keep as much as possible, but also spend as much as we think we need to to try to, you know, make sure that we have a competitive team out there every fall. This is the official Titans podcast, the OTP, presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Healthcare coverage from Farm Bureau Health Plans is like an extra set of pads when you need them the most. They've been protecting Tennessee and since 1947 and 73 years. Farm Bureau Health Plans. Mike, I'm taking these questions from hashtag OTPQ. We've got a bunch of them. Can I ask one? Bro. All right. This one is from average size merch. He says, how much did a career as a right tackle benefit Isaiah Wilson in your evaluation compared to someone like an Ezra Cleveland who played left tackle? Yeah, I mean, I think it'll be, it'll be pretty much plug it plug and play for Isaiah. He's, you know, he's played on the right side. He's used to, you know, to being in that stance as a right tackle. And he kind of knows some of the moves and what to expect. You know, he's got to get up to speed with our terminology, with the technique that we coach. But having experience playing the position that we'll plug him in and play him at is certainly beneficial. Another question from hashtag OTPQ. This one is from chili pepper. He says, once the draft is over, what other moves will be done to strengthen key positions with the space cap remaining a cap space? I'm guessing wide receiver defensive end, etc. Yeah, again, that we kind of touched on that. You know, we're going through that now. We're looking at the players that are still out there that don't have teams yet, seeing if they might make sense for our football team. What's the cost? You know, of adding that player to the team, along with, again, being mindful of from a budget standpoint, not to not to get, you know, too much of your cushion eating up so that if you need to make a move at some point in training camp during the season, you got to make sure you have the resources there to take that on. Go to East Tennessee for our next question. This is Don in Lenore City. Don wants to know when will you release the names of the undrafted free agents that you have signed? Yeah, so we're working through that now with, you know, Ben Reno, our VP of football admin is kind of finalizing all that stuff. You've got a there's a lot of paperwork that gets that's involved in that. We technically haven't signed them yet. We've agreed to terms. A lot of those, you know, those contracts are pending physical, which, you know, you can't give them a physical until they can come here to Nashville. So but we feel like we've got a really strong group of undrafted guys that we're excited to work with. You know, I'm proud of our scouts and our coaches. They went through that process of recruiting those guys and and trying to sell these players. You know, it's okay that you didn't get drafted. You know, we have a plan here. We have, I think, a history of developing players that kind of stood through the cracks in the draft, whether it's Derrick Roberson last year, whether it's Cherie Fence a couple years ago, Cam Batson, Josh Kalu. There's guys that play a role here for our football team. And I think that we've got a pretty proven track record of developing guys. Chad from Murphysboro asks, who do you foresee as our punt returner and kick returner? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, Khalif Raymond did a pretty good job for us last year back there. He'll certainly factor. You know, we'll let Darynton go back there and and see kind of what he's got. Humphries has done it in the past. And then there's some of these undrafted guys who will try back there as well. A couple of them have already reached out to me and said, Hey, I'd like to, I'd like to have a crack at the punt returner job or the kick returner job. So and that's a good thing. You know, I like it when these young guys are eager to try to find a way and carve out an edge to be on the football team. You touched on Darynton Evans there from Appalachian State. And obviously he was a guy that you targeted, could have had a lot of backs because you had the 29th pick, the 61st pick, and then you took him at 93. You had a lot of choices there. Why was Darynton Evans from Appalachian State, the guy that you targeted to come in and join the Titans offense? Yeah, we spent a lot of, we spent quite a bit of time with him at the, at the combine. Our coaches did. And then he was one of the 10 guys that came in on a 30 visit before the quarantine kind of happened. And extremely smart player, great personality, great character makeup. He's extremely fast. He's quick. He's explosive, catches the ball well. Just felt like he was a pretty well, well rounded back from a, you know, from a skill standpoint and think that he'll compliment Derek really well. Right. Thank you, John. Amy, tell people how they can ask questions as we are with season ticket members on this edition of the OTP. Head on the Twitter machine use hashtag OTPQ, hashtag OTPQ. And we will get those questions and ask them right here. Mike, I've got some. Okay. You want me to do Eddie, and then you do some, you want to gather a couple? That sounds so good. I love that. Eddie is in Bremen, Kentucky. When you trade out of your pick, how far in advance of your spot is that normally done? Interesting question. Yeah, it's, it's usually, it's closer to when you get on the, on the clock. You have some parameters in place of what you're going to do, you know, compensation wise for that pick. But the team that's trading up, they want to make sure that the player is there and that they're, that they're trading for their guy, you know, that happened to us a couple of times where, you know, they were, they had one guy that they were interested in and they reached out three or four picks before, you know, we were on the clock and their player got picked in that three to four player window. So then that trade kind of fell through. So that happened. It happens a lot. You have the discussions prior to the pick and then the team usually waits till, you know, we're actually on the clock before consummating trade. All right. I've got questions here from hashtag O T E P Q. And this first one is from Andrew. And he asks, does the franchise tag count the same against the cap as a contract? Yeah, the, well, when you do a long term contract, depending on how much you put in the signing bonus, you can get a little cap relief by pushing, pushing, you know, a high signing bonus because you can divide that number out. So for instance, you, you give a $20 million signing bonus over a four year contract. Well, whatever their paragraph five money is that 20 is divided by four. So it's five million on every single year. Whatever the franchise tag number is, that's the number that counts toward the cap. So you there's a little bit of wiggle room and a little way to finagle around, you know, cap numbers based upon signing bonus when you're doing an extension. James Gordon asks, why did you feel it was important to take Isaiah Wilson in the first round? Well, I mean, those tackles, they came off the board pretty quick in round one. It was kind of a, it was really a unique year where you had that many of those guys go I've seen in years past where there's one, maybe two go. So to have that many players valued at the position league wide was pretty, was pretty interesting. And then, you know, he was, he was a guy that, you know, we had a couple of trade things to maybe slide back and I just have a hard time. We had a hard time seeing him and it's all you're kind of, you're trying to predict. We had a hard time seeing him make it to us at 61 just because of the skill set that he had, the size that he had and the way that those tackles were coming off the board. Preston on Twitter using hashtag OTPQ asks, not a lot of people knew about Chris Jackson going into the draft process. What did you see when scouting that made him look like he fits the team? Yeah, I mean, I think he's a guy that had played, you know, a couple different positions. He had good testing numbers. He was a fluid athlete on film. He was a competitive player on film and had really good production. I think he had 35 PVUs and seven interceptions or so over his career. So here was a player who, who we liked as a person and who moved around well on film and who had, who put production, who, you know, actually produced and made plays when he was out there. So it made it a pretty easy choice for us there in the seventh round to take a chance on, take a chance on him. And he's eager and excited to come in here and try to carve out a role on this team. All right. So you can send in your questions for John Robinson at Twitter hashtag OTPQ. We also take regular questions on the OTP by going to TennesseeTitans.com slash OTPQ. This one comes from Alan in coming Georgia. What are our free agent priorities post draft? Yeah, I think right now you're trying to, you know, look at the roster and see where players may, may fit. You know, are they, are they depth players? Are they guys to, you know, that you think can come in and compete through camp? Are you a little lean at one position group? You know, you're going to need, you know, bodies or guys to compete at the position to get through the practices and see what they've got. So there's a couple of different positions that we're, that we're looking at and kind of combing through the guys that A didn't get drafted that haven't signed rookie free agent deals yet. Who are the veteran guys that are out there? What's the cost of those players? You know, as well as, you know, this, the Monday and the Tuesday and the Wednesday after the draft, there's usually kind of a purge, a little bit of a roster where teams will release players. Are there players that we would consider claiming to add to our football team to help bolster the depth of the team? Want to mention to our season ticket members who are tuned in to the OTP. And by the way, you can subscribe to the OTP and we wish you would by go to TennesseeTitans.com slash podcast or anywhere you get your podcast. Just look for the OTP specifically for season ticket members. If you don't know this, there's a new attendance rewards program. It's hoping to give the Titans the ultimate home field advantage in 2020. And that's the 22nd element. Now the 22nd element on the periodic table is Amy Titanium for 100. Yes, absolutely. So well, thank you. Well, I've always wanted to host a game show. You knew that you get rewarded for attending home games. You already buy the tickets. What we want you to do is make a commitment to attend seven of the eight home games. At least we want you at all eight, but at least seven of the eight home games. And at season Z, you'll get an exclusive Titans bombers jacket, $100 concessions credit per seat, and more special offers throughout the year. Plus one member of the 22nd element will receive a trip to Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, hopefully to see the Titans sign up today at Tennessee Titans.com slash STM and be part of the 22nd element. And John, that's what you want. You want those rabbit fans there every single week. Yeah, that's it. I mean, that's that's a great perk, you know, for our season ticket members for our fans. It's so it's so huge. The home games are so important. I mean, it's hard to win on the road. You know, when when they're when the when the team's home fans have got it packed out and it's loud and it's hard to hear. And, you know, our fans do a great job and we've got to continue that that tradition. We've got we've got to pack Nissan Stadium with the two tone blue as many people as we can get in there as possible. Keep those opposing fans that you know that have made Nashville kind of a destination city to come down and watch maybe their team play. We got to hold on to those tickets and stay in the seats and cheer on our guys and keep people excited to I think the draft really did a great job of reminding people the plan is to play football this fall. We that's the that's the plan. That's the goal. The NFL by free agency and by the draft staying in place keeps things on track. Now the guys know which team they're on for the most part. Some still have to side, but overall we're keeping that momentum building towards a season that we hope is going to get jump started as early as possible and keeping that enthusiasm. Yeah, that's exactly right. We're planning on playing football and, you know, we started our offseason program yesterday. We're meeting with our players virtually their own zoom calls now going through the offense defense and special teams. They're doing installation stuff. We've got a group of guys back here in Nashville who are rehabbing, you know, who may have had may have had a cleanup surgery here or they're coming off an injury at the end of the season last year. They're working with our trainers and our strength coaches and getting strong and just waiting to say, say, let's go play. And I think that's getting ever, ever closer and we're excited about the 2020 season. And we expect the schedule at some point late next week as well, which I know people are excited to see. Yeah, that means that means we're definitely a go and we're going to teach this thing up and get after it and try to make another run at this thing. So get involved with the 22nd element Tennessee Titans.com slash S T M back to the questions on the OTP. Amy Wells is taking them at Twitter hashtag OTP Q. Do you want to do one? You want me to do one? You do one, Mike. Okay, I'm going to go to Huntsville, Alabama and Joseph with a question that I think a lot of people has have of our first through third round draft picks that of course being Isaiah Wilson, Kristen Fulton and Darrington Evans. Do you anticipate they will make much of an impact on the field this fall? Yeah, I mean, we certainly hope they do. We hope all these guys, you know, all the guys that we picked and our undrafted guys come in and compete and find a role and find a way to help the team win. That's why we picked them. That will be dependent upon them, you know, how quickly they can, like I said, assimilate themselves to our offense or defense. But those guys, I know the type of makeup players that they are. They're excited to be a part of our football team. They want to contribute. They all talked about watching our team last year down the stretch in January, how excited they were to kind of watch, you know, maybe the underdog Titans make a run and stoke to be a part of our team and our organization. I want to ask you about the fourth guy that you picked in terms of order and that was in the fifth round. And we're talking about Laurel Murchison from NC State. Big merch. What do you like about him on the defensive line? His tape excited a lot of people after you picked it. Yeah, I mean, he was a guy, honestly, we, when I closed up shop on Friday night, I had kind of circled him as a guy that I was hoping would be there. You know, it was going to be 67 picks that we were going to have to weather. But he was a guy that had some position versatility along the along the line of scrimmage, their own defense. You know, he's played three technique, he's played over the tackle at four technique, a little bit outside at five technique, and he's played played over the center at nose. So he can play several different positions. He's got good feet. He's got good hips. You know, that's important for those defensive linemen when they're trying to rush in there. Can they can they flip their hips? Can they get on the edge of some of those guards and centers and try to get through a small gap to get to the quarterback? And he's got good length. You know, so, you know, we'll work with his technique, but he was a productive player there at NC State. And we were just excited that he was still there when the fifth round when we were picking. All right, here's a question from hashtag OTPQ. This is from Seth. He says, great draft, really excited to watch the new Titans this season. Can you discuss the decision of drafting Cole McDonald? What did you see that you liked that we may not necessarily get from watching his combine performance? Yeah, I mean, he was a guy that he was an early declared junior. He put up a ton of yards out there at Hawaii. He had to stay up probably a little late to watch that those Hawaii games. I think that was midnight football on ESPN. But he was a guy who had really good athleticism. He's got really good size. I think he ran high four, five, slow four, sixes at the combine. Big arm can make all the throws. There's some technique things that he's got. He's got to kind of work on and he's already doing that. He sent us some video in the week leading up to what, you know, mechanically some things he's trying to tweak. He had outstanding meetings with Arthur Smith, our coordinator and paddle hair quarterback coach. They raved about his intelligence. And, you know, in the seventh round, he was a guy that who had a had a ton of tools that if we can just kind of keep working with him and keep improving him, you know, we think he can help our football team. So that was kind of the decision in that went into picking him there late. Will on Twitter asks, does the league have to formally approve trades before they are announced? Yeah. So what happens is like once when a team like when, when we swapped a seventh with Kansas City there in the seventh round for their sixth next year, we will get on the phone with the Lee. I'll talk to Kansas City. We'll work out the trade details or any team that you're trading with. And then somebody from our organization will call the command center at the league. Somebody from the other team, Kansas City, in this example, they call and they confirm the deal from both sides. And then once the deal is confirmed, they announce it and you're off and running. All right. Last question comes from our OTPQs from TennesseeTitans.com. And by the way, always send in your questions to us. Oftentimes, we have great guests on the OTP like John Robinson, who can answer them. This one is from Kenneth in Cordova. He said, if the season had to start today, roster as is, do you feel confident in the team's ability to rush the passer? Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that, you know, Jeffrey Simmons is going to be back and stronger this year to provide some interior pass rush. Harold Landry's back. Kareya, who really played well down the stretch forces back, we added Vic Beasley. Coach Vrable does a great job with with scheming up rush, you know, whether that's blitzing the nickel or firing a linebacker, whether it's with Sean Evans or Jay on Brown or David Long. We feel like we've got some guys and we've got Big Day Kwan in the middle in there to push the pocket and power rush. So I think that group of guys in the front seven, along with, you know, with the scheme that Coach Vrable has in place that we can get after the quarterback and affect the pocket. John, great stuff overall. Amy and I really appreciate you joining us on the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Remember, you get the home field advantage with healthcare coverage from Farm Bureau Health Plans. They've been protecting Tennesseans since 1947. And the season ticket members that I've heard from awfully excited, you needed a tackle boom. You needed a corner boom. You needed a running back boom. You needed a versatile defensive lineman boom. I mean, first four picks, the top four needs, at least as it appeared from the outside, you were able to hit in this draft. And very rarely are you able to strike at four different places in that way. It sounds like four booms there, Mike. That's what we're looking for. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And again, I like, I like, I like the player's skill set on the field, but I like them as people even more. You know, they're great guys and they're going to fit in well with this, with this football team and they're going to help us win games on Sundays. Amy, I love the checking in feature that you're doing right now. I love the one with Jeffrey Simmons that you've got out there right now. Looks like big Jeff's doing a good job. He is. I'm just floored by how many of our players got puppies during the off season. That's really all I care about is how are you working out? What are you eating to stay healthy and ready for football? And can I see your new dog? That's basically the entirety of what I'm doing right now. Well, Amy, I have a new dog too, Molly, who's, oh, she's actually in here right now. So a lot of people did get new dogs, but John, more interested in Jeffrey's continued progress and he has been continuing to work on getting the health of that need to 100% and being even better in 2020. Yeah, he is. I got a video from my rehab staff the other day. He's in there working and he's holding, he's standing on like a medicine ball looking thing with one foot and he's got a kettlebell over his arm and he leans forward and he's switching the kettlebell and balancing. I'm like, I couldn't do that on like concrete, let alone on some type of like medicine. So yeah, he is, I mean, he is really, really working hard and he's just got, he's got rare athleticism, you know, for a man that size. So excited to see him back in an action here pretty soon. Now your daughters did blow up the internet and Twitter and everything with their performance through the draft, but you had a picture when you were with us last time that blew up the internet, you and the eight pound bag of M&Ms, did the eight pound bag of M&Ms make it through the entire weekend? Is there anything left? Can we get an update? So funny story after night one, I did take the bag and I put them in a bowl that we could kind of sample there and I kind of forgot they were behind me. I forgot kind of a ball and the draft had was over night one in the books. I'm closing everything up and I go down to our kitchen to take, throw away some bottles and I noticed one of our dogs is missing, our young one Dexter. I go back to find Dexter beside the M&M bowl and he's going, oh no, he part took of, I don't know how many, he's alive, he's fine, but there was slobber on the side of the M&M bowl and there were several wet. So none of the M&Ms were eaten during the draft. However, our dog Dexter did did knock a few down post draft on Thursday night. Dexter's okay. Hey, John, thank you so much. We always enjoy being with you and exciting time for the Titans and their fans as you add new players. I know you have more work to do. There'll be more news coming out over the next few weeks as you'll work this roster all the way up to the start of camp. That's your stop. That's the plan. We can't wait to get back out on the grass. We want to thank Brian Myers and Ashley Farrell for making this happen for us. For AB Wells and John Robinson, I'm Mike Keith thanking you for being part of the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plan.