Your boy made it out to the very first Tennessee Titans training camp that was open to the fans this morning. I feel like I say it every year, but there’s really no excuse NOT to go, whether you’re one of the degenerate Titans bloggers like me or if you’re just a fan of the team. We really do have it pretty good with immediate access to the team and all of the festivities the Titans provide for families. Even if they won’t give you a press pass, there’s no excuse NOT to go! Anyway, let’s hit my main takeaways from this morning’s sesh in my Titans camp notes.
Don’t be that guy
First and foremost, don’t be that guy. You know the one – fuckin’ middle aged autograph-chaser. Homeboy shouting about Boise State being the best college football program in the country and repeatedly BEGGING Kamalei Correa and Jeremy McNichols for their autographs was easily the most annoying person at Titans camp today. Fuckin’ newsflash buddy: no one is going to stop in the middle of practice to come sign your dingy ass hat or sweaty shirt. Show some damn respect.
I hope you never get another autograph in your entire life.
I’m not a big autograph guy – I don’t want to hate too much on autograph guys because “to each his own” and all. But, this kind of behavior isn’t acceptable FOR A CHILD, much less a grown ass man.
Don’t be that guy. #BeBetter.
Also, what are the odds that, in a city with plenty of Vols, Bama, and Kentucky fans, a BOISE STATE fan would be the most obnoxious fan there?!?!
Delanie Walker is today’s MVP
Man, y’all really shouldn’t be asking about #82’s injury anymore – if you were worried about it before, there’s no reason to be. He was out there running angry all morning. No signs of slowing down whatsoever, and I really don’t understand it. Is this dude a fucking cyborg?
In individual drills, he popped the tackling dummy like it owed him money, which drew an “OHHHHHHHHHHH” from the crowd. Then, in team drills, he caught a nice contested touchdown grab. He beat Kenny Vaccaro on another play. Again, no signs of slowing down at all…well, that is until he landed awkwardly after a catch and limped around afterwards. By the end of practice, though, he appeared fine.
But, it was his care for the people that officially made me list him as today’s MVP. MyCole Pruitt had just tipped a ball into the fence on the other side of the fans and rolled into someone’s child. We got people scrambling, kids crying, pure pandemonium. But, it was Walker who came up to Titans personnel and told ’em to get people off the fence.
What a guy.
Offensive line drama
I spent most of my time today watching the offensive line because, to me, it’s the most interesting story of this training camp. Man, this coaching staff had shit to sort out BEFORE Taylor Lewan was popped with a four-game suspension. Now that the possibility of him missing a quarter of the season is very real, there’s even more to mull over.
The clear answer right now is “Touchdown” Dennis Kelly. Lewan spent the day running with the 2s, and given the HEAVY workload TDK got today, it sure seems like they’re going to give TDK every rep he can get with the first unit. But, they’re perfectly content in doing that. In the ‘DL vs. OL’ period, Kelly beat his man repeatedly and just generally looked like a brick fucking wall. He’s been reliable in years past, and I don’t think the first quarter of this season is going to be any different. Folks should NOT be in a panic about the left tackle spot at all.
The big surprise of camp so far has been the emergence of Jamil Douglas, who played a lot at LG today. He had some nice reps in positional drills, practicing against the other offensive linemen. But, he was BLOWN UP by Isaiah Mack (Mack’s name popped up a few times in my notes today) on one play. All in all, he didn’t finish too well in team drills against the defensive line. I wouldn’t attribute his work load to anything more than the Titans staff avoiding putting a lot of wear and tear on Rodger Saffold, but Douglas certainly showed flashes of talent.
Austin Pastzor made a nice play that had one coach saying, “nice punch.” In team drills, he served as the starting right tackle since Jack Conklin didn’t practice today (why is unknown at the time of this writing). Pastzor could be utilized should anything run afoul on the right side of the line.
Kevin Pamphile got the bulk of the reps at right guard and made plays. In Pamphile, you know what you’re going to get – a reliable, steady hand. For all the buzz he’s been getting nationally, Nate Davis was pretty quiet today. He did make a nice play on Frank Herron, but was otherwise invisible.
Another guy in the mix to watch is Corey Levin, who repeatedly held his guy firm during reps at center. He’s been a camp darling ever since he was drafted in 2017 for his good hands and brute force. This could be the year that he makes an impact given the opportunity in front of him.
I don’t know that a TDK-Douglas-Jones-Pamphile-Pastzor offensive line is going to wow anyone, but the Titans could certainly do a lot worse for themselves, too. Given how well Douglas, Pastzor, and Levin looked at times today, this team has better depth at o-line than I initially thought. Plus, it’s doubtful that this unit is the starting unit come time for Week 1.
Titans Camp Notes
*Marcus Mariota threw a couple of wobbly balls early on in practice. He was later picked off by Malcolm Butler, but it looked like that was due to a break down in communication between he and tight end Anthony Firkser. He also under-threw Walker in the endzone and it nearly resulted in a Kevin Byard interception. Later in the practice, he tucked the ball, made a couple of nifty jukes, and scored a rushing touchdown. All in all, a decent day for Ocho.
*Adam Humphries, Cameron Batson, Adoreé Jackson, Joseph Parker, and Kalif Raymond all got reps returning punts today. I still say this is one of the more interesting camp battles to watch.
*Sharif Finch got a lot of work with the first unit today.
*Dion Lewis made a nice juke and left Jayon Brown in a cloud of dust. He also had a bad drop later on in team drills.
*Did I just hear Ke$ha playing somewhere?!?! Nope….no, it was just some woman that sounded like her.
*David Fluellen made a nice play against Nigel Harris in team drills. I saw Flu Season stick around after practice to work on some blocking with a coach one on one.
*LaDarius Wiley had a nice pass breakup today.
*Frank Herron spent some time one on one with the defensive line coach after position drills settled down. Mike Vrabel came over to work with him a bit as well.
*Tight end Cole Wick caught my attention on a couple of plays.
*Harold Landry got the best of Dennis Kelly on one ‘DL vs. OL’ drill, but Touchdown got his revenge later, standing Landry up and putting him on skates.
*There was a clear problem with defensive linemen’s feet slipping trying to go around the offensive line. There’s no telling how many times I heard “watch those feet” today.
*DE Amani Bledsoe also caught my attention a couple of times. Nice use of his hands, and he got around rookie RG Nate Davis pretty easily in one drill.
*Tyler Marz allowed what would have been a bad sack during the lineman drills.
*One coach shouted, “get in that lean, man!” I would’ve thought lean would make you a much WORSE lineman. Hard to function when you can’t feel your face, am I right?
*Mariota hit Taywan Taylor on a quick screen in team drills and he absolutely BURNT Malcolm Butler en route to an easy touchdown. Mariota, under immense pressure from a collapsing pocket, followed that up with a nice dump-off to Tajae Sharpe.
*Jeremy McNichols hit the edge, made a nice cut, and practically walked into the end zone for an easy touchdown. Likewise, Dalyn Dawkins made a shifty move on a play that resulted in a touchdown, too. This is going to be a fun battle to watch to see if either guy can unseat Flu Season as the team’s #3 RB.
*Braxton Hoyett batted down a pass in team drills.
*Cameron Batson continues to impress. He climbed the ladder to reel in a Ryan Tannehill touchdown pass in team drills. Batson’s a guy I thought played undeniably well during the 2018 camp and preseason. He’s back again, and continuing to show what he’s made of. The kid is tough and shifty.
*Anthony Ratliff-Williams made an acrobatic leaping grab to secure a touchdown grab.
*Just a note in case you haven’t seen him practice in person: Taylor Lewan is so fucking good.
*My girlfriend, serving as my photographer today, essentially took a million photos of Mike Vrabel, which is just the latest indicator of his status as the most handsome coach in the NFL.
*Despite what Titans media would have you think, Vrabel also made the catch of the day today when he caught a Sharpie to sign a fan’s jersey.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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