Titans’ first-round draft pick Treylon Burks

The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard!

I am going to be 100% honest with you, the reader. I’ve been in a funk lately regarding these articles. I’ve been contemplating how I go about saying things and what to discuss. I have been writing for this amazing publication for almost 15 years, with my first article appearing in 2008.

I cherish those early years now; I was so naive back then! Sitting in the press box for many Titans home games, seeing up-close all those legendary NFL players and ESPN personalities. And the amazing friendship I have developed with the Mayo family—I met the editor-in-chief of this paper when I was 18 years, old back when we both were delivering pizza for Papa John’s, trying to make a buck! Cutting onions, mixing sauce, folding boxes, delivering pies, all while a few degenerates smoked grass in the walk-in. Ha ha! Now I am 37 years old, still rocking and without question supporting my Titans. Murfreesboro should be beyond grateful for this free publication. Behind the scenes they work hard, and I admire the husband/wife duo of Bracken and Sarah.

I know it’s the off-season for football but that’s never stopped me in 15 years coming up with something interesting to ramble about. I am going to continue saying whatever the hell I want and that the Pulse allows me to say. That’s the beautiful thing about the Murfreesboro Pulse—unlike many media outlets around the world, they aren’t censoring the writers. So, if I want to say that transgender “women” competing with biological women in sports is ludicrous and destructive to the integrity of female athletics, they let me! Because, guess what? That isn’t hate speech, it’s a common opinion that ultimately is backed up by science. Men on average are bigger, faster and stronger than women. Biology, homie!

But I really riled some of you up recently while talking about this. The emails I received at titanman1984@gmail.com were not what I would call tolerant behavior. Look, if you were born with a willy don’t be silly and play with biological women, because in the sports world biology matters. If it doesn’t, we should just eliminate gender separation in sports. I support the rights of all: live life how you want, be who you want, but regarding sports, we separate for a reason!

Are you reading this article to hear me talk about winkies or Titans football? I truly hope the answer to that question is Titans, because that’s the direction we are headed!

Let’s start this off by talking about the Titans’ first-round draft pick Treylon Burks, a receiver out of Arkansas. Is it fair that Burks is being compared to A.J. Brown from the get? Probably not, but that’s reality.

What a roller coaster of emotion for Tennessee fans on draft night. A.J. Brown, in a twist, gets traded to the Eagles and, immediately after, the Titans take the receiver Burks with the 18th pick overall. What makes the pick even more interesting is Treylon was being compared to the likes of A.J. and Deebo Samuel long before draft night. Treylon has all the tools at 6 feet and 2 inches tall, 225 pounds, a physical receiver in a league where yards after catch makes a lot of difference. A.J. Brown excelled in that category.

The media is toxic; between the way they treated Ryan Tannehill this past month to the headlines about Treylon exiting practice early, a lot of the Titans news hasn’t been pretty.

Video of Treylon hitting his inhaler brought up questions about his conditioning. Fact is, Tennessee allergies are no joke for newbies, and I won’t read too much into it . . . yet! Rookies moving from college to the pros can be a wake-up call, time to wake up! Treylon is a guy Aaron Rodgers wanted the Packers to trade up to get and was a guy every analyst graded highly, for good reason.

Treylon Burks

With all that said, the Titans have a history of missing at the WR position in previous drafts. So of course it hurt to let the best receiver ever drafted by Tennessee walk out like that. Time will tell if the Titans letting A.J. walk for 100 Milly was smart.

While A.J. Brown is a bona fide superstar, he had some injury concerns last season and I’m really not trying to punch low, but this is a player who recently was talking about his struggles with suicidal thoughts and then, shortly after, talking about how he would love to play professional baseball. A.J. wears his emotions on his sleeve, and between what I just said and his repeated tweet/deletes that did nothing but create headaches for all, maybe Tennessee made the right move? I think that’s fair to point out—this is a business.

Alright, next topic—quarterbacks! Let me be crystal clear with my thoughts on Ryan Tannehill and our newly drafted QB with exciting potential out of Liberty University. I saw some backlash from the media and some fans following the press conference, where Ryan talked about the ugly loss in the playoffs and stated it wasn’t his job to mentor Malik Willis.

Ryan Tannehill

The backlash to his words was ignorant because Ryan was correct. I mean it’s not like we have QB coaches for no reason. And we have numerous and recent examples throughout league history of QBs saying similar things. Ryan’s words were unfairly twisted and portrayed as selfish, when at the end of the day they were human.

Tannehill has been stand-up on and off the field through the entirety of his long career. The ignorance was baffling, criticizing Ryan for publicly saying he wasn’t going to bend over backwards to help a rookie he had yet to meet. Especially with the NFL world screaming at Ryan to be better. Anyone with sense knows Ryan wasn’t going to shun Malik Willis, because that’s what being a good person is about. And, lo and behold, guess what? Weeks later, Ryan has Malik over for dinner, and a few media events later both Ryan and Malik have acknowledged how well things are going as they work together while also competing to win the starting job.

Fact is, with the way Tannehill’s heavy salary cap hit is this year, he was always going to be QB1 in 2022. Releasing him wasn’t financially feasible. Tannehill needs to focus on one thing, and that’s being better this season, especially if he wants to play out the last year of his four-year deal, because the Titans will have the opportunity from a financial standpoint to cut ties in 2023. The bar is high. Nothing short of making the playoffs and not being the reason they lose will save his job for 2023.

Malik Willis

With that said, I am super-excited for the potential a player like Malik brings to the future of this team. Dude reminds me so much of my favorite player ever, Steve “Air” McNair. Malik is far from polished and it’s not like he was going up against SEC talent week after week playing for Liberty. But some analysts had Malik projected in round 1 of the draft due to his potential. The beautiful thing about grabbing Malik in the third round is it’s no sweat off J-Rob’s back if Malik doesn’t work out. The Titans didn’t reach for Malik, and it was exactly the joy needed for the fan base on Day 2 after Day 1, when Tennessee traded away one of its best players and then traded away the other first-round pick.

When it was all said and done, I loved this draft class! From A.J. Brown’s much cheaper replacement to a Round 2 cornerback in Roger McCreary out of Auburn that hopefully—with last year’s first-round disappointment in Caleb Farley—can bring some stability at the CB position. After seeing that 9-sack performance and loss in the playoffs, the Titans must get better in the secondary because, up front, the Titans have one of the best run stops and aggressive pass rushes in the NFL.

The Titans waited until the third round to address my biggest concern, the offensive line. And this OT Nicholas Petit-Frere must produce, or I am afraid J-Rob will look like a fool and Tannehill once again will be one of the most sacked QBs of the season.

At least the Titans managed to keep center Ben Jones, a massive offensive line win!

I was a little surprised they grabbed a running back in the fourth round and not too happy about it, but Hassan Haskins out of Michigan is a similar downhill runner to Henry and it’s imperative they limit Henry’s touches this season. No way in hell can the King average over 30 touches per game to start the season again. Titans need a change-of-pace RB2 to handle 10 touches a game and then, as December and January creeps around, you unleash the King. With all that said, why in the hell didn’t they resign D’Onta Foreman? Foreman was fantastic and I am still of the belief that had the Titans sat Henry in the second half of that Bengals game and pounded Foreman away, the Titans would have won that game! Look at how cheaply the Panthers signed him for a backfield that already consists of CMC and Chuba Hubbard. What a stupid loss for the Titans, unless they know something we don’t?

One of my favorite picks is the tight end out of Maryland, my dude Chig—Chigoziem Okonkwo. He isn’t huge like Kelce or Kittle, the premium TEs, but he is comparable to Jonnu Smith, and Chig was the fastest TE in the draft. He is a physical specimen, built like a tank, and he moves like a sports car. Watch out for this dude paired with Hooper, a major upgrade at the position after they tried and failed with Firk as TE1 in 2022.

Round 5 saw a slot WR out of UCLA; depth at the position is needed. Kyle Phillips is a phenomenal punt returner, a slippery receiver who managed to find the end zone often at UCLA. Not saying this dude is Cooper Kupp, but as Woody said, reach for the stars! I believe Kyle could be the surprise fan favorite from this draft.

Rounding out the draft, a hometown kid out of Tennessee, Theo Jackson, will get the chance to learn behind arguably the best safety duo in the game in Byard and Hooker. The last pick for the Titans, an LB out of Ole Miss, Chance Campbell isn’t afraid to get dirty. I saw people I respect call Chance a hidden gem. Chance gets the chance to learn behind some serious depth at the linebacker position. Good luck!

I realize that my passion for this Titans team is at a level that would be considered extreme. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I have probably 40 more good seasons left in me if I don’t die tragically from whatever the next overblown virus is.

All I ask is that the Titans can win me one, just ONE, Super Bowl before I am put back to the mud! I don’t feel like that is asking much. Listen up, Titans! It’s imperative that you win a Lombardi before the year 2050. My luck, they will win it the year after I kick the can. Choo-choo!