The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! Time is ticking, it keeps on ticking and time is ticking away. Life is good, and even though it can be tough at times, embrace it all.
August is here and that means we are getting closer to the end of summer and into my favorite time of the year. Nothing is better than the fall season and football. It’s glorious!
Titans camp is in full swing, and the Tennessee Volunteers are poised for a special season. I am so excited for football I will probably forget to ramble about transgender athletics in this issue. I have no desire to ramble about the shameful lack of integrity in female sports.
I think some people expect me to stop talking about this eventually, but I will continue to keep talking because I am a rambling biological man concerned with the state of female athletics. Biology matters in sports—it’s why we have gender separation to begin with. Allowing biological men to compete with biological females is gonad crazy (I am not totally sure what gonad crazy means, but it sounds nuts!).
But I have no desire to talk about that this issue because it’s football time in Tennessee.
I must start with DeAndre Hopkins and the massive news of his signing with the Titans. It changes the landscape of this team.
Hopkins signed a two-year, $26 million deal in July and the contract is structured in a way that benefits the Titans financially. Hopkins may not be as young and dominant as he once was, obviously, but bro clearly still has game. If he stays healthy the limit is high. It is going to be fun watching him go against his former team, the Texans, after years of abusing the Titans defense.
It also will be fun watching this Titans team put on those sexy Oilers throwback jerseys.
Part of me feels sorry for old-school Houston fans. I can’t imagine the pain, after years of fandom, of having my team pack up and leave town, like the Oilers left Houston in the 1990s, moving to Tennessee. But I won’t lie; on the other hand, watching Houston fans cry about it still will make me smile a tad.
Speaking of DeAndre Hopkins, these three players in particular should benefit greatly from the presence of a healthy Hopkins on field: Ryan Tannehill, King Henry and Treylon Burks. The Tannehill that took Marcus Mariota’s job under center for the Titans seems a lifetime ago. But new Titans GM Ran Carthon did what was needed since the moronic decision J-Rob made in letting A.J. Brown get away from this team. Carthon went and got Tannehill a real option at wide receiver, rather than thinking a beat-up Robert Woods was the solution. Just throw it up there, Ryan, because Hopkins still is one of the better-contested catchers in the game.
We all know this is still the King’s show and that he is a player who wants his 20-plus carries a game. Derrick is still the dude regardless of what the haters tell you about being another year older. I assumed 2021 and ’22 showed us as much.
Henry is the backbone of this offense and much beloved, but by no means should he be averaging nearly 30 carries a game halfway through the season like he was in 2021 prior to his injury. D-Hop will help in that regard so much! I imagine this offense will still be run-heavy. But now, opposing defenses must always account for Hopkins. Ryan Tannehill was at his best in 2019 and 2020, when this team found so much success running play action. Hopkins coming to Tennessee takes some pressure off Henry this season, and opposing defenses should take an additional man out the box more often to focus on the receiving core.
Second-year wide receiver Treylon Burks, last year’s first-round draft pick for the Titans right after the team traded away A.J. Brown to the Eagles, has absolutely showed signs of having what it takes to be a WR1 in the NFL. Some fans love to hate on Burks. He got some bad press last camp with his asthma and breathing issues and the unfair constant comparisons to A.J. Brown. Though Burks had a tough rookie season, he could not stay on the field healthy, he did not have the help he needed around him, and it was more pressure than a rookie should face.
Entering 2023 he now has one of the best in the game to teach him the ways of the NFL wide receiver and help take some of that pressure away as he grows. I really hope these two receivers hit it off and become fond of one another on-field and off. Burks and Hopkins have the potential to be an incredible one-two punch at receiver.
Treylon Burks and DeAndre Hopkins; photos courtesy tennesseetitans.com
Let me give a shout-out to one more offensive piece: unlike Titans fans, many NFL fans across the nation have no idea that my dude Chig is about to get Chiggy with it!
Second-year tight-end Chigoziem Okonkwo is coming off a good season as a rookie on a mess of an offense. Chig caught 32 balls for 450 yards and three TDs, with most of that work coming down the stretch when the games were getting more impactful. He is my breakout candidate on offense. Chig showed year 1 his 4.52 speed can turn into getting open and making legit plays for this offense, despite only receiving 46 targets on the 2022 season. When Tannehill is not looking Hop’s way, I recommend feeding Chig. Feed him!
Hopkins changed the outlook of the offense, but this 2023 Titans defense is still the strength of this team. Big Jeff Simmons is the anchor of this team, and I was ecstatic to see him get paid for the long haul. Rocking players like Denico, Pop Tart and Naquan up front, those big boys are ready. This line has been one of the best-run stops in the game in back-to-back seasons. Teams simply cannot run the ball on the Titans.
We can have a debate on depth and backup roles, but the starting positions are nearly locked for the Titans. There just are not many question marks on this defense, and that is a beautiful thing. We should temper expectations for Harold Landry coming back after his ACL injury in 2022, but he looks good right now—and he is hungry.
I also was happy to hear Rashad Weaver was cleared of all his legal nonsense. Bro better clean up his act, because he has great potential. Coming off a 5.5-sack season, Weaver heading into year 3 looks like a different man than he did as a rookie. Bigger, stronger and faster, the fourth-round pick from 2021 has serious breakout potential. Weaver’s rookie season was cut short due to injury, but in 2022 he popped off 16 games played with 39 QB pressures. At 6-feet, 4-inches and 260 pounds, Weaver has the wingspan to go get the quarterback.
Edge rusher Arden Key looking spectacular in camp right now. It could be sack city with his addition! Arden had the second most pressures in the NFL last December, only trailing defensive player of the year Nick Bosa. Key is set to explode in 2023 after playing a limited role his last two seasons.
If the secondary can just be in the range of average, this unit will be nasty! Kevin Byard is the leader and as good as it gets playing safety. If Amani Hooker can stay healthy it’s not ridiculous to say they are the best safety duo in the NFL. Hooker has been injury prone, but when healthy he is an absolutely feisty playmaker picking off balls and breaking up passes.
The real concern for me is cornerback. The Titans need Kristin Fulton to come in and be ready to fight; he looks great early in camp, going along with Roger McCreary and newcomer Sean Murphy-Bunting. Any of those three guys can start on the outside. I wish former first-round pick Caleb Farley well, but I have already labeled him a bust. He currently sits on the physically unable to perform list.
This Titans team was putting up a fight last year when they started 7–3, but leading the league in injuries led to seven straight losses that ultimately cost them the division title in that final game in Jacksonville.
The obvious position group—and we do not yet know how good or bad they are—is probably the most important group regarding an NFL team: the offensive line. Early reports coming out of camp have not been great, as the unit is struggling. Thankfully, they have a top Titans defensive line to whip them into shape. This group of men is new, and the offensive line requires chemistry and growth. But this group looks nothing like 2022, and that is a positive. Titans fans will without question miss Ben Jones at center, but this offensive line is already looking much better than last year.
From what I have read, it appears Mike Vrabel and Carthon believe this group has the potential for real improvement to protect Ryan and block for the King. It just might not be pretty at first.
Time to roll into the station. Remember my motto, the 5 Fs—Faith, Family, Football, Food and Friends. It is a recipe for a happy life. As always, Titan Up!
