With the Tennessee Titans summer break officially underway, we're recapping their offseason with a mailbag. This is Part 2 of the collection of questions from my Reddit AMA last week, so if you missed Part 1, click the link here to read that too! Alright, onto the questions:

---

“What’s the internal feelings on Sneed? Fans are frustrated at the lack of availability and the quality of play when available especially for what we gave up to get him + amount of money he is getting. Internally are Titans coaches/players patient or is there some resentment?” -Juicebox008

Internally, the message has been very consistent all offseason: they aren’t very worried about him returning to form. They like him a lot as a leader in that room and they’re expecting him back in a big way. It’s kind of shocking how unconcerned they seem when I talk to them, frankly. Maybe that’s a great sign, maybe it’s overlooking a big issue that could plague them in the fall. We’ll see…

---

“How is coach Wilson to talk to? I feel like he doesn’t do a lot of media.” -Lmarti38

I didn’t really get to talk to Dennard in a casual setting until the Senior Bowl in January. Some of us in media got a drink with some Titans folks, and I got to pick his brain then. He’s a really chill guy. He believes what he believes and can back it up. It’s easy to understand why he’s an easy guy to get behind as a leader. It comes naturally to him. But he’s a good hang too. Very personable!

---

“Players that stick out as having had a good offseason thus far?” -NashkelNoober

All the rookie pass-catchers, Chig (I’m ready to be hurt again), JC Latham, Cam (duh).

---

“Which position are the Titans weakest at?” -NashkelNoober

EDGE easily. CB and LB scare me right now too. I wrote about the house of cards on defense if you’re interested here.

---

“How has JBJ looked so far this offseason?” -Beast01973

I’d be lying if I said he looked great in the spring. He got beat a couple too many times for my liking. I want to see him really show up once the pads come on. Now for the caveats: he was largely the only starter in that room on the field during OTAs. Also, it’s spring. Also also, his play style really doesn’t shine until he can start hitting people. Also also also, he’s been my guy since the Senior Bowl 2024 and I have faith in him this season. So we’ll see in August.

---

“Who will play next to Cody Barton?” -Conurebirds

My money is on James Williams. But… the hype around Vanderbilt legend Anfernee Orji appears to be real. I’ve been really taken aback by how real his chances seem to be in this competition. He could win it and I wouldn’t be shocked!

---

“Is Cedric Gray just a complete write-off at this point? He had such a solid draft profile and college production, and I was so excited when we got him in the fourth round last year… Then he got injured and was not very impactful on ST late in the season, and we’ve heard basically nothing since… What’s he been doing in OTAs and minicamp? Any chance some of that potential and excitement comes through as a solid piece? Is he on the chopping block?” -Jturn314

No, not a write-off at all! He and James Williams are the primary competition to start alongside Cody Barton. My money is on Williams personally, but I won’t be surprised by Gray beating him out in a couple months. They expect him to take a leap and look like the player they “paid” for. He had a disappointing rookie year for sure, sunk by injuries. Hard to say how he looks this year until the pads come on.

---

“Who's someone that hasn't gotten a lot of wider coverage but in your opinion deserves their flowers? Could be a udfa showing out or a vet doing more than expected, doesn't matter.” -Liljakeyplzandthnx

Three answers:

• TE Gunnar Helm didn’t get enough buzz this past months. He might be your best TE… already? Soon.

• S Kevin Winston. He’s very out of sight, out of mind right now. But once he’s healthy, I’m so excited to see how Dennard uses him in this defense. He could be a fun chess piece.

• CB Jermari Harris is a UDFA, but I think he’s making this team. He was good in that notorious Iowa defense, and I think he might end up being a steal. We’ll see how he progresses.

---

“Vegas has our win total at 5.5 this season. If you had to bet your car on it, you taking the over or under? Also, who’s the best interview on this year’s iteration of the team?” -Ok-Plan-6277

I’d take the over pretty comfortably. Being a bad football team isn’t hard. Losing enough to have a top 5 pick… kind of is? Every year we see plenty of bad football teams stumble into 6/7/8 wins because wins and losses in the NFL exist on a razor thin margin. You have to be both bad and very unlucky to win only 3 games like the Titans did last year. So on top of simply being a better football team because of the changes they’ve made, I’m also betting on luck regression in a number of areas. Give me the over.

As for the best interview, it’s hard to say so far! Honestly, we’ve been really impressed by how good this entire rookie class is as talkers. Cody Barton and Tyler Lockett have also both emerged as go-to guys for chit chat. Wouldn’t be surprised by either of them winning our media “Good Guy” award we give out each year, to the player who was the best quote that season.

---

“You posted your AFC South position rankings yesterday. How have the titans rookie WRs looked, and how do you think your rankings of that position could change over the course of the season?” -Stubb13

Rookie receivers all look so promising. I’ve been partial to Ayomanor since the draft process, and I’m super bullish on him. From the convos I’ve had with folks in the know, we aren’t talking about Dike enough. And Restrepo continues to look like the black magic receiver he was in college so far. So I’m excited about their upside. More here.

---

“Do you get the sense that this is a hotseat year for Brian Callahan or do you believe ownership has given him more runway to develop a qb?” -KidChemo

I think ownership thinks they don’t want it to be a hotseat year unless it’s an unmitigated disaster. But I think what ownership thinks is very easily changed in-season, in the heat of the moment. Having a cool head with a longterm vision is much easier today than it is when you’re losing in December. So we’ll see if they stick to the plan or not.

---

“If everything goes right, what is this teams highest ceiling in terms of record in your opinion. (Obviously 17-0 but lets be realistic)” -Strange_Stretch3484

Best case scenario is 10-12 wins. 2024 Commanders arc.

---

“Do you know if the decision to move on from Stonehouse was motivated by Fassel wanting to bring in his guys or more of a general dissatisfaction with his play last year? I'm a big Stoney fan, so it was soul crushing to see.” -Ok-Novel-7807

Yea, that one was tough to stomach. I really enjoyed cutting up with Stoney in the locker room. Great guy. I don’t think it was a Fassel decision so much as it was a general philosophical shift by the coaching staff. They really want to emphasize hang time and directional punting over pure distance, and there were some frustrations at times last year with Stoney being a power/distance guy. They just didn’t see it as a good fit any longer.

---

“Real easy one, what's the coolest thing that's happened in your time covering the Titans?” -BurzyGuerrero

The relationship I’ve been blessed to establish are the easy answer for me. This latest iteration of the Titans regime has been really good to me. I really respect their willingness and desire to be transparent with those of us in the media that they trust, and (for some reason) they seem to really respect the work that I do. So having cool opportunities like getting to sit down with Coach Callahan for an hour and a half in January for a long-form discussion, or getting to profile and try out the new VR training setup for Cam Ward. That kinda thing is a really rewarding part of my job. More of that kind of thing in the works…

I’m also such a massive fan of football and of football media. So getting to call so many people whose work I genuinely love a friend now is the best. Guys like Danny Kelly, Danny Heifetz, Ben Solak, Marcus Whitman, Trevor Sikkema, Derrik Klassen, and Matt Harman just to name a few. Not to mention everybody in the Nashville media market who I interact with on a near daily basis. All folks who are so good at this and are really great people, I consider myself lucky to know them.

---

“Give us your general view of how the local media in Nashville covers the team. I’m in Memphis, and here there’s coverage that isn’t afraid to be critical/skeptical of personnel moves of teams but also being fair and offering praise when warranted. Chris Herrington, in particular, does an outstanding job of covering and analyzing the Grizzlies. I get the sense in Nashville that a lot of the media sort of panders to the team, outside of PK who is an extreme outlier (grumpy old man). I don’t see a lot of real X and Os analysis, or analysis of Front Office moves. It could be just me, though, so I’m really curious about your perspective on this.” -Celebrated84

I’ll just share the people I see do these things well besides myself, because I think there are some good ones:

Measured Criticism/Sharp Analysis

• Zach Lyons
• Nick Suss
• JT Ruhnke
• Braden Gall
• Paul Kuharsky
• Drew Beatty

X’s & O’s

• James Foster
• Stoney Keeley
• Turron Davenport

---

“When we getting the new uniforms Moon leaked??” -Ryangarrettxo

Don’t think those will exist until 2027 at the earliest. I’m sure the only things that exist at this point are mockups, nothing final. And those are kept in a lockbox, with armed security, at the bottom of a volcano somewhere. So I certainly haven’t seen them.

---

“I just want to know why, with a name like Easton Freeze, you aren't covering the Predators?” -RedWhiteAndJew

The money, mostly. But also because football is the best.

---

“Do you have a brother named Westunder Melt?” -HoustonFoReal

A variation of a joke I have heard ten trillion times in my life.

---

“How old were you when you learned to ride a bike?” -Zandermercury_

I was doing wheelies before I could walk.

---

“What's T-Rac up to?” -AlwaysAngryTortoise

Rummaging through trash, I’d imagine.