EC34

Great hands and elusiveness in the open field. Ability to bounce a run outside and a limited ability to break a tackle time and again. He's a classic 3rd down back. He is anything other than a 4th down back.

Would the Titans ever run Tyjae Spears between the tackles on 4th and 1 in a meaningful game? Did they confirm that opinion last night?

Good things: Cam is decisive and getting the ball out fast. Plays are coming in early giving Cam plenty of time to adjust. Pollard and Spears look good. pass protection has been fine.

Two bad plays by D. Two bad calls by Officials, and one mound numbing play all by Callaghan, Feels like last season all over again,

Good to see the chat in mid season form.

Today will be a good test, provide a few new datapoints, and contibute to the mania that is found herein.

It's just that all we kept hearing from camp is unstoppable, uncoverable, true WR1 -- and what we got was far more Eric Ayomanor than Jamarr Chase. One game. Poor QB play. Blah blah blah. Your point is likely correct - but disappointing not to see what we have been talking about since OTA #1.

20 offensive stats with the starters on both sides. Several key players held out. Maybe SF was in Saleh's bag, but move me from my typical hysterically optimistic down to cautiously optimistic. there are certain spots on this team that are just paper thin. QB: (2) Ward, Trubisky (and forget trading Will. He is headed to the recycling bin of the waiver wire). RB: (4) Pollard, Spears, Singleton, Mullings (can't kill Mullings for not being able to play, but his spot might go a different ST player from LB set) TE: (3) Helm, Bellinger, Granson (maybe DMR/Kanak sneaks on if the team plans to be 13 personnel with some frequency) OL: (6) Latham, Skoronski, Schlottman, Carmona, Moore, Coogan (can't go any deeper at this point - feels like Titans will be scouring waiver wire and potentially late round trade values to build a somewhat competent group. WR: (6) Robinson, Tate, Ridley, Ayomanor, Dike, Oliver (the passing game was invisible regardless of QB - that being said, the 2nd string OL was so inept at pass blocking that its impossible to guess if any of the backup WRs moved up the pecking order So that gives me 22 of the likely 25 spots on offense. OL will carry at least (8) so look (2) more there. Maybe a 4th TE or a 7th WR- all dependent upon ST roles. K: (1) Slye (exceeded all expectations) P: (1) Townsend LS: (1) Cox Specialists would appear to be locked in. Defense is really hard for me at this moment. Injuries on the d-front make it harder to define. EDGE: (4) Martin, Johnson, Faulk, Femi (as PK has repeated said, group lacks a bendy speed rusher - but these four feel set in stone) DL: (4) Simmons, JFM, Elliott, Thomas (Herring, HorneHolmes both flashed, Marshall DNP, Brow in the mix - at least one more of that group will make final 53) LB: (5) Gray, Barton, Diabate, Hill, Williams (Mani Powell moved into the conversation, Mausi down a bit - though I still think that 6 will make it from this group) DB: (5) Taylor, Flott, Harris, Williams, Johnson (seems obvious but far from outstanding at this moment - maybe Goodrich sneaks over Johnson) S: (4) Hooker, Winston Jr, Adams, Hallet (Reed, Kane, Robinson, Brooks could easily get the Hallett spot) I've got 22 of the 25 projected, again with 3 open spots possibly a 5th DL, a 6th LB, and one more in the Secondary.

The Good - Joey Slye - kicking competition ended - Fernando Carmona - not sure if he is simply a giant amongst pygmies but clearly starting guard - JC Latham - did his job - 1st String Running Game - Pollard/Spears look the part, and Singleton looks to be a good addition - Cam/Wandale seem to be well connected - Femi looks playable, particularly as a run stopping edge - Jalyn Holmes, who I have no idea how he got on the roster, stood out to me amongst the backup DL. - Mani Powell, a LB with limited opportunity to make team, was visible in the scrub period, as was James Williams. The Bad - Stribling made Flott (and by extension Tate) look less than mediocre - The hype on Tate has been so over the top that his 3 targets resulting in 0 catches is hard to swallow - The 4-man rush/zone concept was an equally difficult watch - though the bend don't break aspect was proven out on the scoreboard The Ugly - If this was a competition for the starting QB position (which it aint), we would need hot pokers to both eyes to unwatch the Ward/Levis 'race' - Please God do not let that be the Cam Ward experience in 2026. - The offensive life depth is paper thin. I didn't see a legitimate swing tackle on the roster. Not sure other than Coogan if there is much hope in the interior offensive line depth. Not horrible run blocking in the 2nd unit, but the pass blocking was horrific. - The secondary depth is likely as bad as feared, particularly outside. What I Think I Now Know - 20 snaps isn't much, but on offense, I think this team will go as far as the running game and quick passing game will allow. That may not have been the 'real' Cam Ward experience last night. But it was real enough to know that it was subpar NFL QB play. In fact, it might have been 'ass'. - I'm going to reserve comment on defense until we have Big Jeff, JFM and Jermaine Jackson on the field as the same time. Looking at the final defensive stat line I don't see much -- including Solomon Thomas and Jordan Elliott. Since this defense is going to be anchored by that line -- may not have really had the opportunity to see what we can be when they are on the field.

You gotta read Callidus. I don't have him as a lock to make the team. All reports are an underwhelming camp and Harrell amongst others outperforming him. He isn't this coaching staff's guy. Yep. 2nd round pick. But picked for a different system. I think he makes the team. I am not 100% sold.

Based on nothing but podcast listening and blue/white game highlights - first guesses on roster construction. These are the guys that I would imagine are locks. But there are positions like WR, DL and LB that are ridiculously deep and then there are positions like DB and OL that lack quality depth. At this point I have 21 roster spots filled on offense. QB (2): Ward, Trubisky RB (4): Pollard, Spears, Singleton, Mullings TE: (2): Helm, Bellinger WR (6): Tate, Robinson, Ridley, Ayomanor, Dike, Oliver OL: (7): Moore, Volson, Schlottman, Skoronski, Latham, Slater, Carmona Thoughts. I had hoped for a big training camp for Levis, if for nothing else, 7th round pick trade value. Nope. RB room is competitive challenge - at least between Chestnut and Mullings -- largely a ST battle. Saw a decent amount of 13 personnel - which suggests (4) TEs on final roster. No idea where the battle stands between Kanak, Wilson, DMR and Granson. I don't imagine that Oliver loses his spot, but he can to Osborn or Restrepo. Osborn making the team has a good deal to do with roster construction at LB and TE. DL (5): Simmons, Frankin-Myers, Johnson, Thomas, Elliot E (2): Martin, Faulk, LB (6): Barton, Gray, Hill, Diabate, Mausi, Williams DB (4): Taylor, Flott, Harris, Williams S: (3): Hooker, WInston, Adams I've got 20 guys that I think are locks on the roster -- admittedly heavy on LBs, but the reporting on this group has been ridiculously positive. the position formerly known as Edge feels like an open battle to me - with Harrell likely leading Femi, but again that is heavily weighed to the negative coverage that Femi receives, and the relatively little we hear about Truman Jones and others. Clearly they break camp with at least 5 healthy DBs and 4 healthy safeties. No idea where those final spots fill. Townsend and Cox are locks. Slye should have been but I think he is kicking his way out of it. Right now I have 43 spots locked with 10 spots very much in play. OL, DB, S, Edge and K may still need upgrades from outside of the organization.

Austin, Suss, Easton ... all with direct team access. PK is the OG of reporting ... with Wyatt and TD in same arena. Justin x 2 are aggregators. But both generally keep it between the lines with the exception of Ward-love. TicTac is an aggregator version of Stillman. All hype. All hot takes. All audience plays. I listen to them all because I enjoy Titans talk (minus TTT and Stillman). Just like I read everything Oilerman and Old School say ... even when I don't agree. It's all just for fun boys. Including the game. As the saying goes, if you don't like what you hear, turn to another channel.

Latrell McCutcheon. He was shut down at Houston. Would love to see him overcome expectations.

Can't we go back to bitching about a guy put on the PUP with no specific injury designation?

Thoughts on Cam after watching the entirety of the series: 1. He is a very young guy. 2. He is hard, driven, motivated to be the best. 3. He is not satisfied with a win. He wants to win the right way. 4. He works. 5. He is clearly all football, but if he were a chess player, he would be all chess. He competes at life. After watching him, you have to see that his football character, or in baseball, his make-up, is elite. That's often the discussion around him ... good, not elite skills. Now I know that is wrong. His off-field skills, his football character, is his greatest skill - and that skill is elite. In contrast to 40-year old Joe Flacco - they both share an identical passion for the game. Joe is a grown adult. His life is rounded. But his core, like Cam's, is football. He loves to play the game. As does Cam. Like Baker, Cam loves to compete. Those two would get into a shit talking contest and never stop. They both want to beat you and let the other guy know about it. You can see same DNA in Cam, in Joe and in Baker. Jayden is a different cat. He has the all-world talent, but I didn't get the same sense of 'want to' from him that shows up in the other three. He was almost too nice - though through his mom - you know that he has been raised to compete. Cam is the blue collar kid. I will say that I have never been much of a fan of Joe Flacco but the series changed my mind. On the other hand, I liked Cam but had lots of questions last season. After watching QB, I would bet that he will become the Titans franchise QB and he will lead this team to more wins than we have seen since the best McNair days.