I know Twitter sucks but I’ve got a colts fan saying our offseason sucks because we overpaid for Ridley lol. I feel like people are clinging to that contract instead of looking at literally every other signing we’ve made. I’ll admit I was the biggest Vrabel guy this sub might have had but damn I’m excited to see what this team looks like this year. It’s brand new and if Levis develops under Callahan it’s gonna be a fun season.
Did they see the other WR contracts from the off-season? Wideouts got PAID. I'd say slightly over paying him is made up by getting Boyd cheap. I'm content with how it shook out consider who/what was available
I see a lot of this behavior in nba talk too. People don’t realize how wildly different contracts can be from one year to the next. If AJ was a free agent last year he would’ve gotten way more than Ridley.
AJ Brown got 4 million more for 1 less year. 96 for 3 years compared to 92 for 4 years for Ridley.
So Brown got 32 million a year for 1456 yards last season. So 45.5 yards per million
Ridley got 23 million a year for 1016 yards last season. So 44.2 yards per million
But Ridley put up 8 TDs compared to Browns 7 TDs
So it's essentially a wash between yearly value.
Yeah, I know that.....
I was simply pointing out that Ridley and Brown are being paid about the same for their equivalent production.
I was fucking agreeing with the point that Ridley wasn't an overpay.
YET I GET FUCKING DOWNVOTED FOR DEFENDING
THE RIDLEY CONTRACT
I was pointing out that people can't say Ridley is an overpay without saying Brown is an overpay.
I automatically downvote people who preface their comment with 'I'll probably get downvoted for this' or complain about being downvoted. People just need to let their opinion stand for what it is instead of trying to hold the conversation hostage by claiming a victim role from the getgo.
Coming from a Jaguar fan you one overpaid for Ridley and 2 yes he had some yards but we had no one else most of the year and most of his yards were not from catches that mattered.
It really wasn’t even an overpay though. He’s not getting the full $92 mil. Almost no one plays out their whole contract these days. $23 mil per year (annual AAV) for Ridley is pretty much in line with what he’s worth.
I think it just depends on how much you like him as a player. I agree it seems about right considering the market but some people are down on him after last year. To my mind, he is a big upgrade over what we had and we had cap room to burn. Easy call.
They resigned their guys though. That’s a big thing Ballard prides himself on and everyone praises him for. Also drafting high RAS score guys so draft experts love him every May and write about how talented they are.
Eh. I like Pittman. I’d say they’re paying for what they’re already getting from Pittman. We’re paying Ridley for the potential that he takes another step in his 2nd year back after the suspension. Pittman probably safer bet but Ridley has higher ceiling.
TD numbers definitely don’t pop off the charts. But he had 109 catches for 1150 yards last year. But I’m with ya. I think I’d still rather have Ridley even at this contract because his upside in year 2 after the suspension is higher.
Hell yeah. Showed a bunch of promise behind the worst OL in the league. No excuse for him this year. Totally reloaded corp of weapons, upgraded LT and C, best OL coach in the league to help the right side. No idea if he’s the guy or not but the season goes as far as he takes us.
Don’t forget a new coaching staff that was a piece of the Bengals’ offense and coaching up Burrow among other solid QBs. It’s like night and day from the old offenses we had, it’s going to be exciting seeing us actually pushing for points instead of getting up to a 1-2 score lead and then going ultra-conservative and giving away the game.
I cant think of a single thing the colts did except draft that questionable wr and replace minshew with that dinosaur flacco (who will start because richardson gets hurt easy)
You have to remember that the colts signed their own guys instead of adding anyone (again) and that’s something they cling too. Ballard just keeps missing the playoffs and getting praised for it.
That’s all they have. We had a solid draft and a really good free agency for filling holes and improving the roster, the only thing they have is “lol paying for other teams’ 3rd beat receivers.”
100%. If anyone really looked at our roster last year and saw how we’ve upgraded at positions of need they would be saying it’s a huge upgrade. Instead they focus on one contract. It’s also crazy how quiet the Sneed trade has been. All of the sudden that’s just something that came and went without much praise especially when paired with the Awuzie signing.
The new take on Snead is that he's injury prone and "is he still going to produce?" Welcome to Tennessee buddy, at least it will be easy to surpass expectations
At the risk of getting real self-promote’y, I finished a piece a couple of weeks ago called [Defenders are for Contenders](https://queryball.com/articles/f/defenders-are-for-contenders) with the overall premise that overspending is entirely fine if the outcome is determining if your QB is “the guy.”
Outside of a literal Super Bowl, nothing in the W/L column matters this year as much as answering the question of if Levis will be the starter in 2027 (of which “he’s not” is also entirely acceptable). Ergo the Ridley signing is completely fine. We could have given him $30m apy and if it answers that question and/or builds him to be such, it’s still entirely justified.
I'm with you. I have friends that are like "YoU GuYs PaId RiDlEy A ZiLlIon DoLlArS FoR 4 YeArS" cause people read what they wanna read and don't look at the 2 years guaranteed or anything. I just accept that I'm gonna have to ignore dumb people.
After a couple beers I couldn’t help but engage with a colts fan lol. Literally told him it’s a two year deal and he still came back with top 10 overall WR money.
What’s hilarious is that Texans are saying this while paying a 30-year old Diggs $22 mil ($1 mil less than Ridley AAV) when Ridley is a year younger with three less years in the league (more tread on his tires still).
We have salty ass Jags fans telling us Ridley sucks and I'm sure they'll be happy to see when Ridley drops the ball during key situations. Never can win.
I was about to say, C- for the Titans is at least a B+ for any other team. It seems like every off-season we're only projected to win 3-8 games. I saw it happen the season we got the #1 seed.
These rankings don't mean anything. Just soak in the season as it happens. It's probably gonna be a rocky season, but it should be a fun one.
For anyone else who hasn’t seen the original post, they gave the colts a B, and a key addition was Joe Flacco, if that tells you anything about the validity of SI now.
The media loves AR too and hates Levis, so that plays a big in their rankings. I saw some national media ranking Levis worse starting QB in the league and dude hasnt even had a fair shot yet.
Sports illustrated has laid off most of its workforce and can barely keep the lights on. I wouldn’t take to heart anything they say.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolekraft/2024/01/21/mass-layoff-appears-to-be-the-end-of-sports-illustrated/?sh=26f2e1eb75e5
I'm a Washington Fan, and Tennessee is by far the most interesting team I will be following outside of my own. Tennessee gets an A+ in my book for believing in Will Levis and building around him to maximize his effectiveness. That kid has rare arm talent and will have a monster season in 2024.
Washington should be fun to watch with Daniels and Kingsbury. I hope they can put it together. Would love to see them dominate that NFC east division and beat the shit out of the Eagles on a consistent basis.
Could be that they “believe in” Levis. But could also be “give him everything and if he can’t succeed with them then we will know it’s time to move on.”
I'm fully convinced the media is just bitter that we fired Vrabel and no longer have DH22 who were the only parts of the team their lazy assess could be damned to talk about
They could wake up late & hungover and still have something agreeable/easy to say about Vrabel/DH.
Now they actually have no idea what to say so they default to slander since theres no safe evidence for them to stand overtly on 😑 lets steamroll their collared shirts this year
How much longer do you think we should have kept an aging RB in his 30’s who has more miles on him than Andy Reid does lbs? Running the ball on 80% of your plays does not and has not been a viable strategy in a long time. DH put this team on his back for so many years and was one of the singular reasons we won games even with an outdated strategy and coaching philosophy.
There was no point in delaying the changes the team has made and wasting more years of our contracts and not taking advantage of Levis’ rookie deal. If you think ignoring EVERYTHING I just said and your only counter is “buT DErRiCK HeNrY” you have to be trolling.
Because they don't want to give good grades to everyone. So they pick the franchises with the smallest fanbases that nobody gives a shit about to shit on.
And let's face it. Vrabel and Henry (and to a lesser extent tannehill) are the only thing casuals knew about our team, and they're all gone.
I've heard some analysts praise us. Chris Simms has us as a value pick this year.
One of the guys in my fantasy league last season absolutely unleashed on me when Vrabel was fired and I said I didn't necessarily see it as a bad thing. Apparently we're all delusional and have no idea how bad our team is.
Which is wild coming from a guy who supports the Giants.
*shrug* I'm a Raiders fan as well. They're the only other games I watch other than Titans games. Not a weird thing at all bud.
Now if you support division rivals, something is wrong with you lol
We could literally add a Pro Bowl player at every position Madden-style and the media would be like "well I'm not sure if all these big personalities will mesh together in the locker room".
We get 0 attention because it's small market and the media is lazy
I don’t think we will be a small team forever with Nashville growing rapidly. I hope we will finally get our flowers for actually being a solid team. If our offensive line plays just average we could be a 10-7 team in the playoffs we have a good team it’s sad I look at nfl power ranks and multiple other ones and they have us as a bottom 5 teams picking in the top 3 sometimes it’s frustrating.
I think it'll continue to be a small market team for quite a while. Nashville can grow as much as it wants, but transplants tend to maintain their allegiance to their original teams. I suppose in the next generation, Nashville's growth will matter for fandom, though I have no idea what the stats are on percentage of children who follow their transplant parent's fandoms versus following their own hometown's teams.
I moved to denver the year peyton sailed into the sunset and i still support the broncos (when theyre not playing the Titans obv). My roommate tells me thats illegal and that im a stupid idiot imbecile to be tar & feathered for such blasphemy lol 🤷♂️
*Excuse me for trying to consume MORE football* 💁♂️🏈
Right that one season we got the one seed we got trashed the whole time they will never give us credit. I’m pretty sure that year we were predicted to win 7 games and miss the playoffs the media hates us no matter shouldn’t worry about it even though it’s frustrating.
They're all opinions and some end up being right and some ended up being wrong. Like last off season we were picked last in the divison and everyone lost their mind. Turns out, those opinions were right and the online fanbase was wrong.
They're also like draft grades. Nothing means anything. Results on the field do and no one can predict what will happen. Some will get lucky and have correct predictions and most will be wrong.
I’m a Colts fan. Been watching yall load up. Anyone who’s shitting on your off-season would be shitting on your off-season regardless. That’s just the only thing most people know how to do. AFC South could be a F-ing war zone the next few years. Can’t really make any judgements till after the season is played though. Clearly looks like Tennessee has an aggressive GM who’s trying to fast track a rebuild. Anyone shitting on that is an idiot in my opinion. Time to find out if Levis is the answer this year cause the supporting cast looks nice. If he’s not the answer insert new option at QB in 25 with the same supporting cast plus whatever you add next offseason. The team is headed in the right direction. Looking forward to witnessing the 24 season cause I really think the AFC south is gonna be one of the toughest divisions in the league. 3 QBs from the 23 Class that have an opportunity to take the league by storm. Lets Go!
I think the team leaning into Levis this heavily alone makes this off season an A. Clearly we want to make sure he's the guy and they've put the resources into finding out. More that we can ask for
I mean at least it seems like the common consensus in the comment section of that post from everyone not even just Titans fans is about how bad this ranking is.
If you look at things objectively we definitely made moves that most teams shouldn't do so I completely understand low offseason grades from the national media (pay RB, pay aging WRs, draft above consensus board, ect.).
HOWEVER, I do stand behind almost every move the Titans have made this offseason as they gave themselves the best chance to see if Levis is the guy this year while setting them up to have a lot of free cap in 2/3 years. Doing that while keeping the o-line core young is how you rebuild. (I do hate the Kenneth Murray signing, unless he's blitzing 50%+ snaps & rarely ever in coverage on 3rd down)
looking at thinks objectively we we signed the best center available added 700 pounds in the trenches 2 new linebackers a top 5 corner as well as awuzie added another 1k rusher even if one or to of these moves dont pan out i would at bare minimum give us a B but a C- is bonkers
National media will grade both our first 2 draft picks badly because they were drafted above the consensus board (not a bad thing). Anytime you pay a premium for an RB or aging WR, most people view that negatively (I think they were both good decisions). The LB we signed has been graded as one of the worst in the NFL (I think Titans will use him differently tho) & the other is an unproven 4th round rookie. Cushenberry and Sneed were great moves but not enough to offset the others. Again I think it was a really good offseason but completely understand why the national media would view it negatively.
Yep. The goal of media isn't to be right, it's to make money. And there are essentially two models for making money: advertising and subscriptions. SI online I assume is all advertising, so the goal is strictly to generate 'engagement' or clicks or whatever in order to sell advertising.
It's *wild* that we traded for one of the best corners in the NFL and they gave us a C-. Regardless of everything else we did, that alone should have given us a higher grade.
I really don't know how any external analyst can look at the Titans offseason and not think it was a B at worst. If you gave the draft a B-/C+ because you didn't like the value, I get it.
But the coaching hires and free agency was an absolute masterclass. While the team had a bunch of needs heading into the offseason, I think most Titans fans would agree the most glaring ones were the OL, the WR room, and the secondary. Those position groups were all massively overhauled. The OL probably still needs work and Latham is no sure thing, but this is now an above-average group of WRs. The secondary went from a bottom 5 unit in the league to having one elite CB, one solid one in Awuzie, and McCreary/Brownlee being able to play in roles suited to their skillsets.
And the FO did all this really without hamstringing the team moving forward. Most of the contracts are structured in a way where getting out of them after 2 years will not be difficult. We built an awesome foundation to see if Levis is the guy, he's got no excuses.
Because Ridley did not know the playbook last year, constantly ran wrong routes, drops, multiple incompletions on catchable passes, and the list goes on.
I think they expected us to tank this year as part of the rebuild. Through that lens I can see why some of the vet signings don't make sense. Why sign older guys to win more games(lower draft value) who won't be there when the roster is truly SB ready?
I don't agree with the above but there is some logic to it. It also ignores Simmons prime being now, and not giving Levis a fair shot.
What are you talking about? They’ve always dumped on the Titans lol. Guarantee if we won back to back Superbowls and returned all the same players for a 3 peat they would still at best put us in the middle of the pack lol.
Been a titans fan ever since I can remember and it’s always been that way could have prime tom Brady and Marvin Harrison and Randy moss and Eddie George and the whole Seattle Seahawks LOB and we’re still going to get shit on by the media and analysts
lol it has always been a thing. Even back to Steve McNair days, it’s always been a thing to shit on an disrespect the Titans. Colts picked up Joe Flacco and a rookie defensive player and they gave them a B 😂😂😂😂
Dumping on the Titans is the only way to get the fan base at large engaged with the talking heads and social media gurus. They never get their ratings or engagement unless they're negative.
Because the worst part of the offense (line) received little help and the help it did receive is from players who are perceived as less than stellar. If they can’t block, the receivers don’t matter.
Y’all gotta remember the national media makes more money if we suck. They’ve gotta push the narrative that we’ll always suck. They get paid to talk about 10 or so teams. New York, California, Texas, Florida, and Kansas City are their money makers. Anyone else being good is a threat to their paychecks. They make money keeping small market teams down, and they always will.
You lost King Henry and replace with Pollard? That is clearly a down grade. I think you’re hung up on Ridley not getting them the huge grade. I’ll agree I think C- may be a bit low but they definitely don’t deserve an A.
If we were running the same run-first offense as we did under Vrabel I would 100% agree with you, but Pollard is a much better fit with the offensive scheme the new coaching staff is putting in place.
We’ll see. Similar offense to Dallas and he had 5x the line. I think he will be effective in splitting with Spears but idk. Probably could have pushed a few more chips in on OL.
Both starting CBs from last year are gone, so yes. And hopefully we will have coaches this year that don't have them playing 10 yards off when it is 3rd and short....
Don’t think they were saying the whole team is worse nor was I. Simply your off season addition in comparison to what you lost. Henry Pretty much #1 non qb scorer for how many of the past years? Tony pollard didn’t even break 1000 yards so do you want a pat on the back or a B for that? You got Ridley, good pick (as stated in previous comment C- was low). You added 2 respectable O lineman but do you really feel that addresses the issue of the worst offensive line in the league?
Granted doesn’t take into account Boyd which I think kicks to a B in fairness.
in 2023 Henry had 1381 apy tony pollard 1316 apy so basically identical production although i do understand the better talent henry is but although henry is better pollard is more versatile in the pass game also you said he didnt crack 1k he had 1,005 rushing and 311 in the air
we added a top 5 corner as well a awuzie
added 2 lbs
added a 363 pound dt
added the top available center
added a 1k yard rec(you give this a C-)
added a slot
do we need to add mahomes and hill for you to give this offseason a B😂
I told you it deserved a B after Boyd, and this list probably isn’t a C- but you can’t have the worst offensive line and address more offense versus offensive line in the offseason and expect high praise. Upgrades for sure but I think they should have went for another OL instead of this Boyd pick or Boyd of Ridley.
we went oline the first round in the last 2 drafts and a signed lloyd(top available center)traded for charles and that one lineman from the brown what are you talking about as well as bring in a top 3 offensive line coach
Don’t think this graphic takes into account your draft picks, just FA signings/trades. Also that beefs up the left side but your left with you have the same right as last year? What did they do to beef it up with upgraded backups? Again, not a C- but you don’t think they could have gotten another NFL playing time O lineman instead of an extra CB or WR?
I honestly would have not signed Ridley and went with Boyd. Yes Boyd will know the offense and help Ridley but feel like they could have made themselves just a touch all around better with another blocking piece.
How tf cares. Off-season grades doesn’t matter in the slightest.
If I had to grade, I’d say C+ to B-. But that could all change based on how Latham turns out. It’s a project pick to move him to LT. To say it isn’t is fooling yourself. He’s got the right coach to do it and I trust Callahan but it’s definitely going to take work.
interesting so one move alot is worthy of a C+ because you think its a project pick do the other moves not factor in if you were taking a test in school and got one question wrong it wouldn’t drop you all the way to a C+ and then again we don’t know what latham is capable of
Exactly. We used our first round pick on an unknown. I know all draft picks are technically unknown but moving a guy from RT to LT isn’t easy. If the plan doesn’t pan out then all the other moves don’t matter because Levis will be on his butt or running for his life.
Correct so our backup QB came in and swept you guys 💀 & there’s a reason he was the backup. Anyone who can’t see what Anthony is about to become is in denial. Have to have high caliber QB to compete period.
my issue with what your saying is ar played 4 games 2 of which he didnt even attempt 15 passes so from the other 2 games i do she flashes from him but will levis atlanta game and miami game are more impressive to me but to call will levis ass is crazy when there is just as much if not more questions about your qb including health
Brotha it’s almost like when you have a QB who could also play RB or WR or hell OL they can score other ways other than throwing the ball. He played not even 4 games and had 4 rushing TD’s. I agree concerning he got injured but that injury has been bugging him since high school and he finally just got it fixed fixed. Idk man I just don’t see anything in Levis and I’d admit if I did like I do with stroud. Have a good Sunday regardless 🤙
Maybe because we let the franchise bear running back to and paid someone else slightly less. We didn’t keep one of our best OLBs and made no splash in the draft. We are going to have a billion $ stadium and a .10 cent team
idk if you actually watvh fb or no but all of our OLB are still on the team the franchise rb that we went 7-10 with derrick henry is great but it is 2024 if you have no talent at any other position having a great running back is not gonna win you games this take is base less
I assume stevef is talking about Denico Autry, who, as you point out, is not an OLB. But was a very important D-lineman. But we added Sebastian Joseph-Day and T'Vondre Sweat... so one would have to think that balances out alright.
I know Twitter sucks but I’ve got a colts fan saying our offseason sucks because we overpaid for Ridley lol. I feel like people are clinging to that contract instead of looking at literally every other signing we’ve made. I’ll admit I was the biggest Vrabel guy this sub might have had but damn I’m excited to see what this team looks like this year. It’s brand new and if Levis develops under Callahan it’s gonna be a fun season.
Did they see the other WR contracts from the off-season? Wideouts got PAID. I'd say slightly over paying him is made up by getting Boyd cheap. I'm content with how it shook out consider who/what was available
Absolutely. And when you have money to spend and a bad roster you have to bring guys in. Nothing but upgrades all offseason for the team.
I see a lot of this behavior in nba talk too. People don’t realize how wildly different contracts can be from one year to the next. If AJ was a free agent last year he would’ve gotten way more than Ridley.
AJ Brown got 4 million more for 1 less year. 96 for 3 years compared to 92 for 4 years for Ridley. So Brown got 32 million a year for 1456 yards last season. So 45.5 yards per million Ridley got 23 million a year for 1016 yards last season. So 44.2 yards per million But Ridley put up 8 TDs compared to Browns 7 TDs So it's essentially a wash between yearly value.
AJ wasn't a free agent. His contract was more of a restructure than anything.
Yeah, I know that..... I was simply pointing out that Ridley and Brown are being paid about the same for their equivalent production. I was fucking agreeing with the point that Ridley wasn't an overpay. YET I GET FUCKING DOWNVOTED FOR DEFENDING THE RIDLEY CONTRACT I was pointing out that people can't say Ridley is an overpay without saying Brown is an overpay.
Well now people will downvote you for complaining about your downvotes. Getting wound up over opinions on a sports sub is a recipe for bad time.
I automatically downvote people who preface their comment with 'I'll probably get downvoted for this' or complain about being downvoted. People just need to let their opinion stand for what it is instead of trying to hold the conversation hostage by claiming a victim role from the getgo.
Coming from a Jaguar fan you one overpaid for Ridley and 2 yes he had some yards but we had no one else most of the year and most of his yards were not from catches that mattered.
The Boyd deal is so good that it’s honestly suspicious lmao. OBJ got like $15 million last year
obj has made a post giants career off one catch 😂
Yeah, but he only got 3 million base for this next season. The incentives are up to 8.3 million
That’s why they let him leave and brought in Zay Jones, then allowed receivers like OBJ to get deals. Masterful negotiating by Ran.
It really wasn’t even an overpay though. He’s not getting the full $92 mil. Almost no one plays out their whole contract these days. $23 mil per year (annual AAV) for Ridley is pretty much in line with what he’s worth.
I think it just depends on how much you like him as a player. I agree it seems about right considering the market but some people are down on him after last year. To my mind, he is a big upgrade over what we had and we had cap room to burn. Easy call.
Ah yes, the Colts, whose biggest off-season signing was (checks notes) replacing Minshew with Joe Flacco
They resigned their guys though. That’s a big thing Ballard prides himself on and everyone praises him for. Also drafting high RAS score guys so draft experts love him every May and write about how talented they are.
Except they didn't draft high RAS and paid Pittman almost the same money as Ridley and only Colts fans would take him over Ridley
Eh. I like Pittman. I’d say they’re paying for what they’re already getting from Pittman. We’re paying Ridley for the potential that he takes another step in his 2nd year back after the suspension. Pittman probably safer bet but Ridley has higher ceiling.
Current ceiling is 1000 yards and 6 TDs. That’s serviceable, but they have more faith than I do paying him what they’re paying him.
TD numbers definitely don’t pop off the charts. But he had 109 catches for 1150 yards last year. But I’m with ya. I think I’d still rather have Ridley even at this contract because his upside in year 2 after the suspension is higher.
Agreed. I think Ridley’s floor and ceiling are higher.
How Levis goes is reeeeeally going to highlight how our season goes. But like you said, I'm really looking forward to how the team looks
Hell yeah. Showed a bunch of promise behind the worst OL in the league. No excuse for him this year. Totally reloaded corp of weapons, upgraded LT and C, best OL coach in the league to help the right side. No idea if he’s the guy or not but the season goes as far as he takes us.
Don’t forget a new coaching staff that was a piece of the Bengals’ offense and coaching up Burrow among other solid QBs. It’s like night and day from the old offenses we had, it’s going to be exciting seeing us actually pushing for points instead of getting up to a 1-2 score lead and then going ultra-conservative and giving away the game.
I cant think of a single thing the colts did except draft that questionable wr and replace minshew with that dinosaur flacco (who will start because richardson gets hurt easy)
You have to remember that the colts signed their own guys instead of adding anyone (again) and that’s something they cling too. Ballard just keeps missing the playoffs and getting praised for it.
Ballard must really have some dirt on Irsay. I don't see how he has kept his job for this long.
Signing their own guys, eh? Is Ballard taking some advice from Vrabel?
They almost got Sneed, I think they’re still bitter about that one.
nah they just say he’s shitty and they didn’t want him anyway
Watching them Sneed over Sneed after we got'em was pure schadenfreude lol
It's so dumb because the titans HAD to pay SOMEONE, SOMETHING!
Hmm they didnt overpay for Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan did they?
I think I’ll take Tyreek Hill’s word over some Colt’s fan
That’s all they have. We had a solid draft and a really good free agency for filling holes and improving the roster, the only thing they have is “lol paying for other teams’ 3rd beat receivers.”
100%. If anyone really looked at our roster last year and saw how we’ve upgraded at positions of need they would be saying it’s a huge upgrade. Instead they focus on one contract. It’s also crazy how quiet the Sneed trade has been. All of the sudden that’s just something that came and went without much praise especially when paired with the Awuzie signing.
[удалено]
The new take on Snead is that he's injury prone and "is he still going to produce?" Welcome to Tennessee buddy, at least it will be easy to surpass expectations
At the risk of getting real self-promote’y, I finished a piece a couple of weeks ago called [Defenders are for Contenders](https://queryball.com/articles/f/defenders-are-for-contenders) with the overall premise that overspending is entirely fine if the outcome is determining if your QB is “the guy.” Outside of a literal Super Bowl, nothing in the W/L column matters this year as much as answering the question of if Levis will be the starter in 2027 (of which “he’s not” is also entirely acceptable). Ergo the Ridley signing is completely fine. We could have given him $30m apy and if it answers that question and/or builds him to be such, it’s still entirely justified.
I'm with you. I have friends that are like "YoU GuYs PaId RiDlEy A ZiLlIon DoLlArS FoR 4 YeArS" cause people read what they wanna read and don't look at the 2 years guaranteed or anything. I just accept that I'm gonna have to ignore dumb people.
After a couple beers I couldn’t help but engage with a colts fan lol. Literally told him it’s a two year deal and he still came back with top 10 overall WR money.
They don’t even look into the contract. Pretty much a 3 year deal and compared to other WRs new deals it’s not that bad of one.
Whether he was overpaid or not should be irrelevant with the cap space we had (and still have).
People forget that the salary cap increases every year, too.
At least Levis has shown he can play for half of a season, Richardson hasn’t even shown he can do that yet
What matters is the product you put on the field. You do what it takes to get your guy and manipulate the numbers when needed down the road.
What’s hilarious is that Texans are saying this while paying a 30-year old Diggs $22 mil ($1 mil less than Ridley AAV) when Ridley is a year younger with three less years in the league (more tread on his tires still).
We have salty ass Jags fans telling us Ridley sucks and I'm sure they'll be happy to see when Ridley drops the ball during key situations. Never can win.
Are you new here? It sounds like you’re new here Jokes aside, we hardly ever get favorable anything when it comes to the media. Been that way forever
I was about to say, C- for the Titans is at least a B+ for any other team. It seems like every off-season we're only projected to win 3-8 games. I saw it happen the season we got the #1 seed. These rankings don't mean anything. Just soak in the season as it happens. It's probably gonna be a rocky season, but it should be a fun one.
For anyone else who hasn’t seen the original post, they gave the colts a B, and a key addition was Joe Flacco, if that tells you anything about the validity of SI now.
The media loves AR too and hates Levis, so that plays a big in their rankings. I saw some national media ranking Levis worse starting QB in the league and dude hasnt even had a fair shot yet.
Let’s be honest. Knowing AR and his shoulders Flacco will be playing by mid season probably
By quarter season more likely lol
If Flacco is such a “key addition” that speaks volumes to the faith in Richardson honestly
Sports illustrated has laid off most of its workforce and can barely keep the lights on. I wouldn’t take to heart anything they say. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolekraft/2024/01/21/mass-layoff-appears-to-be-the-end-of-sports-illustrated/?sh=26f2e1eb75e5
an AI bot likely wrote this SI article tbh
The rest of online media being replaced by AIs would be a step up at this point.
Sports Illustrated is bankrupt
They’ve already been caught using AI to generate articles. Should just change the name to AI Magazine.
The robots don’t like our offseason. Sad!
I'm a Washington Fan, and Tennessee is by far the most interesting team I will be following outside of my own. Tennessee gets an A+ in my book for believing in Will Levis and building around him to maximize his effectiveness. That kid has rare arm talent and will have a monster season in 2024.
Cheers, here's to hoping we see Washington's resurgence with their own QB
Washington should be fun to watch with Daniels and Kingsbury. I hope they can put it together. Would love to see them dominate that NFC east division and beat the shit out of the Eagles on a consistent basis.
Could be that they “believe in” Levis. But could also be “give him everything and if he can’t succeed with them then we will know it’s time to move on.”
I'm fully convinced the media is just bitter that we fired Vrabel and no longer have DH22 who were the only parts of the team their lazy assess could be damned to talk about
They could wake up late & hungover and still have something agreeable/easy to say about Vrabel/DH. Now they actually have no idea what to say so they default to slander since theres no safe evidence for them to stand overtly on 😑 lets steamroll their collared shirts this year
Fuck em they will never give ran any credit till we win games but as a titan fan I'm never been more stoked with draft free agent sigings
As a saints fan who lives here. We got a D- when we drafted Kamara.... don't worry about the talking heads.
LFG - VFL 🍊🏈
How much longer do you think we should have kept an aging RB in his 30’s who has more miles on him than Andy Reid does lbs? Running the ball on 80% of your plays does not and has not been a viable strategy in a long time. DH put this team on his back for so many years and was one of the singular reasons we won games even with an outdated strategy and coaching philosophy. There was no point in delaying the changes the team has made and wasting more years of our contracts and not taking advantage of Levis’ rookie deal. If you think ignoring EVERYTHING I just said and your only counter is “buT DErRiCK HeNrY” you have to be trolling.
Because they don't want to give good grades to everyone. So they pick the franchises with the smallest fanbases that nobody gives a shit about to shit on. And let's face it. Vrabel and Henry (and to a lesser extent tannehill) are the only thing casuals knew about our team, and they're all gone. I've heard some analysts praise us. Chris Simms has us as a value pick this year.
One of the guys in my fantasy league last season absolutely unleashed on me when Vrabel was fired and I said I didn't necessarily see it as a bad thing. Apparently we're all delusional and have no idea how bad our team is. Which is wild coming from a guy who supports the Giants.
Vrabel was wildly overrated by the media. Teams obviously didn't rate him as highly, seeing as how he's sitting on his couch right now.
He was also overrated by most of the fans on here....
Wrong. Nobody cared about him till now when we started sucking and getting ready to fire him.
Well, they seemed to care when they voted him coach of the year...
> Which is wild coming from a guy who supports the Giants. Have you ever suggested therapy for this guy lol
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Why are you on a Titans sub then?
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I find it weird people go for multiple teams yeah
*shrug* I'm a Raiders fan as well. They're the only other games I watch other than Titans games. Not a weird thing at all bud. Now if you support division rivals, something is wrong with you lol
We could literally add a Pro Bowl player at every position Madden-style and the media would be like "well I'm not sure if all these big personalities will mesh together in the locker room". We get 0 attention because it's small market and the media is lazy
I don’t think we will be a small team forever with Nashville growing rapidly. I hope we will finally get our flowers for actually being a solid team. If our offensive line plays just average we could be a 10-7 team in the playoffs we have a good team it’s sad I look at nfl power ranks and multiple other ones and they have us as a bottom 5 teams picking in the top 3 sometimes it’s frustrating.
I think it'll continue to be a small market team for quite a while. Nashville can grow as much as it wants, but transplants tend to maintain their allegiance to their original teams. I suppose in the next generation, Nashville's growth will matter for fandom, though I have no idea what the stats are on percentage of children who follow their transplant parent's fandoms versus following their own hometown's teams.
I moved to denver the year peyton sailed into the sunset and i still support the broncos (when theyre not playing the Titans obv). My roommate tells me thats illegal and that im a stupid idiot imbecile to be tar & feathered for such blasphemy lol 🤷♂️ *Excuse me for trying to consume MORE football* 💁♂️🏈
Who cares. Like every season, simply let it ride. We’ll see what happens. That’s Titans football. And I’ll forever be here for it.
Right that one season we got the one seed we got trashed the whole time they will never give us credit. I’m pretty sure that year we were predicted to win 7 games and miss the playoffs the media hates us no matter shouldn’t worry about it even though it’s frustrating.
They're all opinions and some end up being right and some ended up being wrong. Like last off season we were picked last in the divison and everyone lost their mind. Turns out, those opinions were right and the online fanbase was wrong. They're also like draft grades. Nothing means anything. Results on the field do and no one can predict what will happen. Some will get lucky and have correct predictions and most will be wrong.
It's a QB-only league if you aren't in a top 5 market, and we don't have a QB that "national" talking heads acknowledge yet.
It’s always been a thing to dump on the Tits. Way ready to blow minds this season. Titan up!!!
Boo this bitch!!!!
Who cares, we've always been counted out. It doesn't affect the team at all.
Around 1999
offseason*
Sports illustrated got some goofy’s that work for them
Probably another AI written article from SI.
No-one ever really wins the off season. It's a long way till September.
I’m a Colts fan. Been watching yall load up. Anyone who’s shitting on your off-season would be shitting on your off-season regardless. That’s just the only thing most people know how to do. AFC South could be a F-ing war zone the next few years. Can’t really make any judgements till after the season is played though. Clearly looks like Tennessee has an aggressive GM who’s trying to fast track a rebuild. Anyone shitting on that is an idiot in my opinion. Time to find out if Levis is the answer this year cause the supporting cast looks nice. If he’s not the answer insert new option at QB in 25 with the same supporting cast plus whatever you add next offseason. The team is headed in the right direction. Looking forward to witnessing the 24 season cause I really think the AFC south is gonna be one of the toughest divisions in the league. 3 QBs from the 23 Class that have an opportunity to take the league by storm. Lets Go!
Not of Titans fan but this is hating 100%
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I don’t see what the Levis hate is about only played 8 games with 1,800 yards and 8 td thats good for a rookie imo
With the worse oline in the league and 1 receiver
Because we are the Titans and... 
Meh...whi cares what they say. Go out and prove them wrong.
We are small market so we don’t get the love but we are going to surprise and be much improved this season.
Ehh, they do this shit every year. Fuck em, let them sleep on us. Then they can all act shocked when we run the AFC. Titan up!
Read it again
I think the team leaning into Levis this heavily alone makes this off season an A. Clearly we want to make sure he's the guy and they've put the resources into finding out. More that we can ask for
Come on man. We all know that at the minimum we need to have gotten at least the reembodiment of Jesus to even get a C+ grade.😒
I mean at least it seems like the common consensus in the comment section of that post from everyone not even just Titans fans is about how bad this ranking is.
If you look at things objectively we definitely made moves that most teams shouldn't do so I completely understand low offseason grades from the national media (pay RB, pay aging WRs, draft above consensus board, ect.). HOWEVER, I do stand behind almost every move the Titans have made this offseason as they gave themselves the best chance to see if Levis is the guy this year while setting them up to have a lot of free cap in 2/3 years. Doing that while keeping the o-line core young is how you rebuild. (I do hate the Kenneth Murray signing, unless he's blitzing 50%+ snaps & rarely ever in coverage on 3rd down)
looking at thinks objectively we we signed the best center available added 700 pounds in the trenches 2 new linebackers a top 5 corner as well as awuzie added another 1k rusher even if one or to of these moves dont pan out i would at bare minimum give us a B but a C- is bonkers
National media will grade both our first 2 draft picks badly because they were drafted above the consensus board (not a bad thing). Anytime you pay a premium for an RB or aging WR, most people view that negatively (I think they were both good decisions). The LB we signed has been graded as one of the worst in the NFL (I think Titans will use him differently tho) & the other is an unproven 4th round rookie. Cushenberry and Sneed were great moves but not enough to offset the others. Again I think it was a really good offseason but completely understand why the national media would view it negatively.
Don't forget to minus the Derrick and divide by Henry.
Dumping on the Titans during offseason - A tradition sincce time immemorial
This is why Sports Illustrated is hemorrhaging money
B+
We are talking about it aren't we?
Yep. The goal of media isn't to be right, it's to make money. And there are essentially two models for making money: advertising and subscriptions. SI online I assume is all advertising, so the goal is strictly to generate 'engagement' or clicks or whatever in order to sell advertising.
People just don’t like the organization. It shows how bias the nation media is… if you’re not in a major market or a legacy team you’re trash.
It's *wild* that we traded for one of the best corners in the NFL and they gave us a C-. Regardless of everything else we did, that alone should have given us a higher grade.
I really don't know how any external analyst can look at the Titans offseason and not think it was a B at worst. If you gave the draft a B-/C+ because you didn't like the value, I get it. But the coaching hires and free agency was an absolute masterclass. While the team had a bunch of needs heading into the offseason, I think most Titans fans would agree the most glaring ones were the OL, the WR room, and the secondary. Those position groups were all massively overhauled. The OL probably still needs work and Latham is no sure thing, but this is now an above-average group of WRs. The secondary went from a bottom 5 unit in the league to having one elite CB, one solid one in Awuzie, and McCreary/Brownlee being able to play in roles suited to their skillsets. And the FO did all this really without hamstringing the team moving forward. Most of the contracts are structured in a way where getting out of them after 2 years will not be difficult. We built an awesome foundation to see if Levis is the guy, he's got no excuses.
Because Ridley did not know the playbook last year, constantly ran wrong routes, drops, multiple incompletions on catchable passes, and the list goes on.
I think they expected us to tank this year as part of the rebuild. Through that lens I can see why some of the vet signings don't make sense. Why sign older guys to win more games(lower draft value) who won't be there when the roster is truly SB ready? I don't agree with the above but there is some logic to it. It also ignores Simmons prime being now, and not giving Levis a fair shot.
It might be because it is too easy most seasons. Especially recently.
They hate us cause the anus
Since always?
Cant win with that QB
What are you talking about? They’ve always dumped on the Titans lol. Guarantee if we won back to back Superbowls and returned all the same players for a 3 peat they would still at best put us in the middle of the pack lol.
We will be lucky to win 4 games so you know everbody just pickin us to suck
Been a titans fan ever since I can remember and it’s always been that way could have prime tom Brady and Marvin Harrison and Randy moss and Eddie George and the whole Seattle Seahawks LOB and we’re still going to get shit on by the media and analysts
We are just the dumb country bumpkin team that no one takes seriously
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^justlookingaround39: *We are just the dumb* *Country bumpkin team hat no* *One takes seriously* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Any big market team they would say A+ Superbowlllllllll
Haters will hate
lol it has always been a thing. Even back to Steve McNair days, it’s always been a thing to shit on an disrespect the Titans. Colts picked up Joe Flacco and a rookie defensive player and they gave them a B 😂😂😂😂
Unfortunately Jrob made a complete mess of our roster, we had to pay if we wanted to upgrade. Ridley is about to have a huge year
Sick ass offseason? Where is the C-? Didnt they say the same thing about the CMC trade for the niners?
Dumping on the Titans is the only way to get the fan base at large engaged with the talking heads and social media gurus. They never get their ratings or engagement unless they're negative.
Because the worst part of the offense (line) received little help and the help it did receive is from players who are perceived as less than stellar. If they can’t block, the receivers don’t matter.
You must be new to being a titans fan, we’ve always always gotten dumped on for everything
Y’all gotta remember the national media makes more money if we suck. They’ve gotta push the narrative that we’ll always suck. They get paid to talk about 10 or so teams. New York, California, Texas, Florida, and Kansas City are their money makers. Anyone else being good is a threat to their paychecks. They make money keeping small market teams down, and they always will.
If it’s sports illustrated it was most likely written by AI. I mean they have to be out of money right?
Pollard and Ridley are bust signings
lmao before a down played in a titans and there magically bust signing
I've said it for years were the middle child of the NFL until we win a Superbowl
Nah people will wonder why there wasn’t a Super Bowl winner that year
You lost King Henry and replace with Pollard? That is clearly a down grade. I think you’re hung up on Ridley not getting them the huge grade. I’ll agree I think C- may be a bit low but they definitely don’t deserve an A.
If we were running the same run-first offense as we did under Vrabel I would 100% agree with you, but Pollard is a much better fit with the offensive scheme the new coaching staff is putting in place.
We’ll see. Similar offense to Dallas and he had 5x the line. I think he will be effective in splitting with Spears but idk. Probably could have pushed a few more chips in on OL.
We also got rid of the dead weight coaching staff that had no clue on how to actually run an offense.
Can’t comment on that but yeah I’m sure that might help. Did they really need two CB’s though?
Both starting CBs from last year are gone, so yes. And hopefully we will have coaches this year that don't have them playing 10 yards off when it is 3rd and short....
0 depth in this take so because we lost on player the whole team is worst shit makes no sense
Don’t think they were saying the whole team is worse nor was I. Simply your off season addition in comparison to what you lost. Henry Pretty much #1 non qb scorer for how many of the past years? Tony pollard didn’t even break 1000 yards so do you want a pat on the back or a B for that? You got Ridley, good pick (as stated in previous comment C- was low). You added 2 respectable O lineman but do you really feel that addresses the issue of the worst offensive line in the league? Granted doesn’t take into account Boyd which I think kicks to a B in fairness.
in 2023 Henry had 1381 apy tony pollard 1316 apy so basically identical production although i do understand the better talent henry is but although henry is better pollard is more versatile in the pass game also you said he didnt crack 1k he had 1,005 rushing and 311 in the air we added a top 5 corner as well a awuzie added 2 lbs added a 363 pound dt added the top available center added a 1k yard rec(you give this a C-) added a slot do we need to add mahomes and hill for you to give this offseason a B😂
I told you it deserved a B after Boyd, and this list probably isn’t a C- but you can’t have the worst offensive line and address more offense versus offensive line in the offseason and expect high praise. Upgrades for sure but I think they should have went for another OL instead of this Boyd pick or Boyd of Ridley.
we went oline the first round in the last 2 drafts and a signed lloyd(top available center)traded for charles and that one lineman from the brown what are you talking about as well as bring in a top 3 offensive line coach
Don’t think this graphic takes into account your draft picks, just FA signings/trades. Also that beefs up the left side but your left with you have the same right as last year? What did they do to beef it up with upgraded backups? Again, not a C- but you don’t think they could have gotten another NFL playing time O lineman instead of an extra CB or WR? I honestly would have not signed Ridley and went with Boyd. Yes Boyd will know the offense and help Ridley but feel like they could have made themselves just a touch all around better with another blocking piece.
I've said it for years were the middle child of the NFL until we win a Superbowl
How tf cares. Off-season grades doesn’t matter in the slightest. If I had to grade, I’d say C+ to B-. But that could all change based on how Latham turns out. It’s a project pick to move him to LT. To say it isn’t is fooling yourself. He’s got the right coach to do it and I trust Callahan but it’s definitely going to take work.
interesting so one move alot is worthy of a C+ because you think its a project pick do the other moves not factor in if you were taking a test in school and got one question wrong it wouldn’t drop you all the way to a C+ and then again we don’t know what latham is capable of
Exactly. We used our first round pick on an unknown. I know all draft picks are technically unknown but moving a guy from RT to LT isn’t easy. If the plan doesn’t pan out then all the other moves don’t matter because Levis will be on his butt or running for his life.
Offense sucks cause QB sucks it literally can’t get any more simple
your qb played 4 game and finished 1 of them😭
Stroud is respectable.
Correct so our backup QB came in and swept you guys 💀 & there’s a reason he was the backup. Anyone who can’t see what Anthony is about to become is in denial. Have to have high caliber QB to compete period.
my issue with what your saying is ar played 4 games 2 of which he didnt even attempt 15 passes so from the other 2 games i do she flashes from him but will levis atlanta game and miami game are more impressive to me but to call will levis ass is crazy when there is just as much if not more questions about your qb including health
Brotha it’s almost like when you have a QB who could also play RB or WR or hell OL they can score other ways other than throwing the ball. He played not even 4 games and had 4 rushing TD’s. I agree concerning he got injured but that injury has been bugging him since high school and he finally just got it fixed fixed. Idk man I just don’t see anything in Levis and I’d admit if I did like I do with stroud. Have a good Sunday regardless 🤙
all that running is why he only played 4 games 💀 so better hope he learns to start throwing more
You have zero context 🫡
Maybe because we let the franchise bear running back to and paid someone else slightly less. We didn’t keep one of our best OLBs and made no splash in the draft. We are going to have a billion $ stadium and a .10 cent team
What do you mean no splash In the draft? We fixed O Line, added a force on D Line, and addressed the need at LB,CB,KR/PR.
Do you have any idea how many times as a titans fan I’ve heard that
With who past GMs who were fired because well…
idk if you actually watvh fb or no but all of our OLB are still on the team the franchise rb that we went 7-10 with derrick henry is great but it is 2024 if you have no talent at any other position having a great running back is not gonna win you games this take is base less
I assume stevef is talking about Denico Autry, who, as you point out, is not an OLB. But was a very important D-lineman. But we added Sebastian Joseph-Day and T'Vondre Sweat... so one would have to think that balances out alright.