If you haven’t caught on by now, I’ve been writing articles this week based off of a tweet I fired off earlier this week when I was feeling particularly burnt out. I didn’t feel like seeking out inspiration for this week’s content, so I called on Twitter to do my job for me. You guys have had some bangers – so far, I’ve made an entire football team out of Pokemon and I’ve written my fashion manifesto. Glory Holz here stuck it to the real sports talk with his questions. I didn’t want to pick one, so I’m just going to go through them all mailbag style. It’s the Glory Holz kind of mailbag this morning.
Titans new tackle, who they have guaranteed money to btw, Geron Christian faced the Titans week one opponent #Bears last year how’d he fare?
— Glory Holz (@_GloryHolz) June 24, 2024
Brian Callahan said he wanted to use Josh Whyle to exploit one on one matchups. How did he use his tight ends to do that last year?…
Some interesting questions here. Let’s get through these things one by one:
1. Geron Christian – I would direct people to Stacking The Inbox for a deep dive Zach and I did into the Bill Callahan run game from his time in Cleveland last season. In preparation for that, I actually watched this game. I don’t think people realize it, but that Bears defense got pretty hot down the stretch last season. So, I thought it’d be a good matchup to evaluate the Browns offensive line. Now, what I didn’t realize when I started researching which games to watch was that the Browns o-line was hit with a rash of injuries. Kevin Stefanski did the smart thing and adjusted by running more inside zone behind his two Pro Bowl caliber guards. To me, Christian was a non-factor, but steady enough to avoid completely shitting the bed. He’s got length and he’s got athleticism going for him – dude’s a pretty seamless mover, but there’s a stout quality to his game that was missing. I felt like he was driven back rather easily. To me, his signing was about providing depth at left tackle. Now, based on what we heard from OTAs and minicamp, I think this team is content to run three deep at both tackle spots with Latham-Christian-Watson lining up on the left and Ojukwu-Duncan-NPF on the right. I don’t see Christian being much more than that.
2. Josh Whyle – I’ll be honest. When I watch tape, I’m focusing on one player. This offseason, in prepping for the new offense, I’ve studied the backs, the receivers, and the offensive line. But, I didn’t pay two shits worth of attention to the Bengals tight ends. After Zach and I previewed the position on this week’s Football & Other F Words, I may have to sit down and revisit the Bengals tape. So, I don’t have a direct answer for this question, but I’ll say that I can totally see the vision for Whyle being a matchup guy because of his size and length. He may lack outright speed, but he’s pretty crafty in the open field. My guess is that Callahan will want to put Whyle in situations where he can use his frame to easily win contested catches.
3. Right Tackle – The right tackle battle is the most fascinating position battle on the offensive side of the ball. I love it. I think the plan was initially for NPF to be the guy. Not only does he have experience playing right tackle, but if you go back to his rookie year, he has flashes of playing some pretty decent right tackle! But, he can’t get onto the field. I still like the athleticism of Jaelyn Duncan, and I will go down with that ship. But, it seems like the writing is on the wall for him. Even when he got healthy, the first team reps at right tackle were going to John Ojukwu. That may be the surprise of OTAs in my opinion. I was high on Ojukwu when the Titans signed him as an UDFA last summer. But, with how crowded the tackle room has gotten, I thought he’d be a lot lower on the totem pole. It sounds like even the Titans coaching staff has been surprised at how well he’s handled the responsibility. Building chemistry is important among that group, and right now, Ojukwu has the momentum. I won’t be surprised if he keeps it up and ends up stealing this job. Gun to my head right now, I’d say the Titans offensive line looks like Latham-Skronk-Cush-Charles-Ojukwu come Week 1.
4. #Cabo2024 – We need MORE coverage of it! All we have right now are some Instagram stories that are giving me some serious fomo. I think we need to send SoBros Network and Football & Other F Words down to Cabo next offseason.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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