INDIANAPOLIS -- Titans brass had a lot to say earlier this week and combine workouts are underway here at Lucas Oil Stadium, so we got together Thursday evening to chat about what's been going on.

As always, you brought a bunch of good topics and questions that we dove into thoroughly, which was the best element as usual.

I was well-nourished and hydrated and ready to go.

Head to the private Facebook page or below to our private YouTube to rewatch the informative discussion.

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INDIANAPOLIS – When the Titans were a year into Marcus Mariota’s term but had the No. 1 pick, it was pretty clear they’d trade out to a team that would take a quarterback.

It wound up being a swap with the Rams, with nine picks over two years changing hands. Los Angeles took Jared Goff first overall. The Titans made another trade to move up for Jack Conklin and grabbed Derrick Henry with the Rams’ second-rounder.

The initial talks about the deal took place here at Lucas Oil Stadium, where each team is assigned its own club-level booth as its headquarters. The Titans and Rams were next-door neighbors.

INDIANAPOLIS – When Mike Vrabel’s offense was at its best in 2020 it scored just over 30 points a game and ranked fourth in scoring, the highest for the franchise since the end of the Oilers’ run-and-shoot in 1993.

Derrick Henry ran for 2,027 and Ryan Tannehill was fantastic in the play-action game, throwing a career-high 33 touchdowns and engineering six game-winning drives as the Titans went 11-5.

Photo by Angie Flatt

As they evaluate prospects at the combine and approach free agency to rebuild their offensive line and receiving corps and find a tight end to pair with Chig Okonkwo, will they try to replicate that? Or does the amount of blanks on the depth chart they need to fill create opportunity for change?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- You've got to go for a quarterback until you get one. But I put some guardrails on that philosophy.

In this week's edition of the podcast, I look at the last 15 trades up for a quarterback in the first round. Is a 27 percent chance at a franchise guy good enough?

The new episode awaits you on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn and YouTube, which is below.

And now, you can watch or listen on our new YouTube channel. You can also find that broadcast below. I hope you will subscribe to that as well.

Whichever platform you prefer, please subscribe, rate and review.

Subjects I dive into:

💥 Coaches who skip the combine
💥 What Tim Kelly said about last year's offense being predictability
💥 The idea of the Titans trading up for a quarterback now versus later
💥 Rereading your favorite book
💥 A secret promotion
 

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By MIKE HERNDON, columnist

The Tennessee Titans are set to pick 11^th in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft, their highest-held selection since Jon Robinson traded the first overall pick in 2016 for a haul of picks from the Rams. That higher-than-usual draft slot combined with a wide range of needs on the roster makes Ran Carthon’s options particularly plentiful heading into his first draft as general manager.

© John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, most of the intrigue leading into the draft will center around that 11^th overall pick in the first round and there are two primary trains of thought as of the beginning of March. One is to stick and pick the top left tackle prospect available and set an anchor for the overhauled offensive line. The other is to either trade up for a quarterback or see if one of the top options falls in your lap at 11.

INDIANAPOLIS – In 1999, the Titans lucked into Jevon Kearse at pick No. 16 because some teams ahead of them didn’t know what he was.

They judged him too small to be a 4-3 end, the most popular front at the time, and while he had great speed they worried about how he’d hold up against the run as an outside linebacker.

Tennessee simply saw a player who it believed could get to the passer, putting him at end and coaching him to do so. And he promptly set a rookie record with 14.5 sacks.

The stigma of being a tweener – a player like Kearse who may be a hybrid end/linebacker, now just an “edge” – or a linebacker who can play inside and outside like Cleveland’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah or a safety who plays everywhere like Arizona’s Isaiah Simmons – is a thing of the past.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ran Carthon has emphasized on multiple occasions that he wants to learn what Mike Vrabel and his staff are looking for in players and then provide it for them.

At the NFL scouting combine Tuesday, the Titans GM talked through a smart request he made of Vrabel's assistants and Vrabel spoke of the opportunity it gave them all to reassess the components of the team.

Hear from them both with my thoughts in the video report below.

INDIANAPOLIS – The first time we heard from Tim Kelly as a member of the Titans coaching staff, he emphasized the offense he’ll coordinate will strive to be consistent, efficient and versatile.

They are pretty standard buzzwords for someone in his role, and they certainly plug right into what we’ve already heard from Mike Vrabel, the guy who elevated Kelly from passing game coordinator after he fired Todd Downing after injuries crushed the Titans offense that was still ridiculously anemic, averaging 17.5 points a game.

Here is the thing he said to get excited about: