NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Want a connection arrow for the Titans new staff and an intriguing player heading to free agency?

Point it at receiver Sammy Watkins.RamsHelmet

Not only did new offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur see Watkins at close range last year with the Rams, but new receivers coach Rob Moore was with Watkins in Buffalo in 2014.

Watkins was not super-productive in his one season in Los Angeles. He was only fourth on the team with 39 catches. He turned those into 593 yards and a team-high eight touchdown catches.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – There is no Logan Ryan here.

Last year, the connection between Jon Robinson and Ryan was an easy one to make. Robinson had scouted Ryan for the Patriots and after taking over the Titans had mentioned using analytics to help single Ryan out from a group of cornerbacks New England was considering.Word Art

But as we trace some connections that could be in play for the Titans in free agency this year, Robinson doesn’t have as strong a tie to as good a player – unless we’re counting 32-year old Danny Amendola, who is so connected to Tom Brady and the Pats that he would be an unlikely target for Robinson.

A Patriots’ free agent coming off his fourth season didn’t overlap there with Robinson, who left New England after the 2013 season. Robinson may love corner Malcolm Butler (undrafted in 2014) or running back Dion Lewis who landed in New England in 2015), but he didn’t work with them.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Episode 5 of our podcast-only podcast is ready for you.

Part 1, like podcast versions of my public Periscope and Facebook Lives, is available through iTunes, here, or directly through the Vokal website, here.BlevinsPodcast

If you're a member of the site, Part 1 and Part 2 are together, and all you have to do is head below the line.

Wih the help of Madison Blevins, I cover Ryan Succop's contract extension, why a report that the Titans' new uniforms won't be red strikes me as a ridiculous, what two former Titans think of Derrick Henry in a zone-blocking scheme, Jay-Z's bottle service and my memories of the Randy Moss "era" in Tennessee.

As always, we welcome your feedback.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With NFL free agency less than a month away, I wanted to trace some connections that could be in play for the Titans.

We’ll start with Mike Vrabel, who coached at Ohio State and with the Houston Texans.VrabelScruff

There are two free agents I could see the Titans considering based on Vrabel’s experience with the Buckeyes during his time on Urban Meyer's staff.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans have eight guys of note heading toward free agency, which opens March 14.

They are in a good spot as even if they lost this entire group they wouldn’t be too badly dented.

Here they are in what I see as their order of importance to the 2018 team.

SuccopOAK

1) Ryan Succop. The kicker was great in 2017, hitting 35 of 42 regular-season field-goal attempts and three of three in the playoffs. The Titans had good specialists and would be wise to keep Succop to maintain it.

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pickers vodka 847x63NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Welcome to the PK.com mailbag. Thanks for sending questions.

Here's Friday's big Periscope:

Now onto what's on your mind.

SupernawWalkerKCPK: Well the Titans can have multiple weak spots, and they do. Tight end seems to me to be lazy slotting by mock drafters. Often mid-20s is where a top tight end would be a real value and they are probably looking at Delanie Walker getting older. But the Titans just drafted Jonnu Smith and also have Luke Stocker and Phillip Supernaw in an offense that isn’t going to use two- and three-tight end sets nearly as much as Mike Mularkey’s team did.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Less than an hour into Super Bowl LII, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio tweeted out a bombshell.

Less than an hour after that, CBS’ Jason La Canfora responded with this:

I Was Wrong Stock PhotoLess than two days later, McDaniels did back out on the Colts. It was a giant story that reverberated throughout the NFL. Florio had good information, and while he hardly handled the scoop gracefully – “Attention everyone who assumed I was making it all up: SUCK IT,” he tweeted – he handled success better than La Canfora handled failure.

La Canfora simply never acknowledged he was wrong, a habit I think is too frequent in our ranks.

His next tweet concerning McDaniels came two days later, 22 minutes after ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the story that McDaniels would stay on as New England’s offensive coordinator.

La Canfora didn’t offer any mea culpa for his original report, he didn’t offer any context as to why two days earlier he maintained McDaniels would go to Indy.

He simply jumped to the next thing.

In a profession where we all hold the people we cover accountable, NFL reporters are incredibly hypocritical. Few hold themselves to account in the same way.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Pittsburgh Steelers had embarrassed the Tennessee Oilers just 55 days earlier.

Thigpen2The home team had won at the Liberty Bowl, 16-6 to go 8-8. But fans in black and gold filled the place.

Attendance was 50-677 that on Dec. 21, 1997 – nearly 20,000 more than the second-biggest crowd the team had drawn in a misguided commuter year.

It was the game that prompted Bud Adams to admit a second season as a Memphis tenant was untenable.

As the franchise looked forward, on the second day of free agency it made a big move at its weakest spot, signing receiver Yancey Thigpen away from the Steelers.

Twenty years ago today they gave Thigpen a five-year, $21.5 million deal with a $5.5 million signing bonus.

Steve McNair turned 25 that day.

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