NASHVILLE – Happy New Year!
One game left for the Titans, who wrap up the 2024 season on Sunday against the Texans.
It's been a rough year, and this mailbag has felt it.
We'll keep it going beyond Sunday as the franchise looks for some more answers.
For now, I guess mine will have to do.
Let's go …
Here's the link to submit questions: CLICK HERE.
Steve Seburn from Haileybury, Ontario, Canada
Question: Good day from your friends in the north Jim. Hope you had a merry Christmas and will have a happy new years. Before I ask you my question, I'm not suggesting our Titans would do this however I'm curious your opinion. With the 1st overall within reach do you feel winning the final game to finish the season on a high note, or would taking another loss be better for the organization to help our odds at the 1st overall pick. Again not saying the team would throw the game but it's gotta be in the back of everyone's mind even if it isn't talked about. For me, and probably the wrong way to look at it, I would rather play for the higher pick to look to the future since this season has been a write off for quite some time now. Thanks for all your hard work!
Jim: Good day, Steve. This is the big question heading into the week. Everyone around here knows what's at stake. I'm never someone who is going to root for a loss, but I also know how valuable it would be to pick at 1 or 2, not just in the first round, but throughout the draft. And, those picks would be valuable in trades. This week, I understand why a lot of fans want the team to lose. But I can guarantee you the players in the game on Sunday will be playing to win. This much is guaranteed: The weekend is going to end with some folks being mad no matter what happens in the game.
Mike Knecht from Wappingers Falls, New York
Question: Hi Jim. Hope you are well. Hope the holidays were good to you and yours. My question is about the draft. We are currently at number 2. The Patriots are number 1 and don't need a qb. I like Sanders, and Beck. What are your thoughts on who you would pick? Thanks for keeping Titans Nation informed.
Jim: Hey Mike. We'll have plenty of time to talk draft after Sunday. But I'm not committing to any of the QBs in the draft right now. What if the team identifies a QB in free agency, and uses it's first-round pick at another position? Or, what if the team trades back to get more picks? What if the Titans win on Sunday, and drop to five or six in the pecking order? A whole lot still TBD.
Jeff McWhorter from Mt. Pleasant, Florida
Question: Hey Jim. I have followed the Titans from day one even since I moved from Nashville. This year has been a disaster, but I am a fan still. Why is the management seemingly trading off star players like AJ Brown, Henry, the firing of Vrabel, and others. Since the new Management has come in there has been a downward trend. I understand that we had the shot to get a Super Bowl bid, but not without experienced players. You don't trade star players for mediocre talent. When will we see a turnaround? They need better Management. Thanks Jim.
Jim: I get fans are upset with the departure of A.J. Brown. That will go down as one of the worst trades in franchise history. Derrick wasn't traded, he signed elsewhere in free agency. Vrabel lost his job because he finished his six-year tenure by losing 18 of 24 games. We'll have to see what happens from here. Some guys are definitely on the clock.
Alf Ritter from Munich, Germany
Question: Hi Jim. As another season is coming to an end: Thank you so much for all you do to keep the Titans fan base informed and alive!
If there would be playoffs for writers - you would make the cut every year!
My questions for today: What is your assessment of our 2024 draft class?
Who surprised you the most?
Jim: Appreciate you taking the time, Alf. And I appreciate the kind words. I think the 2024 draft class showed a lot of promise in year 1. I'm convinced Latham, Sweat and Brownlee will be good for years to come. Cedric Gray, Jha'Quan Jackson, James Williams and Jaylen Harrell will learn from the year, and get better. I guess my biggest surprise, to be completely honest, was Gray not making more of an impact. But his injury really put him behind the 8-ball.
John Deane from Wellingborough, United Kingdom
Question: Hi Jim. Just an Obs, with all the Crown Jewels (with the exception of Big Jeff) sold, flogged or abandoned I dont see the Ship turning anytime soon. A few rough diamonds have popped up but not enough. When the King was allowed to leave it felt like we were giving up on this season. I dont suppose AJ, KB and 22 have buy back clauses😊
Happy 2025 Jim and the family
Jim: Happy New Year, John.
Martin Benitez from Montevideo, Uruguay
Question: Hola Jim cómo estás? Espero hayas pasado unas buenas fiestas con la familia y amigos.
Está temporada no he escrito mucho porque…. Bueno, por todo jajaja. Mi pregunta es: que te parece más adecuado para el equipo, ahora que sabemos que Callahan y la mayoría del staff va a seguir dirigiendo? Elegir un QB en el draft (sabiendo que no es el mejor año de calidad) o quizá hacer un trade down y completar el roster con WR, edge, ot, lb etc etc etc etc? A mi me gustaría elegir un QB en agencia libre (me encantaría Rodgers, si me aseguran que viene al equipo sin los "dramas" que trae incluido) y conseguir la mayor cantidad de jugadores en el draft para completar los agujeros en el equipo. Saludos desde Uruguay!!!!
Jim: Qué bueno saber de ti, Martín. Esta es una gran pregunta. Seré honesto: en este momento, no lo sé. Depende de quién sea el mariscal de campo veterano. No me entusiasmaría Aaron Rodgers, por todo el drama que traería consigo. Pero tampoco estoy convencido de algunos de los mariscales de campo de esta clase de draft. Ésta será la cuestión de la temporada baja. Lo mejor para ti.
Reinhard Schiendorfer from Fosdinovo, Italy
Question: When the battle seems lost and everyone is hanging their heads;
when the line of attack breaks apart and the enemies storm through the breaches in droves;
then someone is needed to take the banner and carry it into the midst of the enemy,
restoring courage and self-confidence to his comrades-in-arms.
Who could that be?
Maybe we should draft Benjamin Martin or at least Mel Gibson in the first round.
Jim: Hello Reinhard! We're really spanning the globe in this weekend's mailbag!
I like the poem, and that's an interesting suggestion. 😊 I enjoyed The Patriot as well.
Tobias Hildesheim from Hamburg, Germany
Question: Hey Jim. Happy new year to you and the team and thanks for everything you are doing to keep us informed! So, this was the third season full of "we have to get better". I'm a little tired hearing that... when will we actually do it instead of just talk about it? I mean, we have a QB specialist as head coach and an OL icon as OL coach and both units are just not competitive this season. And what about our secondary? They seemed so slow and sometimes helpless against the Jags! They get paid like pros and look like pros, shouldn't they train and play like pros? As for the question: What do you think, will the Titans do on QB next season? Continue with Levis? Draft one of the top QBs in the draft? Or get a veteran in the offseason? I'm all for option three. Yes, those guys are expensive, but I just don't want to see another season with an unexperienced young gun that potentially could be good at some point. Isn't Kirk Cousins looking for a new job?
Cheers!
Jim: I hear ya, Tobias. I know folks are growing impatient. I see it in here, and I hear it on the streets. Not sure what's going to happen at QB moving forward. It's hard for me to envision Levis returning as the starter, but it's hard for me to identify who next year's starter might be, at least right now. I like the idea of a veteran, but don't like the idea of overpaying for a guy. I have to be careful about naming names of players under contract elsewhere for tampering reasons.
Jim Williams from Lubbock, Texas
Question: Hi Jim. I'm hoping for a big Titans win over the Texans on Sunday and ending the season on a positive note. Plan on letting Levis and Rudolph compete for the starting QB job in 2025. After all, there won't be any really good QBs available in the draft or free agency. Wait until the team has a good offensive line and sold defense and then look for a franchise quarterback in the draft. That's how Houston did it. Now for my question: Everyone seems to like the Oilers throwback uniforms. Is there any chance the team might change the name back to the Oilers? Then they could wear the throwback uniform in every game. After all, anyone who thinks there's no oil in Tennessee has never watched The Beverly Hillbillies. Thanks Jim.
Jim: Appreciate you chiming in Jim, but I get the sense you might be in the minority on both of your takes. … I do think folks love the jerseys. I can't see the team changing its name to the Oilers, but those unis sure are popular …
Cesar Aguirre from Dallas, Texas
Question: Hello Jim. I don't know if we can say the titans were in position this year to win 9 games? Maybe in the first half. Because this team has been terrible in the second half and that's worst than last year. I would say the titans have been outplayed and out coached in the second half for most of the season. There's no other way of saying it. Of course started off with mistakes the first 2 games. There's nothing better than last year. It's the same old thing a bad offensive line, same old quarterback turnovers, bad special teams and not a dominant defensive line. The Callahans were supposed to fix the offense and of course have failed the first year. WHO cares if Pollard and Ridley have been productive and played well. We had the same last season with Henry and Hopkins. As a matter of fact I would say we were better offensively last year. I mean come on 6 points against the jags. We could have scored more with Malik under center calling his own plays. The problems we had last year was our secondary. The only bright spot this year has been a better secondary but unfortunately they been out too many games.
Now the not so bad.
The titans are 2-4 in close games (1 score games on final drive). That's not the worst record with 4 games left. Hopefully we can win 1-2 more close games or win out. Let's not forget there's 6 losses to 6 really good playoff teams. Five of those teams probably ranked in top 10. To be fair we should easily be 5-8. Winning against the bears and the jags. So when you break down these 2 losses the blame unfortunately is on Callahan.
So Jim can you let Amy know the only thing I'm asking for Christmas is another quarterback 1 and a dominant pass rusher.
Jim: Well, I'll count them up, Cesar. The team won games vs the Dolphins, Patriots and Texans. The team had a chance to win/blew games vs the Bears, Jets, Colts in October, Vikings, Jaguars on 12/8, so that's five more and gets you to eight. You could make a case on another one or two. And, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a good thing. The problem has been the team doesn't know how to win these games. But I'm tired of talking about the would've, could've, and should've games. The Titans have earned their 3-13 record and a lot of things needs to be fixed when this season ends.
Richard Reyna from Choctaw, Oklahoma
Question: I have been a fan since Warren Moon and we have not gone to the Super Bowl but one time. I am tired of losing. We need to start over from scratch. I mean everyone on staff under Amy Adams. This includes, players, the coaching staff, general manager, everyone. We need to start doing something. I haven't been watching too much of the games this year, because I am highly disappointed as a lifetime fan. It saddens, frustrates and angers me all at the same time that our team is doing so poorly this year. I knew before the season started that Levis was not the QB that we need. Then there's Rudolph; he may be a veteran player, but the both of them should not even be on our team, yet alone in the NFL. They are both a joke. At this point, I hope we lose the rest of our games so that we have a better chance of getting good players in the 2025 draft.
Jim: Well, this would include me also, Richard. I don't like this plan! … The end of the road for this season is Sunday. We'll see what happens after that.
Raymond Farrar from St. Louis, Missouri
Question: Happy 2025, Jim! As the Titans' season comes to a close, the mock drafts (ugh!), will start. I know a lot of people will say that we need a QB as Priority 1. I disagree. If you don't have the line, it doesn't matter who you have at QB, protection is the key! Be it the draft or free agency, RT in particular is urgent. Petit-Frere and Duncan are not the answer, as we have seen. Now that I'm off the soapbox, who are the free agents for the Titans this offseason?
Jim: Happy New Year Raymond. The o-line will look different in 2025, I can pretty much guarantee you that. I'm expecting a new right guard and right tackle. I'm not ruling out JC Latham switching from left tackle to right tackle, but only if the team can land a capable left tackle. The team has a whole lot of players scheduled to be free agents. It's going to be a busy offseason.
Cody Willoughby from Memphis, Tennessee
Question: What up JW!? I hope you and your family had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!
It's been a tough season, but definitely ready to turn the page and see what this team looks like next year. This off season should be an interesting one with some big decisions surely looming.
I'm confused on why Will Levis did not play out the season. Why would he bench him after that 4 turnover game? Plenty of quarterbacks have had 4 turnover games and haven't been benched. Let's see how he handles some adversity and see if he can bounce back. We need to see more games in my opinion to make a decision on him. Benching him those games and now coming out and saying he's going to play "some" in the finale makes no sense to me. I was hoping to get your take on the whole benching decision. Also what do you think Will Levis future is with the Titans? Titan up! Thanks big dog!
Jim: What's up Cody? I've said in here multiple times I would've finished the year with Levis, just to get as complete a picture as possible. That didn't happen, but you'll get to see him one final time this year on Sunday. Will that be the end of the road for Levis in Tennessee? We'll all have to wait and see. A whole lot of questions will need to be answered this offseason.
Have a great weekend everyone!
