Rhett Bryan | Tennessee Titans Game Day Host

Listen up.

I won't sugarcoat it. This is the longest cold flu analogy season we've ever seen, but we're not alone. We've got Instacart. Sure, you may be a coughing snot faucet who just wants mommy, but you're not giving up! Not when cold medicine, fragrant herbal teas, and honey shaped like bears can be delivered through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes! Now let's go win the sick playoffs!

Daddy, I just want my soup. Oh sorry, SportApp says it'll be here in a few minutes. Instacart for the win!

Minimum monthly payment, down payment, tax and delivery may be required. See store for details. We're pleased to welcome Rhett Bryan, who covers the Titans as part of their game day and radio network. He's the executive producer.

He's also the host of their pre and post, so we're excited to bring him back to After Hours. Well, the Titans have certainly made some noise, Rhett. How would you describe what they've done so far in these first few days of free agency? Well, Amy, I think the first couple of days at the legal tampering period that was reported with the deals with Tony Pollard at running back and Kenneth Murray, the linebacker, you know, there's three or four moves they made there. Chidobe, Owusia, and then Wednesday at three o'clock hits and it was more like 4.30 going on five central, I guess, and the news drops about Mason Rudolph as the backup quarterback and Nick Folk is coming back for another year as the kicker, and then they win the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes. With an incredible amount of money, Rand Carthon is cooking in the kitchen and he's in the Titans kitchen brewing up something special. I think there were a lot more moves than even I anticipated, even though we knew they had money to spend for the first time in many years.

And it was a little surprising to kind of see all the activity on Wednesday afternoon. Well, let's talk about the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes, as you call it, because he's obviously a talented receiver. The Titans didn't pay AJ Brown a couple seasons ago. Is it about timing? Is that why they can pay Ridley now?

It absolutely is, Amy. At the time, the night of the draft, a couple three years ago, when all that went down, they did not have the money to pay AJ Brown. They were still under pretty heavy contracts with left tackle Taylor Lewan, obviously. Ryan Tannehill got an extension and Derrick Henry was under an extension. It wasn't fiscally, financially.

They weren't able to do it. And so now, the way things happened with the cap, they kind of got out of cap jail with a lot of those expiring contracts, and then the cap went up 30 million bucks. And so here you are. And so, yeah, there are going to be Titans fans that are going to go, well, why did you pay him then instead of Calvin Ridley now? But Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins and Tralen Burks and Chigga Conquo and Kyle Phillips, I mean, that's a pretty good sounding wide receiving core already.

It is certainly timing. We're excited to have Rhett Bryan with us from Nashville, where he's the executive producer and Game Day host for Titans Radio. And they've been busy trying to build up a roster around Will Leviss on the offensive side.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Rhett, a lot has been made of the change at running back. Why Tony Pollard as opposed to Derrick Henry? Obviously, since you and I last talked, Mike Vrabel was the head coach and he was relieved of his duties. They hire former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to run the show. And whether you're a Titans fan and kind of focused in on this at this level here in Nashville or just league wide kind of noticing from afar, this offense was going to change. And the biggest part of it is Derrick is a two down running back. He always has been. Now, he has the ability to catch it out of the backfield and make a play. Now, he really worked at it every offseason that he was a Titan.

But with the change in philosophy, and this is weird to say, because going back to the Oilers days in Houston, three yards and a cloud of dust is what it's always been. And so it's going to be more modern running back by committee football, like so many in the league are doing. And, you know, I had some friends ask me today, like, why didn't they keep him? And you get a back like Tony Pollard, who is a lot like the skill set of Tajay Spears, the third round pick from Tulane last year.

And I said, well, here's the thing. You got continuity with Derrick Henry. You knew when he came in, there was going to be a large in line blocking tight end in that formation.

It was a tell. It was a give a giveaway to the opponents that you were going to run the ball on this. Well, with the way Tony Pollard can catch out of the backfield and Tajay Spears, there's continuity there. You don't have to do anything differently.

You can just keep moving. You can sub one guy for the other and keep moving to change. The ring is still going to be a big part of the Titans offense.

It's just going to be different in the way that it's executed. Last year, when we saw Will Leviss on the field, or whether it was Ryan Tannehill, offensive line was a bit of an issue. What have they done to fix that part of the team?

You're putting it very nicely, Amy. Yes, it was more than a bit of an issue. To give you an example, in the nine starts that Will Leviss had, not even counting the ones that Ryan Tannehill had, Will Leviss was sacked 28 times in those nine starts. In fact, one he didn't even finish because he kept getting so banged up inside the pocket. One of the main things, obviously, they drafted Peter Skowronski with the 11th overall pick last year and had him at left guard.

They had to piecemeal some things together. Taylor, the one, is retired. You have this exodus at left tackle. They throw some money at Andre Dillard.

That did not work, so they needed a stabilizing force. The move that I like the most in anything the Titans have done is what they did that was reported first, and that is agreeing to terms with Lloyd Cushingberry, the former Broncos center out of LSU. I went back and looked at the draft analysis that I did with our color analyst on Titans Radio, Coach Dave McGinnis, who obviously was the head coach in the league. We had Lloyd Cushingberry and Cesar Ruiz, the top two centers in that draft class, just pick one. He's a fantastic player, a really good character person, really good at LSU, and a long prospect. I mean, 84-inch wingspan, that's big for a center.

Now, I think he had 57 starts, so you can see something building here with what Rand Carthon's strategy is, obviously. You have proven tape and experience, things you can see and evaluate on film. You're going into your best years as a pro, your prime years, because Lloyd Cushingberry is, I think, 26, 27 years old.

But you need that stabilizing force in the middle of this line. To hear Sean Payton talk about his time there in Denver as head coach, how good he is with pre-snap recognition and just getting the line set, he just excels at it. I think that was a fantastic move to get this thing going. In fact, what they have done so far, which has been a lot to your point, it's setting up for them the end of April at the draft to do what they want to at No. 7 overall. They decided to stay there and trade down, but if they stay there and let's say Joe Ault from Notre Dame, one of the top two tackle prospects is there, I think they take that and put him right next to Peter Skowronski and watch them go for a decade.

And then at No. 38 in Round 2, you can go whatever you want. I mean, it's a deep wide receiver draft. Do you need to get another quarterback? You can go best available position just by what they've set up in these moves that have been reported so far.

It's going to be very interesting to see how this next six weeks plays out before we get to the NFL draft. Where did you see growth in Will Leviss during his rookie season? Getting the reps. Any of these guys that are coming in as a rookie, getting the reps and more repetitions that you can get.

You start to see confidence build. Now, I would have liked to have seen better protection and, a la, that's why we've been talking about the offensive line and all this. But the biggest thing, I think, was he was trying to force some throws and do some things in those first handfuls of starts because he does have a nice arm.

Maybe with a flick of the wrist. I mean, he can put it 50 yards down the field, no problem. He can make all the throws. It's honing in on the touch and hitting the targets like he's supposed to. And knowing when to give up his body and to try to extend the play without injuring himself or endangering himself further.

Just those things that you start to see click and you're talking about a guy that's hungry and I guarantee you is probably already training vigorously to get back. Go with his second go around here in what will be his sophomore year as the starting quarterback. And, you know, they signed Mason Rudolph today so while that is great as a backup option, Will knows he's the guy and he's going to push it. He's that kind of competitor. And it doesn't hurt, again, that he has DeAndre Hopkins that tells him how he wants. And that's the thing I think that I saw growth off the field, which is a really good thing is DeAndre Hopkins being a consummate pro, showing him how to be a pro. Showing him how to carry yourself, what your diet, exercise regimen, all those things.

Taking care of your body. And Will actively bending his ear to get that information and wanting that. Eager. If he just keeps working at what he's doing, he's going to be fine. If I'm Will Leviss, I am psyched after seeing the news on Wednesday, that's for sure.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio and we've got Rhett Bryan with us from Nashville. What was your reaction when the Titans decided not to bring back Mike Brable? I was a little bit surprised.

I can't, I can't deny it. With everything that had gone on with the slew of injuries the last two or three years. I think there was a cumulative thing over time that controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk was kind of keeping in perspective. And then at some point there was a tipping point and I don't know if it was a particular loss or a particular.

But, you know, that's the thing about Miss Amy, as we call her, is she's the boss and she wants to win and she wants to win now. Now, the problem with that is the Titans are in the middle of a rebuild. They're in the middle of a reset. You know, everything they're doing right now, it's impressive, but it's going to take more than one trip around the sun to get this thing right.

You're going to be doing talking about some of the same things in 2025. Will they improve in the win column? I think they will.

How much? Who knows? But they have a lot of needs. But, yeah, it definitely surprised me that that Mike was let go. I didn't know. You know, I thought maybe he would have to make some changes on his staff. But I think she may have had her mind made up in the last month of the season. And when everything was done and the dust settled, she made her choice. She can do that. She's the owner. That's true. She signs the checks. He'll get another job.

I think part of it was his own choosing. And the rest of it, I think, is kind of the way it always goes. There's a mad scrap for the hot young offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator if you're Seattle.

And those things fill up pretty quickly because they try to get boots on the ground and get things ready for combine. And, you know, the draft and all those things and trying to build it and get, you know, in each of these teams locations what they want to try to put wins in the win column. What have you learned so far about Brian Callahan? Smart guy. Very likable guy. Certainly has the appeal of being another players type coach. Totally willing to listen to all involved. I mean, he's even told us that, you know, he said, look, I'm a first time head coach. I'm going to lean on the assistance that I've put together on the staff.

And certainly I'll make final decisions, but I will lean on them because there are some things that I have not done in this capacity. And he said it's a pretty long list. I think it helps, though, that he was able to get his dad, Brian Callahan, out of out of Cleveland and get him here. I think that's huge, especially when you're talking about the development and the overhaul of the Titans offensive line.

I think that's a huge, huge move. And I was kind of surprised he was able to talk his dad into coming and doing that because at his introductory presser, he said, you know, someone asked him, have you ever thought about bringing your dad along with you? And he said, no, not at this time. He said, my dad never hired me for anything. He wanted me to earn it on my own. He said it was a tough love thing. He said, I wanted Brian to earn it on his own and not be. Oh, here's the kid who got an extra nudge here and there because his dad's been in the league for so long and was a head coach himself. And so he's earned it. And I think it's a great story that he can call that and also Cleveland to be gracious enough to let him out and let him come down here to help his son.

I think it's an awesome story. One more question for you, Rhett. We've heard or seen that the Titans are interested in Justin Simmons, the safety that was released by the Denver Broncos.

What do you know? Well, they need another safety. I mean, they shipped off Kevin. They shipped shipped off Kevin Bayard at the trade deadline back last October. Of course, he's already been released and has gone in Chicago to play for the Bears. I mean, they need another starting safety. Imani Hooker, they have under an extended contract and, you know, drafted him many years ago. And you hear that name, you hear Eric Armstead, you hear luxurious need.

I don't know how much more spending they're going to do because they've eaten up a good chunk of this this surplus that they've worked so hard to get to. We'll see what happens. And Justin Simmons, I mean, you could do worse. I mean, that's that's a good ballplayer. No question.

Absolutely. But the Tennessee Titans have surely poured some resources and as you point out, money, but also some real planning and scouting into what they want moving forward. And so it's exciting to see, especially in a division where you had a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach help lead the team, the Texans to the division title. The Jaguars fell off last year. It feels more wide open than maybe what people thought this time last year where it was considered the Jaguars to lose.

Yeah. And as you saw, the Jaguars kind of head towards what it was an eventual collapse. And then you can continue to see, as you mentioned, Demigo Ryans and C.J. Stroud do so well in Houston. Yeah, I think it's you're to the point where the AFC South is still up for grabs. How much the Titans have to say about that.

I guess time will only tell. I mean, look at Indianapolis. All they've done in free agency basically is resigned their own guys, which, hey, rightfully so. They've got a good team. They've got good options there. Jacksonville has thrown money at things I didn't really think about. I mean, I don't know how they're going to send. There's only one football house.

However, Lawrence going to get it to everybody. I mean, they Gabriel Davis, who I liked, you know, as an option in free agency. But they still have Evan Ingram. They still have Christian Kirk. They Joe, I mean, they're loaded. So, you know, in Houston, I mean, they have done their homework. I mean, here they add to Neil Hunter to go with the defensive rookie of the year, Will Anderson. It just gets tougher for the Titans.

There's no question. Can it really only be mid-March? We've got March Madness of a different sort going on with the NFL, and that includes the Titans. Rhett Ryan is the host and the executive producer of Titans Radio on their game day. You can follow him on Twitter at Rhett B Tennessee. And it's good to catch up with you again. Thank you so much, Rhett.

Amy, it's always a pleasure to join you and have a great rest of your show, a great rest of your week. For the past 20 years, you've enjoyed the refreshing tropical lime flavor of Mountain Dew Baja Blast. So in celebration of this milestone, we're bringing Baja Blast in stores nationwide. And for a limited time, with every purchase of Baja Blast, you can collect coins for a chance to get Baja Gear or a Taco Bell deal. Twenty twenty four is the year of Baja Blast in stores now. No purchase necessary.

Open to U.S. residents. Eighteen plus subject to official rules at Baja Blast dot com and six fifteen twenty four void were prohibited. Celebrate and save at Ashley's anniversary sale with hot buys. Your choice of colors starting at just three ninety nine. Ashley's sleep mattresses starting at 250 plus receive a free adjustable base with select mattress purchases and shop top mattress brands like Stearns and Foster. Tempurpedic purple and beauty rest black with 60 month special financing only at Ashley subject to credit approval. No minimum purchase required. Minimum monthly payment.

Down payment tax and delivery may be required. See store for details. Old Man Winter here. If I had it my way, it would stay winter all year long. Short days, wind chill, black ice and a good polar vortex.

Heaven. Wait, is it getting warm in here? Your cold snap is over, old man. Winter spring has arrived.

Spring. Spring is here, which means it's the perfect time to get away in the Hyundai you've always wanted. Visit the Hyundai getaway sales event where you can get great deals on all of our award winning Hyundai models like the tech filled Tucson and Kona as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or thirty six thousand miles of complimentary maintenance.

But hurry in. These deals won't last. Add more joy to your journey at the Hyundai getaway sales event. Now get zero percent APR or up to fifteen hundred bonus cash on the Hyundai Tucson. Now during the Hyundai getaway sales event. Offers end soon. Call 562-314-4603 for details.