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00:00 Titans fans, welcome to another Tic Tac Titans film breakdown.
00:03 I'm Tyler Rowland, host of the Locked on Titans podcast,
00:06 staff writer for Sports Illustrated over at alltitans.com.
00:09 I want to take a look at the performance of Jalen Duncan
00:12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
00:13 The rookie offensive tackle got some opportunities
00:16 in the second half, and I thought he was rather impressive.
00:19 So we're going to look at what he did in pass protection.
00:21 We're going to look at what he did in run blocking as well.
00:23 And I want to start with what I think might be
00:25 the most impressive rep of the day for Jalen Duncan.
00:28 First of all, Jacksonville has six guys
00:31 on the line of scrimmage right here, all threatening.
00:33 And the Titans are going to be in a five-man protection.
00:36 So they have to figure out
00:38 who the five most dangerous rushers are,
00:41 and then that will determine who they're going to block.
00:43 And they're not going to know that until after the snap,
00:46 when Jacksonville brings whoever they're going to bring
00:48 or drops whoever they're going to drop.
00:50 So this is a mental rep where Jalen Duncan,
00:53 as a rookie who hasn't had a lot of opportunity,
00:55 really has to be focused and know
00:57 what his responsibilities are.
00:59 And I think that's where I'm most impressed here.
01:02 He does a pretty good job.
01:03 Turns out that Jacksonville drops two of their linebackers,
01:06 so they're only rushing the traditional four.
01:08 And Jalen Duncan does a great thing here.
01:10 He's supposed to be working inside out against pressure.
01:14 You want the inside most threat.
01:16 So Jalen Duncan, helping his partner out,
01:18 gets a hand here on Daniel Brunskill's guy.
01:21 So that helps him, and he works inside.
01:23 And then he realizes, "Okay, I'm not needed inside.
01:26 "My responsibility is going to be the outside edge rusher."
01:29 Well, then Duncan uses his athleticism
01:32 and the power in his hands,
01:34 which is what really stood out to me throughout the day,
01:37 and we'll talk about it.
01:37 But Duncan uses his athleticism,
01:40 gets to Trevon Walker on the edge,
01:43 gets his hands inside of his chest,
01:45 and rides him past Will Levis.
01:48 Allows a completion.
01:49 Tajay Spears makes a play.
01:51 I mean, mentally and physically,
01:54 we are talking about Jalen Duncan
01:56 understanding his responsibility is inside out,
01:58 getting a hand on the inside rusher,
02:01 realizing in real time that the Jags only brought four,
02:05 it's time to get out to the edge rusher,
02:07 and then meets a former number one overall pick
02:12 out on the edge, strong hands, with athleticism,
02:15 and rides him past the quarterback.
02:17 That's a great rep right there by Jalen Duncan.
02:19 And here, this is against Kayla Vaughn-Chayson.
02:22 Not as impressive, but nonetheless,
02:25 a former high pick here.
02:27 And it's the same thing.
02:28 Once Jalen Duncan gets hands on Chayson, he wins.
02:33 And he's able to run him right by.
02:35 And again, he's a little late off the snap here.
02:38 I would say a little late,
02:39 but I think it's the same thing.
02:40 Duncan is looking inside, okay?
02:43 He's got inside out responsibility.
02:45 So he's looking inside and he's a little late off the snap.
02:47 I'm not gonna critique that too heavily,
02:49 but look how he recovers.
02:50 First touch, strong hands,
02:54 knocks Chayson off of his direct path towards Levis.
02:57 All right?
02:58 Then, rides him past and gives him time.
03:03 Strong hands, even though he was a little late,
03:06 got out there and gave his quarterback time
03:08 to get a nice play and to get a good game,
03:10 which this Tennessee Titans offense needs desperately.
03:14 Here, another really good mental rep from Jalen Duncan.
03:17 He's able to pass off a stunt.
03:18 He stays tight to the inside of Daniel Brunskill.
03:21 You'll see what the Jags are gonna do here is,
03:23 they're gonna run the defensive tackle here.
03:25 And it's supposed to occupy both of these guys
03:27 so that they can loop around.
03:28 Now the Titans are ready for it.
03:29 Aaron Brewer is right here, ready for it.
03:31 But Duncan does a really good job here,
03:33 staying tight to Daniel Brunskill
03:35 so that he can pick up this man.
03:36 And again, once he gets his hands on him,
03:39 transition, transfer, hands inside, he's going nowhere.
03:45 That's a great mental rep.
03:47 That's a great physical rep.
03:48 All right, this rep is a little bit different.
03:50 It's not just pure pass protection on a pass play.
03:53 This is play action,
03:54 which is meant to help out the offensive line a little bit.
03:57 But Jalen Duncan ends up with a one-on-one matchup
04:00 with this defensive tackle.
04:02 And he's not one-on-one forever.
04:04 Josh Wiley comes over and helps,
04:06 but I'm impressed at getting the hands on him.
04:08 Now this outside hand here, a little wide, a little wide.
04:12 You'd like to see that a little bit more inside,
04:14 but Duncan's trying to fight.
04:16 Duncan's trying to win.
04:17 He does long enough for Josh Wiley to come over and help.
04:21 And he's just got control.
04:22 Again, I'm just very impressed by his hands, strong hands.
04:26 Defenders aren't able to knock Jalen Duncan's hands off
04:28 once he gets them on him.
04:29 And that's something that really stands out to me
04:31 in offensive line play.
04:32 You combine that with the athleticism.
04:34 And again, these are big plays.
04:36 Every play that I'm showing you
04:37 is a positive play for the Titans, and they need those.
04:39 And Jalen Duncan was doing his job,
04:42 even if it wasn't pretty, all the time.
04:43 So that's pass protection.
04:45 Now I want to take a look at Jalen Duncan in run blocking.
04:47 And make no mistake, Duncan wasn't as good in run blocking,
04:51 but again, he can utilize his hand strength.
04:53 He can utilize his athleticism,
04:55 and he can do some good things for the Titans.
04:57 So on this one, this is a weak zone run.
05:01 The Titans are strong to this side.
05:04 It's going to be a weak side zone run this direction.
05:07 And Jalen Duncan is on the front side of the play,
05:10 and he's got to kick out Calevon Chason.
05:12 It's going to be a one-on-one block here,
05:14 and he gets out to him.
05:15 And again, this is what I'm impressed with.
05:18 Gets hands to him,
05:19 a good wide athletic base,
05:23 and strong pop.
05:27 As soon as he hits Chason, he's won it.
05:30 Boom, knocks him back.
05:32 You see that quick knockback?
05:34 That is what you need, okay?
05:36 It's not just about positionally getting in front of your guy.
05:39 Knock him back, create space.
05:42 That is the next step, okay?
05:44 And Duncan does a good job there and just wins.
05:46 Tajay Spears breaks the first tackle,
05:49 makes the first defender miss.
05:50 Game's a good game.
05:51 That's a good productive run here.
05:53 So like that.
05:54 Now, here, it's not the weak side zone.
05:57 You're going to go front side zone,
05:59 inside zone here out of shotgun.
06:01 And again, this is just a one-on-one kickout block,
06:05 and Duncan does a great job to get hands on the defender,
06:09 drive him and turn him.
06:11 Boom, drive, turn.
06:14 And he needs to hold that block,
06:17 because if we go back, this is supposed to be an inside run.
06:21 This is going inside, okay?
06:23 But after the first initial movement from Spears,
06:27 he bounces back outside.
06:28 So if Duncan doesn't hold that block
06:30 and doesn't drive Chason and turn him like that,
06:33 Chason's going to have an angle to get back up the field
06:35 and maybe stop Tajay Spears a little bit sooner.
06:38 So good job by Duncan there.
06:40 Finish, continue to drive.
06:42 It's a good job.
06:43 Now on this one, this is just classic duo.
06:45 And look, the inside zone versus duo,
06:47 people argue all you want,
06:48 but you got double team here, double team here.
06:51 Great double teams, by the way.
06:52 Watch this one right here between Raidens and Skowronski.
06:55 They absolutely blow this dude off the ball.
06:57 But it's just a backside one-on-one kickout block.
07:01 And again, Jalen Duncan does his job
07:07 with good hands and good athleticism.
07:10 Boom, hands, like the hands a little more inside.
07:14 But getting them there, look at the double teams.
07:17 Look at Skowronski and Raidens drive that dude off the ball
07:20 five yards, it's crazy.
07:22 But Duncan is the subject here.
07:24 And Duncan's just one-on-one over here doing his job.
07:27 Doing his job, not asking a lot here.
07:29 Look at Skowronski, let's go, let's go.
07:32 That gets you hype.
07:33 Skowronski was awesome in this game.
07:37 Good run, good job.
07:38 Now, this is one play that I want to point out
07:40 because this shows you the good and the bad
07:43 when it comes to run blocking with Jalen Duncan.
07:46 So Duncan and Brunskill are right here.
07:50 And I believe the initial plan is a double team here.
07:53 And then Brunskill gets up to this linebacker.
07:57 That would be the initial plan.
07:59 But what you're going to see is Jacksonville
08:02 kind of shifts at the last second
08:03 and the defensive linemen slant in opposite directions.
08:06 So this guy slants this way.
08:08 So Brunskill can't get to him.
08:10 So they kind of transfer this here and Brunskill climbs.
08:15 Now, I think you don't know the assignments.
08:18 You don't know the adjustments.
08:19 It's hard to know for certain.
08:20 But I think that Brunskill goes here
08:24 and then Duncan and Wesko are supposed to double team here.
08:27 And then Duncan climbs.
08:29 With where that's at, it's going to be hard to do.
08:33 But I think that's what the Titans coaching staff
08:36 would say to do.
08:38 Now, Duncan doesn't do that.
08:39 He just wins the one-on-one battle and drives the dude back.
08:42 And that's why it's the good and the bad.
08:44 Because he drives the dude back.
08:45 Now, I'd like to see him lower, hands more inside.
08:48 Going forward for Jalen Duncan is a little bit
08:51 more difficult than going back, okay?
08:53 But there's also the mental aspect.
08:57 And that's why I pointed out picking up stunts,
08:59 understanding inside out.
09:00 Because I think that this is maybe a mental mistake
09:03 by Duncan and he needs to climb to the second level.
09:05 And if he does that, he may get to 33,
09:09 but Wesko isn't in position to take the initial guy.
09:12 So I don't know if that would necessarily work.
09:14 But look at this hole right here.
09:16 Look at this hole right here.
09:18 I mean, that's a good job.
09:19 There are some really good plays of blocking
09:21 for the Titans in there and run blocking
09:23 that just didn't work out for whatever reason.
09:25 In this circumstance, Duncan does a good job,
09:28 but I think he's supposed to peel off.
09:29 That leaves Devin Lloyd one-on-one with Derrick Henry.
09:31 Now y'all got mad at me, real mad at me on Twitter.
09:35 Derrick Henry's one-on-one with this defender.
09:37 So out the line of scrimmage, he's got plenty of time.
09:40 I mean, he's got the ball one-on-one
09:44 with momentum going forward, huge hole, nobody else around.
09:47 Stiff arm this dude into the dirt
09:49 and then follow Nick Westbrook-Akene
09:51 up the field for a touchdown.
09:53 That, for my $16 million running back,
09:57 that would be cool.
10:01 Maybe a juke.
10:03 Tajay Spears leads the NFL 42% juke percentage right now.
10:08 So hey, everyone got mad, but that's just a point out.
10:12 But this video is about Duncan.
10:14 Duncan did a good job,
10:15 and I think he should get more opportunities.
10:16 And at this point, we know that Andre Dillard
10:18 is the worst starting offensive lineman in the NFL.
10:21 Why not give Jalen Duncan an opportunity?
10:24 If it's as bad, it's as bad,
10:25 but at least Duncan is a young player
10:27 who can develop into more.
10:28 So with that being said,
10:29 make sure you check out Locked on Titans podcast
10:31 for more analysis, alltitans.com for all my writing.
10:34 That's gonna do it for me though.
10:36 Take care, Titans fans.