Some preseason games have such great opportunity to scout rookie debuts and young players, that Ross and I want to both scout the game and then reveal/discuss our findings to each other and see how they line up or differ, and why.
We did a 50+ minute discuss and debate on one of the great preseason scouting games we’ll come across in a year. You have three way you can choose to consume the info...
1: Watch the video (link below)
2: Read the A.I. Executive Summary of the video, listed after the video link option.
3: Read the entire transcript of the show instead, put into a readable play-script format.
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Video, if you’d like to watch: https://youtu.be/7Pcf4ZJmC7o
Two Scouts Talking: Executive Summary — Titans vs. 49ers (Preseason Week 1)
1. The Tennessee Titans Offense & Passing Game Dysfunction
RC Fischer led off the breakdown by declaring the Tennessee Titans an absolute operational disaster, calling their performance an embarrassing outlier compared to other preseason offenses across the league. Ross Jacobs strongly agreed, pointing out that pairing two unsuccessful head coaches in Robert Saleh and Brian Daboll yielded predictable operational failures. While Tennessee attempted to play its primary offensive starters against San Francisco’s second- and third-string defenders, the passing attack under Cam Ward (5-12 for 57 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 0-0-0) looked completely rushed, disjointed, and overwhelmed.
RC Fischer and Ross Jacobs highlighted that Tennessee’s pass protection collapsed continuously, forcing Cam Ward into panicked throws, unnatural arm angles, and broken timing. With the offensive line failing to provide pocket clarity, RC Fischer warned fantasy managers to downgrade all Tennessee receiving assets—including Carrell Tate (0-0-0/3) and Wan'Dale Robinson (2-19-0/4)—as the passing scheme will likely degenerate into short screens, dump-offs, and max-protection deep shots.
2. Tennessee Rushing Attack & Backfield Split
Ross Jacobs brought up the Tennessee run game as a rare functional bright spot, noting that the Titans’ offensive line generated strong interior movement on early-down runs. Both scouts observed a distinct workload sharing arrangement between Tony Pollard (4-22-1, 0-0-0/0) and Tyjae Spears (4-35-0, 1-4-0/1). Ross Jacobs highlighted that Tyjae Spears looked sharper, more decisive, and potentially superior to Tony Pollard, prompting both hosts to adjust their fantasy projections toward a true 50/50 backfield split.
RC Fischer verified the rotational flow from the game tape, pointing out how Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears cycled through series, including third-down and high-leverage usage for Tyjae Spears. Additionally, Ross Jacobs and RC Fischer noted the heavy use of designed quarterback runs for Will Levis (3-8 for 42 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 4-22-0), suggesting that Brian Daboll intends to utilize quarterback mobility as a core element of the rushing scheme once the regular season arrives.
3. The De’Zhaun Stribling Hype vs. Reality
RC Fischer and Ross Jacobs addressed the intense media commentary surrounding rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling (7-63-0/8), who produced strong box-score numbers in his debut. RC Fischer criticized mainstream analysts for exaggerating De’Zhaun Stribling's performance into a "Puka Nacua-like" arrival, clarifying that De’Zhaun Stribling ran basic routes against second-string defenders, benefited from off-coverage cushion, and failed to generate natural separation on downfield targets. RC Fischer also noted an ugly jet-sweep play where De’Zhaun Stribling froze in the backfield for a loss.
Ross Jacobs—who authored the primary pre-draft scouting profile on De’Zhaun Stribling for Fantasy Football Metrics—reaffirmed his original evaluation, comping De’Zhaun Stribling to a worker-type possession receiver like Terrace Marshall or Jauan Jennings with slightly more top-end speed. Ross Jacobs emphasized that De’Zhaun Stribling was playing strictly with the second-team unit while starters Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, and Demarcus Robinson were rested. Both scouts strongly advised Dynasty managers to capitalize on the inflated media perception by trading De’Zhaun Stribling at peak market valuation.
4. Rookie Back Nicholas Singleton's Debut
Ross Jacobs and RC Fischer briefly evaluated rookie running back Nicholas Singleton (4-14-0, 0-0-0/0), categorizing his performance as unremarkable. RC Fischer noted that once Nicholas Singleton entered the game against reserve defensive fronts, he ran into stacked boxes without showing special vision or dynamic displacement. Furthermore, RC Fischer highlighted that Nicholas Singleton suffered a glaring pass-protection breakdown in block pickup, which will severely limit his ability to earn early-season snaps on passing downs.
5. Tennessee Tight End Rotation
Ross Jacobs and RC Fischer reviewed the tight end usage for Tennessee, noting a rotation between Gunnar Helm (1-16-0/1) and Daniel Bellinger (0-0-0/0). While Gunnar Helm earned early snaps and caught a short screen, RC Fischer observed that Daniel Bellinger cycled in heavily soon after. Given the severe limitations of Tennessee's overall passing volume and pass protection, both scouts concluded that neither tight end holds meaningful fantasy value.
6. Standout Linebacker Movement: Nick Martin
RC Fischer closed the scouting report by singling out San Francisco third-string linebacker Nick Martin (8 tackles, 0.0 sacks, 0 TFLs, 0 PDs, 0 INTs) as the most impressive individual defender on the tape. RC Fischer praised Nick Martin’s lateral speed, sideline-to-sideline range, and explosive downhill closing angle while operating against Tennessee’s first-team offense. While Nick Martin currently sits behind veterans like Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Tatum Bethune (6 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 1 TFLs, 0 PDs, 0 INTs), RC Fischer earmarked Nick Martin as an elite IDP prospect to watch if injuries hit the San Francisco linebacker corps.
Two Scouts Talking: Full Game Transcript — Titans vs. 49ers (Preseason Week 1)
Speakers:
- RC Fischer (RC)
- Ross Jacobs (Ross)
00:00 – Introduction & The Cam Ward / De’Zhaun Stribling Context
RC: Okay, let's talk about the 49ers versus Tennessee Titans Week 1 2026 preseason game. Both Ross and I went back and watched the tape for scouting purposes to take a look at all the variety of things one would look at in a game. But we especially picked this one... we didn't realize we were going to do it before this week started, but then with De’Zhaun Stribling (7-63-0/8) getting enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame after the game, and the dreadful Cam Ward (5-12 for 57 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 0-0-0) numbers... you never know from a scouting perspective. You never know what the truth is of all of this.
I saw like a 30-second highlight clip of the game the night that it happened. So maybe we wanted to look at it because maybe De’Zhaun Stribling—who Ross is not a fan of, I'm not necessarily a big fan of, but my curiosity is certainly piqued in that everybody's running around calling him the greatest receiver in 49ers... not everybody, but the next Puka, the next this, the next that. So, we definitely wanted to go and look and see: were our first instincts wrong on him? What actually happened with him in this game?
And then vice versa: we both like Cam Ward a lot. And then you look at those numbers in a preseason game and you're like, "What the heck?" But there could be reasons for that as well to explain it away, or we need to all run from Cam Ward. Who knows what we're going to see when we put on the tape? But we watched all the game tape all the way through, made our notes. We're going to go through each of our top three notes and discuss them for as long as they need to be discussed, and then we'll empty out the chamber at the end with all of our other notes that didn't make it into the top three discussion.
So we did this for the Arizona/Raiders game. And what I usually do at this point is turn it over to Ross to get us started with his first note. We'll see if it's my first note as well. Could be about a player, could be about the coaches, could be about anything. What's the most impactful thing that you walk away from this game tape as a scout? What hits you the most? What's the most important thing, maybe, from this game? Usually I turn it over to Ross, but I'm going to turn it over to me for the first one!
So I would go: RC, what was the number one takeaway for you from this game tape? And I'm going to say this... let me put my pen down.
Ross: You're focused. Sounds serious.
03:24 – Topic 1: The Tennessee Titans Operational Dysfunction
RC: The Tennessee Titans looked like an absolute dumpster fire!
Ross: Oh, okay! So we got the same one.
RC: A complete and utter embarrassment of football! I've only seen four games now—scouted four games for the preseason so far. I'll get to every one of them, so will Ross. But of the first four games that I've seen, this was a piece of trash performance unlike anything I've seen in all the other games.
And you could go, "Oh, it's the preseason!" But wait a minute. I just watched Mike LaFleur put up competent offenses with the Arizona Cardinals now twice with all different types of quarterbacks. And I watched the Pittsburgh Steelers with Drew Allar and Will Howard be functionally good offenses, albeit in the preseason, albeit facing second- and third-team defenses. The Las Vegas Raiders were run really well under Klint Kubiak. This is Week 1 of the preseason. Maybe 20 years ago, 10 years ago, you'd go, "Well, it's the first week of the preseason, what can you expect?" Hey, I've watched eight teams, four games. Seven of them looked like they knew what the hell they were doing, and then there was the Tennessee Titans! Which means it is an aberration of the first group, and that means it is a problem in the new era when you look like total crap in a preseason game where you're running your freaking first-team offense and your first-team defense backups against the 49ers backups and backups to the backups, and the 49ers kick their ass!
It is a complete and utter embarrassment for the Tennessee Titans, for the cartoon character Tennessee Tuxedo, for anything you want to put with Tennessee on it! Robert Saleh is a... then again, we're just going through one week, so maybe next week they're going to look great. It could happen. But I'm only going to judge it from this one week where everybody else looks like they know what they're doing. Robert Saleh is the same awful head coach that he was with the Jets. And Brian Daboll... if that's what you're going to do when you get your hands on this team, and Cam Ward's going to look like that, the wide receivers look like they're half asleep... what a dreadful performance by the Tennessee Titans!
On defense, they were energetic. On offense, there was some good and bad things I can point out, like their run game is really good. They got really good offensive line run blockers. They might as well just adopt the Georgia Tech offense and just run the wishbone! When they drop back to pass, it is a 180-degree opposite disaster! It is so embarrassing to watch the 49ers second-team and third-team just push around and absorb and manhandle in different parts the Tennessee Titans first-team that was getting after it. And it's not that they were lazy in it or anything else—they were giving their best, and their best sucks! I was shocked at what I saw.
Ross: Why? I'm surprised that you're shocked, because you took a JV squad and you put literally the two worst, least successful head coaches of the last cycle in charge of this team! Like, of course this is what we're going to get!
RC: Let me interject. What I just saw with the Titans is what I thought I was going to see with Arizona, and then I was going to get pissed off for all things Arizona. So Arizona surprised me. Hey, Mike LaFleur, new offensive mindset, he did a good job. Shocked! I thought Brian Daboll's certainly going to at least put a competent offense out if everybody else is. I mean, I watched the New England/Indianapolis game—that was... I can't even count that because it was third-stringers against third-stringers being third-stringers. This was the Titans trying to win this game, putting their best foot forward against half the 49ers guys I didn't even realize were still on the team! I'm like, "How is Patrick Taylor Jr. (5-0-0, 2-13-0/2) still on the team? Is this year 42 for Patrick Taylor Jr.?" Since Sincere McCormick didn't look too bad.
But I mean, they did not put their best and brightest out there. Adrian Martinez (9-14 for 92 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 3-18-0) played a majority of the game, and I don't care what the final score was. The 49ers, by virtue of the talent that they put out... it would be like if a high school team hung in there with the Alabama Crimson Tide in a football game. That's what this was like! Yeah, okay, Alabama won the game, but good Lord, the high school team was giving them all they wanted. And that was this. San Francisco won by default because the talent versus what Tennessee was putting out there... the 49ers just handled it. The 49ers did not look rattled. Kurtis Rourke (12-14 for 101 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 1-2-0) was doing fine, even Adrian Martinez was doing okay. They did not look rattled.
The Titans looked completely rattled in the passing game. Run game looked good but completely rattled in the passing game. I just can't believe this was the first moment that the Titans were going to put out there to the universe and show us. I thought it would have been at least, especially facing a second-team San Francisco, that it would be good and we might not be able to take anything away from it one way or the other. The fact that they were bad in this circumstance—I don't want anything to do with the Titans for fantasy football! Run from all things Titans this year!
And I just want to say... I don't care what people say about Kyle Shanahan, he's a great coach. Last year with all those injuries and having Robert Saleh on his staff and still putting a really good football team on the field... yes, he had some schedule advantages, but he also had a horrific injury season last year, and he just keeps finding a way. The team is well-coached, it's well-prepared. It maybe isn't the most talented team in the league, but they're really good, they're really well-coached. And you can see the difference when you look at... Robert Saleh, he just took Robert Saleh out and spanked him in this game as coaching! I'll say this for Saleh: he's a good DC. A lot of these DCs are good as long as they stay in their lane, they handle the defense. The problem becomes when you try to put them as head coaches and they have no idea how to manage it.
So that was my number one from this game.
Ross: Same. Tennessee as a whole is a dumpster fire, but then the passing game especially. That is really the massive takeaway from this game. But there is a lot of other things to talk about. So that was my number one, that was your number one.
11:58 – Topic 2: Tennessee Rushing Success & Pass Protection Breakdown
RC: Okay, so I wonder who you're going to give your number two to. I have a feeling I know who it is.
Ross: Oh, I bet you don't! Number two for me was the Tennessee run game.
RC: I was going to do the same to you! I was going to say, "I'll bet my number two's not your number two," but they're exactly the same! Which means I think I know our number threes are going to be the same, but go ahead.
Ross: Probably. Yeah, the Tennessee run game—surprisingly functional. Daboll's had pretty good success with that in the past. Good run blockers, and that was what was happening late last season. A few little things to go along with that: I thought Tyjae Spears (3-18-0, 1-8-0/1) looked... and I was saying it at the end of last year, I thought he looked as good or possibly better than Tony Pollard (3-12-0, 0-0-0/0). Maybe there's finally the full split this year, I don't know. They always say that, but 24 hours ago I would have said you're absolutely insane for saying that, but I'm not saying that anymore. After I watched this game, I pulled down my Tony Pollard projections, I upped my Tyjae Spears projections to put them in more of a split after I saw this.
RC: Yep, I agree.
Ross: And then the third kind of sub-thing on the run game: we didn't see it with Cam Ward, but I think it could carry over to Cam Ward come the regular season, and that was how much they were running Will Levis (2-4 for 19 yards, 0 TD/0 INT, 3-21-1) on designed quarterback runs. And that's also been a Daboll MO. It might have been just they weren't trying to get the starting quarterback hurt in the preseason game, but they were still practicing those plays because they're still going to run some of that. And I know Ward's not the runner that Levis is, but I could see a little bit more running game coming for Ward this year.
RC: That's a great point we'll come back to, but I took that as "I think they're trying to get Will Levis hurt" was the way I was looking at it! No, but that is a great point about Daboll and the way that they were using Levis, and they've been talking about wanting Ward to run. Ward's a beefy guy like Josh Allen, probably about the same speed. If Ward really wants to run, he could be a bit of a weapon running like Will Levis was. I was surprised at the number of purposeful run plays, and since that's all they have is run blocking, they should just run it every play!
Ross: Oh, I expect a very heavy run game from them this year because they're going to look at see the same thing: the passing game is crap. I mean, it's just a bunch of RPOs and short stuff, so yeah, it's going to be a heavy running game from them, I think.
RC: My main takeaway on that number two point on the run game is to note, you know, we could say, "Oh, Tyjae Spears looked better than ever, and he's better than Tony Pollard and all that." But that doesn't mean that that's what the team is going to do. But yeah... so I wrote down the first like 10 plays, like who was in the game. So the first 10 plays, if I got it right—I might have gotten one of them wrong—but in the game at running back for the first 10 plays, which I think was a scoring drive for Tennessee... yeah, Pollard, Pollard, Spears in on third down, Pollard, Pollard, Spears in on third down, Spears stays in for first down, Spears, Spears.
And I thought at that point, I'm like, "Oh, maybe Tony Pollard's done and Tyjae Spears is the third-down running back, and now Spears is getting all the touches. But that must mean, you know, Pollard did his job for the day and all." But then all of a sudden Pollard came back in, and it was Pollard, Pollard, and then Spears, and then Pollard. I'm like, "Oh, wait a minute, they're serious about this!"
Ross: Yeah, I think this is going to be kind of a Devin Singletary / Tyrone Tracy kind of thing—it's actually going to be a split.
And we've said it a couple times, but the Titans run blocking is good. But the fact that those guys can't pass block...the quarterbacks were under pressure most all of the night, and I think that bleeds into... I'm just going to pull that in to talk about Cam Ward in this second point, the difference of the run blocking and the pass blocking. I will give Ward some excuse: yeah, he was under pressure quite a bit. All the quarterbacks were for Tennessee, but especially damning was this was the first-team offensive line, and the second- and third-team 49ers pass rush, which isn't good, which isn't notorious or anything, and they were getting to the quarterback almost at will! That's a scary notion.
But it's not like this is new...like we see it and we go, "Oh, is this just because of the game or they had a bad night?" This is year three of this for the Titans, so it is what it is. You have to downgrade all pass game things for the Titans because this is a thing. It just continued right into the first week of the preseason. New coaches, new everything, same Titans offensive line. So I don't think Ward looked great when he did have time, but I think it's starting to get to what was happening with Will Levis when Will Levis was in as the starter—that they're so under pressure under every drop-back that even when the pressure isn't quite there, I think they think it might be coming, that they can't see it because it's happening on every play.
Therefore, the way their passing game has to go—and I think you saw glimpses of it, and you can tell me if you saw it different—all they're going to be able to do is throw to Wan'Dale Robinson (1-6-0/2) short. Because they don't have time for Carnell Tate (1-11-0/2) to run his routes! Yeah, it's going to be a lot of screens and a handful of bombs. They'll try to...
Ross: yeah, it'll be ugly bombs. It'll be like, "We need to throw a bomb on this play, 50-50 ball. Let me keep the tight end in, we'll send Tate or whoever, just sprint deep. We're definitely throwing it, we'll try to look the safety off, but we're throwing this bomb, so bring in the max protection."
RC: There's not going to be any natural, "Oh, we're in the three wide receiver set, we're dropping back to pass, somebody made a cool move, and now they got open, and Ward had time to see it and make the throw." He ain't going to have that time to do that for a second year in a row! He ain't going to have time to do it based on this one game, which is the same-looking game as what the Titans were doing last year.
Ross: The timing is all off. I mean, his rhythm is terrible. It looks like everything feels rushed for him, and I know he's a calm guy, but he's having to speed everything up trying to get the ball out. Everything feels rushed. He's putting a lot of heat on the ball. You can see he doesn't want to speed it up, he's getting frustrated speeding it up, the accuracy's getting messed up because all the mechanics are sped up. He's trying all these goofy arm angles trying to get things around defenders, like it's just completely disjointed.
RC: It'll be interesting what excuse or what they'll try to say this was, whether it'll be, "Oh, you know, we're transitioning new offensive coordinator, oh this, oh that." I just think we just saw the same exact thing with two coaches last year. The interim coach who took over had the same issues, and it's just carried right over to this season. And it doesn't look like Daboll's... if you want to make excuses for Daboll, you could say it's not enough time yet to have this work out, and maybe by Week 4, 5, 6 it will. I guess there's always that possibility. Ward's very talented, but all we can know is all we can see is basing on what we see right now. And what we see right now looks the same as it did last year.
And if you're playing in re-draft, you're not going to get off to a fast start with the Tennessee Titans unless you want in on the split run game. So I say based on this, I'm running away, I'm downgrading everything. I won't be drafting any Titans. If you want a big long-term outlook on Cam Ward, it's like, yeah, the guy's got a ton of talent, but if he's going to be in this crappy organization, Brian Daboll is going to get fired because of this or leave at the end of one year, and then what? Then what, Saleh's going to bring in somebody even worse than Daboll?
Ross: Bring back Hackett!
Yeah, this is after the Cardinals look pretty fun! The Cardinals make the wild card this year. Oh look, the Cardinals looked okay, it must be Hackett! It's not going to be good for the foreseeable future, and in fantasy, in Dynasty, we like to think everybody... I see people making the same mistakes over and over again in Dynasty where they'd like to win now, but they're really playing for four years from now because everybody wants to get in on the hot rookies and come up with some gem that's going to be on their Dynasty team for a decade that didn't cost them anything.
So you could look at Cam Ward and go, "Oh, you know, the big picture, he's such a talent, this is going to work eventually..." I don't know!
RC: We can think in terms of four years from now, but in reality, as soon as Week 1 hits, whatever happens in Week 1 will be what everybody thinks of everybody for that day and for the next decade! So if the Titans look like they did in this game on Week 1, everybody's going to be writing Cam Ward off. I mean, people that are already kind of not into him, but it'll be totally valueless by Week 2 if we see two performances like this to start the season. So if you want Cam Ward for the long term, just wait! He's going to be on your waiver wire in Dynasty in about a month from now!
Yep, this was bad. This was really bad, this is very bad. And I had hopes for Daboll, I had hopes that this would be good for Cam Ward, I had hopes that they would build on a little bit of that momentum they got late in the season. But we got this big picture of 32 teams to work with in fantasy from the NFL. I don't want to work with Cleveland players—Denzel Boston's great, I'm sure Quinshon Judkins is going to be fine, I don't want in on it. I don't want to mess with Cleveland, I don't want Cleveland, Titans, Jets... and now I don't want to work with the Titans! I'm not writing off the Jets yet, maybe Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, but I'm just talking on the whole. I'd prefer to do something other than be with the Jets. But of the teams that I can definitively slash through, it's the Browns and the Titans. Now the Cardinals, that were probably on that list in my head, I'm taking them up out of that list.
I want to see the Jets tape, because I think they played their starters, but they didn't have Geno. So I don't know if we're going to get a lot out of that one. I know that the Jets belong in the dumpster, but I could see them being a little bit out of the dumpster because they do have some talent, and if he's stable at all, and if they give him any protection, which the line is a little bit better, it might be okay. But I could say that on one hand; on the other hand, why am I fighting this? Why am I going to try to make a big call out of the Jets when there's 29 other teams of players I could work with? I don't have to have Garrett Wilson! Yeah, I think Garrett Wilson may be in for a great season with Geno because of volume, because the Jets won't be that good, all those reasons. But it's not like you either pick Garrett Wilson or you get nobody else, you get somebody that's a 22nd-round talent. It's like, okay, if you don't get Garrett Wilson, you can get somebody else that's talented. If you don't get Breece Hall, you can get somebody else that has talent. So we'll see if the Jets stay on that list, but I guarantee you right now the Titans are now on that list!
25:48 – Topic 3: The De’Zhaun Stribling Media Hype & Reality Check
Ross: Okay, so it comes over to me for number three. Which means I am going to open the can.
RC: We got the exact same! We got to talk about De’Zhaun Stribling (6-84-0/8) and his pending Hall of Fame winning performance! Trying to see if I want to say my stuff and let you react to it, or if I'm going to hand it to you...
Ross: No, because we know my position, go for it!
RC: Well, but it may have changed! This may have been such a performance that you...
Ross: he had six catches in a half!
RC: You're talking about Jordan Watkins (2-14-0/3)... oh! The same amount of catches and looked good, amazing!
I don't ever write out a script or I don't even really think about what I'm going to say when we get on camera. I just have names written down and some loose notes so I can just remember who it is that we wanted to talk about. I don't have time for a script, I don't have time for any of that. So how do I want to say this about Stribling?
Let me... I'm going to do a two-part communication on Stribling. One, what I saw, and then two will be my grander commentary about it.
What I saw really pissed me off, because it was a guy, whether he's great or he's not great, it was just a guy who went out for some passes and got a lot of targets and made most of the catches. Now, it was nice that early on they threw him a pass that they never should have thrown him—he wasn't open, not his fault, it was poorly thrown, and he went up and got the pass. You want that, you like that, that's visually appealing. That's got its place in the NFL. You got somebody that can climb a ladder and catch a pass, so that's cool. And later in the game he had that bomb—that was nice, he tracked it, he didn't drop it, he got his feet down. In and of himself, De’Zhaun Stribling played a very competent game. He was good! Wasn't phenomenal, wasn't terrible, he was fine. He did a good job.
My problem—which I'm sure is your problem as well with it—what in the hell is anybody seeing for this performance that makes them think this is the greatest wide receiver performance we're going to see of the preseason? He's going to be the #1 over Evans and Deebo? He's the best pick? I'll guarantee you starting today, Stribling is going to be in the top 10 of the Dynasty rookie draft, pushing down... he may even bump... no joke, I just thought of this: he may even go ahead of Makai Lemon today in Dynasty rookie drafts being held today! Some, and if it's a re-draft, Stribling will definitely go ahead of Makai Lemon! In a re-draft, which is obscene, which we could argue the merits of that or any of that type of stuff...
Ross: No, you can't argue it, it's disgusting!
RC: Well, I mean, I get that Lemon's got the hamstring issues and all that,
Ross: but Lemon is going to double whatever Stribling does, even with the hamstring! But go ahead.
RC: The fact that football analysts took this very basic, good performance and are going to strap a rocket to it and shoot it to the moon, and now claim how much they all love De’Zhaun Stribling and look at the highlights of this guy and all of that... like, there was a couple nice highlights. But I'll say this, and then I'll turn it over to you to also spike the ball and finish parsing this guy.
So everybody's going bananas about Stribling. If you would have watched the New England game and saw some of the cuts and movement ability of Kyle Williams—second-round draft pick from last year, also a second-round draft pick... San Francisco second-round pick this year, Stribling. Stribling's being hailed as amazing. Kyle Williams did some incredible footwork things that Stribling and most other people in the NFL can't do, and nobody outside of New England, and even the people in New England, could give a rip about what Kyle Williams did! All the consensus universe mainstream is going to talk about is how Stribling did so well.
And what makes me the most mad about it is there is going to be so many people that didn't watch the game, didn't watch all of Stribling's catches, they saw the two of them that he made on the one-minute highlight on NFL Network or on ESPN, and they're going to run around and beat their chest, and in their head they're going to think Stribling is a god! Stribling's going to be the #1, Stribling is this, Stribling is that. You're being sold a lie! Somebody else watched this, told you what you should think, and they are wrong, like they are always wrong about things!
Why Stribling is getting this push, I can't... besides he's a rookie, I don't get why everybody's getting into this. It may be the leaping catches are lovely to the eyes, but this was a guy just doing basic wide receiver work, basic good wide receiver... you could have seen this out of Jauan Jennings, and you wouldn't have been moved by it! But it's De’Zhaun Stribling, so now it's the greatest thing we've ever seen, and that's going to be perpetrated, that's going to be the game of telephone where we're going to pass the message all to each other down the line, and the momentum's going to build. Somebody's going to say, "Man, Stribling had a great game," and they're going to pass that word on to 50 other people, and the 50th person is going to say, "Stribling had the greatest game last night I saw, and he's going to be the #1 for the 49ers, and he should have been a first-round pick, and a lot of teams had him number one on their draft boards in the NFL Draft!" Like, no they didn't! None of this is true!
How did this game of telephone get to this point at the end from somebody saying, "Oh, this is a good game"? I watched every catch and target he had, I wrote it down, and I just kept writing it down and going, "This is basic. This is just a basic catch." Jordan Watkins is doing the same thing on the same field with Stribling. Then they give Stribling a jet sweep, and it looked like the stupidest thing I've ever seen a wide receiver take as a jet sweep! He got it, somebody was in the backfield, he froze up and pissed his pants and then fell over! They didn't show that on the highlight! I'll bet ESPN didn't feature the highlights of De’Zhaun Stribling and show everybody who thinks Stribling is the greatest because it's all over social media and all over the news, they didn't show that jet sweep where he pissed his pants on it and ran it for minus whatever many yards! They didn't even credit him with a running play on that, maybe it was a pooch pass. Whatever it was, it was awful!
So all that being said, Ross did the main primary scouting report on Stribling for Fantasy Football Metrics, and he did not like him. So now the floor is yours!
Ross: Given the context of what's going on around him, he's an okay player. Like, I'm not... he's not nothing.
RC: Is he better than Caleb Douglas?
Ross: I think so. Woohoo! The original comp I gave was Terrace Marshall Jr., and I'm going to stick by that. He's a better worker, he's a better kid, like he's going to be more successful than Marshall. Marshall didn't have his head on straight, but it's the same kind of player. I'm just saying we're not saying Stribling's a bust. But given the context of what everybody's trying to build him up to be, he's not that! I keep hearing this, "Oh, he's Puka" thing because he caught six passes in a half. First of all, preseason. Puka did it in a real game!
And I had to go back and check just to make sure I'm not out of my mind. I watched Puka's first game again—great routes, fighting through... first game where he just had 20 targets and caught 18 of them, catches everything, he's YAC, he's beating press coverage, he's running great routes, tough catches. You watch Puka work and you're going, "The game is changed because he's doing things." The game was not changed because of Stribling in this preseason game! The game was not changed.
I went back and watched every single Stribling target multiple times. He had two quick little just basic out routes that he didn't even break off the route well, it was completely rounded, with the corner sitting 15 yards off for whatever reason. So it was just pitch-and-catch because he knew the scouting of Stribling, right? He's a go-deep guy, but the couple times he did that, he's not even getting separation. So of the non-pitch-and-catch... I think it was six catches. The third one was the little pooch pass sweep thing, which was... I don't know why in God's name he would run that with De’Zhaun Stribling, because he's not turning the corner on anybody. Then you had three contested catches on the other three downfield passes—all three contested! Did he make the catch? Great, yeah, he's not doing that every time, and you don't want to see like he's not getting any separation at all! This is not Puka, it's not even close to Puka! I cannot stress this enough: decent downfield receiver, he's Jauan Jennings with a little bit more speed. Great!
RC: That's what I walked away thinking. I'm like, I've seen Jauan Jennings make those plays and it's cool, it's good. You like to have a place for it, it has its place in the world, yes. But this whole "he's the number one"...it’s nonsense.
Ross: Oh, on that point: he ran with the twos the entire game! Guess who got held out of the game? Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, and Demarcus Robinson. Those are the starters—Demarcus Robinson, Deebo Samuel, Mike Evans. That's the three starters. He's running with the twos, and he's not... I mean, to rotate a little bit, but rookies will get put in to debut so that they could start getting their feet wet and all that. But when is he seeing the field on a team that runs more two-wide receiver stuff than anybody else? Come on! There's no way he's bucking Deebo or Evans, and then San Francisco's better off if they have Kittle and Woerner on the field at the same time than putting in Stribling!
There will be Stribling moments, but you're going to see a lot of Demarcus Robinson as well. Demarcus Robinson could have given you that same game, Jordan Watkins almost gave you that same game. Why is Stribling... I know why, but why is Stribling getting all of this love? It's fascinating. Big and fast looks good in camp, because big and fast always looks good in camp because there's no contact, there's nothing going on. That's why they keep drafting these guys!
RC: If I had previously drafted Stribling in a rookie draft and I possessed him: trade him now! I don't know that you're going to get... I don't know that he could do anything... he can't go higher! He will never be this high ever, I don't think. I don't think there's anything he can do from here to keep this level of excitement up in reality. This is like the peak moment of his career value. He may go on to be Jauan Jennings and have a really nice career and be a decent fantasy option, especially if another wide receiver gets hurt, but yeah, he won't be valued that high as today. ESPN and all them, they're not going to be talking about Stribling in the future like they're talking about him right now. Yeah, maybe next week he'll have a good game and they'll still be talking about him, but 10 snaps Week 1... this is it! You can't go any higher with Stribling than right now.
Players would kill and crave for this type of attention. Carnell Tate didn't get this attention... but he did back in OTAs! Everybody was talking about Carnell Tate, maybe the #1 player in the entire rookie draft because of OTAs. Now that has shifted in one game because Tate plays with a crappy offense and a crappy passing game, and Stribling got a lot of targets from Kurtis Rourke or whoever it is that was playing quarterback for San Francisco.
So all we can do, taking my scouting hat off and putting my fantasy hat on, is just be aware of it and take advantage of it! Hope that people start picking him up way too high in rookie drafts, that they draft him way too high. For me, I was excited that I think Deebo... any type of heat Deebo may get for fantasy, Deebo's going to pay the price more than Mike Evans for this De’Zhaun Stribling thing. I'm loving that by the time drafts roll around, Deebo's going to be a seventh- or eighth-round pick+!
RC: So I've got a rookie draft coming up on Monday, and we're doing some planning for it, and I've got the number six pick, which is a nightmare to have all season because it's been... you know, Love's going to go number one, the big four: Tate, Tyson, Makai Lemon's likely going to go top four, then Price. But now it's Price four and Lemon five, so then we're looking at our #6 and hoping Stribling will go ahead of Lemon!
Ross: Oh my God! In that draft, a Lemon at six is a dream come true!
RC: And I'm sitting there at six going, I don't know if he's going to make it to me with all of Lemon's issues, but now if I can get Stribling to get taken in one of the five picks in front of me... because Price is definitely going to go, Tate is definitely going to go, Tyson is still probably going to go as long as they don't rule him out for the year with his hamstrings. And obviously Love is going to go. So I am hoping this Stribling thing may have inadvertently given me God's gift of choices at number six! I think he will go up that high this next couple days.
RC: Absurd! It's completely absurd, which speaks somewhat to the weakness of this rookie draft, and it speaks to the weakness of the hamstrings of the rookies, but hamstrings will heal! Couldn't have been more perfect timing, because I do think Stribling is going to run right up into that top group. Everybody hates Lemon with the same level of hate, and Stribling has the 180-degree opposite—he has all the love that's going to push him, and Lemon has all the hate that's going to make him go backwards as Stribling's going forwards, and they're going to crisscross with each other, and I'm going to love it!
45:00 – Secondary Notes: Nicholas Singleton, Tight Ends & Will Levis
RC: Okay, so we hit the big three. What other notes do you have?
Ross: , Nicholas Singleton (4-14-0, 0-0-0/0)—quick hitters, just a guy.
RC: That's my number five, and that's what I said. It was hard to really get a read because when he came in, then the 49ers downgraded to another level of defense, the Titans downgraded to their second team. So it's hard to say, but I mean he looked... he looked like Jam Miller, he looked like Seth McGowan, he looked like Kaleb Johnson, he looked like Lew Nichols III—just hand off, run up the middle, okay fine. And that was just the running.
Ross: In pass pro, he got absolutely destroyed by... I think that's going to be a big thing for this team, is can you pass block? Because they don't have any offensive linemen that can do it! So no, Singleton's not seeing the field anytime soon, and even if he did, yeah, just a guy.
What was your #4 item?
RC: I'm going to save it for the end, because I have some other little minor notes, but I'll save it for the end. The best player that I saw on the field is my number four. And it may be something that happened so quick that it wasn't picked up on. Could be a bit of a shock, but maybe you've got it on your list. Go ahead and finish out your list, then I'll finish out mine, and then finish out with my closer.
Ross: Number five for me was the Tennessee tight ends.
RC: That was my number six!
Ross: Everybody wants to talk about Gunnar Helm (1-14-0/1) with the little screen pass, that's great, but Daniel Bellinger (1-9-0/1) was playing more. And was he playing more? I just noticed it was like Bellinger, Bellinger, Bellinger, Helm, but to start it was Helm, Helm, Helm.
RC: Yeah, but I'm just saying it's a split. I like Daniel Bellinger, and I thought this really would have been a true split, or I was really hoping that I'd see Bellinger starting and nobody would really notice it because nobody cares about the Tennessee tight ends, and that I could kind of snicker and wonder how I was going to get in on this improved pass game by the Titans, and Daniel Bellinger was going to start because of Brian Daboll! But it was Helm, Helm, Helm, and then I did see Bellinger. But once I saw Helm the first three plays, I just gave up. I was like, "Okay, they're starting Helm."
Ross: No, but they're splitting, they're splitting for sure. And Helm's not very good anyway, and the passing attack's not very good. That was kind of it for me.
RC: Before my big one at the end... Will Levis got to play, he looked like crap. He was constantly under pressure, looked good on the runs, but I don't want Will Levis for designed runs. He looked scared passing, part of that was the pressure, part of that was... I had that written down, everybody hates him, whatever it is. It's like, okay, I was interested to see, in the midst of all of this garbage, is he going to go out there and make a statement like a Tyson Bagent might make his rookie season? When he was a third-string quarterback under all of the pressure, Tyson Bagent would show you a little something. I was hoping Will Levis would show me a little something here. He did not, unless he's going to be a running back.
And then I decided not even to mention it: our boy, tight end last name Janak (0-0-0, 0-0-0/0). Speaking of Titans tight ends, he was in the game, and even he ain't going to make that team! That team doesn't... that offense, that coaching staff, what a joke! So I was interested to see where was he going to be in the game, you know, at a decent time or is he going to be in the game with the scrubs? Would they try to use him for screen passes? They didn't use him, he might as well not even showed up to the game! I don't even think the team would have noticed if he didn't show up.
49:23 – Outstanding Defensive Flash: Linebacker Nick Martin & Wrap-Up
RC: So we'll end it on this: the best thing that I saw. You want to take a guess at it? You're not going to get it right, but you want to take a guess at it?
Ross: I don't even have a clue.
RC: 49ers linebacker Nick Martin (8 tackles, 0.0 sacks, 0 TFLs, 0 PDs, 0 INTs) is great-looking!
Ross: Oh yeah!
RC: He's a heat-seeking missile! His movement skills... like when we did the Arizona/Raiders scouting review, you and I talked about sometimes when you see it... I've seen so many things, I know it when I see it. That Jeremiyah Love run was something. That Mike Washington Jr. run was something. There's more to the game than that, there's more to their games than that, there's more to assess with their situations. I'm just talking about when I'm looking for when I want to see something that gets my attention that I rarely see.
Kyle Williams's ability to get open with his feet as opposed to his arms or his torso... fast feet from Kyle Williams, where I would say he's got maybe the top 10, top 20 feet of any wide receiver in the NFL right now, but that doesn't mean jack squat for fantasy at this point and maybe never will. That Love run, that Mike Washington Jr. run... the way Nick Martin was moving around on the field left an impression! I don't have any impressions of anything special from Green Bay/Pittsburgh, I don't have anything special from Indy/New England besides I think the Kyle Williams thing.
For me in this game, the wow moment—besides how bad Tennessee's pass offense was—was the way Nick Martin was moving around the field. I thought to have Jaden Dugger, who's a linebacker but also played some defensive end, was a safety... I was expecting to see Key play and get a little bit more excited about him, and maybe he did fine, but he's playing next to Nick Martin, and I'm like, "You are not Nick Martin!" Nick Martin looked like he was playing at a completely different speed than everyone else on the field. Whether he can tackle, whether he can handle the position, whether he's the next Dee Winters (1 tackles, 0.0 sacks, 0 TFLs, 0 PDs, 0 INTs), I don't know, we got time to go through that. I've liked Nick Martin back from his pre-draft, but man, seeing him in a preseason NFL game in 2026 moving like he's moving, it is definitely noteworthy! It could definitely be something for IDP when we get to the real... he was a guy I was a big fan of coming out. Is he being listed as a starter? I doubt it on the depth chart. Let me see...
He was playing with the B-team, so there was that. Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw... oh, they only run two linebackers. They say Tatum Bethune (4 tackles, 0.0 sacks, 0 TFLs, 0 PDs, 0 INTs) is second-team, but I think Bethune was behind Martin here... they have Dugger and Martin listed as third-team. Those were the two starters for this game. So Luke Gifford (0 tackles, 0.0 sacks, 0 TFLs, 0 PDs, 0 INTs) and Bethune are second-team, but they're veterans, so they probably gave the veterans time to let the younger guys... and even second-year guys, first-year guys, or guys that have already put a year or two in the league but haven't had a chance to play as much, maybe gave them an extra chance to play, thus Nick Martin playing.
But really impressed with Nick Martin, but I don't know that that's going to mean anything this year for IDP unless Dre Greenlaw's running out of it, unless they start having injuries like last year. And we know that never happens to the 49ers! Tatum Bethune last year really caught my attention. All their linebackers... Nick Martin, I thought, was better-looking than Dee Winters. Dee Winters also looks better than Dean Martin from the 1950s! Edgar Winters... would look good in the preseason. Tatum Bethune, but I thought Martin looked a whole other level in a brief flash against—again, I stress—the Titans first-team offense and the 49ers second- and third-team defense!
So that is it. I think we've emptied out all of my notes, we've emptied out any of your notes. You want to leave us with a final thought, since I don't know how to end these game reviews yet?
Ross: De’Zhaun Stribling's not Puka is the biggest takeaway!
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From a GEMINI research into all the mainstream reactions to this game...
Here are the top 10 things being said across national sports media, team beat writers, film analysts, and social media regarding the Titans vs. 49ers Preseason Week 1 matchup, ranked from the most universally agreed-upon takeaways down to #10:
1: DeShaun Stribling Is the National Breakout Darling of Week 1 The single most widely circulated highlight and consensus takeaway across ESPN, NFL Network, and social media is 49ers rookie receiver DeShaun Stribling. Analysts quickly circulated stat notes pointing out that his first-half target funnel made him just the second receiver in the past decade to record seven catches in the first 20 minutes of a preseason game. Social media went into hyperdrive calling him an instant hit and comparing his immediate targets and production to a Puka Nacua-style preseason arrival.
2: Cam Ward’s Rough Debut and Accuracy Concerns National outlets and Titans beat writers alike heavily criticized sophomore quarterback Cam Ward’s sluggish, inaccurate outing where he went 5-of-12 for 57 yards with an intentional grounding penalty. While local beat writers noted that he has been stacking good practice days together in camp, the national narrative focused on his ball placement. Film analysts on social media pointed out multiple missed throws and sprayed balls, questioning how quickly he is settling into Brian Daboll’s new offense.
3: The Titans’ Offensive Line Pass Protection Collapse Film breakdown accounts and Titans beat writers were unanimous that Tennessee’s pass protection remains an immense liability. Even playing their starting line against San Francisco's secondary and reserve pass-rushers, Tennessee’s quarterbacks were constantly under pressure. Analysts pointed out that the lack of pocket time disrupted offensive rhythm, forcing Cam Ward and Will Levis into rushed reads, awkward arm angles, and throwaways.
4: Tennessee’s Bully-Ball Rushing Attack (167 Rushing Yards) On the flip side of their passing struggles, media and film junkies praised the physical push of Tennessee's run blocking. The Titans racked up 167 rushing yards at nearly 5.5 yards per carry. Analysts noted that while the pass protection is broken, the interior line can move bodies on early downs, which will force Brian Daboll to lean heavily on run-first game plans.
5: The Tyjae Spears vs. Tony Pollard Backfield Split Fantasy football analysts and beat writers closely monitored the early backfield rotation between Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard. Observers noted that Tyjae Spears looked extremely crisp, decisive, and energetic on his touches. While Tony Pollard took the opening snaps, the immediate back-and-forth cycling between the two fueled widespread consensus that Tennessee is heading toward a true 50/50 committee rather than a clear lead-back split.
6: Robert Saleh vs. Kyle Shanahan Head-to-Head & Pre-Game FaceTime The friendly rivalry between former colleagues Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh was a major talking point for both broadcast crews and press conferences. Shanahan made headlines after the game by joking about FaceTiming Saleh late at night during joint practices to compare notes, adding that it's easier to be honest when you play in different conferences. However, media analysts pointed out that Shanahan’s heavily rotated 49ers squad out-executed Saleh’s starters operationally.
7: Designed Quarterback Runs for Will Levis (And Future Implications for Ward) Film breakdowns highlighted the surprising volume of designed QB power and option runs called for Will Levis on his three carries for 21 yards and a touchdown. Analysts noted that Brian Daboll is bringing his signature quarterback-run concepts—previously used with Josh Allen and Daniel Jones—to Nashville. While Levis took the hits in this game, analysts expect these designed run packages to feature heavily in Cam Ward’s regular-season repertoire.
8: San Francisco’s Defensive Depth & Young Linebacker Speed Local Bay Area media and 49ers film accounts praised the speed and closing burst of San Francisco's reserve front seven, specifically highlighting third-string linebacker Nick Martin. Despite resting core stars like Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, San Francisco’s backup linebackers and rotational linemen repeatedly met Titans ball-carriers in the gaps and disrupted pass plays, showing off the organization's depth at the position.
9: Kurtis Rourke’s Steady First NFL Action 49ers beat writers gave positive marks to backup quarterback Kurtis Rourke for his calm demeanor in relief duty. Kyle Shanahan explicitly praised Rourke at the podium for hanging in the pocket, delivering accurate throws on schedule, and executing a clutch QB draw. Analysts noted he looked comfortable operating Shanahan’s timing-based system before suffering a minor rib injury.
10: Deebo Samuel & Mike Evans Holding Down WR1/WR2 Duties Despite all the internet chatter surrounding DeShaun Stribling, veteran beat writers reminded fans of the reality of the 49ers' depth chart. Analysts pointed out that Stribling ran strictly with the second-team offense because top starters Deebo Samuel, Mike Evans, and Demarcus Robinson were rested for the night. Writers cautioned fans not to project Stribling into a starting WR1 or WR2 role over proven veterans who dominate two-receiver sets.
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