After the Tennessee Titans drafted another quarterback, their current starter under center Ryan Tannehill has claimed a sense of 'deja vu' as he prepares to welcome a fresh challenger for the 2023 season.
Will Levis was made to wait for his selection which did not come until the second round of last week’s NFL Draft. It comes a year after the team picked Malik Willis in the third round. Tannehill would be forgiven if he felt any pressure regarding his quarterback spot being under threat.
But the 34-year-old has seen this play before and is just focused on playing his best football for the team and is looking forward to meeting his new teammate. "We've been down this road before, so it's definitely a little bit of déjà vu," Tannehill said on Wednesday
"(Coach) Mike (Vrabel) and (general manager) Ran (Carthon) make those decisions. My job is to go out and try to win football games."
"He adds to the room," Tannehill said of Levis. "Obviously, a talented guy coming off a great college career, so we'll see when I get to meet him here in a few weeks."
Tannehill has been the subject of a possible trade as he enters the final year of his contract, but while his status with the franchise may be in question he is stranger to a quarterback competition. He issued some frank comments regarding the drafting of Willis last year as he claimed it was not his responsibility to mentor the quarterback.
With Levis now being added to the roster, his comments about the team’s latest draft pick were more measured.
"My process doesn't really change," Tannehill said. "I like to believe that I'm giving my all every time I go out there and prep, whether it's in an OTAs or Week 15, getting ready to go win a game. You want to have a process about how you go about things, take your job seriously each and every day, knowing that nothing's given to you, and gotta go out there and earn everything. So that process doesn't change."
Tannehill has recovered from the ankle injury that saw him miss the last three games of the season, including his side's defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars in their final game of the campaign - a game that Josh Dobbs started at quarterback over Willis who struggled in his first season in the NFL.
With a second year QB and a rookie behind him, a fit and firing once Tannehill is ready to compete at the highest level.
"I feel really good," he said. "Obviously it's been a long time getting to this point, but I was able to step into this offseason feeling really good."
The former Miami Dolphin has had much to ponder as he enters the final year of his contract and the priority of drafting a quarterback may signal the Titans’ intent to focus on the next generation. He has been with the franchise since 2019 and his career accolades include winning the Comeback Player of the Year award and the NFL’s passer rating leader in his first year with the team.
"You can only control what you can control, right?" Tannehill said regarding the future. "Mike and Ran make those decisions.
“As players, you've got to control what you can control, and that's doing the best you can, prepping yourself mentally and physically each and every day to go win a football game."
