We finally got our first in-game glimpse at the Tennessee Titans’ quarterback battle on Saturday, as Malik Willis and Will Levis both made their preseason debuts against the Chicago Bears.
Unfortunately, their debuts came in a losing effort, but there was undoubtedly a lot to take away from preseason Week 1 matchup.
Tennessee ultimately chose to go with the alternating approach, allowing each quarterback to come in every series or two. This replicates the job of a backup because they’re often thrown into the game at random times, but it also prevented the offense from getting in a real rhythm, as the unit constantly had to adapt to a different guy.
In total, I charted seven drives for Willis and six for Levis. The Liberty legend completed 64 percent of his passes (16-of-25) for 189 yards and one interception, while also adding three carries for 22 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
Levis also completed 64 percent of his passes (9-of-14), totaling 89 yards and one interception while also adding six rushing yards on one attempt.
But let’s go beyond the numbers a bit and look at the good and bad of each quarterback. It should be noted that without the All-22 angle, it’s hard to do a proper evaluation on each of these guys since we don’t get to see the entire picture from the broadcast angle.
With all that said, let’s dive right into it.
The good: Malik Willis
I want to start by saying that I completely agree with Mike Vrabel’s assessment from earlier this offseason: Willis has, in fact, shown glaring improvement.
Throughout the game, he did a nice job of operating within the offense, going through progressions and confidently ripping his passes with accuracy and anticipation.
There were honestly a few times when Willis’ ball placement was fantastic.
Against man, he hit his receivers in stride so they had room to run, and he found the soft spots in zone coverage, subsequently hitting his receivers once they were there.
The Liberty product also did a good job of using his legs as an asset to buy more time. His first play of the game was a rollout to the right in which he threw a dart for a 30-yard gain.
FOOTBALL IS BACK!@malikwillis hits Chris Moore for 32 yards on the first play from scrimmage!
📺: Watch #TENvsCHI on @WKRN/@nflnetwork/NFL+ pic.twitter.com/7EBErKDsvz
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) August 12, 2023
He then finished that drive with a beautiful touchdown run where he made a nice move to bounce outside to get into the end zone.
.@malikwillis takes it himself for the first score of the game!
📺: Watch #TENvsCHI on @WKRN/ @nflnetwork/ NFL+ pic.twitter.com/pJQJvrmmjR
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) August 12, 2023
Willis ended the game with an impressive two-minute drive that unfortunately sputtered at the end.
He completed big plays to Kearis Jackson, Gavin Holmes, and Tre’Shaun Harrison to get his team inside the red zone, but that’s as far as he got.
In the end, there was a lot to be excited about when it comes to Willis’ development, even if he undoubtedly has some moments he would like back.
The bad: Malik Willis
A lot of Willis’ problems on the day were the same issues he had last year, but the good news is, you didn’t see nearly as much of them.
Early on in the game, the team got out of the huddle late after a review, but he still tried to make checks, not noticing that the play clock was winding down.
There were also times when Willis was slow with his processing, taking forever to come off his initial read — and by the time he did, he had pressure right in his face and was forced to take his eyes off from downfield.
The second-year quarterback also had two turnovers that were at least partly his fault. The first one came on a throw to a wide-open Josh Whyle. Willis didn’t have any pressure, and his mechanics were sound, but he simply overthrew his 6-foot-7 tight end.
Ballhawk mode: activated
📺: #TENvsCHI on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/roSPMyJSim
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 12, 2023
Yes, the ball hit Whyle’s outstretched hands and could have been caught, but that pass shouldn’t have been that high in the first place. Willis had more than enough time to ensure he threw an accurate ball in that situation. He needed to sacrifice some of that velocity for a little more touch.
That’s something Vrabel has harped on this offseason, noting that both quarterbacks need to figure out ways to use different clubs for different throws.
Willis threw that pass as if he had a breaking defender on the ball and he was trying to beat him to the spot, but that was not the case in that situation.
Later on in the game, he fumbled after being hit from behind, and even though his processing was slow, this one wasn’t nearly as much on him as the interception.
Tennessee’s young signal-caller then ended the game on a couple of errant throws during what could’ve been a potential game-winning drive.
Willis had Mason Kinsey streaking in the back of the end zone, but he simply missed him on an inaccurate pass in which he was forced to his right and threw the ball on the run.
If he’s going to make that pass, he has to get his body square to the target so he’s able to make a more natural throw, as opposed to just slinging it across his body as hard as he can.
It’s occasional bad habits like those that are currently holding Willis back, but these are the types of things that can be fixed with repetition and good coaching.
The good: Will Levis
The rookie quarterback had his moments where he looked solid operating within an NFL offense.
It may sound minor, but I thought Levis did a great job at selling a lot of his play fakes, which should help him and the entire offense whenever he gets out there with the actual starters.
The Kentucky product showed good mobility throughout the game, looking much healthier than the version of Levis that played in Kentucky last year.
Nice footwork and good mobility here from Levis to escape the pressure and turn this into a solid gain on 2nd down #TENvsCHI pic.twitter.com/zNwwcDHzDo
— Justin Graver (@titansfilmroom) August 12, 2023
Levis also did a good job of identifying the soft spots in zone coverage, consistently getting the ball to his receiver in an area where they can safely catch it without being in danger.
Sadly, the offensive line he was behind for most of the game didn’t do him any favors, as the group constantly forced both quarterbacks into uncomfortable situations.
Overall, I thought Levis did well in his first professional outing, but there is obviously a ton of room to grow. Nevertheless, patience is going to be required with him and that’s why he’s not the starting quarterback this year.
It’s okay for him to have these flaws in his first preseason game. Too many people want perfection right out the gate and that’s just not a realistic expectation for someone who was always going to need time to develop.
The bad: Will Levis
Arguably Levis’ biggest knock on the day was his occasional slow processing, which put him in a couple of unfortunate situations where he either rushed his throw or was met by the opposing pass-rush.
Levis missed a couple of layups simply because he hurried the pass, resulting in inconsistent mechanics that were overly reliant on his powerful arm.
His ugliest sequence of the day came at the end when he was thrown back in with less than a minute left and asked to lead a game-winning drive.
Following a play in which he missed a wide-open Holmes in the middle of the field, Levis threw it right to a defender one play later.
Will Levis interception to end the game pic.twitter.com/Kya0hmdh3I
— Alex 👋 (@Dubs408) August 12, 2023
It’s hard to know what he was trying to accomplish here, but in my honest opinion, that’s a completely unfair situation to just throw him into.
He hadn’t played in two drives and all of a sudden he was thrust into a game-winning situation with less than a minute to go. I would’ve rather just let Willis finish the game since he was the one who had just led his team down the field on the previous drive.
Asking your cold rookie quarterback to lead the team in that situation is a recipe for disaster. Avoiding those types of things is why I wanted to see the quarterbacks alternating halves instead of what they did today.
Nonetheless, there really is no excuse for that final pass, and it’s something that he must clean up going forward.
Who had the better day?
In my opinion, I think both quarterbacks looked solid for the most part. Levis had the ugly interception at the end of the game, but other than that, he performed well given the circumstances.
You can tell he has previous experience running a pro-style offense because he hardly looked overwhelmed from an operational standpoint. I expect him to continue improving the more reps that he gets, both in practice and throughout the preseason.
As for Willis, he was probably more inconsistent than Levis was, but he also produced several big plays when his team needed him to. The second-year quarterback started the game with an impressive touchdown drive and almost ended with one, as well.
Willis wasn’t perfect by any means, but it’s becoming evident that he’s starting to turn into an actual NFL quarterback right before our eyes, which is something we definitely couldn’t say last year.
There’s no telling if he’ll ever reach his full potential, but this is a positive start toward getting him to be a reliable option when needed.
If I had to give the nod to one of these guys, I’m probably going to go with Willis by a slight margin. Levis probably would’ve had my vote had he not been thrown out there at the end, but that ugly interception with the game on the line ultimately swung my vote back to Willis.
It will be interesting to see how both of these young signal-callers look next week now that they have a game under their belts.
Let’s just hope the Titans allow each quarterback to get into a rhythm this time by giving them an entire half to work with because I personally wasn’t a fan of the constant alternating.
