A recent mock draft has the Tennessee Titans taking quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s future replacement in the first round.
The mock draft comes from CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards, who has the Titans taking Liberty quarterback Malik Willis at No. 26 overall. His take:
“Ryan Tannehill cost Tennessee its playoff game, and there have been some murmurings for change. Willis would allow the Titans to lean in to their identity as a run-heavy team while developing him as a more consistent and decisive passer.”
Would the Titans really go with a quarterback in the first round?
A year ago it seemed almost unfathomable after Tannehill put together two near-elite seasons with the Titans, but after taking a step back in 2021 and tossing three picks in the divisional-round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee could (and should) at least have its eye on the future at the position.
Willis was a dynamic player at Liberty and it’s easy to see why the Titans might fall in love with him enough to draft him at 26th overall, something we’d be on board with.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound quarterback completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 5,107 yards, while also adding 1,822 rushing yards and 74 total touchdowns in two years (23 games) as a starter.
The Draft Network’s Kyle Crabbs calls Willis “the most physically gifted quarterback prospect in the 2022 NFL draft, bar none,” but also believes it will take him time to develop into a starting-caliber NFL quarterback.
“Liberty quarterback Malik Willis is one of the most challenging quarterback evaluations I can remember doing in recent years. Willis is the most physically gifted quarterback prospect in the 2022 NFL Draft, bar none. But his performance on the field in 2021 took a bit of a step back from a ball security standpoint and Willis played in an environment for the Flames that created some challenges. Willis often failed to get help from his receivers on throws that challenged their catch radius. But Willis too often asked them to win outside their frame. Liberty failed to afford Willis with easy completions on too many instances—but then again, Willis at times forsook them in favor of extending plays with his legs. There is very much a blame salad to be had with Liberty and the challenges that Willis’ quarterback evaluation presents. I do think in an NFL environment, Willis will have a great opportunity to develop into a franchise player given his dynamic physical gifts, but you’re going to need to both tailor your offense to his strengths and be willing to give him the necessary time to develop as a player and elevate his baseline of operations as a quarterback. Willis currently is more of a thrower than a quarterback and he relies on his athleticism to help facilitate and create explosive plays. I love the fact that he commandeered a tempo-oriented offense and any NFL franchise that brings Willis into the fray would be foolish to not look to amplify that part of his game, where defenses become more vanilla and his athleticism can strain the conditioning and discipline of the defense. The former Auburn Tiger is a two-year starter with the Flames and therefore will need plenty of patience; a team who drafts him to serve as a starter right away will likely be disappointed with the results. In all, Willis has the highest ceiling of any quarterback in this year’s class and in the right environment, I could easily see him becoming a Pro Bowl-caliber player. But his variance of outcomes will very much be dependent on where he lands and the wrong environment may yield ugly results.”
With Tannehill pretty much locked-in as the starter for 2022 — and quite possibly for 2023 — thanks to his contract, Tennessee can allow Willis to develop behind their veteran signal-caller with the hope he’ll be ready the following season, or in 2024 at the latest.
While we can’t say for sure that the Titans will indeed go with a quarterback at some point in this coming draft, we do know it would make the offseason a lot more interesting to follow.
