The Tennessee Titans had an interesting year at the quarterback position, with the team seeing a changing of the guard at the most important spot in the NFL.
Veteran Ryan Tannehill began the year as the starter but struggled, which can partly be blamed on a terrible offensive line and lackluster receiving corps. Tannehill will be playing elsewhere in 2024.
After Tannehill came down with an ankle injury, 2023 second-round pick Will Levis took over and never relinquished the job. The rookie definitely showed his warts but also provided exciting flashes that has the Titans’ fanbase excited for the future.
While all this was going on, 2022 third-round pick Malik Willis was mostly an afterthought.
After a rough rookie campaign in which he had to overcome both his own deficiencies and those around him, the Liberty product made one relief appearance for Tannehill and showed no signs of improvement.
And that resulted in Levis leapfrogging him for the starting job once Tannehill went down.
In a recent article ranking quarterbacks who made at least one start in 2023, Nick Shook of NFL.com placed Levis at No. 33 out of 66, just one spot ahead of Tannehill. Here’s what Shook said about Levis:
Because of an injury to Ryan Tannehill, Levis got his chance to earn the job earlier than most probably expected. It included a bumpy road typical of a rookie quarterback, especially against opponents who blitzed him relentlessly, but after the dust of 2023 has settled, I like Levis’ prospects in Nashville going forward. The kid has guts, an explosive arm and the moxie needed to make it in this league, as evidenced by his wild comeback win over Miami in prime time. Tennessee’s front office will need to help him by surrounding him with quality talent, of course, but don’t sleep on Levis. There’s something there.
Of course, Willis did not make a start last season, so he wasn’t on the list. That said, he would have been ranked near the bottom, anyway.
An argument can certainly made for Levis to be ahead of some of the signal-callers who are in front of him, but expect a low placement on rankings for the rest of the offseason, as Levis still has to prove himself before we can cement him as the franchise quarterback he’s shown signs of being.
At least he was ranked ahead of Tannehill, though, which is absolutely the right call after Levis outperformed the veteran by a fairly wide margin.
