[FREE] Are the Titans Mishandling the Backup QB Battle?
The Titans are deciding to go with a preseason battle that consists of constantly swapping out the quarterbacks almost every drive. Is that the wise choice?
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Whenever the Tennessee Titans have had a quarterback competition of some sort during the rule of Mike Vrabel, he’s always implemented a peculiar preseason snap system for the two quarterbacks to work through.
He doesn’t give each quarterback a specific set amount of time they’ll be playing (like a quarter, two quarters, etc), he simply rotates each quarterback throughout the game, throwing them into uncomfortable situations that feel similar to a simple yet familiar scenario that can occur.
A backup quarterback entering a game to replace the usual starter under center.
It isn’t a scenario a team would like to encounter, especially if their certified starter gives them the best chance to win. But it can happen, just as the Titans saw last season when Ryan Tannehill went down with ankle trouble multiple times throughout the season.
Sure it has its downsides, but Vrabel knows best so surely this is best for the situation at hand.
…
Or, at least I’d like to think that’s the case.
I’ll be completely honest here, I have no idea why the Titans are still using this weird process to judge quarterback play throughout the preseason.
Maybe my mind is ragged, and maybe I’m simply not following what’s going on here. But if there’s one thing I understand, is that this weird game of quarterback musical chairs isn’t all that beneficial to anyone.
At least according to the conclusion my brain came to.
Not only is it flawed, but it seemingly has a low chance of working out when the two quarterback test subjects you’re using are both young and need as many reps as possible to fine tune the problems they might have.
And that’s a problem, especially when the two young quarterbacks in question have very real problems that can only be solved with as many game reps as possible.
This feels like a bit of a short rambling session, so let’s just dive into why this is a problem and which options feel more logical moving forward.
Why is this a problem?
The main reason why this switcheroo of quarterbacks is a problem, is because it takes away something important from a young quarterback.
The ability to settle in.
You’ve heard it before haven’t you? A quarterback settling into the game, feeling comfortable, and having the right frame of mind to properly run through the millions of thoughts per second whenever they squat behind center.
Yeah, that’s extremely important.
The problem though, is that usually quarterbacks consistently find trouble “settling in” whenever they’re young or if they aren’t used to the heavyweight setting of an NFL pocket.
Guess who fits that criteria to a tee?
If you guessed Malik Willis and Will Levis, then you win…..the satisfaction of knowing that you’re right!
Willis is in year two of fully transitioning to NFL play. Being able to stay in the game, learn from mistakes, and grow past them is an important step for a player at this stage of development. Being flipped flopped between possessions hurts, more than helping.
It’s the same way for Levis, in fact it’s potentially more important to give him a consistent set amount of possessions than it is with Willis.
Levis is your future right? Your prized quarterback prospect that you gambled on finding in the later rounds, right? You should be giving him more set possession counts so you can get him up to speed with the mental aspect of the game, since you’re likely betting on him potentially taking the reins next year (at the earliest).
Now the Titans could be using this system to place their young guys in specific situations, against specific defenses, and against specific personnel groupings that might give the offense a different look.
But considering just how vanilla some preseason NFL defenses can be, using this logic to support this idea seems irresponsible and confusing at best.
The Titans should be prioritizing comfort over chaos. And going through with this wacky quarterback switching system?
It does the exact opposite of that.
But there is a way — or two — that can work for the Titans, while giving Levis and Willis snaps they surely need while they continue their own NFL development.
They’re not sexy, but they’re concrete, simple, and prove to be far more logical on paper than whatever the Titans have going on right now.
Solution(s)?
The first traditional solution to this problem is setting aside a set amount of possessions for each specific quarterback.
And I mean a set amount.
Now that seems risky, considering that you can’t predict the amount of possessions you receive each game.
Especially in the preseason.
Second and third string guys tend to make a lot of mistakes (shocking), some that can erase what you had planned.
Nonetheless it’s an idea that’s worth considering since it gives you more control and variance over the amount of playing time each quarterback might receive. In a way, the Titans’ current system resembles this a bit, since each quarterback is given a number of opportunities to do their bidding.
However, the way the Titans execute it is sloppy, which isn’t what you want.
The other way — and probably the most drastic option — is setting aside halves for both quarterbacks to play.
It falls on the old school college football side of things, where both quarterbacks each get a half to play, find their mistakes, and correct them as their playing time comes to an end at the end of each half.
Obviously this method has some issues as well, since you’re essentially throwing one quarterback against better opposition, while throwing another against lesser talented opposition at the same time.
This is a problem when you want your two quarterbacks to play against equally, if not more talented opposition, but you don’t have the amount of snaps available to go through with this. That limits the growth period for a quarterback, especially a younger one that needs reps against better competition.
The other method is alternating quarters, but that method falls within the alternating halves option.
Overview
Maybe the Titans are using this method for a specific reason we don’t know of yet. Usually that’s the case, but until we know the reason, all we can do is speculate.
But criticism of the Titans’ current handling of things is fair and reasonable, even during times of speculation like now.
The Titans can do a lot better in terms of handling the snap situation for their two young quarterbacks. In fact, they have to do much better if they want to maximize the growth ceiling for their two young options during this preseason period.
Whether they’ll see the error of their ways and change, remains to be seen.
Until then though, we can only guess their methods, if they’re correct or not, and how they need to be changed if they’re incorrect.
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