[FREE] Are We Overthinking Will Levis?

Are we all overthinking this situation between the Tennessee Titans and their supposed Franchise QB?

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Today, while slaving away to feed the greed of corporate pigs who don’t have a shred of humanity left in them, I came across a little graphic that piqued my interest.

And yes, I was stealing company time.

Anyways, I came across a little graphic that made me think a little bit. The graphic wasn’t anything overly complicated, it was simply a composite of pass protection rankings from multiple sites that grade these things.

Like PFF, ESPN, and SIS (which I still haven’t gotten around to understanding just yet).

Per usual, the Titans were in the bottom half, coming in with the 27th best composite pass protection grade. But that isn’t what I want to talk about, at least right now.

What shocked me was the 32nd ranked team, the Los Angeles Rams. Now if you know anything about the Rams and their situation right now, you know that they’ve been absolutely ravaged, and I mean ravaged by injuries.

Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are the big names, but their offensive line has been truck sticked by injuries as well, with starters Jonah Jackson, Steve Avila, and Joe Noteboom all dealing with injuries at the moment.

With these three out – and many others — Matthew Stafford has been forced to play Houdini. And he’s pulled off the act extremely well, helping the Rams avoid an 0-3 start.

Now it’s not wise to beg your quarterback to play the role of a legendary magician, but when the time calls for it, you expect your signal caller to do as much as he can to keep the boat afloat amid tumultuous circumstances.

That’s why they get paid the big bucks.

So I sat there and thought, well if Will Levis is supposed to be heralded as the next big thing for this franchise, why can’t he do the same? Not in the same capacity, but in a way that at least elevates an offense past the obstacles that stand in its way.

I know it sounds like cherry picking, since scheme, roster, and other things play a role in a quarterback’s ability to well…function.

But  since fans have turned the OL issues, the speed issue at WR, and other problems into excuses for Levis’ poor play, it feels like we need to discuss the rationality of making excuses for Levis when he simply hasn’t proven to be a needle mover anyways.

All of this just makes me wonder. Are we overthinking the Will Levis situation and ignoring the obvious flaws he has just to push a narrative that never exists with good quarterbacks?

We’ve Seen This Before

While stealing company time, I also saw a comment from my boss/site manager Zach Lyons. He brought up the situation with Marcus Mariota and it felt like a perfect comparison to the situation we’re in now.

I’m sure everyone remembers the weekly Marcus Mariota discourse during his time in Tennessee.

You had one side, who defended Mariota and blamed the countless problems with his surroundings for his middling play.

Then you had the other side, who viewed Mariota as damaged goods and didn’t see much in the way of upside with him.

In the end, the doubters were in the right, as Mariota’s disappointing play led to him getting benched in 2019. After the benching, many were sad as they grew attached to Mariota, but their attachment blinded their judgment as they blamed his surroundings for his fall from grace.

That could’ve been the case, but the reality is that Mariota was simply not good enough to elevate his situation despite his negative surroundings.

It isn’t fair to blame Mariota solely for his shortcomings, but you can’t sit there and say he didn’t have the chances to outgrow the negatives his surroundings presented.

In the end, he just couldn’t do it and was sent packing after his rookie deal expired.

Good QBs Overcome

That’s why I don’t buy the excuses that are made up for quarterbacks that just don’t play good football.

Could a better offensive line help Will Levis? Yes.

Could more speed at receiver help Will Levis? Yes.

Could a more experienced and dialed in Brian Callahan help Will Levis? Yes, yes, yes.

But ask yourself this.

Do great quarterbacks necessarily *need* these things to succeed and give their team a chance to win each and every Sunday?

No, absolutely not.

Take Stafford for example, he doesn’t need a bustling environment to succeed and put his team in a good spot to win.

Hell, take Joe Burrow from Cincinnati’s Super Bowl run. He didn’t need a stellar offensive line to lead the Bengals through the playoffs, into the Super Bowl, and almost into a win.

Granted, he could’ve aided from it and his weapons were a big part of his success. But he didn’t need a completely friendly environment to succeed and give the Bengals an early positive return on their investment.

He and Stafford both took what they were given and ran with it.

And didn’t look back.

If that doesn’t convince you, then I’ll leave you with one simple question.

What has Levis done over the first 3 games, that any other NFL level quarterback can’t do?

Has he extended plays and turned them into game changing sequences? Has he thrown accurate bombs down the field and given his team an extra element of threat defenses have to prepare for?

What has Levis done that screams difference maker, game changer, or game breaker?

If your answer is nothing, then you’re on the correct track. If you have any other answer than that, you need to start over and try again.

Overview

It’s okay to say a quarterback doesn’t have an advantageous situation.

But the best quarterbacks don’t need those to function, they take their scraps and survive off them until they absolutely need their scraps again.

Based on what we’re seeing, Levis needs a whole lot more than scraps to function, which is puzzling given he was given scraps last year and looked promising ag times.

Either way, Levis needs to show he can survive off the crumbs he gets. Until he does, the excuses you make for him aren’t valid whatsoever.

Because if you keep making them, you’re only proving that he needs the squeaky clean situation you see so few quarterbacks receive, and that he isn’t good enough to scrounge, like almost every other quarterback has to do.

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