[FREE] Time to Crown Prince William?
After a thrilling victory in Miami, is it time to go from king Henry to Prince William in Tennessee?
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Since the ugly exit of Titans legend Steve McNair, the Titans have desperately tried to find their next franchise savior at quarterback.
At one point, Vince Young was drafted and thought of as the next potential great at quarterback. But injuries, a poor relationship with Jeff Fisher, and inconsistencies on the field led to Young’s turbulent 6 year career with the Titans ending in disappointment.
Next came Jake Locker, but his time as a Titans was mostly spent on the bench due to injuries — you all remember — and he eventually retired after only 4 years spent in the NFL.
Lastly came Marcus Mariota. We know the story there, as his career started out with promise, but quickly fell apart due to injuries and mediocre to below average play.
With so much disappointment, you began to feel somewhat hopeless when it came to the Titans potentially finding their next face of the franchise. Because as soon as something positive came to fruition, it seemed like the bubble had popped before it could even grow to normal size.
That’s why there wasn’t much initial optimism with Will Levis when the Titans drafted him in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
We knew the Levis had the arm talent, had the experience, and had the moxy you want to see from your franchise guy. But accuracy issues and turnover problems skewed public perception of him.
However, it seems that perception is starting to change.
Because after a training camp full of valuable lessons, a less than ideal preseason experience, and some perfectly timed starts under center later, we’re starting to see the the view of Levis take a significant turn….for the better.
Levis putting the NFL on notice
Coming into Monday night’s game, no one expected the Titans to do what they did, which was coming back from 14 down all within a span of 3 minutes, to win on the road against one of the AFC’s most promising teams.
In reality, no one really expected it to happen after the ugly first quarter from Levis, which included a weird looking pick six due to a blown up screen pass.
To be honest, we kind of expected these sorts of struggles from Levis too.
Not only because rookie struggles at the quarterback spot are given, but also because the operation around him is grim, full of inconsistencies and a lack of talent across the board — well, except DeAndre Hopkins.
In any other reality, Levis probably would’ve struggled to rebound, the offense would’ve continued to sputter, and the Titans would’ve walked out of Miami with another loss.
Therefore increasing the quality of their draft pick and sending the Titans toward another brutal pinch of truth: that they’re not ready to compete with the best of the best just yet.
However, and as we know now, that wasn’t the case.
Levis engineered a steady effort over the 2nd and 3rd quarters, before turning it up late in the fourth quarter, igniting the Titans’ efforts for a 14 point comeback during the last 3 minutes of the games.
A comeback the league hasn’t seen in over 6 years.
Levis ended the game with nearly 330 yards — the first rookie to ever throw for over 300 yards on Monday Night Football — and an important touchdown pass that kickstarted the Titans’ offensive resurgence.
It was a performance no one, and I mean no one, expected to witness on a random Monday night in December. Not even the most diehard Titans fan expected it, and if they told you they did, they’re lying dead through their teeth.
With the performance now in the rearview mirror, attention now turns to next week, as the Titans welcome the Texans to town during another Oilers weekend, hoping to win another and bring home their 6th win of the season.
However, there’ll be another motive on the mind, and it pertains to Levis.
With steady play being the norm during this turbulent season, and with a very impressive road win against one of the AFC’s elite teams, maybe we have to ask the question many are thinking.
Is Will Levis truly the next prince riding on a horse for the Titans? Or in other words, is it time to crown Levis as the Titans’ next savior at quarterback?
Prince William?
The answer is….maybe, leaning more towards yes.
On one hand, it’s foolish to crown a rookie if they haven’t shown an exorbitant amount of flashes or if they aren’t some groundbreaking talent that takes the league by storm. We’ve seen draft evaluators make the same mistake in recent years, I.E. Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, and Justin Fields.
On the other hand though, Levis has shown he can weather a bad offensive storm — much like the one he’s going through now due to the patchwork offensive line and poor receiving quality aside from Hopkins — and still not look overwhelmed or underprepared.
Plus, he’s shown he can even excel at times despite his poor supporting cast. That isn’t something any rookie can do, which goes to show just how resilient and how poised Levis is.
Sure, Levis has made his fair share of mistakes, and he has a good bit to clean up within his game.
But when a rookie can look decent at the very least in a situation like this one, it’s fair to say he can elevate his game even further when the supporting cast gets better.
So, is it right to crown Levis now? I think you can right now, but with certain limitations. As long as you realize the Titans have something in Levis, while also realizing it could be a lot better depending on how Levis evolves and the Titans’ ability to place talent around him, then yes.
I think you can crown him, and what a wild time for the Titans. It’s evident that the Titans have something in Levis. Of course, as mentioned earlier, that something has to evolve further if Levis wants to be the bonafide franchise guy the Titans can build around.
For right now though, that something Levis has looks exciting. And for Titans fans, that’s all they can ask for.
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