How Should the Titans Handle Will Levis's Rookie Season?
What are the different ways the Tennessee Titans can handle Will Levis's rookie season?
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During this exact time last year — no really, I meant this exact time last year — the Tennessee Titans were facing the same head throbbing quarterback questions they likely didn’t want to answer.
Those questions were:
When will Malik Willis play?
How much will he play?
Willis, who had just been selected in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, was seen as a raw talent that had some excellent physical attributes. But the drawback with him was that because he was so raw — and by raw, I mean really raw, Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen level raw — that any playing time in year one should be during carefully selected, situational increments.
Unfortunately for Willis and the Titans, they didn’t get their way, as Willis was thrusted into action multiple times due to Ryan Tannehill struggling with ankle injuries. Willis’ play tanked with each start, but considering that Willis didn’t have too many highs in the first place, it’s hard to say his play tanked at all.
He was simply that bad, in fact he was so bad, that the Titans opted to throw in veteran backpacker Josh Dobbs, in as the starting quarterback in last season’s win or go home division decider against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Now whether Willis’ hard fall was a result of his own bad play, the Titans’ poor offensive situation, or even a combination of both, the fact of the matter is that Willis and the Titans’ mutual relationship didn’t benefit either side last season.
*Breath*
You now might be asking where the hell am I going with this. Well, considering who the shiny new toy is, I think you can get a bit of an idea.
With Will Levis now in town, the Titans will be tasked once again with carefully developing their talented, but still slightly raw potential quarterback of the future. With how chaotic the Titans’ last go at this went, some lessons should’ve been learned regarding the idea of throwing an unready rookie quarterback into the fire.
But since this situation is still fluid, and can change at any time, it won’t hurt to go over the options the Titans will have regarding Levis and any potential playing time he could receive during the upcoming season.
In my mind, there are 3 solid options the Titans have pertaining to this situation, all of which will have their drawbacks and positive sides. Based on what we know, I think we can figure out which route the Titans will go down (Mike Vrabel, a man of many secrets….not).
For now though, we can put our craniums together, take a little trip to Titans dreamland, and decide on what we ourselves think the Titans should do.
Come on in, the water’s fine.
Make Levis Ride the Pine
The second most appealing option here is to let Levis sit behind Ryan Tannehill and let him learn in anticipation of him starting in 2024.
I know some would rather throw him out there and see what the Titans have, just to get an idea of what Levis is and if he can be something much more. But if you’re betting on him being the guy for the future, it’s better to let Levis sit back and learn, while soaking in each and every ounce of important information he can possibly retain.
Levis isn’t crazy raw like Willis was last spring, in fact he’s much farther along than Willis could’ve been at any point last season. But Levis still has issues with the mental portion of the game, most of which significantly impact his ability to stay consistent on the field on a snap by snap basis.
That’s why this option is the second most appealing, because the mental portion of the game can be partially solved with adequate work in the film room and gradual improvement on the practice field.
As well as good old gameday experience by simply watching on the sidelines, which we alluded to before.
But if the Titans truly want to be more aggressive in Levis’ development and see what they have in the gun slinger in year one, then it’d be best to go with the next approach.
Let Levis’s Progression Tell You When
This is probably the most appealing option, at least in my opinion.
Like I said earlier, most of Levis’ issues stem from the mental aspect of playing quarterback, as well as some physical problems he can only grow out of by playing snaps whenever he can get them.
One of those physical issues Levis has is his ability to be accurate on a consistent basis. There’s no denying Levis’ arm talent, as it’s probably one of the strongest arms in the league by far, even with him not playing a single snap yet.
But as we’ve seen with plenty of strong arms, accuracy can be a problem since it’s hard to tone down the velocity, and throw with precision and touch into different windows on the field. I’m sure Vols fans can attest to that, as they experienced watching Joe Milton struggle with the same problem during his first stint as a starter a few seasons ago.
Now that isn’t to say Levis has Milton level problems with accuracy, but his shortcomings with accuracy are certainly a problem and need to be ironed out if he wants to be the Titans’ long term option under center.
Physical issues aside, Levis’ mental game needs a bit of work as well. Watching him during his time at Kentucky, there were too many times where he stared down receivers and relied on his strong arm to bail him out of trouble.
That can also be tied to the accuracy problem, as rushing a tight window throw, or rushing to correct a throw that shouldn’t be so tight, can throw your mechanics off and lead to bad or inaccurate throws down the field.
That and other issues were highlighted by Tony Pauline of ProFootballNetwork within Levis’ scouting profile ahead of the draft:
“Very slow going to secondary targets. Doesn’t do a good job seeing the field or reading defenses. Indecisive, late delivering the ball and misses opportunities. Consistently stares down the primary target.”
These issues can mostly be solved by reps, both on the practice field and in game situations. Levis will certainly get time on the practice field, but it’s the game portion where the questions reside.
Barring anything crazy, Levis isn’t expected to get playing time unless Tannehill goes down with an injury — that’s if Levis can even steal the backup job, although I’d bet on that happening if Malik Willis doesn’t show anything worthwhile during camp and the preseason — or if the Titans are ways away from making the playoffs and Levis is in a position to make a start(s) during the later portion of the season.
We won’t know if either of those things will happen until the season begins, so betting on this scenario even occurring just seems premature at best.
The last option is the most aggressive one, but the least likely to happen.
Go Guns Blazin’
This option is probably the equivalent of a poker player going all in, pushing all of his chips into the middle of the table, saying a silent “f*ck it” in their head, and praying to the dear lord that the outcome will favor them and reward them handsomely.
If the Titans want to do this, then all they’d have to do is start Levis from the jump and see what they have in him from the get go.
That’s right, the Titans can throw Levis on the field in week one, on the road against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome, and go from there in hopes of seeing what the rookie can do.
If you do that, you can see what Levis has, if you’re intrigued or not, and potentially make a move for a better quarterback prospect in 2024.
Now this is extremely unlikely to happen, which I’m sure is heartbreaking for all you Tannehill haters. But theoretically it can still happen.
Mike Vrabel can suddenly wake up one morning, grab his hot cup of coffee, stroke his mustache, stare at the pretty skyline on a beautiful morning, and decide to start Levis barring any unforeseen circumstance.
Again, extremely unlikely, but the theatrics would make for great reality television so it’s worth a shot anyways.
Conclusion
They say you should be careful with a rookie quarterback that has a positive upside.
And they’d be right, you should be very careful in determining a quarterback’s development plan, what steps you should take each and every week, and how aggressive you should be in terms of getting a rookie up to speed.
Which is why Levis’ development should be handled very carefully by this new look Titans staff. Vrabel and his trusted staff know this of course, which is why you shouldn’t be too worried with the way they’re going to do things moving forward.
But it’s a crafty discussion to have, since the Titans are in an odd position with meager draft capital moving forward.
The ball is in the Titans’ court, let’s see what they do with it as the summer months approach and end, while the falls quickly swings around in time to welcome a new football season.
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