2024 Season Proved Too Big for Second Round Pick
I am going to make a quick assumption about Titans fans during the Second Round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Will Levis was still on the board and had quickly fallen out of the First Round. Many college football fans (specifically those in the SEC) were probably wondering in the weeks leading up to the draft how Will Levis, the Kentucky Wildcat, was receiving first round projections.
Levis had just led UK to a middling 7-6 season while throwing for 2,406 yards, 19 TD/10 Ints, and an impressive -107 rush yards. But for some reason, NFL “analysts” were projecting him in the first round and even potentially a top five pick.
The first round came and went. The Titans drafted guard Peter Skoronksi with their first pick. Not sexy, but a position that was needed for the porous Tennessee offensive line.
Now this is where my assumption lies. Titans fans were watching the draft remembering that Ryan Tannehill was getting up in age. They were most likely thinking: “is Tennessee going to draft their potential QB of the future in the second round? Will Levis is still on the board? Oh no, please don’t do it. There is no way the actually do it.”
The pick is in.
“With the 33rd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select: Will Levis. Quarterback. University of Kentucky.”
Admittedly, the Titans relationship with Levis started with a bang. Remember his debut? Four touchdowns against the Falcons, making fans think we had unearthed the next Tom Brady. But, as the seasons rolled by, that quickly changed from “Levis is our future” to “Okay, he is who we thought he was.”
His rookie year stats were a rollercoaster – 1,808 yards, 8 TDs, 4 INTs, and an underwhelming completion percentage (58.4%).
Fast forward to 2024, and things have only gotten worse. The front went all-in to bolster their offense around the second-year QB bringing in talents like DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd, and Tony Pollard. When the writing was on the wall that Levis didn’t have the mental make-up to lead a successful team, Hopkins was traded away to Kansas City, and the former Kentucky QB was benched for career backup, Mason Rudolph. With a 3-12 record, the Titans experiment with Will Levis has predictably failed.
So, what’s next now that the Titans have officially pulled the plug on the Levis experiment?
They will either need take a QB in the 2025 draft or obtain a bridge quarterback for the 2025 season. The latter seems to make more sense as the 2025 QB draft class does not appear especially strong. Outside of Shedeur Sanders, no one player really jumps off the screen as a long-term organizational saviour.
There have been some rumblings of a possible trade for Matthew Stafford at the end of the season given his relationship with Brian Callahan (BC was Stafford’s QB coach in Detroit from 2016-2017). But again, these rumors appear to be a long-shot at best.
Only time will tell how the Titans move forward from here. But one thing is for certain: Titans fans were justified in their criticisms of Will Levis from the very beginning.