Titans' great weighs in on who should start at quarterback
Another frustrating Tennessee Titans loss, combined with another glimpse of the Will Levis era has left many fans and analysts debating over who should be the starting quarterback once Ryan Tannehill is healthy. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel didn't quell the debate on Friday when he declined to name a starting quarterback for Week 10's matchup […]
Another frustrating Tennessee Titans loss, combined with another glimpse of the Will Levis era has left many fans and analysts debating over who should be the starting quarterback once Ryan Tannehill is healthy.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel didn't quell the debate on Friday when he declined to name a starting quarterback for Week 10's matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Granted, the game is a whole 10 days away, so there is no reason to rush into a decision. But, at the same time, one can see why people are ready for the Levis era after the last couple of games. Sure, the team is 1-1 with Levis as the starter, but the offense seems to have little more explosiveness to it, especially in the passing attack. After six previous games of major struggles and inconsistency, I'm sure many have considered it to be a breath of fresh air and a welcomed change.
It's also impossible to forget Levis' historical debut that allowed this debate to hit the ground running.
Still, it's not like the Titans offense has completely transformed under Levis. The unit came back down to Earth on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, scoring just 16 points after hanging a season-high 28 points on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8. An objective take would be that so far, the offense is inconsistent with Levis at the helm, as a whole. No matter the excitement that comes with being able to hit the deep shots.
Which, in turn, has created a topic of discussion that will sit atop the conversation pile for the next week-and-a-half.
Former Titans great weighs in on the Ryan Tannell-Will Levis debate
A lot of times, the best advice/take on this exact situation comes from former/current players and coaches of the same ilk. And sure enough, former Titans great, Brad Hopkins, weighed in on things during Friday's edition of Blaine and Mickey on 104.5 The Zone.
"I think that Mike Vrabel has a job to do and he would be doing himself and his team a disservice if he deviated from that," said Hopkins. "He can't look at Will Levis' performance like we are as analysts and a fan. It's easy for us to get excited about [the] play that we saw at quarterback because it was exciting to watch [and] it was fun to watch.
"But you got to remember why Will Levis was in there: Because Ryan Tannehill was not able to do his job. So given those circumstances, I think it would make sense and Mike Vrabel being an old school kind of guy, cut from the cloth, right; to resume as it would have been had he not been injured. Now, it's easy, then, to determine what was the difference in the offense – once he comes back. If this offense all of a sudden takes a step back -and I say step back slightly because we didn't see like a tremendous performance- but we saw the quarterback position giving the offense a chance…
"… Now, if Ryan Tannehill is 95% closer to what we normally would see from Ryan Tannehill, then we would expect that experience to be on top of what we've already seen because it seems to be an evolution of the offense. Now if that doesn't take place, then you can easily point to oh you know what, there's a difference when eight's (Levis is) in there. And that might be where we need to go. So I'd see a short leash, if anything, by putting Ryan Tannehill back in the lineup. But to me that just makes sense."
Hopkins makes great points. We don't know how sustainable the offense is with Levis in the lineup simply because it's different context. Teams don't have the tape on him like they do Tannehill, but they eventually will have enough to where they can come up with solid, effective game plans on defense. I mean, just look at the difference between the Falcons and Steelers games, for instance.
On the other hand, Tannehill was healthy during the first six games of the season. It's not like he was playing those games banged up or limited in any fashion. A healthy Tannehill had completed just 62% of his passes for 1,128 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions before injuring his ankle against the Baltimore Ravens. Which obviously, isn't ideal for any starting QB in the NFL.
But, the idea, is Tannehill's experience can help him get back on track. Even if there is plenty of reason to doubt that, in itself.
"I would have hated to gone out, being injured, and all of a sudden I never see the starting lineup again," added Hopkins. "Because this is the final year of Tannehill's contract and I understand that there is a an acquired excitement over the past couple of games and what Will Levis has been able to do.
"But still tapping into who Tannehill has been, because there have been moments of brilliance when we see consistency up front. When we see Derrick Henry taking over a ballgame. You gotta remember who Ryan is. Ryan is not a solar eclipse. He's a lunar eclipse. In other words, we don't circle around Ryan. Ryan needs the help of of the offense and its support staff to be good…
"… He is athletic enough to operate outside of the pocket if need be. But he's also smart enough to go through a progression and accurate enough to find the right player. So we'll see very, very soon once Ryan Tannehill gets back in the lineup, what has been the biggest difference between this offense when either one of these quarterbacks has been under center."
Do the Titans have the time to find this out, though?
That's the big question, here.
Based off the Kevin Byard trade, it seems like this team is fine with riding the ebbs and flows of 2023 in order to carve a new path in 2024. While trying to win as many ball games at once. No matter how obvious or contradictory that may be.
At 3-5, however, and with the Jacksonville Jaguars showing no signs of slowing down – shouldn't the Titans be pulling out all the stops to find the spark that can help them get back in the AFC South race? I mean, hell, even the Houston Texans are currently in better shape at 3-4.
The Titans' remaining schedule isn't getting much easier, either. Sure, the Bucs are 3-5 and riding a three-game losing streak, but they have one of the better defenses in the NFL. Then, it's the red-hot Jags, followed by the Carolina Panthers, which is a winnable game. But then things ramp back up with an Indianapolis Colts team that already boasts a win over Tennessee, the Miami Dolphins, the Texans, and then the Seattle Seahawks before rematches with the Texans and Jags to close the season.
In all, the Titans' remaining strength of schedule is the 10th-hardest remaining SOS, with opponents' winning percentage averaging a .537 mark.
At this point, if Tannehill has to have a good team around him and the Titans don't have a good team, then there's not much reason to plug him back into the lineup. Especially in the final year of his deal.
It makes more sense to plug in Levis and see if he can raise the play of others around him. Sure, that's a tall ask for a rookie, but it's not an impossible one, at all.
Either way, we'll have an answer, soon enough, and there will be plenty to chew on when it comes to the ensuing results.
You can check out Hopkins' full take on Blaine and Mickey, here.
Mike Vrabel mentions scary detail about Treylon Burks’ injury
The team will continue to monitor Burks’ status, obviously.
