NASHVILLE, Tenn. ⏤ It’s no question whether QB Malik Willis was a good choice for the Tennessee Titans with their second third-rounder in the 2022 draft. He was.

At worst, Willis will be a significant upgrade at backup quarterback over incumbent Logan Woodside. At best, the Liberty product will develop nicely and become the Titans' quarterback of the future.

For a third-round pick, that's a pretty darn good risk-reward ratio.

What is a question, though, is what the Titans' selection of Willis means for their current starting QB, Ryan Tannehill.

Does it mean that the Titans are actively seeking to create a Tannehill succession plan so they can move on from the QB who threw three interceptions in their recent playoff loss?

Is Willis a legitimate threat to Tannehill's starting job in 2022?

Robinson was adamant about Malik Willis being the BPA when they picked him. #Titans pic.twitter.com/t30VrsAnhF

— Luke Worsham (@luke_worsham) April 30, 2022

Do the Titans even see Willis as a long-term solution at quarterback, or did they merely take a flier on a plus athlete who happened to be the best player left on their board at pick 86?

General manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel, unsurprisingly, didn't do much to clear up those questions in their Friday evening press conference.

Vrabel, asked about Tannehill's future, punted any comment down the road.

"I don't think anybody is going to be able to talk about anybody's future tonight," Vrabel said.

Robinson was quick to call Willis the best player available at No. 86 and praise the 22-year-old's skills.

"Good arm, athletic, moves around well," Robinson said. "Got a really good skillset. Throws a good ball. He is tough to tackle. He has a lot of work to do, obviously, like all the rookies do, but excited to add him to the team and compete."

Certainly, Vrabel and Robinson were never going to come right out and declare Tannehill to be in danger. Even so, their comments about Willis didn't exactly foster a conclusion that they see him as some kind of heir apparent.

What could foster that conclusion, though, are the actions they took leading up to selecting Willis.

First, Tennessee brought Willis to Nashville for a top-30 visit. They had interest in adding him even when he was considered a real threat to go late in the first round or early in the second.

He wasn't simply someone who fell so far that Robinson and Vrabel said "wow, we hadn't really thought about this guy before, but how could we pass him up now?" He was a potential target from the beginning.

Second, the Titans traded up for Willis, a move Robinson attributed to worrying about teams behind them leaping up.

"You just never know what's going to go on behind you," Robinson said. "We were a couple of picks out. You are looking at the teams that are ahead of you, but you are also looking and being cognizant of the teams that are behind you and the potential for somebody to come up or a team in the fourth to come back into the third."

While Willis's fall made him more valuable to the Titans, he didn't exactly fall right into their laps.

So, is Tannehill's job in danger? Probably⏤no, almost definitely⏤not in 2022.

Beyond 2022, Tannehill's job will only be in danger if he suffers another colossal meltdown this season and Willis develops quickly.

It's less likely that the Titans are actively looking for an escape from Tannehill and more likely that Willis is merely an insurance policy.

Yes, they brought him in for a visit and, yes, they traded up for him. But it was the third round, which Robinson said didn't even warrant a phone call to Tannehill.

• Willis image: Robert McDuffie/USA Today
• Tannehill image: Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today