This week I’ll be going through my post-OTAs projection of the Tennessee Titans 53 man roster, position by position, in order to really discuss the current story for each player on the team. Up first: the Quarterback room.
Quarterbacks
- Cam Ward
- Brandon Allen
Cuts: Tim Boyle
Cam’s Promising Start
You’ve heard me talk at length about Cam Ward before, during, and now after he was drafted by the Titans this spring. He’s had a really strong offseason of practice so far, and If you want to read deeper breakdowns on how he’s looked, click the links here, here, here, or here.
What’s stood out about Cam as being the most impressive so far is his mind. That’s his “It” factor, and you can tell it is from watching him in college. But it’s pretty astonishing how evident it is when you observe and interact with him in person, even in padless May practices. He plays with such a coolness and looseness, even in moments of stress and chaos, that you just can’t manufacture. And based on talking with him, his coaches, and his teammates, it seems like he lives the rest of his life that way too: with an unshakable confidence.
I say this without wishing him any ill will, but rather out of sheer curiosity… I can’t wait to see him get rattled for the first time this fall. How he responds will be interesting.
Will Levis’s Future
If Will Levis hasn’t been traded by cutdown day, he’ll be the backup for this team. There’s just no way you can let him go for nothing. He is so far-and-away the best of the rest in that room, there really is no debate. But as I’ve written and spoken about at length, I think the hope is to trade him.
The Levis propaganda cycle has already begun. His coaches and teammates spoke glowingly of him during offseason practice. He had the single best throw of the day at each mandatory minicamp session… and probably the worst throw in each as well. But that’s the thing about Levis; his upside is always going to make him an attractive option. His build, athleticism, and arm talent will keep him around in the NFL for a while.
Tennessee hopes an opportunity pops up to move him in August. In the meantime, they’ll look to put him in the best positions possible in joint practices and preseason games. If you ask me (and the Levis camp, and the Titans camp), finding a way to move him is what’s in everybody’s best interest.
When Backup QB Is Overrated
Backup quarterback is perhaps the most underrated position on good teams, and the most overrated on bad ones. And in the case of the Titans, being a rebuilding team lumps you into the “bad” category.
If you’re a team in search of a championship, or even just a playoff berth to deem your season a success, having a backup who can keep the ship from taking on too much water if and when your QB goes down is crucial. If your backup can’t hang, even a month of having to lean on them can completely sink a great season.
But when you’re a team on a multi-year rebuild plan, where everything right now is staked on Cam Ward’s development and eventual success, what good does a competent backup do you? If—God forbid—Ward were to go down in 2025, the Titans would be best served as a franchise to take a page out of the Bengals playbook in Joe Burrow’s rookie year: Lose. Hard.
You don’t want to stunt the development of the other players on the team, and the coaching staff may very well worry for their jobs, but that’s all a mark of franchise dysfunction more than it is a good reason not to do the optimal thing and look to the future. This is also why, by the way, there is absolutely zero reason for the Titans to keep a third QB.
Since the emergency QB rule was passed, this is all anybody seems to want to talk about when it comes to cutting down this position. Frankly, there is very little reason to keep a third QB in any situation. But it could be at least argued in two cases: either you have a really good reason to worry both of your first two could get hurt, or you think you have three QBs worth keeping for their talent and upside. The Titans don't fit either of those criteria, not even close.
If you’re somebody who disagrees with me, I have bad news. Because from my point of view, my hopes of having a bad backup in the pen are looking very promising. Neither Tim Boyle nor Brandon Allen bring much of anything to the table. I expect Allen will be who gets the nod because he’s the coaching staff’s guy, but either way doesn’t matter much to me right now. 2025 is the Cam Ward show.
